#MTBoSYuleBlog - Consistency in an era of Inconsistency

 

What is the Yule Blog Challenge?  Over Winter Break, I'm going to attempt to blog 12 times, sharing reflections of 2020 and what I'm looking forward to in 2021.  I would love for you to join in the blogging fun - read more about the challenge by clicking here!

Trying to Stay Consistent in 2020

In my last post, I mentioned the need for consistency for my sanity.  To be honest, I'm a person that craves organization and structure.  I love teaching because it does provide a mix of new and old every day and every year.  In August, we get the chance to start over fresh, which isn't something that happens in other professions.  Throughout the year, we can tweak our processes and in the summer, we can spend time researching changes to be made the following year.  But even through the changes, there's a lot of sameness - from the curriculum, from the tried and true practices, from the resources, from the pure structure of the school day.  Surprises do happen of course - fire drills, tech issues, things that require us to shift on a dime, but in general, we know what to expect...

And then a pandemic hit.

March 13, 2020 - the last day before Spring Break... we were doing a mixed review activity and I was trying to maintain normality.  Had I known then what I know now, I would have thrown that lesson out the window and done something else, but at the time, I thought we might have an extended break and then we would be back - HA!

That Spring Break ended up lasting 3 weeks officially, but when we did "go back to school", we were in lockdown, working from home, and in "distance learning" to finish out the 2019-2020 school year.  For that 3 week break, I spent time in virtual PD sessions from NCTM and Desmos, exploring the "what-if" of using EdTech tools to help us out.  Our state leaders decided on "do no harm" schooling due to equity issues, the College Board shifted quickly to an online 1 hour exam, and I worked with my colleagues to develop some lessons to review and reinforce since we weren't supposed to teach new material during this time.

It's amazing what all you can learn when you need to :)

During that three week extended Spring Break, I spent time researching and looking for a tool that could best mimic my typical classroom, but was that even possible?!?!

Then summer came.  I think a lot of us (myself included) thought that things would get better, but they didn't.

I spent my summer working with teachers from my school to create an EdTech PLC, reading books that were quickly tossed together during the spring on how to do Distance Learning, and reading several things on the Flipped Classroom.  

Throughout the summer, we were expecting to go back in person, but preparing for the possibility that we wouldn't be back for a while.  We watched the numbers climb and my district finally did decide to start the year in distance learning.  To be honest, I was okay with this decision, even though many other districts decided to go back in person.  I was not (and honestly am still not) comfortable being in my classroom with 30+ high schoolers, even with masks.  

However, this decision brought a new wave of anxiety - how would I build relationships?  What about equity?  How would I assess?  Again, the biggest question for me - how can I mimic my typical classroom online?

As I had in the Spring, I turned to Desmos as my primary platform - I knew I could develop a "flipped" classroom by embedding my own videos (made with Loom), adding in a variety of practice problem formats, do formative assessment, provide feedback, etc.  In general, my Desmos lessons consist of a "getting to know you" screen, a feedback screen, the lesson objective, one (or more) short lesson videos, a variety of practice problems (often self-checking), and an exit ticket.

This was working pretty well, then my district decided to go back in-person in early September as the numbers were staying fairly steady.  Again, the questions flooded my mind - what do I do now?  Do I shift back to my typical classroom?  How will I address the kids that get quarantined?  How can I maintain equity for both my in-person and quarantined students?

We also had some guidelines put into place with regard to in-person - all desks needed to face the same direction, no shared supplies, spread out the desks as best we can, and try to keep 6 feet between us and the students.  This was a struggle for me - I've had my students in table groups for years... this meant no more groups, no more activities like card sorts, no more table buckets with shared supplies, no more small whiteboards... what do I do?!?!?

I decided that I would continue with the Desmos lesson format... the equivalent of doing distance learning even in-person.  It would allow me to do things like card sorts and use the sketch feature instead of whiteboards.  But the biggest feature for me was the consistency and equity...  Whether you were at home or at school, you had the same lesson, you had the same access to teacher feedback, and just in case, you would have an easy transition back to distance learning.  It was a way I could provide structure and organization in the midst of chaos.

We've now ended our first semester and I don't think any student of mine has been left untouched by the chaos of this year.  We started with 2 weeks of distance learning (DL) before coming back in person, we had issues of many student quarantines throughout the semester due to contact tracing and various out-of-school activities like vacation travel, Halloween parties, etc before transitioning back to DL for the week before, of, and after Thanksgiving, then coming back in person in early December to wrap up the semester and do final exams.  We'll start back with DL in January to provide time to quarantine after holiday travel and NYE parties.

All in all, it's been a semester of chaos and uncertainty.  I would watch my students eyes turn to me with anxiety when the phone would ring asking for a student to be sent to the nurse's office due to contact tracing.  I would have students share with me about the anxiety of increasing community spread and watch every student nervously look around when they heard someone cough.  

