Inference Lessons

Common Core Standard:
RL.6.1: Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. 

NETS
Digital Age Learning Environments: Technology coaches create and support effective digital-age learning environments to maximize the learning of all students.

a.     Model effective classroom management and collaborative learning strategies to maximize teacher and student use of digital tools and resources and access to technology-rich learning environments

b.     Maintain and manage a variety of digital tools and resources for teacher and student use in technology-rich learning environments

Assignment 1: Prezi
Objective: Students will be able to support character trait inferences with at least two pieces of textual evidence for each chapter. 

As we read The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, we will infer character traits and support those inferences with words from the text. Track your inferences and textual evidence by adding to a Prezi after each chapter. Here is a template and example for Chapter 1.

Assignment 2: Voki
Objective: Students will be able to support character trait inferences based on images as textual evidence. 

Tech in the Classroom, Everything in Moderation

Throughout my EdTech Masters at Marian (fully online), I often reflect on the growing reliance on online learning . When I began this program, I envisioned an entire online curriculum, complete with web tools for every learning experience and style needed for my students, paired with me as a facilitator to differentiated learning.

Having just completed a three-week summer course in which my high school students had 1:1 chromebooks, I’m tempering my enthusiasm for 100% online learning. I swung the pendulum too far toward technology, away from face-to-face collaboration. Students became silent drones, the blue glow of a laptop screen dimming any chance of building discussion skills. As a teacher of speech and language, this was disconcerting.

I’ve seen a similar drawback in my Marian online cohort. I’ve had fruitful debates with colleagues at PD sessions throughout my career. We get to know each other in flesh and blood, allowing for a quicker, natural level of comfort that opens us up to lively debate. Sadly, I’ve never met any of my fellow Marian EdTech-ies, which I feel contributes to the high level of agreeable responses and minimal critical discussion. Perhaps the blended cohorts have an easier time critiquing each other, but the overwhelming amount of discussion replies begin with "I agree.." or "Me too!" This shows me that we are afraid to engage in critique with a stranger and search out opportunities for platitudes so we can reach our discussion grade quota.

As is typically the case in life and education, a balance of technology and traditional learning should be our goal. My middle schoolers will have 1:1 laptops this school year. I hope to create a learning atmosphere that prompts collaboration and learning with and without technology, so students are building social and 21^st century skills. 

An Example Research Essay... the Fabled Five Paragraphs!

*This post is dedicated to my ultimate brethren. To all the plastic worshiping diehards, I recommend checking my sources. Scholarly, peer reviewed journal articles interpreting "the ethnography of ultimate" is good for a smile.

**The following is a research essay I composed as an example for my 9th Grade English, Grammar, and Composition summer course. The underline and superscript denotes a quiz question that is not shown, so no comments on the grammar. We all know the impotence of proofreading.

Dan Piotrowski

Mr. Piotrowski

EGC Summer

13 June 2013

Ultimate: Born on Asphalt

Have you seen athletes on high school and college campuses across the nation? Typically these athletes are tackling an opponent with a football, hitting a homerun, or racing around a track or in a pool. However, have you seen athletes calling plays, wearing professional uniforms, and chasing a plastic disc in the sky? Ultimate Frisbees1 origins are rooted in loose rules and jokes that evolved into the competitive sport we know today. 

Ultimate Frisbee first took shape as a joke amongst friends in 1967. A student at Columbia High School in Maplewood, NJ, Joel Silver, credited with inventing the game, were2 quoted saying “it was a high school joke” when he suggested to the student council frisbee be included in the curriculum. Joels’s3 motion was passed as everybody laughed (Lemire 89). ____4 According to a 1975 Time article, Joel and his friends began playing the sport on a school asphalt parking lot, wanting a “simple, inexpensive, low-key” sport (52). Started as a joke, Ultimate Frisbee was quickly taking shape. 

The earliest version of Ultimate Frisbee was a looser version of what it is today. Originally played on an asphalt parking lot, the field dimensions were made by natural boundaries and end zones marked with random objects (Griggs 761). Also, the names of throws were given different names as well as emphasis. The forehand or “flick” was called a “finger throw.” A “thumber”, where the player places their5 thumb on the inside lip of the disc, was6 called “thumb throw” and widely used as an alternative forehand (Time 52). Further, the highest level of the game attracted athletes looking for a less intense, win-focused environment, a mentality that is increasingly changing as the sport grows in size and popularity today. 

The counter-culture of the 1960s played a large role in the initial development of Ultimate Frisbee. Searching for a less competitive athletic outlet,  it 7 did not want to appear as “jocks” and connected with a sport seen as a “spoof” of organized sports (Time 52). Colleges were populated with groups identifying with similar counter-cultures, Joel8  and his friends spread the game when they graduated from Columbia High School (Lemire 89). From there, the game took root in the Northeast, branching west9.

