Sharing An Adventure: Guest Blogger, Nicole McGrath

One of my favorite aspects of education is the adventure of it all.  The journey of the learning process is often filled with twists and turns that require the journey's leader to have a plan.  While the leader knows the destination, he or she must also be prepared to make adjustments when unexpected roadblocks occur.

It is with this in mind that I introduce our first guest blogger of the school year.  Over the past two years at Resurrection, with learning objectives always at the forefront, Nicole McGrath has consistently stepped out of her comfort zone in an effort to produce creative, engaging and meaningful experiences for her students.  I sincerely believe that students take risks when they see teachers take risks.  Nicole's example is a constant reminder to her students not to be afraid of failure or taking risks, and that learning occurs through that very process.

Before I turn it over to Nicole's insightful words, let me mention that I would like to continue this process of occasional guest blogs that reflect on all of the terrific things that are happening in this building.  John Dewey tells us that, "we do not learn from experience. We learn from reflecting on experience."  I have always taken this approach with my own educational experiences and my hope is that both writer and reader benefit from sharing with each other our successes and failures in the classroom.  I encourage any teacher who may be interested in sharing to contact me and we will make you our guest blogger for the week!  With that said, let us enjoy, learn and reflect on Nicole's words...

Guest Blogger: Nicole McGrath

BreakoutEDU Experience

Guest Blogger??? Check off another technological first for a teacher who still asks girls if they need a piece of typing paper. Thirteen months ago, I had to ask Joe to fix my Chromebook because it wasn’t scrolling correctly. There followed my first Askin’ Lascon tutorial: how to use a Chromebook.

It is amazing how using the learn-one-new-thing-at-a-time philosophy has resulted in one of the best lessons I have ever taught. Teaching British Literature to sophomore honors students is challenging even on the good days. The content is tough, the language seems foreign, and some find it “boring” (unimaginable, I know). When Joe introduced the Breakout concept to us, I immediately decided it would be my first tech challenge of the year.  

If you are thinking about trying one, GO FOR IT! Who does not like a lesson where failure is a Win? The biggest challenges for me were in giving as little guidance as possible and finding ways to take a “wordy” subject and turn it into numbers (Science and math teachers, BreakoutEdu is made for you). I am a teacher; I am suppose to give them all the information and then assess if they “Got it”. Setting them loose to discover the Anglo-Saxon time period was probably harder on me than them. It was hours of work, and rework, and rework again, but so worth it. The biggest lesson I learned was that they can do it. We have taught them well, and they are able to research, use trial and error, and work together as a team to find information on their own. I really think that with this tool you have to believe nothing is too hard.

I know they learned a lot about the background of Beowulf, but I think I learned more. Letting them go, be loud, be stressed, yell, complain, laugh and drive their own learning was amazing. Trial and error became a valuable part of the lesson. I saw a group of some of the most intelligent girls in the sophomore class shut down because they could not find a way to work together and were so flustered by not getting the correct responses right away that they stopped using common sense. Not one group brokeout – not one! Every single girl failed, but it was a win. Hearing girls say it was the best class ever and seeing them discover how to learn on their own while they run around the library (some were reading those things on the shelves with all of the words) was a total WIN! So, fast forward a couple of centuries and, in the spring, Jane Austen and I will tackle another Breakout, and this time I’ll try another tech challenge by making my own website to go with it.  No doubt I’ll be making my notes on typing paper, if you want to join me.

NOTE: A special thank you to Nicole for taking the time to guest blog.  Additionally, if you are interested in doing a breakout, please visit the Breakout Edu section of our Instruction Tech webpage.

What Have I Done?!

It's my fault.  I did this to you...

If you haven't experienced it yet, you will.  It may not be today; it may not be tomorrow, but rest assured that the day is coming.  You will sit down on a Sunday evening, put a show on in the background, load your lesson plan document and begin the preparation of engaging, thoughtful and well-planned lessons.  Then, it happens.  At first, you think maybe everything hasn't fully loaded yet.  Then you figure a quick reset might do the trick.  At that moment, you realize the truth...Lascon's lesson plan template is laggy!  In a fit of rage, you hurl your computer at the wall in disgust.