But just like my own concerns from the Spring and Summer, many students have expressed appreciation for the consistency, structure, and organization of their Desmos lessons.  They know what to expect if they are absent, how to communicate with me, and how to find their daily work.  It's been a consistency we've all needed during this era of inconsistency. 

Figuring out the New Normal

I really had high hopes for blogging this year...It was my goal to blog at least weekly - to reflect on what works and what doesn't.  And yeah, that hasn't happened.  

We started our year with Distance Learning - the kids were at home, we were in our classrooms and meeting synchronously via Google Meet 1-2 times a week, with the rest of the lessons in an asynchronous format.  Then, on Day 7 of Distance Learning, our district announced that we would be going back to in person learning the following week.  We've now been in-person for 2 weeks and honestly, I'm exhausted.

But I still want to address my original goal of reflection, of celebrating what's working, of figuring out how to make the things that aren't working more sustainable.  I do want to put a disclaimer that this is only my personal experience and does not in any way, shape, or form represent anyone other than myself.

What's Working...

I can't even imagine trying to tackle this year without Desmos.  I know some of my students are probably getting tired of my love for Desmos, but I'm so appreciative of the ability to upload videos, do self-checking activities, provide feedback, have the equivalent of "chats" with my students, monitor their work in real time, and really see their thinking.  I love that my students working from home are still able to get an equitable experience and that when I do a short recap at the end of the hour, I actually can use student work (Love the snapshot tool) to share quality thinking.

While I miss regular teaching, I do see the benefit of the video lessons, especially for students to pause and rewind.  I don't have to worry about them asking to go back or really monitoring where they are in writing their notes.  I also like the opportunity for the one-on-one written feedback since so many of my formative assessment techniques are non-verbal or discussion related.  While it takes a lot of time, students can have a really personalized experience if they choose to take advantage of it.

I'm also really proud of my students overall.  Even though in-person learning doesn't look the same as it did pre-March 13, they've done a pretty good job with keeping a positive attitude and wearing their masks correctly.  I've had to talk to a few of them about keeping it over their nose, but in general, it's been okay.

Yesterday we had a pre-planned Distance Learning day and it was so nice to have that time to check with in colleagues about pacing, to check in students about how they are doing, and to feel like I could stop to catch my breath for a minute.  It's the little pleasures in life, but to be able to feel comfortable taking a drink of water during the day really brought me more joy than it should have!  A few weeks ago, I sent a suggestion to my principal about a weekly Distance Learning day for secondary students, so I am keeping my fingers crossed that might happen!

Moving Forward...

One major concern I have is just about the sustainability of this model.  I'm exhausted from the constant juggle and the mental toll of just trying to think through all of the outcomes.  I currently have over 10% of my roster learning from home, plus the normal absences, and I am struggling to keep up.  Monitoring the daily work, giving feedback, grading, planning lessons that are equitable whether you are in person or not, trying to keep track of students, cleaning multiple times a day, juggling the emails from students learning from home, trying to vocally project through a mask... it's just a lot to deal with on top of our normal job responsibilities

The stress and anxiety of teaching is a lot in a normal year, but add in a pandemic and it's overwhelming.  I'm not one to visit the doctor often, but since school has started, I've had to visit the doctor multiple times due to major muscle spasms and for anxiety.  I've never been on to be on daily medication until this year.  I've never cried coming to work.  I've never had to come home and strip in the laundry room in case I have something on my clothes that could literally kill my spouse if I were to bring it home.  I've never worried that I can't see my family for the holidays because I don't know what I might have been exposed to and could be spreading.  

What I miss...

A few days ago, this tweet found its way to my Facebook timeline and it really spoke to me.

One of the things that drives me crazy about teaching in a pandemic is that my normal routines, the best parts of teaching... they are just gone.  

Gone (for now) are the days of students working in groups... of hands on manipulatives... of moving around the room in stations... of being up and at the whiteboards... of me moving around the classroom listening in the conversations.

Instead, my classroom looks like a classroom from 50 years ago with the addition of computers.  Students are facing the front.  The little bit of face-to-face teaching I do is from the front of the room, trying to stay at least 6 feet from the kids in the front row, while huffing and puffing through a mask.  The kids are pretty much silent because they also don't really like talking in the masks and I just HATE that.  I miss the chaos of the classroom.  I miss the fun and the laughter and the joy that comes from learning.  I hate that our days are focused on screens.  I miss being focused on best practices for instruction and that I'm more focused on best practices for cleaning and staying safe.  

I miss being the teacher I've worked hard to be.