The practical joke, counter-culture origin of Ultimate Frisbee is a far cry from the hyper-competitive college and club teams populating major cities today. Over the years, through 12 editions and revisions of rulebooks, the game is now entering its first year of a professional league. These pros will wear matching uniforms and play on regulated fields to large crowds but the relaxed10 origins of the game live on in parking lots and empty fields wherever a disc is close at hand.

Maximizing eBook Potential

For a middle or high school English class, reading novels on an electronic device utilizes the commenting, built-in dictionary, clickable background knowledge via web links, and multimedia components, all the great resources teachers have been using in one, mobile device. 

However, it would be wasteful if lessons were limited to traditional literature circles in which students read the same novel as a small group and allow discussion to guide the learning. Years of pedagogy supports this practice, but with the advent of mobile devices, these literature circles need to expand outside the 25-30 students of a classroom. 

Kids aren’t just holding books, they’re holding a communication device. FaceTime, Skype, instant messaging, email, and wikis are all ways discussions on text can break the classroom’s four walls. Opportunities for discussions with experts or students from relevant regions of the globe bring a range of insights a single community of learners can’t. 

Attached below is a lesson plan for traditional literature circles in which the only innovative component is utilizing eBooks and the various tools the book reading apps provide. It falls short of its potential by limiting the discussions to the students in the particular classroom. 

This lesson focuses on the skills of using an ebook. Yet, student background in technology literacy and device intuition is growing. While basic training in the tools of a school’s particular ebooks is necessary, just as it is necessary to teach the use of science lab equipment or a new software program, an entire series of lessons is overkill. Further, students often end up teaching the teacher a new trick and are more than ready to show off their knowledge to the fellow student who is a tad behind. This instructional time could be better spent discovering connections with world-wide circles. 


eBook Lesson Plans:

e-Book Reading and Response: Innovative Ways to Engage with Texts

10 Apps for Teachers

As a 7th grade Language Arts teacher, I've been using my iPad to stay organized and grade assignments for a couple years now. Here are my thoughts on the ten I've used the most. 

PlanBook 

4/5

This is the best lesson plan organizer in the app store. It color codes your classes, allows you to bump lessons ahead due to scheduling or pacing conflicts, and email lessons from the app in a wonderful looking table view. I love the ability to return to previous year’s lessons, referring back to “Teacher’s Notes” about what worked and what would need revising. The most useful aspect has been emailing the lessons to my administration. During a yearly review, my principal asked for lesson plans. It was a click of a button away. The developer is a teacher himself and has created desktop versions of the software. He is very easy to get in contact with for questions via Facebook or email. He’s responded to each of my questions within 48hrs. 

I give it a 4/5 because it only has weekly and daily views. I prefer to see my lessons and unit structures in monthly views. I understand this would be difficult to display on the iPad screen, but it’s just how my brain works. 

Google Drive

5/5

Anyone familiar with Google Drive knows the collaborative and accessibility benefits. Your documents are everywhere without the hassle of saving them to DropBox, and you can easily partner on documents with others. The app version provides everything from the online experience including editing, invites, commenting, and publishing, only now in an iPad friendly user interface (UI). 

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

5/5

As I’ve gone BYOD in my Language Arts classroom, I recommend all my students download a dictionary app. MW is my number one choice for its superior quality of information and UI. The voice recognition allows you to say the word you’re searching for; however, it is very sensitive and won’t work if background noise breaks up your voice. Students appreciate it’s use as a thesaurus. By looking up a word they know, several synonyms are provided. A simple click on any synonym will send you to that word’s entry. Sometimes a 7th grader can’t pronounce a word they found. The app will voice the word for them. 

A trusted name came through with a great app. 

Notability

5/5

I experimented with several note taking apps before settling on Notability. My main concerns with other apps were the lack of organization and constant crashing (resulting in lost work). Notability has been very stable, organized, and comprehensive in its capabilities. Videos, links, and images are easily embedded. Transitioning from typing to handwriting is seamless. A library of shapes allows for infographing. All of my notes are neatly organized in folders and everything is automatically backed up on my DropBox. 

I use Notability to grade student essays. It allows me to write comments directly on the essay as if it was paper and pen, type longer comments at the end, and highlight sentences with various pen styles. The most impactful benefit has been emailing graded assignments directly to families. Handing back essays has always resulted in unread teacher comments and a filled trash bin at the end of class. So, I email the essays home for parents and students to view together. If a student wants a retake, they must log-in with a parent, review my comments, and a parent notifies me by email. 

