Real Talk: Using Targets That Engage Students

There are a number of teaching practices that are lauded as effective, but they are not always easy to enact in ways that students connect to. One is establishing a clear purpose for a lesson/activity. You can see this article on how Hattie and Marzano think about the subject.  From what I observe, this strategy often manifests as a learning target on the board with some time devoted to going over it in class. With evaluation models like 5D setting expectations that students be able to know and refer to targets, this strategy is commonly used, but teachers struggle to make it engaging.

The value of a clear of objective makes sense, whether it's working with coding or learning sentence structure. Without some clarity of purpose, there may be some learning occurring, but it is random at best, and it may be kids just messing around. Now, I recognize the value of play and exploration, but I also recognize that without some awareness and assessment of what is being learned, the end result is typically lackluster. My ongoing question is how do we get students to give a rip about a learning goal, and, more importantly, how do we involve them meaningfully in the process?

One connection that makes sense to me is empowering students in the process. See this ISTE article on empowered learners to consider the importance of student choice, self-direction, scaffolding, and feedback among other things. Trying to set this up though, especially for every learning outcome, is overwhelming. That is what led me to create this empowered target example. It sets a goal, explains a connection/purpose, and establishes what success looks like. The doc provides scaffolds for students and asks them to find their own resources on the topic as well as set a plan for showing they know it. If a copy is provided for each student, a teacher could provide real-time feedback on the doc and even facilitate assessment of the target.

Full disclosure: I have not used this doc in any learning setting, but I feel confident about the thinking behind it. There are many other forms these ideas could take (example from Agile Classrooms), and I've seen how something like it has been used in PBL and competency-based / standards-based systems. It could certainly be used in any traditional approach as well. With an outcome defined, a process for students to be empowered, and avenues for extension, we can make learning targets meaningful, and having a digital structure in place will enable us to support students as they progress. As with anything, it will require refinement and iterations, and if it isn't useful, it should be scrapped. I'd love to see what others are doing to be intentional, engaging, and supportive with students.

Beat the Post Spring Break Blues

'Tis the season of testing and student squirminess. That means many schools experience reduced access to student devices, and teachers need to dig deep to engage students in the waning weeks of school. Here are a couple options that might help in this or any season:

1.) Digital Breakout games. 

You are likely familiar with Escape Rooms and Breakout EDU. You can run similar games in your classroom with just one device (though a couple more would help). Follow these steps:

• Start by making a copy of one of these Google Form templates: Digital BreakoutEDU Form or A simpler Form version. Note: you need to adjust the response validation to make the answers what you want. (Credit to Alex Milton for the templates)
• Create questions that require students to explore your content in order to find the "codes" to enter in the Form. You can see this set of examples or this set of examples for  some ideas.
• Run the game by loading the Google Form link on a classroom device or by directing students to access it on their phones.

2.) Use one of the options from our REMC Maker Kit. See our list of available options that you can check out - FOR FREE - for 1-2 weeks. Your students could design objects to be printed on the 3D printer, explore circuits with Little Bits, record with a green screen, and much more. Ron and I are available to train and to help facilitate activities with students.
Let us know if you have questions or needs we can help with. We are here to serve and connect.

Build Your Own Interactives

In many schools, especially at the elementary level, it is common for students to be using tech for core skill building. For example, they might be using Zearn to go through math practice at a level that is personalized based on pre-assessment results. This can be beneficial, but some research suggests that so-called drill and kill types of platforms might not be best and may even have negative effects on student learning. See this research page from Liz Kolb's Triple E Framework site for more on that. 

I also believe that students can be doing much more than practice problems with the devices they are using. So, I have been exploring ways to design activities that involve application of learning and using tech to build or create based on the concepts being taught. This may sound a bit daunting, but here are two examples that are fairly simple to set up:

1. Google Slides Place Value Interactive. You can add background elements, like a cartoon field, that won't move by editing the Slide Master (how to edit Slide Master in Google Slides). When students load the link, they can make a copy, or teachers can assign it through Classroom as a copy for each student. Then they interact and build.
2. Google Doc Array and Area Activity. This prompts students to build some simple layouts in Geogebra and then asks questions that farmers would actually have to ask when building a fence. Like in the previous activity, students need to apply their understanding. They also have links to reference in case they need it (e.g. perimeter and area).