Don't get me wrong.  I know I'm doing the best I can.  I know I'm working my tail off to try to make engaging lessons.  I know I'm trying to give individual feedback and really connecting with every student.  I know that we are in the middle of a pandemic.  I know that we will get through this, that it's a temporary blip in the road, that I will learn new and (sometimes) better ways to teach, that I will be pushed (and push myself) to try new things.  But that doesn't stop me from missing the "pre-March 13" me.  

I ♥️ Desmos

Years ago, I did a this thing called My Favorite Friday.  I haven't done it for years, but my favorite thing right now is Desmos.

Since March, Desmos has been my #1 go-to for Distance Learning lessons and still connecting with my students.

We've been in Distance Learning this year for 2 weeks (we are pivoting back to in-person next week, but that's a whole 'nother story), and I could not have made it through these two weeks without Desmos at my side. 

This year is a year like no other and I had already committed to blogging more regularly about my learnings, but then today, even more amazing Desmos things started happening!

My Current Favorite Desmos Hack:

So I had this brilliant Desmos Hack that has really saved me a ton of time overall... 

The first screen of the Desmos AB asks students to select their class hour, then I can use the summary screen to mark attendance sorted by hour.  Last year, I had them enter their name as "4 Name" so I could sort by name on the Dashboard, but I really like this MC question better overall.

One reason why I love it is that I can give feedback to all 3 classes during the same activity without switching between dashboards.  I was so excited to share this hack with you, but then I got home tonight, ready to blog and went to my Desmos to take some screen shots when I noticed it didn't look right...


New Desmos Feature:

Do you spy what I spy??? 

OMG - Desmos now has classes!!!  Of course, now I have my kids trained after 2 weeks, so I'm going to have to figure out how to best use this, but I am excited to explore it!

One feature that I'm hopeful this has when I explore it is a better co-teacher management system as I do team-teach and depending on which one of us created the activity, the dashboard access is clunky.  I'm hopeful that this will allow us both access to the files for our shared class without a ton of emails back and forth sharing links to activities

More New Features?!?!?

What?!?!?  Now when you add a "note", you can use italics, bold, or add a link??  I can't tell you how many times this week alone, I had wished for a way to easily add emphasis to a Desmos Activity - I swear Eli and his team are reading our minds!  You can read more about this new feature on the Desmos website.

One thing about new features in Desmos is that they are often not advertised, so when you find them, it's like this fun hidden treasure!

Earlier this week, I was giving feedback to a Desmos activity (which I absolutely LOVE the Desmos Feedback feature), and I just happened to notice that little arrow... hmm, what does this do??

OMG - I can edit / delete now?!?!? 

Game changer!!!  I can't tell you how often I would make a typo or hit enter too soon - this is a HUGE thing for me! :)


My Favorite Question this week:

One of the things I had planned to share today before finding all of the fun new features was this question that I had added to a Desmos Activity earlier this week.

My students were supposed to try this AP Free Response problem, then I asked them to check themselves against the sample student responses on AP Central and to reflect on their answers.  The number of students who mentioned things about being specific, using good vocabulary, etc was just an absolute highlight of my week.


So major thanks to Eli, the Desmos team, all Desmos fellows, and the absolute love and care that each of you put into making Desmos better every day. 

#MTBoSBlaugust - Reflecting on Week 1

Y'all, I'm tired...

We started back to school on Monday in a Distance Learning format, so here's our schedule:

Monday - Odd hours are synchronous / Even hours are asynchronous
Tuesday - Even hours are synchronous / Odd hours are asynchronous

Wednesday - All classes are asych ; teachers have "office hours"

Thursday - same as Monday

Friday - same as Tuesday

However, you are only required to be synchronous once a week, but since I teach AP, I'm requiring both days, although it may be for a short check-in instead of a lesson.

Speaking of lessons... here are some of the lessons I've learned so far:

Lesson #1:  Distance Learning lessons take 5 times as long to create and much less time for the students to complete than a traditional lesson

Y'all, I know that I often personally identify with "perfection is the enemy of good" because I am a perfectionist and I'm really particular about how things look and how my lessons flow.  As a result, I struggle to #pushsend and commit to the actual lesson.  On the up-side, I've had some great feedback from students about how much they appreciate the organization and structure.  One other side-effect I've noticed is that without the classroom discussion, my lessons take way less time for students to complete...

Lesson #2:  Invest in a larger monitor

Our main computer is a Surface Pro and y'all, I'm just way too old for a 12" monitor!  LoL!  Thankfully, we had a spare 24" monitor at home, which makes a HUGE difference for these old eyes.  I'm now able to split my screen while presenting in a Google Meet and able to see my students AND my presentation!  Woot!  I know a lot of people do dual monitors, but I've never been able to adjust to them :(

Lesson #3:  "Wait Time" is way different in Distance Learning

I'll admit that I've never been great at wait time, but it is a whole new ball game with Distance Learning.  I've actually had the best success by asking students for thumbs up / down, but when I ask a question, I want to be respectful for anyone that might be typing an answer into the chat (which takes longer), OR that kids are really nervous about unmuting to talk and accidently talking over someone else.