DropBox

5/5

While I prefer Google Drive for my professional and personal work, DropBox’s folder organization makes it the better choice for student essays. Google Drive’s folders are clunky to create and navigate. DropBox has an organized UI for folders and viewing documents. 

I use DropBox and Notability together to grade essays. Students save their essays as PDFs and post them to a public folder on our school server. Then, I save all the essays to my DropBox by logging into the website. When I open the app, the essays are organized and I open the PDFs in Notability for grading. 

Explain Everything

3/5

Explain Everything allows the user to record “white-board” like actions as he or she speaks. I often upload a PDF template of what I want to demonstrate in the video. I prefer it to Educreations due to the increased amount of tools. This is a great tool for educators looking to implement Flipped Classroom elements. 

It can be a bit cumbersome when finalizing the videos, taking long amounts of time to post the video to DropBox or email. So, your iPad usage comes to a standstill. Plus, you can’t leave the app during this time as the uploading will pause and then restart when you return. Be sure to monitor longer uploads. If you’re screen goes into lock mode after a few minutes, the upload will stop. Either turn off your lock in settings or keep an eye on your iPad and touch the screen every few minutes.

Prezi

4/5

This app is a prime example of a web tool developing an app with all the same features, but the web experience cannot be trumped. The UI looks great but can be touchy when it comes to manipulating the screen with your fingers. Creating a Prezi requires scaling and tilting images and text. The use of a mouse online makes this a simple process. Using your fingers with the app is not nearly as simple. 

But, all your presentations sync with the online log-in and save your changes. So, if you don’t want to carry your laptop, at least you have your presentations. 

Groovy Grader

5/5

This app has a very basic function but holds a lot of nostalgia. Remember those (or perhaps do you use?) cardboard, slidable percentage calculators? Slide the number of questions into the window and the column shows a percentage to the corresponding amount wrong. For this app, all you have to do is type in the number of questions and the same information is provided. That’s it. Basic. The best part is it mimics the green color of the cardboard grader I remember seeing on a teacher’s desk as a kid. 

GoodReader

2/5

This app allows you to read and edit documents opened from DropBox, email, or other cloud based systems. I find the UI inferior. When using any of the editing or note taking functions, it requires you to click save, undo, or cancel before going back to the read view or switching tools. If you forget to click save, you’ve lost potentially a lot of notes. If you want to undo something five moves earlier, you have undo all five. Double tap to zoom, but single tap to pull up the tool bar and swipe to switch pages. Sounds familiar, but if you’re not use to the app, you might zoom when you want to turn or the tool bar keeps reappearing. Notability does everything this app does better, and more. 

Except for one tool: popup note. This tool places a tiny word bubble icon (which you can color code) on the document. When you click on the word bubble, you can type extensive notes regarding whatever picture of text you’re reading. A similar function is built into iBooks. This is the only thing Notability is missing. In Notability, you’re limited to writing in the margins or white space of PDFs. Sometimes I have more to write. These popup notes can hold any amount of typing and only take up a small portion of the screen.

UPAD

1/5

Admittedly, the main reason for such a low rating is I got burned on the app crashing, resulting in the loss of 30 graded (but unrecorded) essays along with a myriad of notepads filled with ideas and comments from training conferences. 

As for usability, the app provides handwritten or typed note taking space, as well as marking PDFs. However, it has zero support for embedding video. Again, I refer you to Notability for greater stability and superior UI in every way. 

From Fun to Necessary: Breeding Student iPad Users

This video confirmed my recurring views on iPads in the classroom. I categorize iPad educational capabilities into two groups: A) touch/respond apps best suited for elementary and B) innovating old-school materials for faster access to knowledge. 

The beginning of the video focused on the former category. Elementary aged students respond positively to the instant gratification of answering correctly, spelling with their fingers, or completing word searches. However, the charm of touch/response wains as students advance in years which is where the second category comes into play.

As students lose interest in a firework display for answering a math problem correctly (touch/response), the iPad better serves as an expedient means to traditional ends. Considering current students are digital natives, maneuvering apps is second nature and preferable to interacting with traditional materials (i.e. paper books, maps, calculators, etc.). The second half of the video shows students viewing maps and reading text with iPad apps. While a student could just as easily search in a hardcopy atlas or read the paperback version of a book, supplemental information has greater accessibility on the iPad. 

Digital natives find it cumbersome and antiquated to search out supplemental information when using physical copies of text. This reluctance will often lead to inaction. Will they put their novel down and flip through a dictionary for each word they don’t understand? No. Will they actively search out a modern roadmap overlay for the topographical maps in a paper atlas? No. iPad versions provide immediate access to this information, matching the cultural expectations of the digital native. 

