Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?

 Well, I might not be Carmen San Diego, but I am trotting all over the world of Northside.  If you are on social media, read or watch the news, or noticed familiar subs in the hallway, many districts are utilizing central office folks with teaching certificates to fill-in as subs with so many teachers out due to Covid.  But it is not just us.  This week I have seen coaches driving bus routes in the morning, campus admin serving food in the cafeteria - there is not an aspect of school life that is escaping the impact of this surge. 

Today, my 1st/2nd period block had 11 students out....  
When I check-in to sub at a campus the stack of folders (one folder per teacher out) is pretty tall.
Teachers combining classes (think teacher A is at school and taking their kids, teacher B's kids, and teacher C's kids all in the library because teachers B and C are out) is happening.

We are here.  We are happy (and I am eager) to help.  If you see us in the hallways, say hey!

If you are a parent or community member, check-in with the kids you know. Their days maybe a little chaotic right now.  Encourage them to wear a mask (we are a strongly encourage but not mask required district) and I am here to tell you there are too many kids not masking up.  Schools have PPE, but send your kids with wipes and hand sanitizer to keep in their bags. 

We don't know how long we will be subbing, so maybe this will be a running topic?  But here is hoping that the numbers go down fast and we can get back into the swing of things. 

Critically Thinking About Engagement

It is the last post of the 4Cs series on the blog, but that doesn't mean that the Cs are going anywhere.  The 21st Century 4Cs are a great way to examine what we are asking students to complete in the classroom. Communication, Creation, Collaboration, and Critical Thinking over lap, and if we are hitting just one of those things on a regular basis odds are our students are more engaged. 

Critical Thinking is less likely to happen when our students complete a worksheet (digital or paper), turn it in, and never think about it again.  The more opportunities we generate for extended learning and thinking, the less overwhelmed our students will feel - for example: a week long critical thinking piece vs. 5 "assignments" in Schoology.  To loosely site Alan November**: who ever is doing the work is doing the learning. So if you are putting together extensive slide shows, you are doing the work and the kids may not be doing the learning.

To round out the 4Cs teacher tool bag, let's add two critical thinking activities:

Closed to Open Questions:  The first step is to teach student to identify the difference between open and closed questions - closed question ex.: What happened after ..... (concrete answer); Open question ex: How would the story change if chapter 3 never happened.... (many answers).  

Step 1: Have students brainstorm a list of questions about their learning (applies to any subject / let's connect if you would like to brainstorm).  You could have them do this on a shared Google doc, in breakout rooms, on a Padlet, etc.

Step 2: Have students identify all questions - open or closed.

Step 3: Have students work together in small groups to move all closed questions to open questions.

Step 4: Utilize the questions as checks for understanding, exit / entrance tickets / part of a summative assessment 

** this is a lot of work.  the work is done by the students. the person doing the work is doing the learning. this would be great chunked out over several days.

EduProtocols: Do you every ask questions (to the sea of black screens in your Zooms) and crickets???  EduProtocols is one way you can get students to discuss the content is a structured conversations and writing in the content (shout-out Rudder & The Fundamental Five). Each protocol linked below is a Google Slide template that you can make your own and use with your students. The protocols will help guide student processing and engage in critical thinking.

Cyber Sandwich: Students work in partners with shared accountability to think about and process the content.  When planning you may want to pair your F2F kids with your Zoom kids (1:1), or you might think about using this in conjunction with Flipgrid to let students "talk" bringing in the asynchronous students that may not be attending Zooms or F2F. Bonus Resource video here.

Sketch and Tell: This protocol can be done whole class, small group, or asynchronous - you would just need to share the slide show accordingly.  In the activity each student has a slide that is divided into to "columns" - sketch and Tell.  In the sketch column students will use only the drawing tools in slides to create a visual representation (no images from Google search).  In the tell column students "tell" about their sketch.  Bonus step - if you are doing this activity whole class or small group, have the students leave each other comments in the speaker notes (plug for sentence stems goes here).

Thin Slides:  Looking for a quick entrance, exit, or formative check?  Great!  This protocol can really take a less is more approach.  1 word (or phrase, but I would challenge students to find a succinct word) + 1 image (I might encourage students to use an emoji here) + 3 minutes.  You can have the students share or just use this as teacher data.

'Create' Change

I just started reading, "The Advice Trap" by Michael Bungay Stanier, and I would like to share a quote: "Easy change tinkers with present you, while hard change builds future you."

 

In education, we are in the middle of HARD CHANGE.  As we approach the one year mark of a change that was / is out of our hands, think about what your classroom looked like this time last year.  Specifically, what were you asking students to do to demonstrate their learning? How were you leveraging digital tools to help facilitate that?  

No matter where you were at last year (avoiding change or leading the charge), no classroom looks the same as it did in January 2020.  No teacher is teaching the same as they did in January 2020. This is hard change, we are building our future - the future of education, the future of our own classroom. What changes do you want to hold on to and what changes you want to let go of?