When that day comes, I know that I can expect an email telling me that it's time we had a talk.  All I can tell you is that my heart was in the right place.  I didn't want this.  No one wanted this.  That being said, I can assure you that I can do better.  Rather, I will do better!

So here we go...drumroll please...introducing...Digital lesson plans 2.0!

The problem could have been foreseen.  With the passing of each week, with more content being added each and every day to the document, it was inevitable that your lesson plan document was soon going to start looking and acting like...

The good news is that we have an easy solution to the problem.  Starting now, you will find another document in your lesson plan folder, creatively named "Quarter 2" lesson plan document.  This document will begin with Week 11 (Oct 31st- Nov 4th) and will run through the rest of the semester.  Decreasing the content will preemptively solve our lag issue.  Regarding next semester, I will create two additional lesson plan documents for what I have intuitively named "Quarter 3 & Quarter 4" lesson plan documents.  As I have done previously, I will create both templates and you can utilize whichever you prefer and discard the other.  If you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact me.

I apologize for the inconvenience and all I can say is...

Accessing AMP Data

You've taken the time to create your assessment, it has been administered throughout your department and now you are ready to make some data driven decisions!  All that is missing is...the data.  Here are the steps to get to your AMP data.

*Remember, you have the ability to access both the overall results and the mastery data that highlights individual standards.

Data Directions

1. From the Schoology homepage, click the "Assessment Reports" tab located on the left side of your Schoology homepage. (See figure 1, step 1)
2. Once within the assessment reports, you will first need to select the type of report you would like.  Toggle the "Assessments Report" arrow and select either, "Overall" or "Mastery" results.  (See figure 1, step 2)
3. Once you have selected what type of report you would like, toggle the "Assessment" arrow located under the "Assessment Report" section.  Select the assessment that you would like to view.  REMINDER: You have access to view any assessment that was created within the AMP group(s) that you are included in.  (See figure 1, step 3).



4. 

   Figure 1

   Once your selected report has loaded, you now have the ability to make additional adjustments to the data you are viewing via the "Filters" options located above the data. You can toggle either what specific course section you viewing (see figure 2, step 1) and/or what instructor you would like to view (see figure 2, step 2).  This allows for a more specific viewing of your assessments.  If you have selected any filters, please select the blue "Apply" button to customize the data you are viewing. 
   
   



Figure 2

It should be noted that Schoology will be adding even more functions to the data assessment tools in the future.  This will allow us to utilize the data for even more specific purposes.  If you have any questions about accessing and/or viewing the data, please feel free to contact me.  

Get Excited! Midterms and Casting!

Well, it's that time of year again.  Midterms!  Some of us can recall the anxiety that this time of year provoked in us growing up. I know I can sympathize with students who are preparing the following scene to perform for their parents next week...

We wish these students the best and can only hope it is a one time performance!

Now, on to some exciting news!  Cast for Education is now ready to be used in your classrooms!  I will pause to allow this to sink in...

No?  That Gif (it should be noted that I don't care what the inventor of GIF's says, it should NOT be pronounced like the peanut butter!) doesn't do it for you?  It doesn't quite capture your excitement?  Try this one...

Now that we have accurately captured your excitement, let's talk about how and why you may want to utilize Cast for Education.  Cast is going to give your students the ability to wirelessly share their Chromebook screen onto your own screen.  Assuming that you have your laptop/Chromebook connected to your projector, your students will easily be able to share their screen with the class.  Not only will this functionality streamline the process of student presentations but more importantly, it is a nice addition to the collaborative learning experience!  Now, with the touch of a button, students can share what they have discovered or been working on with their fellow classmates!