Lesson #4:  The kids are great and I'm super glad to be on this journey with them

Granted, I've not had a ton of interaction with them yet, but the kids have been so very respectful of each other and of online classroom norms.  They almost always keep themselves muted yet still willing to engage using thumbs up / down or the chat feature.  Their responses on their lessons have been fabulous and I can't keep up with them to be honest! :)  I've heard so many times about this group of kids being behind, but I really think there will be very positive side-effects with regard to giving grace and extending patience and understanding to those around them.  They recognize the extreme effort that their teachers are making to create engaging content and seem very appreciative.

Lesson #5:  Desmos is a lifesaver

OMG, can I sing the praises of Desmos from the rooftops?  I simply cannot imagine life with Desmos.  Desmos allows me to create an async (or even sync) lesson that flows similar to what I would do in class, so I think it will provide a wonderful transition back to the classroom.  

My big take-away from Distance Learning so far...

There is a part of me that really appreciates being back in my classroom and the structure / routine of my workplace being different from my home.  I am so very appreciative of how much I've learned already and how this is pushing me to be a better teacher.  But I will admit that I really miss the energy of having 30 teenagers in my classroom, chatting with me about the things they love and asking questions as we learn new content.  I miss the hustle and bustle of the hallways, of game days, of rushing to get to class on-time due to the size of our campus.  It's really awkward to talk to a screen of postage stamp size photos and they are all silent because they are muted out of respect for their classrooms.  I'm really hopeful our numbers go down soon so we can get back to that "new normal".  I already love this group of kiddos and I can't wait to get to know them in person!

#MTBoSBlaugust - Useful Chrome Extensions

 

Wow - what a week!  We've never had 7 days of pre-planning, but then again, we've never been in the middle of a global pandemic. 🙂

Several times throughout the week, I felt like I was working my tail off but had nothing to show for it at the end of the day, then by the time evening came, I was brain dead and ready for a break, which might explain the lack of blogging 🙂

One of my biggest tasks over the past week has been trying to replicate my home set-up on my school computer, which has its own set of technology challenges....

But one thing I've learned is the usefulness of various Chrome Extensions! :)

	With Distance Learning, one thing I learned early one was the usefulness of splitting my screen.  A lot of people like to have dual monitors, but I don't like hunting down my mouse, nor do I like the physical footprint of having two monitors on my desk.  But Dualless to the rescue! We use Google Meet for our classes, which has a really annoying issue of not being able to see what you are presenting plus being able to see your students.  So if I'm doing a live Desmos or presenting a slideshow, I have to flip back and forth on the tabs.  By using Dualless, I can pull those into two separate Chrome windows, click on the Dualless link on my browser toolbar and choose the split ratio I want to use.
	Another great extension I found this summer was the Video Speed Controller.  This allows me to speed up or slow down any video on YouTube, EdPuzzle, etc.  I've found it so useful, especially right now during our busy season and the 1.5 speed is about perfect for me!
	Inserting emojis into my messages, Desmos activities, and blog posts are so much easier now that I've installed the Emoji keyboard! This little extension pops down a menu that I can search, then when I click on an emoji, it automatically copies the emoji so I can paste it into my activity or email.  I'm really excited to use this extension in my Desmos activities as I plan to use emoji cues for note-taking, etc!
	Last spring, I found myself needing to annotate a website or a Desmos activity for a screencast, so Page Marker came in handy multiple times.  This extension isn't very fancy, but it gets the job done!  I can choose the color, the pen size and write as much as I want before clearing the screen or closing the extension.  When using it over a Desmos activity or slide show, you do have to switch to the arrow to navigate to the next slide, but once you get the hang of it, it's pretty user friendly.
	In this season of making a lot of videos, I certainly can't leave off the Loom extension!  With a school email account, teachers are eligible for the free version of Loom Pro.  In the past, I've used Screencastify and Loom is very similar in terms of its ease of use.  I also like that Loom has some good editing features, plus a way for students to provide feedback via comments and/or emojis, and embeds easily into Canvas! :)

It's going to be a super busy weekend of lesson planning and finalizing my plan for Monday.  If you have any great ideas for the first day of distance learning, please let me know!  I'm also on the lookout for more useful extensions, so send those my way too!

Happy Saturday!

#MTBoSBlaugust - Everything Takes So Long!

 

Whew... another day is done!  I felt really scattered today and even though I got a few things done, I realized that everything takes 3-4 times as long!  Sigh...

