Forever in the Middle: Collaboration in a Digital Classroom

 

Online learning has definitely increased the level of challenge in education today. Many of the strategies we use in face to face instruction have to be adapted to our new online classroom environments. Here are some ways that my students have been able to continue collaborating while learning from home.

Insert Learning
There are so many digital platforms that provide articles and comprehension questions for these articles within the text. I have always been a big fan of Newsela and Common Lit for this reason and also recently discovered and fell in love with Actively Learn. While there are a plethora of articles available through these sites, I may have something that I would like students to read that is not already available. This is where the Google extension Insert Learning comes in handy. I can take any text from Google Docs and turn it into an interactive response. This is great for really focusing on exactly the questioning or standards I want to address with that piece. Options for your responses are open ended questions, multiple choice response, and even collaboration boards. You can also insert sticky notes and highlight text to really guide student thinking as they work.

                           Discussion feature on Insert Learning.
                    Students can view peer responses in real time.

Jamboard
I started using Jamboard when I saw an idea for taking attendance using Jamboard. I tried it out and loved the ease of it and immediately saw how it could be utilized in the classroom in so many other ways.  Recently, I also used Jamboard to create a brainstorm for class thinking map in preparation for writing. I gave them time to add to the thinking map then changed them to "view only" and then grouped and arranged their ideas onto a completed map that they then used to write from. We added transition words and decided what order to include all our ideas. From there, students were able to demonstrate that they understood how to turn a Thinking Map into writing by writing a short summary of the information on the Thinking Map.  With another class, I separated the students into groups. Each group was to read a section of the article then come up with a maximum two sentence summary of that section. Their summary was then posted onto the class Jamboard. Once all responses were posted, I changed their access to "view only" and they were then able to use this to review before continuing work on the article independently. 

            Cause and Effect Map                        Compare and Contrast Map          
                       

         Jigsaw Article Summary

Padlet
This is an old favorite of mine. Students are able to respond on a message board setup in a variety of ways. They can simply post answers to questions, converse in a message board stream, and even respond to each other's answers. The free account allows up to 10 message boards, which I have always been able to work with. You can delete older boards once they are no longer in use. I use Padlet for ongoing discussion about something we are reading as well as a review of what we have already learned. 

Google Suite
Of course, there are always collaboration options through Google Apps. I have one of my classes starting book clubs next week in small groups of four and we will be collaborating using some of the above options but will regularly communicate using a group response form in Google Sheets and a weekly check in with Google Forms. The benefit of using both is that the students within the group can communicate with each other on the Sheet but they can communicate with only me on the form. This will allow me to see how they are all contributing and to alert me of problems that I hadn't seen within the Doc. Click here for a simple template for Book Club online collaboration.

This year is definitely not what anyone expected, but I know that we are all doing what we can to make the learning meaningful from a distance. Please share some of your amazing ideas below so we can continue to inspire each other!

Keep the magic alive,

Kandyce Valverde

Providing Feedback to Students from a Distance

Providing meaningful, timely feedback is critical to student success and can significantly enhance student learning. When teaching a new skill, feedback is needed for students to understand what they are doing well and what they need to improve on. In a perfect world (a.k.a not the world of distance learning), I attempt to provide feedback within 24 hours. When the assignment is fresh in their heads, the input means more. The feedback can be used  to make their product better before they turn the assignment into me. I’ve noticed if I wait to give feedback, the student is already on to another assignment, and in many cases, they don’t even read the comments I leave.

You can communicate feedback in a variety of ways. In the classroom, I like to hold writing conferences with students individually. During this time, each student would read a portion of their essay (or product) to me aloud, and we would discuss what works and what doesn’t work. One of the (many) drawbacks to distance learning is that I am not able to conference with students individually. So instead, I’ve needed to look into new ways to provide quality feedback to my students.

