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I finally decided to jump in and give Schoology a try. I've been intrigued by its Facebook-like interface and its services like assignment creating, dropbox, discussions, blogging and gradebook ever since I first came across it at the TSETC conference last month.
I introduced it to my 6th graders this week. The first assignment we tried, after creating an account with an access code (no email required!) was a discussion question: "What is your favorite kind of poem and why?" We are in the middle of a poetry unit that their homeroom teacher and myself are teaching, so the question was relevant to the unit.
Their responses were on topic, thoughtful and one student even wrote, "This is cool." We had experience with commenting, so it was probably familiar for them, but what made it even more familiar was the format. It looks just like a newsfeed on Facebook, so they picked up how it worked with little direction.
Today they logged in again to access our first assignment: making a Voki that reads a poem they wrote. I easily added the assignment to our course page and included a link to Voki. The students then copy/pasted their Voki embed code into the comment area of the assignment.
I can see using Schoology to teach blogging with my students. They have never blogged before, so the ability to get them started in a "walled garden" is really exciting.
A few features that I love:
The second day the students navigated the site much more easily and I foresee it getting easier and easier.
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I was reminiscing this weekend to the sound of Bad Religion when I realized that it was bands like them along with the Dead Kennedys and others that taught me what it was like to (literally) yell against injustice and corruption and plea for a better way. As a teenager, punk rock provided me the impetus for not accepting the status quo, for pushing the envelope and for being fearless in the face of adversity and for going against the grain.
In addition to the music there were self-published 'zines,' many of which contained articles written by students my age. The articles ranged from reviews of new albums to articles about corruption and political policies. Of course, with the advent of the Internet, I'm sure many of these zines have fallen by the wayside. I see a lot of similarity between these zines and the community of progressive educator bloggers on the scene right now.
As an adult, I still find power in many of the songs that had a huge affect on me as a teenager. Perhaps that's why I choose to label myself an edupunk.....
For your enjoyment, here are two Bad Religion songs that still seem poignant to my adult life 15 years after I first discovered them.
Against the Grain
Change of Ideas
well the sheaves have all been brought,
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I recently wrote a post on the excellent group blog, The Co-operative Catalyst, called "Who's the Boss?" in which I explored the idea of teachers being in charge of a school. More and more I'm feeling that not only is this a trend, but it is an important movement.
This past Thursday I attended TEDx Philly, a gathering of inspiring and motivating movers and shakers in Philadelphia. I was struck by the talks by Chris Lehmann and Simon Hauger who both signaled a need for big changes in education.
Lehmann, as many people know, started his own school here in Philadelphia within the School District itself but partnered with The Franklin Institute. His talk about how High School sucks and why it doesn't have to be that way, highlighted the authentic, real-world experiences The Science Leadership Academy offers its students. As a perfect example, his students were documenting the entire event on film with still photography and video.
Simon Hauger, the renowned West Philadelphia High School teacher whose students beat out the likes of MIT and Cornell in the Progressive Automotive X Prize for their hybrid vehicle, spoke as well about how school should be. In fact, he is in the process of organizing his own school, The Workshop for Democracy and Social Entrepreneurship.
I can't begin to count the number of times that I have had a conversation about starting 'our own school.' What's amazing is that most of these conversations as well as the concrete, real-world examples, have a different kind of leadership.
Leadership in schools started and run by teachers are democratic in nature. They have flat leadership and the entire staff works as a team. Some of these kinds of schools do have administrators, but these leaders are just that: leaders. They are not The Boss and they do not manage their staff like a CEO of a business. Hauger's school describes its leadership and organizational structure as one of democratic cooperation:
The school employs a shared leadership model in which roles, responsibilities, and accountability are clearly defined, but decisions are made collaboratively. (http://www.workshopschool.org/drupaled/?q=node/26)Teachers are ready to step up and take the reins of reform. We are ready to take responsibility for educating our students and we WANT to be held accountable.
What we don't want: to be held accountable according to an outsider's standards. We can and will hold each other accountable as part of a team. If the quarterback isn't throwing winning passes, then the whole team fails. We know that NCLB is not going away any time soon. Politicians will still want their line graphs and percentages. Let's show them that students can be successful in other ways that are still quantifiable and that test prep, bi-weekly benchmark testing and other methods that 'teach to the test' are not as effective as learning experiences that teach the whole child and force real-world problem solving.
This kind of learning is messy. Which is why we need a strong, supportive team for feedback, inspiration and accountability.
So let's stop looking for band-aid reforms and quick fixes. Let's start to rethink the leadership and organization of school itself. Let's start our own schools that are within districts, not experimental charter schools. Let's change the system from the inside and truly affect change. Let's take charge of our own buildings and do what's right for kids and their families.
If you have an example of a teacher-run school, please post a link or name in the comment area.