Today was another full day of learning!  Some lessons were great, some not so great :)

First up is my bright idea that wasn't... LOL  When I got to work, I thought, ya know, I probably should have a place to put my mask that is not just thrown on my desk.  I mean, right now, it's not as big of a deal as it really is just me in the room, but it still seems less than sanitary. But wait!  I have some command hooks in the cabinet, I think!  And I did... but not the right kind :)  Oh well, I'll try it out anyway...  Yeah, that didn't work so well.  It went on there really well, but getting it OFF the hook, not so much LOL.   I sent this photo to hubs and after he laughed at me, told me he had some in his office, so maybe tomorrow's attempt will be better! LOL

On a more positive note, I learned a bunch about Desmos today!

First thing I learned was how to aggregate data! With distance learning and asynch lessons, I wanted a way for students to be able to still "put graphs on the board".  I knew it was possible, but I hadn't actually learned how to do it yet!  So the Twitters to the rescue!  Thankfully I got some very helpful replies right away.   However, I forgot to take a picture of the wonderful dotplot we made and then I deleted the activity... whoops! I also played some with the new Collaborate feature with the wonderful Julie K - who is often my partner in crime when it comes to Desmos and AP Stat.  Her help and willingness to talk through things is just invaluable to me. As we were working, I found a hidden nugget.. check it out!  In the image component, you can now mark for an image to go full-screen (aka zoom in!)  YAY!!

If you are an experienced AP Stat teacher, you might be thinking that the images in that Desmos screen look a bit familiar...

For years, I've used The Jelly Blubber Colony by Rex Boggs to introduce the sampling methods.  

It's certainly not done yet, nor do I know if it will ever be fully done, but Julie and I are working on getting the JB colony into a Desmos activity.  It took us a good chunk of the day to get it partially done and that's just for one lesson for one class!  UGH 

I need to remember to give myself grace and that it's OKAY to just straight up lecture and go old-school for this year :)  Y'all may need to remind me of that several times though...

I did walk away remembering how much I love and adore Desmos, so that's a huge win! :)

#MTBoSBlaugust - WSQ and Google Forms

 

Whew - what a day!  We had our first Math Teacher Collaboration today and it was just amazing!  I learned so much and my mind is struggling to settle down with ideas tonight.  I know there will be some blog posts coming in the next few days, but one of the topics that I've been working on this summer is the idea of the Flipped Classroom.  We did an #EduRead  book chat on Twitter starting in late June over the book Flipping with Kirch, which is about Crystal Kirch's journey to a Flipped Classroom.  If you are interested in learning more about the Flipped Classroom, I highly recommend reading this book as it is a very quick read with a ton of practical tips and hints for implementing this model.  

To be honest, I've thought about the flipped classroom many times over the years, but other issues got in the way - equity of tech access, thoughts and feelings on homework, all of the housekeeping details with accountability, and the list goes on and on.  But in the COVID world that we find ourselves, the Flipped Model seemed to be the best model for balancing at home vs in-person instruction, especially as classrooms and groups of students might be asked to quarantine.

One of the ideas that Crystal shares in the book is the idea of the WSQ (pronounced Whisk), which stands for Watch - Summary - Question.  I love this idea on multiple levels - it allows for accountability, it allows for the teacher to peek into the student thinking, it allows for an element of "notes".  However, in this distance learning world, I've been playing with the idea of having kids keep a paper notebook vs a digital record and how to balance the two.  I know I want them to have a resource that they can use in future classes, a resource to take with them.  But I do want a way to monitor their thinking as well, see the questions they have, read their summaries, etc.  So how do I keep both of these in balance?  I've looked at EdPuzzle for the Watch, which allows for formative questions throughout and I like that idea.  The EdPuzzle analytics allows me to see who has watched the video, how many times, see the answers to their questions, etc.  I've thought about my beloved Desmos.  In the book, Crystal mentions using Google Forms, so I played with that a bit yesterday...

There are parts of Google Forms I like - I love the spreadsheet feature that lets me look at their questions.  If I do a formative question, I can use conditional formating or make it a quiz, but then I vaguely remembering seeing an option to email a copy to yourself.  In the Google Form settings, you can change it to include "Response Receipts", which allows you to email the responses to the person.

I'm thinking this might be a way to bridge the personal copy and the teacher copy... Students can watch the video, answer any formative questions, write their summary, ask the questions, then when they submit, the teacher will see the responses AND the student will have a copy in their email.  Set up a label and now they are all nicely sorted into a GMail folder.

So help me poke holes in this idea... What works?  What doesn't?  Pam suggested having an option to do a photo upload for doing their summary / question on paper and I like that too.  Maybe a branching form?  

Sorry for the lack of organization of this post - it's still a work in progress, my brain is mush after all day on Zoom, and the new Blogger is not playing nicely with the images and formatting, but I'm too tired to fight that battle tonight.. :)

Remote Learning - Reflections

It's been over 2 months since I last stepped into my classroom, since I physically saw my students, since the world as we knew it changed.