Setting up and using Cast for Education has been made user-friendly but did require the setup and use of Google Classroom.  Fortunately, utilizing Hapara Teacher Dashboard, we were able to discover a work around that streamlines the setup process and removes the need for a teacher to setup an account with Google Classroom!  So why don't we get everyone setup and ready to start casting?!                                                                                                                                      1. On your Chromebook, begin by opening the app named "Cast for Education."  To do this, click on the circle icon located in the lower left of your screen and if you don't see the "Cast for Education" app listed, select "All Apps," find and then click on "Cast for Education."  We have recently pushed the app to each teacher's Chromebook, but if you cannot locate the app, try doing a restart of your device. Once the app has been located and clicked, this will launch the app allowing for further setup.

Image 1

2. Once the app is running, if you are not automatically prompted, click on the "Settings" icon located in the upper right hand corner of the app.  Within "Settings" you need to insert a "Receiver Name." This name is what students will see when they are searching for a computer to "cast" to.  For this reason, we recommend using something like the subject you teach with your class number or your name with your class number (i.e. Tech Leadership 121 or Lascon 121).  Once you have created a "Receiver Name," simply click "Save." (See Image 1)

3.  Once back at the main Cast page, click on the blue "Share" icon located next to the "Settings" icon.  For another user (in most cases a student) to "cast" their screen to yours, you first need to enter an email address and decide what level of permission the user is allowed.  Fortunately, we have a work-around that removes the need for you to enter each student's email address!  (See Image 3)

Image 2

4. At this point, go to Hapara Teacher Dashboard, select a course and go to "Class Info."  Once inside the "Class Info" page, you will see an email address located under the course name.  This email address is for your whole class.  Copy this email address, then return to the Cast for Education app and paste the email address into the grey box located under the "Add People" heading. (See Image 2)

Image 3

5.  Once the email address has been entered you have a permission setting to select (located next to the grey box).  You can either toggle the setting "Can Present" or "Can Request."  My opinion is that it is best to select the "Can Request" option for classroom use.  If you select, "Can Request" when students go to cast their screen, a dialogue box will appear in the bottom corner of your screen asking if the student can share their screen with you.  You can then select approve or deny.  (See Image 3)

6. Once you have entered the email address and selected a permission setting, click on the grey "Add" button.  Please repeat these directions for any additional classes that you would like to have the ability to cast to your screen.  (See Image 3)

7. After you have entered the class email addresses for all the courses that you would like to have the cast ability, click on the "save" button.  That's it!  You are now ready for your students to cast to your screen!  (See Image 3)

Remember, you can always go back into the share settings and adjust share rights and permissions if needed.  If you would prefer a video tutorial on the topic, please watch the video below.

For anyone interested, the Inspirational Education Video of the Week on the Instructional Tech website has been updated.  This week's talk features Tom Rademacher speaking about how he changed the nature of his assessments and content so that what he delivered in the classroom would pass the "Google Test."  Enjoy, and as always, feel free to contact me for any additional support or questions!

Paper...Get Your Paper Here!

I have always loved the following quote about education:

"Who dares to teach must never cease to learn."

Each year I have the simple goal of continuing to push myself to grow as an educator.  I'm always talking to my students about becoming life-long learners and I believe that I should demonstrate that first hand.  As educators, we live in an amazing time regarding professional growth.  With access to conferences, webinars, educational blogs, social media, podcasts and more, teachers really have a number of avenues to chose from regarding individualized PD.  For that reason, I have always tried to provide professional development in a multitude of ways so that teachers could access training, materials, and assistance in whichever way they find most convenient and useful.

While I have always found face-to-face, individualized professional development to be the most beneficial, time restraints and other challenges frequently get in the way.  In addition to face-to-face PD and Lunch & Learns, previously, teachers had access to Schoology, a rare blog, an occasional "Askin Lascon" tutorial video and some emails with step-by-step instructions.  All of this is good, but I'm always looking for new ways to disseminate information and training to help teachers and students in any way that I can.

So this year, we released the new Instructional Tech website, started a Res Instruction Twitter account, and now I can officially promote the release of the Res Tech Times paper!


What is the Res Tech Times and why would I want to read it?  Glad you asked.  Utilizing a website called paper.li, I am able to quickly curate educational content that may (or may not) be of interest to you.  For a teacher who may not have the time to search for educational content via social media, blogs and/or educational journals, this may be an option for you to explore.  By visiting the Res Tech Times, you can quickly find a variety of education content covering a wide array of mediums and issues.