While their reluctance to put in the research time is concerning on certain levels, educators must understand the inertia of the technology movement cannot be slowed or stopped. True, proper research skills that include the use of multiple resources, tables of content, indexes, etc. is necessary to a certain extent, their traditional methods of use are themselves antiquated and have taken on new meaning and usability. A table of contents is no longer a place to find page numbers, but a chapter list for which to click immediately to necessary information. Further, even these uses become overshadowed by the “search text” bar at the top of iBooks and similar materials.

The video focuses on the consumer and research side of iPad use but does not show the creation aspects. Using document sharing, blogging/vlogging, and infographic creation apps allows for high quality student products in short time periods. Further, iPads allow for these creations to be collaborative and published just as quickly. This is of greater benefit to the classroom than the consumption aspects because, for the time being, traditional hardcopy materials can suffice as the information is still available. However, it is more difficult to recreate the collaborative and publishing capabilities if student products are limited to pen and paper or word processing. Thankfully, iPads allow for both. 

The video is evidence of how digital native students are conditioned from an early age to utilize technology for expediency. In kindergarten they can know immediately if they picked the correct shape by way of touch/response apps. This learned expectation manifests itself as the need for immediate definitions and access to information in the older grades. Because of these reasons, in the coming years, more iPads or similar tablet devices will replace traditional materials within the classroom. 

Twitter allowed me to make contact with Linda Sue Park, author of A Long Walk to Water, one the books in our Social Justice Unit. 

Skype in the classroom? Just get them Gmail accounts.

Skype’s various modes of synchronous communication provide collaborative versatility. Audio, visual, and messaging capabilities allow individuals or groups to communicate and minimizes technology disruptions. While visual communication via webcam is the primary benefit to the tool, technology breakdowns occur without warning and can disrupt this method. A lack of webcams, internet speed, and mysterious tech glitches can stifle the speed of webcams. To experiment with this tool, I Skyped with a curriculum partner in another school within my district. While we are lucky enough to have the hardware to make video chat an option, unfortunately my building’s wifi was slower, creating significant lags in our conversation. Thankfully, the text messaging aspect of the site allowed us to laugh at this frustration together. 

Potential uses for Skype in my 7th grade language arts classroom are project oriented. Soon my students will enter into a social justice thematic unit in which we read historical fiction and discuss issues of equality. Debates are woven in as a learning platform. I plan to arrange students to communicate with professionals from the region of the globe their books takes place. Further, I am working with that curriculum partner to have our classes debate each other. 

Skype provides an accessible platform for these forms of communication. However, if Gmail accounts could be created for those participating, I see Google Drive as a significant upgrade. Skype does have file sharing amongst its capabilities, but the ability to edit and publish is greater with Drive. Further, text and video chat are available through Gmail. Skype specializes in a few services, focusing on producing high quality video chats, while platforms like Google aim to integrate many services at a comparable level of quality. However, I do see a greater opportunity for searching out unknown collaborators with Skype. 

Speaking Voki Avatar

Voki is an easy to use web tool for students to create speaking avatars. Here is my test Voki. Respond to its question on this blog!

Edmodo Critique

I see Edmodo as a positive tool for teachers in districts without interactive websites. Many of the components like quizzes, document posting, and discussions are qualities built into many school website providers. In the past few years, my district has moved from School Fusion to Sharp School as web provider. Both provide blogging, document posting, quizzes, and calendars among other asynchronous tools. If I taught in a district absent these perks, Edmodo would be my first choice for an online classroom. 

The communities aspects is a welcome addition though. School web providers keep everything within the district, and, even then, sharing between colleagues is relegated to the individual perusing other teachers’ sites. Edmodo’s communities provide substantial amounts of curriculum supplements, questions/answers, and websites/blog posts. Further, because the communities are specialized, a narrowed search for relevant topics is made simpler. It is similar to Twitter in the way of content and global reach, but more specification of posts within the community allows for greater quality of focused sharing. 

Multiple Intelligence Planning Enhanced By Online Learning

(In response to The Influence of Multiple Intelligence Theory on Web-Based Learning )

Multiple Intelligence integration into my classroom is at times enhancing and at others partitioned. Many of the natural combinations of intelligences come easy to a Language Arts workshop. Students working independently to read/write followed by sharing/critiquing peers is intra and interpersonal. Depending on the particular project, spatial and logical-mathematical are incorporated. These are the enhancements.

At other times, I struggle to incorporate intelligences and force them into separate activities. For example, bodily kinesthetic often seems forced for the sake of getting students out of their desks, not necessarily improving the curriculum. Actually, it often proves to be more of a distraction. The closest I’ve come is gallery walks and inventing body movements for vocabulary recall.