If I could go back to March 13 knowing what I know now, I would change so many things.  I would not have spent time reviewing for a test, I would have just enjoyed sharing the same space with my students without fear and anxiety of one of us contracting an illness from proximity.

But that world is gone for now.  I don't know what the future holds, but I think it's safe to say that in August, my classroom will look different than it ever has before.  I am hopeful that we will be able to return like a typical August, but I also think that will be a short-lived experience.  so many logistal issues... how to handle the hallways?  lunchtime?  Do I sanitize my classroom between every hour?  How do I fit 30+ students in my room?  How will my pedagogy change if I can't have students working in groups?  How will we screen thousands of kids every day? 

It's overwhelming.  

But I also know I can't stick my head in the sand and pretend it's not happening.  We have to prepare for several contingency plans and every day, when we leave our classrooms, the thought will be, "Did I grab everything I need in case we are teaching from home tomorrow?"

So with that thought, yesterday I posted a tweet and holy moly, the responses are STILL pouring in.

Read the entire thread here

From the thread, I'm really eager to learn about some of the technologies that people shared, but I wanted to answer the question as well.  I personally had two pieces of edTech that I found useful:

Most Valuable Program - Desmos

To be honest, Desmos totally saved the day for me with Remote Learning.  Because I could embed images and videos, ask formative assessment questions, do card sorts, ask for and give feedback, Desmos truly became the Remote Learning Platform of choice.

Student response re: Desmos Learning

As the weeks progressed, I explored more self-checking aspects and how to use computational layer (CL), the Desmos programming code.  Desmos allowed me to keep a lot of the same feel as I have in the face-to-face classroom but move it online.  I loved the Desmos Starter Screens and developed some of mine own to mix it up a bit.

In the face-to-face classroom, I can see Desmos being used a lot for formative assessment and my traditional card sorts

Honorable Mention - Google Quizzes

I used Google Quizzes mainly with my AP students as a way to submit their Free Response practice and give them feedback

Each week, I would send out a link to the Google Quiz and students would submit a photo of their work.  I would split my monitor into two browser windows - one to display the photos and one for me to type in the feedback.  In later weeks, there was also a small notepad document on the right where I could copy/paste common feedback comments.  I was able to give detailed feedback and scoring much quicker than if I were grading by hand, but it still took several hours in general.  

In the face to face classroom, I see myself using this a lot with a QR code on the screen for students to use their phones to quickly submit photos of their work for feedback while still being able to retain a copy for themselves instead of waiting for me to return a paper.

Looking to the Future

Who knows what next year might bring.  I know it will look different, but I don't know *how* different, and I need to use this summer to think through some of those possibilities.  What I do know is that the past 6 weeks were not how I hoped to end the year, but I learned a ton about various tech tools and how to utilize them in a variety of structures.  I've had time to explore tools because it fit a need versus "hey, here's a cool idea!"  I think this pandemic will shift our educational system but it will also shift edTech by requiring programs to really dig into the pedagogy and practicality rather than to be flashy tools that look cool.

Remote Learning - Organization is Key!

Week 2 of Remote Learning has started and my new co-workers are some of the laziest colleagues I've ever had!  Either they are laying down on the job, napping, or trying to steal my office supplies.  Actually, it's the office supplies that are most annoying - those are MY pens! :)

This has been a HUGE adjustment for me.  Not being able to see my students to see if they get it, to watch them work on whiteboards, to check in with them about their lives, to give High Fives... this is hard.

I don't mean that it's hard in the sense of being at home - that part doesn't bother me.  I'm a huge introvert by nature and can do just fine with just a good book, a blanket, and my patio. My office is a comfortable place to work and I have a very walk-able neighborhood to get out for fresh air.

No - the hardest part is just the paperwork.  I've actually really enjoyed having the time to learn more about Desmos, provide individual feedback on our activities, and exploring some tech tools that I can use moving forward.  But the hardest part has been just the daily organization of teaching this way... keeping track of the daily communication with students and parents, monitoring who has done the assignments, contacting students and parents you haven't heard from.  It's a full time job just to keep up with the emails!

Keeping my Sanity through Organization

Organization Tip #1 - Color Code Everything!

I am always up for colored pens, but earlier this year, I got a set of erasable pens from Amazon and I love them.  I have had the Frixion pens before as well, but I kind of prefer the off brand ones :)  I keep track of when I've contacted a student, parent, counselor, when a student has contacted me, who has done what assignment, etc.  The best part of the eraseable set is when I'm doing my lesson plans, I can erase and fix errors! :)  Yay!


Organization Tip #2 - Tracking Student Work

I keep a paper attendance book that shows a whole 9 week period in my classroom normally, so I just printed those out and checkmark each day.  I also keep track by colored dots when I have contacted students / parents, sent out whole class emails, etc.  Mainly, I need to be able to see at a glance when I haven't heard from a student in several days so a "welfare check" can be done, either via email or phone call. 

