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!

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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)

 

Digital Learning Series

Now more than ever there are not enough hours in the day.  To help make the most of your time, I am starting the "Digital Learning Series" and kicking things off with EdPuzzle and Nearpod.  Why are we starting with tools? Many of you now have access to the paid version of one or both of these platforms!  And even better than that, these two tools offer easy opportunities to engage students.  I am looking forward to providing micro-learning options that feature tools AND pedagogy - we just happen to be starting with tool.  The Digital Learning Series will be available anytime you are ready to watch and broad topics will be broken down into short videos (aiming for 3-4 minutes each) you can watch what you need - for example, in the Nearpod series each activity type has its own video.   How can you access the Digital Learning Series? Lots of ways!  Here on the blog in the top right corner under "let's connect", subscribe / bookmark my wakelet, or check out the flyer linked here for EdPuzzle or here for Nearpod. 

Potluck PD

Time is tight, but many folks are looking to stretch their thinking and skill set. Enter "Potluck PD".  Potlucks are great because everyone brings something to the event, and Potluck PD will capitalize on your questions and experiences.  The December offerings are linked here.  Additionally, if you are looking for Teacher Choice hours all sessions will offer .5 as they will happen before / after school.  For a long time Lunchtime Learning has been a great way to squeeze in PD, but that has proved logistically challenging in our current learning environment. The current Potluck PD flyer will always be linked in the top right corner of this blog under, "let's connect".  The flyer has a Zoom link at the bottom that will work for all sessions, no registration is required as there will be an attendance form in the live session.  If you have an idea or topic for Potluck PD I would love for you to share it here!  See you at the next potluck!

Learn from Home

It's spring break for many teachers and students in south Texas, and other places around the country.  My original plan for this week's post was to chat about books - what I have read / am reading / want to read in the realm of education.  But, I was really inspired over the weekend by Kasey Bell's @shakeuplearning podcast in support of all the teachers that are, or may be, thinking about what it would be like to move from brick and mortar/ face to face school to an online learning environment due to school closures surrounding Covid19.  There are currently a ton of blog posts, podcasts, tweets, etc. out there talking about making that move, but Kasey put the rubber to the road and had Jen Pearson @1hightech, a teacher from the International School in Shenzen, China on the podcast.  Jen's words, recommendations, and lessons learned are spot-on, if not counter to a lot of the posts coming thought on my social media feeds.
Jen and Kasey's conversation has big ideas that reach beyond the moment we are in right now - the catalyst may be Covid19, but the lessons are ones that we can use to plan for the future.  There are big implications for equity in access when we talk about online learning outside of the school, but we need to have those conversations - out kids deserve progress.

I want to share my big thoughts after listening to their podcast:

• The term "home learning" focuses on the task at hand. We don't say "online work", we usually say work from home.  #learnfromhome
• If we, schools/ schools districts/ instructional leaders, are not already thinking about how home learning fits into the future of our instructional practice, we are behind the curve.
• Less is more.  Online learning isn't really about being online, and we shouldn't move to tools or platforms that students have not seen or used in a face to face experiences. Do we want our students to focus on learning the tool or learning the content?!.
• Digital piece delivery can help facilitate the directions and information, but we need to give kids the opportunity to seek out "real world" connections (think a scavenger hunts, of geometric shapes they are learning about, writing a argumentative paper a current event or issue happening in their neighborhood) .
• Classroom is about relationships, this is true if we are learning from home or learning at school. The successful online classroom is going to have routines and procedures driving the success of learning the same way it does in the face to face classroom.
• Thinking about the work that we are asking students in our classroom to complete:  What is the purpose? Is it meaningful? If my students were in a learn from home situation would this assignment matter?
• When you think about home learning, bring in those soft skills from AVID - post a photo of your own work-space, ask students what they notice / how it compares or how they plan to set up their own work-space.

Everyone has something to say.

Whether it is a hobby, work, or something in between everyone has something they are interested in, passionate about, or know too much information on.  Students are full of information - it might not be the Pythagorean theorem, and it is probably football plays, using curling wands, k-pop, etc.  Part of bringing relevance into the classroom is allowing students to share their understanding with a larger audience.  We have student research various topics all of the time and often times that research concludes with a paper that gets turned into the teacher, a poster that is hung up in the classroom, or a presentation that happens on an assigned day. Let's push down the four walls of the classroom and find ways for students to publish their work!  Publish might be a an eBook, a blog, or (wait for it) maybe a podcast!
Podcasting is a great way for students to articulate their learning.  Unfortunately, not every student is excited to write that paper or make that poster.  Providing options, like podcasting, is a great way to bring in all students. Because podcasting for students is gaining momentum, there are great resources out there to help you get started:
- NPR published a complete to curriculum to help students and teachers get started.  The great things about their resources: you can pick and choose the resources that your students need.
- Cult of Pedagogy has a quick blog post with some really great student examples already curated.  It is important for students to know that their first podcast is going to sound different from a pod-caster that has published 50 episodes.
- Common Sense Media is trusted resource with students samples, ideas for topics, suggested platforms, and more.
- Story Corps has a great variety of high interest student focused podcasts to get ideas rolling.  They also have a great question bank to help students start generating their talking points

Podcasting is a great way to facilitate student collaboration.  Intentional grouping and designated jobs are great ways to get students on the path to success. Ready to get started? I thought you might be.