As learning increasingly turns toward technology as a platform, educators are afforded greater ease in combining multiple intelligences with a single lesson/project/activity. A single student’s varying aptitude in the intelligences does have the ability to hamper learning in a dynamic curriculum that combines them (Riha and Robles-Pena, 2009). More than likely, online learning and media integration will limit the interference and allow the intelligences to balance or even augment each other by providing greater combinations and choices of learning tools.

For instance, an online curriculum can create a podcast lecutre that incorporates music for a teacher without musical talent via published soundtracks. Linguistic, logical-mathematical, interpersonal, and intrapersonal are all easily recreated by technology with blog forums and podcasting. These are the elements already most readily produced in traditional classrooms. Bodily-kinesthetic, the least used by classroom teachers, is afforded more opportunity due to the greater allotment of time. By flipping a classroom with online learning at home, class time can be spent exploring tangible, real-world applications on field trips.

If any of these particular elements creates too much interference, online lessons can be edited more simply than a one-time classroom experience. Perhaps one student cannot focus with a soundtrack playing during a podcast lecture. A teacher can much more easily edit and repost a the podcast than they can recreate an in-class lecture minus the song- if there ever was one.

Multiple Intelligence learning is research supported. High-level educators know to consider these in their lesson planning. Online learning opens more doors for synthesizing them within a single learning target.

References

Riha, Mark & Robles-Pina, Rebecca A. (2009). The influence of multiple intelligences theory on web-based learning. MERLOT journal of online learning and teaching. Retrieved from http://jolt.merlot.org/vol5no1/robles-pina_0309.htm

Technology/Media Discussion Thoughts

On the reluctance of some teachers to reeducate themselves in the name of technology integration...

Regarding the generational discussion, perhaps it's worth taking a look at what media innovations were taking place in the past as means for assessing the possibilities of today's innovations. Now, as a younger teacher, I cannot speak from experience. However, I bet the use of a slideshow (with actual slides) back in the 1950s and 60s revolutionized the way students could experience curriculum. 

A slideshow by today's standards is basic media technology: hit the button, new slide appears. Yet, I infer that the teachers who first used this media in their classrooms had to reorganize their lesson structure and pedagogical beliefs. Teachers need to do the same today. Unfortunately for "change," the media and technology available today takes much more training than hitting a button.

On the notion that integrating technology based media creates a learning environment familiar to students...

You mention using technology based media as a tool for setting a familiar stage within which students can learn. Our current and future students are products of the digital age and therefore are more comfortable swiping the page than turning. 

Within online learning and the use of technology based media on the rise, their integration into education in early years becomes pivotal. Students exposed to these tools in middle or even elementary school will be at an advantage when they reach high school and certainly college where these platforms are commonplace. Upon entering post-secondary education and/or eventually the workforce, a student who has basic tech and media skills from owning an iPad is developmentally behind in 21st century learning contrasted to the student who has been trained with online or blended learning. 

Not only is technology based media integration a way to make many students feel comfortable, multimedia/online platforms in school can take them to a higher level of competency.

Multimedia only precludes learning with real-world delivery

Background Knowledge:
A misnomer I had and feel many do: multimedia = technology. Untrue. Written words next to a bar graph is technically multimedia. Sorta seems obvious once I read it, but there it is. 

On to this post's main idea...

Multimedia improves learning, but delivery determines the strength of the media. 

People are so sure media improves learning because it provides a recorded history of knowledge learned. Without media (i.e. books, video, computers, graphs, etc.) we are relegated to original experience. While hands-on, original experience enhances learning, the recorded success found in media validate that which can be experienced. Further, culture and knowledge grow by an awareness of what has been accomplished before, using the past as a starting point for growth. 

But what makes one medium better than the other? A particular pairing in multimedia superior? Why can a thirty year veteran teacher prepare students with dusty books sprinkled with charts better than some teachers armed with eBooks and wireless Internet? The answer is delivery. 

The passionate veteran with books and charts is using multimedia to deliver context. If his or her approach in using these tools is authentic, real-world learning, student growth follows. I’d be surprised to hear that any of us cannot recall a teacher, even if they were only the wise old geezer down the hall you didn’t get to have in high school or a current colleague one floor down, that doesn’t resemble this description. 

Contrast this wily vet with the technology laden colleague. The teacher who sticks a computer in the face of every student in order to complete online worksheets or answer multiple choice questions based on the reading. The computer/Internet multimedia marriage does not preclude student growth unless wielded with the same passion and authentic experiences the veteran provides with books and charts. 

As I’m only in my fourth year of teaching, I’ve often been guilty of smothering students in technology for what truly only benefits me, the teacher. I’ve had students take electronic versions of tests and quizzes, allowing me to grade on my iPad. After typing essays, I’ve sent kids to Web. 2.0 Tool sites to review content knowledge. These are personal conveniences that do little to nothing for student learning that paper versions couldn’t. What is lacking is multimedia and authentic context. 