The page will update each day, providing access to new articles, blogs, videos and journals, removing the need for you to search multiple tools/resources for access to such content.  Historically, I have spent a few minutes a day on my Twitter account going through my feed to read about educational projects, news, contests and more.  I am hoping that this paper can work in a similar way for teachers who are interested.  In addition to this blog, I will provide access to the Res Tech Times via the Instructional Technology website (under the "Instruction" tab).  Feel free to check it out, and as always, feel free to make any suggestions that you may have!

In Other News:

1. I will be sharing folders with each of you that will contain the new walk-through observation data.  The data will no longer go into a spreadsheet for you to view but rather will be placed very nicely into a Google Doc for easier viewing.  Because of the new format, you may not have immediate access to your observation data but should have it within a day of being observed.  Once the folder has been shared with you, I recommend right clicking on the folder and selecting "Add to My Drive." This will make access the folder much easier moving forward.  Please contact me with any additional questions.

2. This week's Inspiration Educational Video of the Week has been updated.  This week's talk is called "Power to the Pupil" by Jennifer Magiera.  Join Jennie as she takes you on a journey of "bright spots" that illuminate student creativity in a world that has historically crushed it.

3. In addition, the Video Tip of the Week has been updated as well.  This week's video tutorial walks you through creating engaging discussions in Schoology.  This is a very well done tutorial that can help you take your discussion boards to the next level!

Well, that's it!  Happy Friday and in case you haven't heard...Shawn Mendes is coming to Resurrection!

Getting AMP'd

Summative assessments? ACT benchmarks? Schoology tests? Data driven decisions?...WOO!  It's electric in the air!

Getting AMP'd

As was stated at the beginning of the school year, we are the first private school in the country to be utilizing the new Schoology AMP (Assessment Management Platform) feature. This new tool will allow us to collect data at a micro level, helping to guide curricular and instructional decisions. This tool comes at a useful time for us as we continue to build data that we have available to us.  In doing so, I believe we can also be honest with ourselves and admit that few things are more exciting to read about then summative assessments and data driven decisions!

Many faculty members have met with me to discuss the new tool and receive training on building question banks.  If either you and/or your department have not yet done so and are interested, please contact me with dates and times that would be best and we will schedule an opportunity to meet.  Once the tests are generated, I will push them to the required courses.  Located below are the steps necessary to administer the AMP assessment.  If you would prefer to watch a tutorial video demonstrating how to administer an AMP assessment, please click here or scroll to the bottom of the blog.

1. Once I or an administrator pushes an AMP assessment, you will find the test located in the "Materials" tab of the specific courses that will be administering the test.  The assessment will be unpublished, which means that students cannot see it.  To publish the test, click the gear icon located on the right side of the assessment and select "Edit".

2. Once you have clicked on "Edit", please click the circle icon located under the "Options" category. Clicking the circle will turn it green. Once we have hit "save", your test will be published. That being said, before hitting save, let's make a couple more quick adjustments under the "Edit" pop up box.

3. Take this opportunity to fill in the "Due Date" section, "Total Points" section and change the grading scale to the Resurrection Grading Scale.  You do not need to make any adjustments under the "Category" section.  After making these adjustment, please click "Save".

4. Our test is now setup the way that we need it.  When you are ready for your students to actually be able to have access to the assessment and begin taking it, you will need to enable it.  To do this, click on the test itself (not the gear icon).  From this point, select "Manage Assessment" located just under the test name.

5. Click the drop down arrow under "Attempts" and select "Allow Attempts".  You will not have the access rights to adjust any of the other settings listed (i.e. Attempt Limit, Time Limit, etc.)  so after allowing attempts, simply click on "Save Changes".

6. When your students have finished taking the exam, you will go back into the test (by clicking on it), reactivating the drop down menu located under "Attempts" and selecting "Disable Attempts".