 

Student Engagement is tough right now. Period.  There is not a magic wand quick fix. We have to try new approaches, and keep trying and learning when it doesn't work.  

As we work to engage our students, examining what we are asking to students to do to show their learning is a great place to start.  I am fairly confident that if I connected with a former student there is a 0% chance they would say, "that worksheet we did in 2002 changed my life".  Worksheets, paper or digital, are passive learning.  The more opportunities we can give students to create a product to show their learning, the more agency we give them.  Today's "4C" is Create, and I have many ideas to share!

 

If Learning was Texting: What if George Washington and Benjamin Franklin could text each other during the revolutionary way; what would they say? What if the main characters in a story had a threaded conversation? Students can use a texting tool as a way to create a conversation and examine multiple perspectives.  Whether your focus is on character vs character conflict or analyzing scientific discoveries, put the thinking in their hands.  For students on Chromebooks, checkout iFake Text Message. For students on mobile devices, checkout Texting Story (iPhone link here, Android link here, and additional directions linked here). 

Graphics: Think timelines, info-graphics, resumes, flyers.  Analyzing the plot sequence - have students create a timeline.  Reviewing the water-cycle - have students create a flyer with everything they already know. Create a resume about anyone, or maybe even anything.  If the corona-virus had a resume what would it look like? Let the students create and do the heavy thinking. You might already be familiar with Canva as a great place to find templates for all of this ideas (and more), but you can also upgrade your account to Canva for Education for additional features!

Communication Nation

Last week we started a deeper dive into the 21st Century 4Cs - Collaboration, Communication, Creativity, and Critical thinking.  Continuing on that journey and suggesting ideas that can be used right away in class, let's focus on communication:

Google Hangouts: I feel like this is a loaded suggestion.  Google Hangouts may be can be a student distraction.  But the reality is, if the kids weren't on Hangouts it would be another platform, see this article from The Atlantic on the hottest chat app - Google Docs.  So what are the wins of Google Hangouts?  If you were a kid in the 90s you may have passed paper notes hoping they didn't get taken up.  Google Hangouts leave a digital footprint - if a student is sending inappropriate information or bullying another student, a digital trail is easier to track than a paper one. More than just the digital footprint, Google Hangouts offer students the opportunity to connect with one another whenever and wherever they are working.  Do you divide your students in (table) groups? Great!  Have each group setup their own Hangout.  If a student in the group is going to be out, has a question about an assignment, or wants to study with others the chat is a great place to start.  As with all digital tools, we can work to shut it down or teach students how to use it constructively.

Publish:  In last week's blog I talked about the four walls of the traditional classroom having come down.  This can be leveraged in having students publish their work.  It could be a website, a blog, a podcast, or another medium that a student feels connected to.  A lot of times we (teachers) feel that we have to be the 'knower' of all tech tools and recommend those tools to students. Meh.  Kids have all kinds of platforms, tools, and apps that probably aren't on our radar.  Instead focus on development of the content!

Portfolios: I thought a lot about the title of this category, and I settled on portfolio but I am not married to it.  Maybe it is a journal, a learning log, or a collection of the student's work to show growth over time.  In art it might be a digital collection of the student's work in various mediums.  In math it might be a photo collection of "math in real life" (ie. snap a photo of 3 right angels) - I'll also give a plug to Denis Sheeran's work on relevance in the math classroom.  Students can write, students can script, and students can communicate their thinking.

Daily / Weekly / Monthly check-ins:  Have you ever spent hours pouring over and putting together a great lesson to only have it fall flat? Are you struggling to get your students to turn on their cameras in Zoom meetings? Are you struggling to get your students to come to Zoom meetings?  Check-in with your students.  What part of that great lesson didn't work? How is your work load at school right now? What would make the Zoom session more valuable to you?  It's tough to put ourselves out there, but students words are powerful.  Wondering where you might start on student check-ins, check out this great blog post by Catlin Tucker.

Collaboration - How We Bring Students Together

🎵🎵 Stop. Collaborate and Listen.  🎵🎵

Now that I have put that song in your head for the rest of the day, let's dive into student Collaboration.  I am a big fan of the 21 Century 4Cs: Collaboration, Communication, Creativity, and Critical Thinking.  If we bring in digital learning for digital learning's sake, it is just a digital pencil (to paraphrase Alan November).  The 21st Century 4Cs are a powerful way to articulate what students can "do" in class and these four descriptors aren't limited to technology / digital tools - technology can often times make leveraging these actions easier. 

Today we'll focus on student collaboration.  How do we bring students together to share ideas and work?  In our current learning environment it is easy for students to feel isolated, separated.  However, there are some great things we can do to facilitate collaboration in learning.