The multimedia experiences I’ve successfully combined with authentic learning provided those smile moments when a classroom is humming with diligent work, thriving students, and poignant discussions. One of these moments came by reading historical fiction and taking gallery walks of photographs from the time period. Combining printed word with visuals sparked a real-world context for the literature. (technology played zero role in this lesson)

True multimedia academic impacts come from the buzz word circling in every education discussion: engagement.  

Innovations in Technology Culminating Assignment

I recently finished my second course in the Educational Technology program through Marian University. I've posted the video and written rationale that acted as the final assignment for the course. Innovations in Technology (EDT652) provided the research and talking points to many of the pedagogy perspectives I already had. So, while the video and rationale are really just a string of platitudes regarding authentic learning and technology integration, I am finding personal benefit. We all have great ideas about our various interests in life, but rarely are we afforded the opportunity to solidify them. 

Video Rationale: 

As the 21st Century Fluency Project puts it, quote, “today we face a new kind of student. Our schools weren’t designed for them. And our teacher weren’t trained to teach them.” The 21st Century Student is not confined to a desk, in a row, with a teacher up front.   The 21st Century Student requires a skill set that will prepare them to adapt to the evolving job market. 

Providing them with communication, collaboration, and innovation tools is the job of the 21st Century Teacher, who needs to facilitate meaningful learning experiences, allow students to teach each other, and invite collaboration with community field experts. Included in my video are images of community experts acting as co-teachers. Further, I work in images of students modeling communication, collaboration, and innovation, many of which are centered around technology, the professional language they have been bred to speak and will need to harness in the job market. 

This can be achieved by expanding the class period and learning space into communities that have a vested interest in student achievement. Chen writes in Education Nation that “the [traditional bell] schedule reinforces divisions between subjects...” (2010, p. 198) Teachers are constantly preaching that lessons need to create student engagement, yet we continue to confine our canvas to eight separate periods. Lessons, units, and assessments are stripped of authenticity when restricted to a single content area. To truly create engaging experiences, an authentic context will utilize interdisciplinary projects that allow kids to utilize course material in a real-world setting. Thus, in the video you will see students learning in authentic settings such as a laboratory with a professional as mentor and a community river. 

I conclude my video with a what I expect from the 21st Century Student upon graduation. The traditional model of teaching has done a disservice to students by providing them a curriculum void of real world skills. Those who can go onto college are not always prepared with a career pathway. Those who aren’t college bound for the most part aren’t armed with workforce skills up to par with the jobs that are available. These are not new ideas. Since 1920, the The National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium (NASDCTEc) has worked to prepare students for an every changing workforce. There mission is to quote “help students discover their interests and their passions, and empowers them to choose the educational pathway that can lead to success in high school, college and career.” Therefore, my vision of a 21st Century Graduate is one that not only embodies the 21st century skill set, but has a number career pathways in which to utilize those skills. They have an idea of where they want to go and have been provided the tools necessary to get there. 

While the pedagogy and learning space might by new, the end product is not. Teachers have wanted college and career ready graduates since the beginning of the profession.  The 21st Century Fluency Project recognizes the pervasive “that’s the way we’ve always done it” mentality that will need to be overcome for us to prepare our students. Students will clammer for this change, but they will not instigate it. It is up to teachers, administrators, and communities to send prepared graduates into the evolving world. 

References

21st Century Fluency Project (2012). Understanding the digital generation keynote perspective. Retrieved from http://www.committedsardine.com/handouts.cfm

Chen, Milton (2010). Education nation. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium (2012). Retrieved from http://www.careertech.org/who-we-are/

Common Core Provides Unified Goals and Autonomy

In the August 17th edition of The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's “Your Views,”  a well-intentioned reader, Mr. Dick Marx, opposed Wisconsin’s adoption of the Common Core State Standards as a measurement tool for student and teacher achievement. His article, titled “School Standards Initiative Could Be Another Mistake,” is a response to an earlier OpEd titled “All Kids Need a Great Education.” 

As a teacher and proponent of Common Core, I’d like to fill in some gaps for Mr. Marx because he voices common concerns from caring individuals who do not have an insider's vantage point on education. His concerns include the possibility that Common Core will handcuff local school districts to teach prescribed curriculum rather than mold a community; that they were not authored by “stakeholders” such as teachers, school boards, and parents; and that student and teacher performance alike would be assessed through a No Child Left Behind model of standardized testing. These are all valid concerns for a supporter of schools and the individuals affected by the state’s decision.