Well, that's it!  You are now prepared to assess your students, gather standards based data and then create action plans and/or data driven decisions.  If I may, a piece of advice for any teachers currently working on building an assessment.  If possible, please try to have a particular standard addressed more than once to aid in getting a clearer picture of a particular student's actual mastery of a standard.  If a standard is only touched on once, it is possible the student has some understanding of the standard but simply messed up on one question.  This may not be possible for every standard that you plan on having assessed but it would be preferable if most were covered this way.  As always, if you have any follow up questions or would like to schedule a training session please feel free to email me!

Administering AMP Assessment Via Schoology Tutorial Video

It's Time for Something Different...It's Time for a Breakout!

What you are about to read are real quotes, from real students...

    

"It was the best time I have ever had in a class." 

    "Interacting with others and working as a team to me is all what learning is about."

    "It was a fun surprise and really made me think out of the box."

While I would like to think that this is how my students describe each of my classes, I recognize that probably isn't the case.  So what was it that got my students demonstrating creative problem solving and collaboration?...(insert drum roll) Breakout EDU!

So what exactly is a breakout and why should you consider doing one in your classroom?  Breakout Edu is an immersive learning experience based on the problem solving and collaborate experiences of an escape room.    This fully customizable experience allows your students to truly push their cognitive limits while engaging them!  As with anything that we incorporate for student learning, it has to be about more than just student engagement and fun.  While your students will experience both, it has to be about student learning and achieving your learning objectives.

They Call This...The Beginning of the Year Checklist!

It's electric in the air! Can you feel it?!

They Call This...The Beginning of the Year Checklist!

Excited.  Anxious.  Maybe a little stressed.  The beginning of the year can make us feel a number of different emotions but there really is nothing like that moment when students walk into your classroom on the first day.  Enjoy those moments.  With that said, let's get right to it!  Here are a few items to consider before those students walk in on day one.

Setting Up Your New Courses in Schoology

Anytime I have to do something once a year, you can expect that I have forgotten how to do it.  Remember that in setting up new Schoology courses for the year you have two options.

1. Copy a previously used course - Go into your archived courses (Courses --> See All --> Archived), click on the gear icon located next to the course name and click "Copy Section".  From there, simply make small changes (clicking on the 2016-17 School Year under "Grading Period") and you are ready to go.  All the previous student information will be gone, but your materials, assignments, assessments, etc. will still be there!

2. Create a new course from scratch - To do this, simply select "Courses" and then "Create".  This will give you a blank template to work with. (Again, don't forget to select 2016-17 School Year under "Grading Period.")  Once your course has been created, you will need to either import materials, resources, etc. from your "Personal Resources" or add them into the course via the "Add Materials" button.

Reminder: Each year in July, your courses are auto-archived.  Never delete a course because they hold important resources and student submissions/grades.  You always have access to previous courses to recover any information and/or resources.

Tip: Schoology has a number of resources to help teachers get started on the right foot during the start of the new school year.  You can find articles, walk throughs and tutorial videos to help with "Back to School" on our new Instructional Technology website.  Check it out HERE!

Hapara Teacher Dashboard

Our friends at Hapara continue to make improvements to the Teacher Dashboard.  Here are a few things to consider as you begin the new year. 

1. Adding/Removing Students:  Occasionally you may notice that a student is missing from your course or a student has switched classes and remains in your Hapara course.  Hapara has made it simple to manually make the necessary changes.  To add a student, simply click on the "Class Info" tab located at the top of the screen.  From there, select "Add New" under the "Learners" section and type in the email address of the student to be added (i.e. rresite20@students.reshs.org).  To remove a student, check the box located next to their name and click on "Remove".  To view a tutorial video on this process, please click HERE (located at the bottom of the page).
2. Seminar:  New to your Dashboard this year, you will find your seminar course is now listed.  Some teachers had mentioned that it would be helpful to be able to view their seminar students screen, ensuring they were using their time productively.  Enjoy...and sorry to students for ruining seminar.

* If you find an error in Hapara, either a missing course and/or you have been assigned incorrect courses, please email me so that I can make the necessary changes.

Be Looking For...