These are not the most polished or amazing, but they incorporate some complex thinking and some personal interaction as well. Take a look, make copies for yourself, and modify as you see fit. Please share any ideas or questions with us so we can learn from you as well.

Digital Text Sources and Tools

Many teachers express that they are overwhelmed by the tools and services that one can use to find and interact with digital texts. As part of our study session in Kent ISD's Literacy Coaches Network, Andrew Steinman and I have facilitated investigations into some of the options that we feel have the most value to educators and students. Here is some of what we uncovered:

First, we really like Diigo, especially when used as a Google Chrome extension. When added, users can highlight and make notes on any webpage or PDF, and it's all stored in a user's library in a way that can be shared. It also has an outliner tool and a groups function, both of which can be used for many purposes. Tip: make sure you access the education upgrade to get more features.

We also looked at a number of platforms and sources for texts. See below for some basic details about the ones we chose.

• Newsela / Newsela Elementary
  • Allows choice of non-fiction articles with option for different Lexile level for each article
  • Access articles by link without logins or set up a class
  • Helpful cross-text features like Issues and Text Sets
  • Users can annotate text but teacher can’t see annotations w/o paid model
  • Assessment questions available (more complex and varied than Teen/Tween Tribune)
  • They try to lure you into their paid model - comparison of free vs paid
• Teen/Tween Tribune
  • Allows choice of non-fiction articles with option for different Lexile level for each article
  • Access articles by link without logins or set up a class (You can see student results w/ login)
  • Assessment questions included with login (mostly simple recall questions)
  • Provides a commenting option that allows students from everywhere to post comments on articles and reply to each other.
  • Student can access articles, take quizzes, and post comments without teacher assigning
• Mel.org/books
  • Some great options for finding and exploring texts
    1. Bookflix (Read and listen to texts)
    2. NoveList (find books by interest, lexile, and more) No full text.
    3. eBook Collection / eBook k-8 Collection
    4. Gale PowerPack (magazines & more)
• ReadWorks
  • Large library of articles searchable by lexile, skill, and other filters w/ audio option for some K-5 content
  • Questions, strategies, and much more available
  • Requires downloading or printing texts and sharing w/ students
  • Digital ReadWorks
    1. Requires logins for teacher and students
    2. Students can annotate texts, which are visible by teacher
    3. Allows teacher to assign and track quiz results
    4. Students can’t alter Lexile level but teacher can assign articles to specific students to differentiate
    5. Questions are fairly low level but provide feedback for students
    6. No way for students to select articles on their own

Yes, that's a long list, and there is more to explore no doubt. Hopefully this helped you determine what might be best for you. If you have other ideas to share, please add them in the comments.

Interactive Presentations

Interactive presentation tools are useful for engaging audiences and can be used in many ways. As with all things, educators should be aware of the features as well as consider whether or not it is the best tool for the job.

Many of you have likely heard about Google Slides' recent Q and A feature update. If not, you can go to this overview from Richard Byrne. Basically, Q and A allows a presenter to invite audience members to submit questions or comments and then vote those up or down. The presenter can then respond as needed or use the archived record for follow up.

One thing I discovered with Andrew is that a presenter cannot delete a comment, and students have the option to post anonymously. You can see the potential for trouble there. Using this feature could be a good opportunity to have conversations with students about the purpose and expectations around digital interaction, and it is probably best to be aware of what may occur when you give it a whirl with students.

As always, I encourage people to think about the potential value of an instructional choice. Is it worth the time needed for students to pull out devices and enter the link? Is a slideshow the best option for your objective? Are there other ways for students to inquire and interact? These are questions to consider. I'm not saying don't do it, I'm just saying that we should be intentional about it.

Another tool that offers a similar feature is GoSoapBox, and it provides additional ways for a presenter/class facilitator to engage an audience meaningfully as well. Whatever is chosen, it should result in a deeper learning experience, and it shouldn't be cumbersome, time-consuming, or distracting. If you have examples of what is working for you, please share with us and others.