However, many of Mr. Marx’s concerns can be alleviated with a bit of research, which will help calm instead of add to the “current anti-public education political environment” as he puts it.

Mr. Marx is concerned by the idea of Common Core dictating what and when local school districts teach material, labeling this a state take over of education. This is fallacy. Common Core, like other sets of standards in the past, is designed to create equality in education across districts. By providing teachers with a common vernacular and curriculum targets, students who migrate from school to school, community to community, can be sure they will receive an equal education and have a softened transition if they do move. Common Core, adopted by more and more states, expands this benefit across state lines.

Another significant misnomer many attach to Common Core- because its been true of past sets of standards- is that it was written by legislators, not educators. Wrong. The Common Core website specifically states it is a collaboration of teachers, administrators, and education organizations such as the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers among others. Further, they welcome feedback on the standards from anybody willing to review them via their website.

Finally, teachers should shout from the streets something many of us have come to realize: students taught through engaging, 21st century skill based teaching strategies score just as well, if not better, on standardized tests. Good teachers never teach to the test. Good teachers teach the child, adapting standards to fit the needs of their students, parents, and communities for the betterment of everyone involved. High test scores are an indirect result of these practices and standards because students are taught how to critically think, not test cram. Critical thinkers are well equipped to succeed on any assessment. Common Core provides the best set of standard based goals yet, and teachers are more often than not provided the autonomy to direct their students toward these goals as they see fit.

Moving from Guest Speakers Toward Team Teaching

I fully agree with the integration of team teaching, particularly with the aim of real-world context for 21st century learning. Bringing professionals into a classroom not just as presenters, but as teachers and mentors provides a level of engagement lost when kids see lessons as “school work” and not applicable to their future. 

My superintendent has worked tirelessly to market our school district to surrounding businesses. A benefit to his hard work has been a surprising interest in business collaboration with our classrooms. There are professionals who want to help us. We just need to open our doors to them.

I’ve had a few opportunities to bring professionals into my 7th grade language arts class. One notable experience came during a debate exercise for our social justice unit. A student enthusiastically shared that her dad is a lawyer. I was already planning to bring guest judges to determine debate winners. However, I was limiting this to our principal and colleagues with a free period. A few emails back and forth provided a great guest speaker. The student’s father spoke to how he uses debate tactics and then served as an insightful judge. 

A major benefit to this experience was motivation. When students heard a professional debater would hear their arguments, a high stakes mentality pushed the prep time into high gear. Motivation skyrocketed. 

Now, this experience was helpful, but I don’t necessarily consider it team teaching. Chen refers to his daughter’s experience with poet Grace Grafton, part of California Poets in Schools, actually guiding student poetry writing (2010, p. 260). This is a prime example of team teaching and motivates me to take the debate experience a step further this coming school year. I’d like to bring lawyers and other persuasive professionals into my classroom to sit with debate teams, acting as sounding boards for new ideas and improvements. As an English teacher, I certainly know the principles of persuasive speaking and writing and the elements of a debate. But a professional can bring an element of expertise I cannot. 

That professional insight is the opportunity afforded by team teaching.

References

Chen, Milton (2010). Education nation. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Appleton eSchool Review

Appleton eSchool Overview

Appleton Area School District has provided their high school students the opportunity to complete credits online rather than in the classroom with Appleton eSchool. This completely online school allows students to complete credits for graduation whenever and wherever there is Internet access. The largest positive to this online model is the students’ ability to meet their own learning needs by setting the pace. Students, along with mentor and teacher guidance, pick the beginning and dates as well as the pace of assignment completion in between. Beginners are allowed to take one online credit at a time. Successful online students may take a maximum of two credits simultaneously.

eSchool Staff and Virtual Presence

The eSchool staff pertinent to a student is comprised of a teacher for each class and a personal mentor. The online teachers are district staff that teach the same or similar online course in a traditional classroom setting. Students are told that staff is most easily contacted via email and that all emails, phone calls, or request for live chat rooms by the end of the school day or within 48 hours for more extensive contact requests.

Each online student is paired with a mentor. This is an adult who has regular contact with the student and shares an enthusiasm for online learning, regularly a parent. A mentor is responsible for checking in with his/her student routinely, keeping them up-to-date on assignments and work schedule. This adult is provided a login to help monitor student progress. Teachers and mentors are in close contact.

Florida Virtual School and eDynamic Learning provide packaged course offerings nationally. Appleton eSchool offers some electives via these initiatives.

It makes a lot of sense to have content certified school district teachers also teach the online courses.  Since the premise of the eSchool is to have students complete the same high school courses at their own pace, this staff overlap creates continuity, ensuring online and traditional students are receiving equal education.