1. Directions on how to utilize the new Cast for Education ability.  This will allow you to select what student you would like to allow the ability to project their Chromebook screen without having to connect it to the projector.
2. Training session on the new Schoology AMP feature.  Just think of the data-driven decisions you are about to explore!
3. Badges.  You'll find out more about this later...

For additional help, please contact Joe Lascon or Brad Czernik for assistance.  You can also find helpful resources in the new Instructional Technology website for faculty and staff.

Digital Spring Cleaning!

Well it is about that time of year again!  As we wind down the 2016-17 school year, we are reminded that spring cleaning also involves the cleaning of our digital closets!  Here are a few items to consider for the end of the school year...

First, If you're leaving Resurrection, there may be some digital items that you want to take with you (or need to make available for others). If you use Google Apps or Schoology and want to share, keep or take your stuff, please visit our previous post located here with directions on how to go about doing so.

Google Apps

The first stop on our digital spring cleaning adventure is our Google Drive!  While Google Drive has changed how we share and collaborate, it can become the digital equivalent of a cluttered basement if not properly maintained!  Primarily, there are two areas of Google Drive that are going to need our yearly attention, our main drive and our "Shared with me" drive.  Let's take a few moments to review how we can organize each section: 

1. Main Drive:  Over time, as more Google Docs and presentations are created, your Drive can become cluttered.  The first step to take when organizing your Drive is to utilize a folder organization system (remember that Drive allows you to create folder within folders for added organization). From clubs to various courses that I teach, I have a folder for everything.  If you are in the habit of creating new documents/presentations directly from your Drive, you may have a number of loose documents in your Drive.  Take some time to sort those loose documents into their designated folders.  (TIP: If you create new files from within a selected folder, the file will automatically store itself in that folder.)  Also take this opportunity to delete any old documents that you will not need in the future.  While this can be difficult, it can also provide a feeling of relief!
2. Shared with me:  Unfortunately, this section is the wild west of Google Drive.  This section of Drive does not allow for the same organizational options as our main Drive (i.e. creating organizational folders).  Here are a few tips to help with your "Shared with me" section:
1. Any files that you would like to keep from your "Shared with me" section need to be added to your main Drive.  To do this, simply right click on the desired file and then select "Add to Drive".  Once you have added it to your Drive, you can organize it in the ways that we described above.
2. As with our main Drive, take an opportunity to delete old files that you will not need access to.  I try to take ten minutes here or there to do this so that I don't spend two hours just deleting files.

Schoology Materials & Resources

Statistics show us that over the past two years we have continued to see an increase in faculty Schoology usage.  As we continue to build our courses and add resources, we want to make sure that we don't have to reinvent the wheel each year.  Please take a moment to visit Schoology's official "End of the Year" checklist blog here to learn more about your courses, resources and how to end the year.

Reminder: Our Schoology school year ends on June 30th. That means that on that date, your courses will be auto-archived. You will still have access to both the courses and your resources but they will no longer appear under the "Courses" dropdown menu. I would not recommend ever deleting a course, simply archive it.

Tip: Teachers can create summer Schoology courses that students could access during the summer if needed.  If you need a summer course set up please let us know in advance.  You will need to select the summer grading schedule when setting the course up. 

Hapara Teacher Dashboard

In the same fashion as Schoology, Hapara also requires a yearly archiving process.  The archiving also will happen in July but there is no need to worry about lost student files.  Any archived folders and files will still be retrievable in your Google Drive.  Students will also have access to their own files even after the archiving process. To learn more about how the archiving process works for Hapara (remember, this impacts your Google Drive) please click here.

Tip: If you plan on having students access resources and/or turning in work over the summer, please remember that the folders they are using now will be archived and you will not have the same access to them at the start of next school year.  I would recommend having students keep summer work in their Google Drive and then adding them to their new folders at the start of the new school year.  Making submissions through Schoology would be my other recommendation.

A little bit of yearly spring cleaning will go a long way in helping you start off the next school year on the right foot!  As always, if you have any questions about items listed above, please contact me at JLascon@reshs.org