(this post was originally published on Kent ISD's Ed Tech Blog. link to post)

Drawing for Assessment

The Gist: This post focuses on the Show Your Work question type available in the formative assessment website Formative. With this question type, teachers can provide a background for students to draw on or annotate (e.g. a grid or text passage) or just provide a blank space for responding to a prompt. When students are responding, teachers can view the live results and/or choose to display them to the whole class for discussion, review, or analysis. See the bottom of this post for a screenshot of what that looks like. This supports all levels of formative assessment, and is fairly simple to facilitate.

Here is a portion of a workshop I led at the 2016 MACUL conference. It is a guide that takes you through the steps from getting started to responding to results.

More Details: One of the most effective ways to determine students' proficiency on a given topic is for them to demonstrate it visually. This has traditionally been done through paper assignments or on classroom surfaces (whiteboard, interactive board, etc.), but those examples can be difficult for teachers/peers to view and respond to. The Show Your Work option in Formative allows for a quick way to ascertain student understanding while providing students some creative license in how they represent their thinking. Teachers can also respond readily either through the system or in person.

There is much more to explore. This is just one tool to use as part of a more comprehensive approach to assessment. Check it out and see how it works for you.

Screenshot of live result example

More Meaningful Math

In order to understand math, you need to interact with it. Desmos and Geogebra may be the best tools for bringing math to life, and I want to share some features in these systems that make it easy for teachers and students to use them effectively. See below for more:

Desmos (online graphing calculator on steroids)

1. Search the pre-made activities on a wide variety of topics. You can post links for students to access without accounts, or you can sign up and tweak the activities for your purposes.
2. When students have accounts, teachers have access to an impressive dashboard to use when facilitating activities. Here is a guide for the steps involved.
3. Here is a general learning guide for Desmos that I have used when working with teachers.

Geogebra (a geometry and algebra platform built for action)

1. It also has a library of pre-made activities with links that you can provide for students. You can copy existing activities and modify them with a free account. (the editing features are a little bit cumbersome, unfortunately).
2. Similar to Desmos, teachers can create groups (AKA classes) in which participants can complete tasks, provide feedback, and more. See this help guide for more details.
3. Here is a sample activity I created to help provide opportunities for M-STEP tasks without "test prepping".

There is definitely much more to explore with both of these tools, but this is enough to infuse any math class with some boom. Get them acting, talking, and exploring. Repeating question sets is not the answer for building mathematicians; nor is it the way to excite and ignite.

(this post originally appeared in Kent ISD's Ed Tech Blog)

Getting Students Where You Digitally Need Them

This post originally appeared in the Kent ISD Ed Tech Blog

If you have ever experienced issues getting students to and/or into a website or application, you know how frustrating it can be. I recently observed a classroom of 9th graders in which all students could login to laptops (using network logins they can’t change), but six students were unable to login to their district Google accounts (accounts they have had for over two years but can change). The teacher had to scramble to get them their logins and help them get to the site. It was more than 10 minutes before everyone was where they needed to be. Not good.

This is obviously a problem and certainly one that can be avoided. Here are some ideas that we have seen districts use to make tech use more efficient and fluid:

Webcam Blogging - Ideas and Exploration

I have been conducting a number of training sessions involving blogging lately, and through that experience my ideas about blogging in schools have grown. As usual, working with teachers in different circumstances and with different interests led to different thinking and new learning. 

One of these ideas was utilizing webcams for posting images as parts of blog posts, which could include student authors, handmade creations, or other representations. Since most mobile devices have a camera feature, it is easy to snap a pic and embed it in a blog post without the hassle of transferring image files in some other way. 

For example, students could pose as a literary/historical character or display the results of an experiment. Then text can be formatted around the image in various ways for a unique and personal creation. See my example of Odysseus after his run-in with Charybdis.

Odysseus after Charybdis

To access the webcam in Blogger, you can click the image icon and then choose from your webcam. You may get a pop-up asking you to allow access to your webcam. Click the allow checkbox, and you should see a preview of the image. After that, you take the pic, and click to use it. Then you can choose a size, add a caption, and/or click and hold on the image to drag it to a different place on the post and continue writing. 

One potentially helpful tip for doing this with students is to require students to complete the text component of the post before they can explore the multimedia. Otherwise, some students may spend all the computer time taking funny pictures. Perhaps it's best to let them play for a while and then shift to  a focus on text. You're smart - you make the call. 

Look below for some links to resources I've used for training and coaching. Feel free to share ideas of your own in the comments. 