1. ABC Affinity Chart: Using a Google Doc with a table / box for each letter, students can brain storm ideas, concepts, questions, things that stuck out to them, etc.  Each student uses a unique color to input their thoughts in the coordinating letter box. For example I would use orange and put "evaporation" in the "e" box if I were thinking about the water cycle.  This document can be completed by synchronous students and asynchronous students together.  I recommend keeping the group sizes to 5 or 6 students. Check out the template for this activity linked here. 

2. Pen Pal Class: The four walls of the traditional classroom have come down during this time of virtual / crisis / blended learning.  We are no longer limited by devices or campuses.  This is a great time to pair up students for a virtual conversation - it might be pairing your 3rd period with your 5th period, paring your students with students from the teacher across the hall, or connecting students across campuses.  It doesn't have to be every class every day, and it will need structure. Ahead of time (maybe in class or during a live Zoom) have students come up with questions they want to discuss with their group (what did you think of, how did you feel when, what surprised you).  The first time your groups meet (via Google Meet, Zoom, Flipgrid, Go Synth, or whatever platform you decide to use) expect them to spend some time getting to know each-other.  As they continue meeting their conversations will become more succinct. Depending on where you are in the lesson cycle, students may discuss what they already know about the topic or unit, how they are progressing in their learning, or what has stuck with them through-out the unit. 

If you're already brainstorming about how this might work in your classroom, let's connect for a coaching cycle!  You can use this form or my youcanbook.me link!

Also, this month's Potluck PD will connect to the 21st Century 4Cs.  Flyer linked here!

New Year, New Focus

 If you are like me you were happy to say good-bye to 2020!  A majority of the year was spent managing crises - health crisis, family crisis, economic crisis, crisis learning, crisis teaching.  While our current teaching environment be static or unchanging, you may feel that you have your legs underneath you in this new year with a better understanding of online platforms and a solid understanding of what is and isn't working for your students.  

Thinking about 2021 as a new year with new focus, what is keeping you up at night?  What do you keep circling back to when you think about your students, your classroom, and learning?  It might be something broad like, "I would like to see more of my students turn on their camera" or maybe something more granular like, "I would like to incorporate a collaboration activity once a week". 

If you have "something" you have a goal!  And, here is where I would like to make a plug for coaching.  If you are ready to explore that goal and collaborate together I would love for you to sign up for a coaching slot (form linked here).  The slot is a starting place for us - it might take a week to work on your goal or it might take a little longer.  This form will stay open and new slots will be added, but if you're ready now is the time!

Asynchronous Learning Options

Normally the summer is full of options for professional learning that include Teacher Choice hours. However, many of those options were cancelled this year.  While there were learning pieces like Summer of Innovation, Schoology, content sessions, and more, you may have noticed that you still need some Teacher Choice hours (12 per year) when you printed your ERO transcript preparing for our move to Unified Talent (that is also a plug to print your ERO transcript before you leave for the winter holiday).  Over the holiday break you may want to take advantage of asynchronous learning options that include Teacher Choice hours.  After the break credit will be awarded and visible in Unified Talent.  If you have questions during the break as you start navigating these learning options,  I will check email on Monday December 21st at 10 a.m. and Monday December 28th at 10 a.m.

To participate in one of the asynchronous learning options, follow the directions below.  EdPuzzle and Nearpod will need to be completed in one sitting, so keep that in mind as you start working.  While I am excited to offer asynchronous learning over the break, please also take time to unplug and enjoy the holiday!

>>>>>>

Assessments in Schoology - This course is currently open. Any work completed between now and December 18th will NOT count towards Teacher Choice. Please be sure to wait to start until December 18th after 5 PM. 

How to join: in Schoology use course code TV8F-D6M6-DCZTW (click here for a 1 minute tutorial video if you need a refresher on how to join a course). 

Credit: 1.0 TC/CPE

Audience: open to all secondary teachers in Northside

EdPuzzle - This skill driven course will walk you through all things EdPuzzle from creating your account to posting a completed EdPuzzle for students.  It is important to note that this work needs to be completed in one sitting.  You can join the class now, but the video assignment will not be available until December 18th after 5PM.

How to join: Go to Edpuzzle.com, click on the "open class" tab at the top right, and enter code iwesucv (click here for a 1 minute tutorial video if you need a refresher on how to join a class).

Credit: .5 TC/CPE

Audience: teachers ready to learn about EdPuzzle from start to finish at a beginner level

Nearpod - This skill driven course will walk you through all things Nearpod from connecting your account to the Schoology app to enabling advanced settings.  It is important to note that this work needs to be completed in one sitting.  The how to join link will be live on December 18th after 5PM.

How to join: follow this link to join the self-pace session.  Please make sure that you enter your first and last name if prompted as you join the class. (click here for a 1 minute tutorial video if you need a refresher on how to join a class). 

Credit: 1.0 TC/CPE

Audience: teachers that have the PAID version of Nearpod at their campus (Rawlinson, Ross, Rudder)