I also struggled with keeping track of what I actually assigned each day, comments of changes that I wanted to make for future use, and how many students had done each assignment, so I made a mini-calendar at the left to help me keep track.  Right now, each day tends to just melt into the next one, so having a way to keep track of day-to-day lessons, which ones I had given feedback on, and a place to make myself notes was a must.


Organization Tip #3 - Tracking Parent Communication

While I'm trying my best to have engaging lesson plans, I know that I will not have 100% engagement.  However, I was quickly getting overwhelmed by the emails I was sending and tracking who had contacted me.  We are supposed to contact parents (or send names to the counselor) when we have not heard from a student in several days.  Plus, there are some students who are starting to trickle in with "Yeah, I'm good with my grade.. stop nagging me already." and in those cases, I really need to make sure I have the documentation from their parents that the parent is okay with the student's decision.  In general, I'm just drowning in emails and I needed a way to keep track of it all :)


Organization Tip #4 - Lesson Plan Binder

In my AP class, we are still working toward our AP Exam, now scheduled for late May, plus I still have one more chapter to teach.  Because I want my students to continue with their AP Stat notebook, I created a Digital Learning Notebook for them that has the daily lesson plan, notes sheets, problem sets, and AP Free Response problems.  I also try to give them feedback daily so they know how they are doing and what they can do to improve.  I was quickly gathering a stack of answer keys, AP Rubrics, etc, so I grabbed a spare binder to make my own Digital Learning notebook / Lesson Plan Binder.  Each week, I have a general guide of what we are doing, then the weekly file that I share with the students with my answer keys to keep them all in the same place.  This has proven invaluable to me as we are asyncronous, so the responses may trickle in over the course of a few days.


Organization Tip #5 - Rocketbook still Rocks!

I've shared before about my love of Rocketbook in my classroom, but with the shift to Digital Learning, the structure of my lessons have changed a bit.  In my regular classroom, I use a composition book and half-sheets of paper, so it fits perfectly into an 8.5x11 Rocketbook Frame. Then I just snap a photo and it goes straight to Google Drive for students to check their work.

But with my Digital Learning, my notes / problem sets are on normal sized paper, so my Rocketbook Frame was too small!  EEKK!  I talked hubby into helping as I was busy working on other stuff and he was able to enlarge it to an 11x17 page.  Then I just laminated the frame and now it works perfectly with 8.5x11 notes.  Yay! :)


Organization Tip #6 - The Bookmarks Bar is your Friend!

One of the best organization tips that I have, that I use MULTIPLE times a day is a folder on my Bookmarks Bar.  This allows me quick access to the tools that I use every day.  For example, you'll notice links to resources that I've found useful, including links to the amazing webinars that have been going on right now to support teachers.  But the bottom set of bookmarks are the true workhorses of this tip.  I have easy access to my Google Meet, my Desmos lesson collections, and my Google Folders that organize other lesson plans and the district files.  I don't even want to think about how many times a day I click this link on my screen :)


My Biggest Take-Away:
There is no "right" way to do this Distance Learning thing.  Even as an organized person, I'm still struggling with keeping track of everything, but the tips above have definitely helped me keep my sanity and helped to tame the paper monster a bit.

What things have helped you keep organized during your shift to Distance Learning?

The Shift to Remote Learning

Whew - what a week - what a MONTH!

The last time I saw my students in person was on March 13 as we left for Spring Break.  If I had know then what I know now, I would have done so many things differently.  None of us knew at that point that it would be our last day of traditional school.  We thought that maybe we might have an extended Spring Break, but we would be back together soon.

Yeah... that didn't happen. 

On social media, one of the hashtags has been #bookspinepoem and here's mine - an Ode to Remote Learning.  For many years, I have focused on Best Practices, on successful group work, on formative assessment, then during break, we had to "Switch" and "Flip the Classroom", learning to "Teach Outside the Box" as we "Rethink" everything!

Last week, we received our Remote Learning guidelines and it took me some time to think through how I wanted to shift my clasroom.  Each of my preps is designed slightly differently and to be honest, as of Saturday night, I still hadn't figured out my AP Stat classes, but thankfully it came together on Sunday!  Whew! 

Lessons Learned from Week Day 1

Lesson #1 - Organization is a must

I'm a paper planner person but my normal lesson plan book is designed for the traditional system and that just wasn't working for me.

I needed a way to keep track of meetings, of Office Hours, of to-do lists, to jot down notes, document student activity, so I had to do something new.  It's not the prettiest thing in the world, but so far it's functional and it's helpful to see my day at a glance as well as tracking my to-do list.