In doing research, I found many feedback tools that I am excited to try out, but for the sake of quickness and ease, I decided to start by providing written feedback through Google Classroom. When grading an assignment in Google Classroom, there is a comment bank section. The comment back section “follows” you in any of the classes you create in Google Classroom, and you can build it as you go. For example, at the beginning of the year, you may want to start with simple feedback (punctuation and organization), and as the year progresses you can add comments that you’ll be grading them on or that you just taught (academic language or reminding them to add commentary). The feedback can be used to help students notice what they are doing well and what they need to improve.

Using the comment bank during distance learning has helped me communicate feedback with my students throughout the week in a quick and meaningful way.

Here is how you start a comment bank:

1. Open any class in Google Classroom in which you are a teacher.
2. Go to any assignment (cannot be a question, material, etc.) you have assigned where at least one student turned their work in through Google Classroom.
3. Click on the comment bank icon on the right-hand side. The first time you open this icon a tutorial will pop up to walk you through the rest of the steps.
4. Click on Add to bank.
5. Lastly, type in the feedback you want to give to students and add them to the bank

Using the comment bank has helped me so much over the past couple of weeks. I hope it helps you too!

Jenni Merry

Distance Learning During a Pandemic

Well 2020 didn't quite start off they we could ever have imagined, but here we are! Distance Learning has been both a blessing and a curse.  A blessing in that we've been given the time for self-care, the ability to take care of things at home, and spend time with our families.  As well as the fact that we still have jobs and are getting paid whereas many others are not.  A curse in that, Distance Learning is HARD.  It is not what we as teachers signed up for, but I think we're rockin' it for the most part.  This has been a HUGE adjustment for parents, teachers, and kids alike. It is a daily struggle to get ALL kids and parents participating.  It also lacks the joy of teaching, seeing the kids make connections, and the daily face to face interaction.

On the bright side, I still get to see their smiling faces on zoom and that helps me feel a little better about not being able to see them live in the classroom each day!  I thought I would just blog a little bit about what my Distance Learning classroom looks like!

Google Classroom

In my Google classroom, I post their assignments weekly.  I have them grouped by each week of distance learning.  Each assignment has it's due date posted next to it.  All assignments are posted on Sunday night, and then I make an announcement in Google classroom attaching their 5 day schedule for the week, which explains what exactly they should be completing each day.



This is just a snapshot of the 5 day schedule.  This shows the kids exactly what they need to complete each day and the links are embedded. This gets posted Sunday night in Google classroom as well as in my parent app (ClassTag).  Then we Zoom on Monday to discuss, go over, and make sure they understand the assignments, answer questions, etc

I also post exercise and mindfulness video links for them to do if they would like.  I always ask them to leave a comment and tell us which one they tried out, if they chose to do any.  They LOVE Go Noodle in the classroom so many of them are enjoying that they can do it at home!
I have also posted a few step-by-step drawing video links and had them share/post their creations.  I think it's important for them to have something fun to do and talk about besides schoolwork. 😊




Zoom
I zoom with the kids two to three times per week.
Always on Monday to make sure they understand their assignments and what's due for the week- we go over the daily schedule.  Then again on Wednesday to follow up, answer questions, make sure kids are on track completing assignments.   Then sometimes again on Friday to again address students who haven't completed work and to remind them things are due, to answer questions, provide help, do something fun, etc.  I had assigned the kids a book report project back in February that would have been due Monday 3/30.  I gave them an extra couple weeks to complete it and we shared them over zoom this past week. It was cute they were so excited to share them!

Zoom tips and tricks:
-Arrange your settings so that all participants are muted upon entry
-Toggle on the waiting room switch.  This makes it so that you have to "admit" each student.  This way you are away if anyone suspicious is trying to join.
-Also in the settings toggle on the switch that notifies you with a doorbell sound every time a participant enters or leaves.  This helps you keep track of who's coming and going.
-Type a question in the comment at the start of the meeting this way they have something to read and and answer while they're waiting.
-Also if you noticed that the "chat" feature disappeared- it didn't! When you log into zoom you need to go to your "setting" and just scroll down to where you see the chat feature setting and click the toggle switch to on.