Craig

Blogging With or Without Students 

Making Connections with Blogging (book)

Feed the Feedback Loop with Google Docs

I presented today at Assistechknow, a very cool assistive technology conference put on by Kindy Segovia and others at Kent ISD. My topic was about enacting feedback in different ways within Google Docs, and it was tailored for the unique needs of special ed teachers but still applicable to others.

One of the things I struggled with is how make the process timely and engaging for students. I always struggle with how to make feedback available in time for action to be taken and for it to be communicated in a way that doesn't turn students off to the process. If they feel dumb or inept at any point, there's a good chance they will shut down. If you don't provide focused responses to their work, they won't grow in optimal ways. My best answer is that each teacher has to hone their tone and even personalize feedback for each student depending on how he or she is.

Whew, add that to the many mind-bending tasks for teachers. Hopefully the content below helps move people towards some measure of success in their feedback pursuits.

What Do Your Grades Represent?

This post originally appeared in the Kent ISD Ed Tech Blog

This is an image of a report card. Though it is obviously dated, many current report cards might look quite similar. There are grades and perhaps some comments but little to no information about what the student can or can’t do. At best, these are vague representations of student ability.

Here are three points from research-based sources that could improve this situation:

1. The most successful schools assess and report proficiency on each learning objective (Ken O’Conner)
2. Schools need to build strong curriculum and provide interventions when needed (Multi-tiered Systems of Support)
3. Schools need to provide access to learning in multiple formats (Universal Design for Learning)

Most would agree that they want to do these three things in their schools, so why isn’t it practiced more? The three big reasons are time, resources, and tradition. For time, it is challenging to set up a system of standards-aligned assessments and resources that provide actionable data. It is also expensive to pay people or buy systems that do it for you, and traditional structures like college admissions and grading practices can be challenging barriers to address.

Fortunately, technology now enables us to do these things without overwhelming our time and resources. We can set up sophisticated assessments, assign digital resources to individuals, and accommodate cooperative learning in flexible ways. At Kent ISD, we have developed a system called Edify that accommodates all of these practices. You can click on this link to learn more about how that works. However, this is not an advertisement for our tool; it is a call to consider your practices and move towards what is best for each student.

No matter what tools(s) we use, we should be striving to create learning structures that capture and organize student data efficiently, provide opportunities for teachers to connect with students in personalized as well as collective ways, and report out to stakeholders in a way that shows details about what a student can do – not just a vague letter with a dash or a plus.

Here are some links to how other tools can or could support a standards-based approach. All have pros and cons, but you can look at what might work for you.

DiscoveryEd, Schoology, PowerTeacher (gradebook endorsed by Ken O’Connor),PowerSchool, and Moodle

Helping Students to not do Dumb (and hurtful) Stuff Online

The image above is a screenshot of a message I found on a student's shared Google Document the other day. The student called me over a little freaked out and said that he didn't type it. I checked the revision history, saw who typed it, and sent that student to have a chat with the principal.

Sadly, this was a class of fourth graders, and somewhat ironically, it was during a lesson on staying safe and helpful with online interaction (link to lesson). Despite the unfortunate effects of the student's comments, it was, what some may call, a highly teachable moment about how our online actions can impact ourselves and others.

Recording Your World

Intro
Many people feel like they are being watched/ recorded all the time, and in many cases that is true - for better or for worse. They also feel like the details surrounding that are hazy (hence the smoke filter on my image for this post). Despite all the questions and uncertainties, I want to explore some possibilities for recording interactions in the classroom and other parts of education.

Recently I was working with the incredible staff at Crossroads Middle School in Northview, MI (outside Grand Rapids). A couple of the science teachers were describing how students often strayed from small-group discussion topics when the teacher moved away from them. That led us to think about how we could hold students accountable for their conversations, and we developed a plan for them to record their discussions and send them to the teacher. Here is the process we concocted:

Ideas for Supporting Common Core Literacy

Article used for this: Common Core and school media specialist

Crosswalk (blend of Common Core and 21st century skills- from AASL)

• Matches CC w/ AASL benchmarks
• Diff. language but similar set of skills
• With the implementation of Common Core, advanced literacy instruction will go beyond simply providing resources and being a search specialist or helping kids distinguish between informational and opinion texts, says Meghann Walk, the library director of New York City’s Bard High School Early College. Instead, educators will be required to focus on helping young readers actively engage with informational texts—the sort of stuff that students will encounter in college and in their future careers.
• Not enough to find a dusty copy of a Lincoln biography