Lesson #2 - Learn to Improvise

When we left for Spring Break, I didn't take much other than my grading and my flash drive.  Of course, I also didn't know that would be the last time I would be in my classroom for months!  So as I sat down yesterday to start my first day back to school, I quickly realized that one thing that missed from my classroom is my phone holder, so Legos to the rescue!  :)

Later on in the day, I was in the middle of my Office Hours via Google Meet when I needed to step away from my desk.  I ended up creating an "away" screen in Google Slides that I could run on a separate browser window in the background and then present screen via Google Meet.  I currently have 5 "away" screens - the one pictured, one that says I went for a walk, one that says it's lunchtime, one that says "I'm here but working - please say Hi to get my attention", and one that is a virtual high five for Friday :)


Lesson #3 - Find a way to see / hear / talk to your students

As an introvert, I can spend all summer and never really leave the house, so having an extended Spring Break was kind of like that.  However, when the message came down that we would not be going back to our physical classrooms, I'll admit that I cried.  While life in general can be way too people-y for me, I really do love my students and my classroom.  My students bring me so much joy on a daily basis and emotionally I struggled with the idea of teaching mostly seniors, which means I may never see some of them again. 

Thankfully we live in an era of technology, so yesterday I hosted a Google Meet and Greet to see my kids and hear their voices.  I had about 65% participation in my AP classes and it really did my heart good to interact with them.  Hubby later on commented that from his office, he could hear the smile in my voice. :) 


Lesson #4 - Build in ways to give / receive feedback on your lessons

More than likely, if you are reading this blog, I am preaching to the choir when I talk about my love of Desmos.  In many of our math classes, we are using Desmos activities every day with a quiz on Friday. 

One of the biggest benefits I see to Desmos is the ability to give and receive feedback from my students.  For example, I can read student responses to questions and give them individual feedback (brand new feature!), give a formative assessment question like the one on the right and overlay responses as a temperature gauge of the entire class, do self / auto checking questions, allow for the sketch tool, etc.  It truly is an amazing piece of software and I'm so very grateful for all that Eli and his team do for the math ed community!


Lesson #5 - Make Connections - both with people and content

I've already mentioned above about seeing your students via video-conferencing, but it's also good to do some text-based connections.  Over the weekend, I had sent out a Google Form just to connect with my students and ask them about their Spring Break.  I wanted them to know how much I miss them and how much I hate that this is how our year is going to end.  I have been going through and sending individualized emails to my students to respond to their questions and concerns and mainly just to touch base.

This connection is also a great feature with the Desmos activities.  I used the new Desmos Starter Screens collection to copy and paste some checking in screens for students to tell me a story or draw me a picture.  One student on her Google Form asked if we could continue to have "fun exit tickets" so I need to gather some 'Would you Rather' etc just to break up the math and make those personal connections.

One lesson I learned today (on Day 2) is that I need to do a better job of making connections with the content.  I need to figure out a way to better link yesterday's lesson to today's lesson to tomorrow's lesson in an asyncronous world. So next week on the Desmos lessons, there will be some starter screens that ask them to look at the previous day's Desmos feedback and respond to it as well as screens for retrival practice (aka Powerful Teaching - Thanks to @pamjwilson for the idea!)


Lesson #6 - Planning a week at a time is HARD!
Each Monday morning, we have to have our lessons online and ready for the entire week.  Now, don't get me wrong, I've always been a planner and knew what my lessons looked like for the week, but not to this level of detail.  In my "normal" world, I have written topics in my lesson plan book for the whole week (or even month, etc), sent off for copies, etc, but I didn't have the nitty-gritty details planned because I need to see student faces and get a gauge on student understanding to know where we are as a class.  For example, I might know that Wednesday is going to be about the Pythagorean Theorem, but until Tuesday evening, I might not know the detail of whether that would be using whiteboards or a question stack or a Desmos activity.  In this scenerio, I have to think through the pacing and the details of the entire week without having those visual cues from my students.  Not really having the option to revise my lessons throughout the week is already driving me nuts, but one student has commented that he really likes being able to move at his own pace and the flexibility to do all of the lessons at once if he wants, so I guess that part is a positive?


Lesson #7 - Get up and MOVE!!I am NOT used to sitting down this much! In my classroom, I am on my feet all the time and rarely at my desk.  Now, I'm at my desk all the time, so I have to leave my office and go for a walk around the block a few times a day.  Grab your phone to call a friend, listen to some music or a podcast, but find a way to not be stuck behind a computer all day! 


My Big Takeaway
I'm sure more lessons will be learned in the coming days, but my biggest take-away is how vital those people-to-people connections are, even to an introvert like myself.  I have long used chatrooms and Twitter and other social media to make those connections, but I'm quickly learning how to harness the power of technology for instructional purposes.  I'm really excited to see how this pandemic shifts the educational technology sector to be adaptive to the human side of learning.