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This realization is an important one. I think more teachers need to consider themselves as working professionals. For some reason we tend to separate ourselves from professionals who work in offices or work in the business sector, yet most of us are just as or more educated than our corporate peers and we are skilled at what we do.
I once pulled a business card out to give to someone I had met and they were amazed that a teacher had a business card. We need to change the perception that we are any different than those who work in the business world. We network, we attend conferences, we have performance reviews and we had to work hard to get where we are.
I'm a yuppie and I've come to terms with it. Can you?
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This past month my 6th graders have been working on videos in iMovie using photos and video I took of them completing a Science lesson. They handed them in last week after grading themselves using the rubric for the assignment. I then watched each one and graded it, stapling my rubric under theirs.
As I was grading them I realized that there were a lot of places for improvement. Rather than me taking the time to meet with each group individually I set aside a few classes as film reviewer sessions. We watched everyone's movie and gave positive feedback and constructive criticism. I modeled the first few comments and then let them try it.
What ensued was the most effective feedback session I've witnessed in a while, adults included.
They said things like, "I think your music was good, but your text went too fast." They even were able to take the feedback without trying to justify or respond.
The proof of the power of these feedback session was when I let them return to their projects to work on them based on the feedback they'd gotten. I was blown away by how some students completely reorganized their images or deleted all of their text and changed it. Some re-recorded their opening videos or added smoother transitions.
This is a new group of students for me and it is their first attempt at an iMovie project. I was really proud of them.
It took 2 1/2 class periods, but the self-assessment skills they learned were worth the time. I foresee these skills carrying into other projects as they review their final products.
Here is an example of one of the projects:
Do you have any examples of using effective feedback with your students?
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My grade partner happens to be our 6th grade teacher, since there's only one of her in the building and she's right across the hall. She and I have been collaborating a lot this year, and her students see me 3 times a week. She and I also share a love of Science, which has been very exciting.
Today, she brought her students over to the lab to use our Promethean board for a lesson on the Phases of the Moon. They have been studying Astronomy, but many of the students lack basic knowledge about the solar system. We decided to present the information in an interactive way using a flip chart and multimedia. (She had been using a pencil and a tin can to show them how the moon orbits the Earth.) What ensued was a lesson that mirrored the two-step Constructivist model I've been reading about.
Before the lesson began, we made sure that we knew what the learning objectives were. For this lesson they were very simple:
Step 1: The Exploratory Phase
Students brainstormed what they knew already about the Moon. They then read through some facts, watched a video and a flash animation and then pulled the phases of the moon in order on the Promethean board to reinforce what they had learned about the names of the phases as well as vocabulary like 'waxing,' 'waning,' 'gibbous' and 'crescent.'
During this phase, we paused a few times to check for understanding, and then at the end we had each student write down and then tell us one thing they had learned. We didn't grade them on the lesson, but we made sure to address any misconceptions, providing interventions as needed (when they didn't understand the concept of the Sun as a bunch of mini 'explosions' we showed them a National Geographic video) and checking for understanding.
The purpose of the Exploratory Phase is to use activities, dialogue and interventions to support and assess student learning, understanding and interest.
Step 2: The Discovery Phase
I was very proud of my colleague, who had never used the Promethean Board before, but handled it with ease. I also think that our students will go home today with a much better understanding of the moon's phases as well as a deeper understanding of why and how they occur. I wouldn't be surprised if they look up more often at night to see what phase the moon is in!
This is what learning looks like.
One of the students asked, "Is this going to be one of those one-day things again?" We have had a few hands-on, interactive and fun-filled lessons with technology and Science that have lasted only one day due to the nature of the curriculum and pacing schedule. I said, "I hope not." In the back of mind I thought: he gets it. Even my student knows what real learning is. And he's craving it.
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I'm almost halfway through a wonderful book, Applying Standards-Based Constructivism: A Two-Step Guide for Motivating Elementary Students. It has given me a lot of practical advice and it has given me a better understanding of some of my instructional practices and methods and at the same time justifies practices I've been doing for years.
I will write more about the Two-Step model later, but today I wanted to briefly reflect on a new method for checking for understanding that I found in the book. In the section on Assessment, the book stresses that teacher observation really is a valid form assessment because (gasp) teachers are professionals and are the most qualified to determine whether and how their students are learning.
The authors describe how you can easily gauge student understanding by having each student take 10 seconds to say one thing they learned at the end of class.
Part of the success I had today was due to the fact that I had clearly outlined the learning objectives at the start of the period and limited them to a few observable behaviors (put one space between each word, center a heading, use return key, use capitals and periods). I was easily able to know whether the students had learned what I wanted them to in a matter of minutes.
I am still amazed by Geoffrey Canada's bold statement that he was a 'Master' teacher in his 5th year of teaching. I feel like this year, my 6th year of teaching, I am finally 'getting it' when it comes to assessment. It's a messy process, but I'm loving it. I can't wait to see what I'm working on 6 years from now.
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Philly Teacher by Mary Beth Hertz is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
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