Mentors present a great way for home life to integrate into school life. Online learning is new to many students. Having a trusted adult nearby to either guide or learn along side is helpful for students in every setting.

The two exterior programs, Florida Virtual School and eDynamic Learning, expands students’ course options with minimal work from the district. This is an excellent example of teachers stealing from teachers for student success.

Curriculum and Course Offerings

A comprehensive list of course offerings allows students to take just about any class Appleton high schools offer online.

The curriculum for these online courses is slightly altered from the classroom setting. Students participate in discussion forums, but their grade and attendance is based on completing at least one assignment per week. Yet, teachers are given flexibility to use various assessment tools that mimic classrooms: quizzes, readings, discussions, tests, etc. The same final exam is given to online and classroom students, evening expectations for everyone.

Considering the aim of the eSchool is to allow students to finish high school at their own pace, it makes perfect sense that the same courses needed for graduation be offered online.

Pace Charts, a calendar to help students keep up with course work, is an excellent idea to strengthen class management. The mentor has a heavy hand in this area. More to come on these later. 

The school’s homepage displays the slogan, “Providing 21^st Century Learning Since 2002.” 21^st Century Skills, according to the Buck Institute for Education, are focused around collaboration, communication, and critical thinking (Chen, 2010, p. 76). The eSchool’s online format does incorporate technology into communication; however, I do not see any notable improvement in collaboration and critical thinking beyond what a traditional classroom environment would provide. This is in large part due to the traditional style of assessment utilized. The Policies and Procedures document names some popular used assessments: brochures, PowerPoint presentations, reports, oral quizzes, and worksheets to name a few (Appleton Area School District, 2011, p. 12). These are all very traditional assessments used in the common high school classroom. There does not appear to be movement toward 21^st century assessments that create authentic experiences.

Student Activity Tracking and Learning Management (Pace Charts)

Teachers and mentors are required to send monthly progress reports to students. Teachers are also expected to grade assignments within two school days of submission.

Along with the use of mentors and requirements for prompt teacher responses, Pace Charts serve a major role for students to manage their learning. A Pace Chart is a calendar that sequences course work into manageable chunks. Students have a lot of say in how this schedule is put together as well as the start and end dates. This is a spectacular way for students to take ownership of their learning through time management. Further, it incorporates differentiation, as students are able to work at their own speed. It is encouraged to work ahead of pace whenever possible.

For students looking for a predetermined structure, Virtual High School (VHS) is offered. This avenue provides the same course work but with a fixed start and end date.                       

Website Navigation and Information Access

I found the website to be very user-friendly, particularly for someone perusing for basic information. I was able to find an FAQ that was helpful to both casual visitors and potential users, going in depth into the workings of the eSchool with well worded, short answers to helpful questions.

Putting myself in the shoes of a potential student or parent, course offerings would be near the top of my list for need-to-knows. This was not only touched on in the FAQ, but I quickly located the link on the main page. A comprehensive list of the course offerings is accessed easily. However, it seems some courses are clickable, leading to a course outline, while others aren’t. This seemed peculiar.

Overall, the website’s interface is capped at necessity. Everything a student, parent, or teacher may need is quickly found without added bells and whistles or technical components the majority of users wouldn’t need.

Conclusion

            Appleton eSchool is a great opportunity for students frustrated with the pace of course work in a brick and mortar setting. Yet, the majority of what is offered does not extend learning beyond what could occur in a classroom. It simply provides a differentiated pace for those who need to speed up or slow down for success, expanding the “when” learning is happening. Also, the online component opens up the “where.” While this may help students succeed in the current academic high school model of course work, it does not provide much more 21^st century skills than a classroom can. The online component can convert some of the students’ face-to-screen from entertainment to academics, but I doubt any new technology skills, with the exception of online professionalism, are built that social media couldn’t have provided otherwise.

            I recommend this school to any family with a high school student frustrated by the pace of the traditional classroom. I think any student needing things to speed up or slow down can greatly benefit from Appleton eSchool. However, if a family is looking for an academic setting that incorporates true 21^st Century Skill based learning, rather than the same curriculum and assessment translated online, I suggest they look elsewhere.

References

Appleton Area School District (2011). Appleton eschool policies and procedures. Retrieved from http://www.aasd.k12.wi.us/eschool/pdfs/1112_Policies_Procedures_eSchool_Dec.doc.pdf

Appleton Area School District (2012). Appleton eschool. Retrieved from http://www.aasd.k12.wi.us/eschool/index.html

Buck Institute for Technology (2012). Retrieved from http://www.bie.org

Chen, Milton (2010). Education nation. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

eDynamic Learning (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.edynamiclearning.com

Florida Virtual School (2012). Retrieved from http://www.flvs.net/Pages/default.aspx.