Kids Learning at Home
I have a large part of my parents and kids messaging, calling, or emailing on a daily basis.  And although at times it's exhausting, it is so rewarding to see so many of my families working hard to support their children and make sure they're still learning.  I have had many of them express their gratitude to me for my help and support and it truly makes all of this worthwhile.  Likewise, I appreciate all their effort and support with their children at home!  I asked my parents to send me any pictures of their kiddos doing Distance Learning at home, and here are a few I received 😍💖                                                                 

Distantly Learning,

Megan Brown

megan.brown@omsd.net

Organizing My New "Classroom"

I LOVE Google Classroom and have for years, but I never thought it would be my actual classroom. Over the past couple of years, I have tried to introduce more and more digital learning into my classroom with the use of Google Classroom. I would push assignments, videos, and articles out to students for them to annotate, analyze, color-code, and use for collaborative projects. My students were getting better and better at navigating through Google Classroom and using Google Docs, Slides, and Forms. We even started working on a joint, Google website early in March.

Since my students are so well versed in Google Classroom, I wasn’t too worried about the two-week distance learning plan. I knew my students would know to check in Google Classroom for their assignments, utilize the tools we’ve used in the classroom setting, and turn in their assignments once complete. When I sat down to upload the tasks they needed to work on for the first week, I found myself overwhelmed at the lack of organization on the “Classwork” page. My first thought was that I’d start organizing my virtual classroom better next year. Then, the school closure was extended to May 1st, and I knew I needed to do something to help my students find assignments with ease. 

Setting Up Google Classroom For Distance Learning (please watch the video for detailed instructions):

1. I had to start by going through and organizing all of the old work. I created topics by sub-subjects (writing, reading, listening, research, social studies, etc.). Many teachers already do this, but I had never taken the time to do this. I will start organizing work this way, starting next year.
2. I created topics by dates. I decided to organize the new work by workweek. I also added an emoji of a computer to represent virtual learning (ex: 💻 Week of 4/6-4/10). 
3. I organized and shared a calendar for the week. On this calendar, I embedded links that would take them to the doc, slides, websites, articles, etc.
4. I decided that I wanted to upload all of the work on Sunday nights, so students would not get overwhelmed by getting assignment notifications non-stop. This way, they can see what they need to do for the week and use their time management skills to complete everything promptly. Since I don’t know what their home lives are like right now, I thought that this might help. Maybe they are the new babysitter for their younger siblings. Perhaps they are sharing their device with multiple people. Having the assignments labeled with the day, they should be working on it, and when it is due will help them prioritize their time. Also, it allows them to ask for help ahead of time during our Zoom meetings.

Let me know if you have any organizing tips!

Happy Organizing, 

Jenni Merry

Slide This into the Classroom...Google Slides That Is! (Technology)

Slide This into the Classroom...Google Slides That Is!
The end of the year is fast approaching!  If you haven’t dived into the technology pool, now is the time!  One way to do it... Google Slides! I know this may seem so basic, and I know many of you are very familiar with it and use it, so why not let your students be as familiar with it as well as you are.   Give your students the opportunity to engage and create their own Slides presentation! Make it a research project, a year in reflection piece, or an all in one classroom piece that you can show at Open House.  The possibilities are endless!
Now that we are at the end of the school year do you need fun and engaging ideas to keep the education going?   Well, Google Slides is just one of many ways to do it.  Google Slides offers many ways in which you can edit or create presentations.  You can give your students free reign and allow them to create their own from scratch or you can allow them to choose from preexisting templates that Google has already created for us.  .  Click here to see how to access those.  Or you can assign Slides of your specific liking for each student to have for themselves (assign it in Google Classroom).
Ways to use Slides in the classroom... For the past two years, I have required my students to create a “digital memory book” about their 3rd-grade year in review.  Here they discuss favorite memories, subjects, greatest accomplishments, and subjects they have learned, just to name a few. These presentations are then put on display and running during Open House. Parents love to see this and always want to have a copy of memories.   For the less advanced kiddos you can create a template for them to just type right into with their answers, and for the more advanced have students create it all on their own. Want to bump it up, even more, have students collaborate on one of the slides and type in questions or comments they have for that student to respond to. Another great way to use Slides is by requiring an end-of-the-year research presentation on anything that excites them.  It could be something they are interested in or want to know more about. This gives them the freedom to choose, take ownership, and really dive deeper into their learning.   Depending on your grade and students you can make using Slides as basic (substitution/augmentation) or high (modification/Redefinition- SAMR model) as you want to go.  Use it for any subject or any topic you find beneficial. Here I have linked a couple of examples of how I have used it with my 3rd-grade students. Writing example one, writing example two, research example one, research example two. Slides are something that our students should eventually know well.  It guides them on the road to career and college readiness as current students across the globe in high school and beyond are using this tool.  So let’s start now!                        Tech-ing with a purpose,   Tiffani Bossieux