Non-fiction shift

• Kids shouldn’t have to get all their information from a single snippet of text—they need “access to multiple perspectives”
• May have to do some ‘spring cleaning’
• Media specialists need to hunt for databases and other online resources to supplement their collections
• “Show the administration why those resources are needed,” says Aronson, “and finally, keep track of their usage to show just how well the money was spent.”
• Google Analytics to track traffic (how to add to Google Site)
• Blogger tracking tool
• Weebly Stats

Helpful points from article

• Take the lead and share your skills/ expertise.
• Toot your horn, make yourself known

What if funds are not available?

• Teachers could use help selecting content-area, leveled texts
• Provide content area, web-based texts that teachers and students can access
• School webpage or other online tool of your choice
• Use Twurdy (sorts searches by reading level) and Sweet Search to find up-to-date, relevant, and credible sources
• Teach teachers and students to do this

Anybody that has worked with teenagers knows that their set of commonly used words is often limited and thickly layered with slang or whatever is hip at that given time. This has been true for generations, but now we are in an era in which communication occurs more rapidly and anyone with a phone can speak volumes with pictures and video without uttering a syllable. This concerns me.

As a former English teacher and persistent proponent of rich language use, I fear that words are becoming less needed and therefore are in danger of dying or being reduced to some cheap, perfunctory code system only to be used when necessary. Though I have not done solid research, I would bet that the average person's working vocabulary is less than what it was ten or more years ago. This is true of me as well. I create screencasts in which words are unneeded or even distracting, and much of what I communicate requires the most simplistic language to avoid confusion in those I teach.

I realize the potential and power of multimedia, and I embrace that daily; however, I think there is value and beauty in promoting enhanced diction for all. Here are some ideas about how teachers and others can do that with digital tools:

Audiopal- Free mp3 upload/embed tool

I recently stumbled upon this handy site called Audiopal. You can make one using your phone, type text, record by microphone, or upload an existing mp3, and the site will load it onto its server and send an embed code to your email. It embeds as a mini player that visitors can click and listen to.

This is a good way to provide verbal instructions to struggling readers or to just share a song you like. The max file size limit for an mp3 upload is 6 GB, and you can record up to 1 minute with the microphone option. It's free and very user friendly. Here is my example that I made using the text to speech feature:

Make Your Own Textbook!

When I was teaching high school English, I rarely used the class textbook because I found it to be big and cumbersome, and it lacked relevant, quality texts that engaged my students. So I mostly created and sought out my own resources to use. Unfortunately, that led to the predicament of arranging and organizing materials into a clear and coherent sequence for myself and my pupils. I wish I would have compiled my stuff into some kind of digital format (beyond throwing stuff on my website) to make resources more accessible and engaging for students, and to make the management side easier for me. 

Below are some resources that will help guide your thinking and provide options for creating and/or customizing your own textbook. This is just a short list, but it is a good starting point: 

Coveritlive- an excellent, free tool

I was at the MACUL conference in Grand Rapids last week, and they used a live blogging tool called Coveritlive. It is a free and fairly robust application that allows you to create an event and embed it on your website or blog. Then you direct your participants to the event, and they can contribute comments, attachments, do trivia that you create, and more. Below is a screenshot of what it looked like when I embedded an event on this blog:

New Google Tools

Thanks to a post from the Free Technology for Teachers blog, I recently discovered some new and very helpful features that Google added to their Sites tool. I have used Google Sites for my classroom page for a few years now, and I was often frustrated by its limitations. Now you can insert HTML, Javascript, and more. Below is a screenshot that shows all the insert options available:

Best Pre-made Educational Content Resources

When I was a classroom teacher, I recall many anxious afternoons and evenings spent scrambling to come up with quality content for a lesson I had to do the next day. Even when I was planning further ahead, it was a stressful, excruciating process to line up resources that I could use for various topics and standards. Now, more than ever before, an abundance of free resources exist that we can conveniently use the next day. In fact, so much exists that it is difficult to sift through it all. Here is a list of sites that I have found to offer quality materials. I wish I knew of them when I was teaching.