Socratic Seminar

Socratic Seminar!          

Involving your students in a Socratic Seminar is one of the best ways to encourage a higher level of thinking and a deeper understanding of important texts and topics. Socratic Seminars also teach kids to establish how to discuss and build ideas off of one another. "This type of student-led discussion (based on Socrates’ method of student inquiry rather than teacher lecture) elicits student ownership, deep thinking, critical questioning,academic vocabulary usage, and a rooted sense of community. Although the teacher is seemingly offstage, a meaningful and effective Socratic seminar only occurs through intentional planning." -Edutopia

Teaching your students to conduct a Socratic Seminar is one of the most powerful teaching tools you can implement as a teacher!

"Socratic Seminar focuses on deep discussion around a central text, so it is important that complex, rich texts are chosen that invite multiple interpretations and negotiation to arrive at meaning." -AVID

For this Socratic Seminar the students are focusing on “positive change” and “taking action.” This was based on the 5th grade ELA Wonders Curriculum Unit 4, Week, 3 Essential Question “What can people do to bring about a positive change?” This was a big topic and we spent several weeks even after this one reading articles in addition to the Wonders curriculum texts that connected to this theme/idea. Texts/topics we covered included: Rosa Parks, Frederick Douglass, Abbigail Addams, as well as some current event articles such as the Athletes taking a kneel, a boy with cancer who started a foundation, a girl in Florida who created an invention to help those in need, etc. It’s extremely heart-melting to hear the passion in the kids’ voices as they share and develop their own opinions about the world. Throughout the length of this unit you could see their little light bulbs going off as they read stories about people in our history who have made positive changes by standing up for what’s right, and also about the power that even children can have in making a positive change, such as raising money, building awareness, and developing inventions to help those in need. It was a really powerful topic and one that was time well spent! We do A LOT of collaborative discussions in here, and we've done TONS of small circle Socratic Seminars so they have had practice with this type of discussion, but this was our first whole group Inside/Outside Circle Socratic Seminar this year and they did an AWESOME JOB!!

Effectively conducting a Socratic Seminar unit will enhance your students’ learning across all areas. It will strengthen their reading comprehension skills, writing skills, higher level thinking skills, and their ability to communicate and develop ideas with their peers.

Here’s how to get started!:

1) You first want to introduce the topic, or question that students will be focusing on (I often times use the weekly Essential Question in our ELA Wonders curriculum as our discussion point). 2) You want to make sure you provide students with a variety of complex texts and resources to thoroughly gather information on the topic. If using the weekly Essential Question in Wonders, you already have 3 different texts built in. I then often times further enhance their knowledge on the topic by finding a couple of current event news articles that align with the topic in their reading curriculum. I use the Newsela.com site (This site is AMAZING if you don’t know about it, go there IMMEDIATELY! You can create a teacher/class account for free). This site creates current news articles for children. You can choose them by grade level, content, topic, and also Lexile level. It’s a great resource! The students need to read closely and interact with each text/resource provided. I generally have the students annotate the texts as we read/discuss them. I walk them through note-taking (either 2 or 3 column notes) on each text as we read, annotate, and discuss. This process ensures they are reading, understanding the text, and have notes with important details laid out in an organized manner. 3) After all sources have been read and discussed, the students need to prepare for the discussion. To do this I have students write Costa's Leveled Questions (Level 1, 2, and 3) for one or two texts of their choosing (I did not have them write questions for ALL texts/sources we have read as we read about 7 sources for this particular unit). These questions are meant to guide their discussion and facilitate a deeper level of thinking. 4) Last, you decide which method(setup) of Socratic Seminar you would like you use: One Large Circle, Inside/Outside Circle (or Fishbowl), Simultaneous Seminars (multiple small circles), or Triad Circle (“pilots” and “co-pilots). For the lesson you see above in my video, I chose to do the Inside/Outside "Fishbowl" Circle. The inside circle are the speakers- these students will engage in the discussion for the first round. In the outer circle the students are observing, listening, and writing down notes. Once done, the outside circle students give their feedback to the inside circle student they were focusing on, and then they switch places- the inner circle becomes the outer circle and visa versa. In order for a Socratic Seminar to flow successfully, it's important to assign a student “facilitator” who can help guide the discussion/group if they get off track. You can see this in my video above where this student guides the group by posing a new question, and calling out students who may not be participating. 5)After the seminar is over, the students then complete a constructed response writing prompt (which is generally the initial question posed as we started the unit and the Socratic seminar). I always have the focus question/writing prompt posted on the board so they can see it throughout their discussion- helps keep them on track. In doing all this, by the time the Socratic Seminar is finished, they have not only their own ideas, but now new ideas generated from their peers through the power of discussion, in addition to their notes and text evidence. For the this lesson, the constructed response prompt was developed into the format of a 5 paragraph essay via Google Docs- following the RACES format/process (just in essay form rather than a single paragraph).

Collaboratively Learning,

Megan Brown
megan.brown@omsd.net

Questioning + Google Classroom = One Good Idea

Questioning + Google Classroom = One Good Idea
“Class, who was the main character in this story?” “Class, can you identify the character’s problem?” “Class, why does Gary like recess?”...  Does asking questions like these from our TEs sound like you?  Are the teachers doing all the asking and our students doing all the answering?   Well keep on reading and learn how to mix it up and turn the “asking AND answering” over to our students.
Want to provide an engaging way to get students to ask and answer questions? Google Classroom is the way to do it! Students can ask and answer questions from their peers with instant real-time replies.
	Asking and answering questions can be dry, difficult to do, and not always engaging.  As we know comprehension is very important for student understanding and growth.  We consistently need to provide opportunities for students to improve their thinking and responding skills.
“The marvelous thing about a good question is that it shapes our identity as much by the asking as it does by the answering.” – David Whyte
Create an ‘asking and answering’ assignment using Google Classroom.
	After you and your class read your text, tell students to think of a question they can ask in order to “test” their classmates.  They have to know the answer to that question so that they can go back and correct their peer’s response.  Have students type their question into the “Google Classroom assignment” (video tutorial here). Once all students have typed in their question, assign students to a partner so they know whose question they should respond to.   Just like that you have turned an asking and answering comprehension strategy from McGraw-Hill Wonders into an online assignment that can now be shared and commented on through the use of Google Classroom.     How can you differentiate?… Provide students with question stems.  Require different levels of questions.  Require some students to type more than one question.  Partner up like-students when responding.  Not 1 to 1 with computers?  Do this assignment in shifts; while half the students are entering their questions the other half can work on other assignments, and then switch.  Complete this activity in small groups.  Provide this assignment for your ‘challenge’ group.   Here is a link to see an example of two third grade students’ asking and answering.….Now, happy questioning! :)                             Tech-ing with a purpose,   Tiffani Bossieux