Evaluate 3.1.2 Self-Reflection and Teaching Abilities

Self reflection is one of the biggest ways you can improve things in your life.  But in order to do that, you have to listen to what others have to say and be honest with yourself.  Since I have not started teaching the online classes yet, I don't really have any artifacts and digital feedback to post in the blog.  But I can discuss how I feel this training has been and my reflections on my traditional classroom.

This TOOL training has been quite an experience.  When I began I thought it was going to just be a lot of pointless hoops to jump through.  But as I have worked through the many quests, I have found that I have learned a lot of new things!  I have read about so many new ideas and ways of doing things.  I have also tried out and learned a lot about many new websites that are great for educational purposes.  I hope I have the chance to utilize them even more through the GAVS program.

In my traditional classroom, I always try to step  back and look at what all I do with my students to make sure I am doing them every kind of service I can offer them.  I always have to keep in mind that they are teenagers and are still trying to figure everything out!  I feel like I have a pretty good relationship with most of my students and they have gotten to where they are pretty honest with me.  They let me know when I seem like I am in a bad mood or when I didn't explain something very well.  But I try to take that constructively because, ultimately, they are my audience, so they need to feel good about what we are doing in class and understand the different processes.

As a teacher, we have to be able to change things and be flexible with our students.  And that means we need to regularly evaluate ourselves to make sure we are doing right by our students.  We need to stay up to date with the latest trends and happenings so that we can do what is best for our students.  Below is a link to my website for my traditional classroom.  I want to make everything as accessible as I can for my students, so I keep homework, notes, and announcements up to date pretty much every day.

Mrs. Pruitt's Website

Evaluate 3.1.1 Differentiation

I am not currently teaching any GAVS classes and have not ever had the opportunity to do so.  But I am familiar with differentiation and have read a good bit in the resources provided about the LMS that is used by GAVS.  I think as a teacher, a certain level of differentiation is natural.  I feel like I can typically see my students weaknesses and strengths pretty easily.  As a math teacher, it is easy to notice the difference between careless mistakes and completely not understanding material.  When I give assessments, whether they are formative or summative, if I notice problems areas then I know I need to go back over that material.  Sometimes I have to wait until a little later in the semester to do so, simply because time does not always allow me to take extra time on topics, but I make a note to revisit it later.  Sometimes if there is a small group of students that are struggling, I will get them in a group either at my desk, the hallway, or up front while the rest of the class is working on something else and we can go over the problems they are having.  These are just a couple of simple, but usually very helpful, ways to address problem areas.

As far as grouping students, there are several options.  And it depends on what the goal of the assignment is.  Sometimes it is best to group a higher level student with a mid-level student and a mid-level student with a lower level student.  This will usually help some unusual leaders emerge during an assignment or project.  But there are times when you feel you want to keep your higher learners together and maybe mix the mid-level student and lower level students together.  But like I said, it is all dependent upon the goal of the assignment/project.

Earlier this year, my analytic geometry students were really struggling with factoring quadratic functions and solving quadratic functions.  We had done a good bit of work on it, but I gave them a quiz on it and most of my students really did poorly on it.  So, we took a few days off from factoring and moved on to the next topic.  My students were frustrated, and I probably was too!  But at the end of the following week, we used Friday to go back to factoring and reteach and practice.  I gave them several options for working on the practice.  I had some students working up on my smart board so I could check their work.  I had some others working in groups together.  I had some students that just wanted to work on their own.  I was very flexible with how they could work.  But then they had a 10 question graded assignment that was an independent assignment that I would use to replace their low quiz grade.  I have shown some screen shots of it below.  The grades on this replacement assignment were so much better than the original quiz!  This just reminded me that sometimes you have to change your plans up and make sure you are doing what is best for your students.

Evaluate 2.1.2 Rubrics and Competencies

Rubrics and competencies are great tools for setting up structure for students on assignments and projects.  These tell students exactly how they will be assessed and what is expected of them on the project.  Most teachers have used rubrics to help with this.  It is helpful if the teacher will post some examples of what is a poor example and also an example of an almost perfect project.  This way students can get some ideas of what is expected of them.  If you have developed a good rubric, then there should be no subjectivity for the teacher when grading.  It should all be straight forward and laid out so that the student could actually grade his own project based on what the rubric says.  Below I have a couple of screenshots of a pretty good math rubric that deals with math concepts.

Evaluate 2.1.1 Data Driven Instruction, Analytics, Reporting Tools

As educators, especially online educators, we can gain a lot of knowledge from the LMS about a student's background and achievement in courses.  This information can help teachers make decisions to better help their students be successful.

The enrollments and attendance data shows a student's current course load, basic information about a student's classification such as gifted, special education, ESOL, or regular education.  This also lets the teacher know if the student will be taking an EOCT course and an attendance summary.  There are many ways that all of this information could be useful to the teacher.  If a teacher is having problems with a student, she could contact the student's other teachers to discuss the student's progress in their classes and find out about some different approaches that may work in reaching the student.  Also, the special education aspect of this information is extremely important,  This would let the teacher know to be on the lookout for any accommodations that the student might have.  The teacher can also see the student's attendance information and if he is showing a lot of absence, the teacher would need to contact the parent.

The LMS also features a communication log.  There are some cases where the log is updated by the LMS, but for the most part the instructors will have to manually enter each communication.  As online instructors, it is so important that we develop good, consistent relationships with our students and their parents/guardians since we typically won't meet face to face.  We need to remember that parents and students like to hear good things they are doing too!  They don't like to be contacted just because something is wrong.

The course progress feature is a very valuable tool for data collection for the instructor.  This allows the instructor can see how often and for how much time the students are logging in and working on their assignments.  It also shows the number of kilobytes of data used with the tool.  this means the instructor can tell if the students are actually working or just logging in to make it look like they are working!

The last part is how students can monitor their own progress.  It is particularly important for online students to be able to work independently and be self-motivated.  With this tool the students can see grade and they can also see specific feedback from the instructor or see questions missed on tests or quizzes.

The more the instructor uses the LMS, the more it will become an advantage for him and the student.  Knowing more specific information about each students helps the instructor be able to help the student in the best ways possible.

Evaluate 1.1.3 The Summative Assessment

Summative assessments are a tool used to measure what a student has learned in a particular unit of material and to what extent they learned it.  In math the formative assessments are, usually, a great way to measure students readiness for a summative assessment.  Formative assessments in math can be the daily homework assignments, quizzes, and tickets out the door.  All of those things give the teacher an idea of where the students stand with the level of knowledge dealing with that particular topic.  Typically, formative assessments tend to correlate pretty well with the summative assessments.  If I have a student that doesn't do any homework and makes a 40 on a quiz, then I am not surprised when he makes a 50 on the summative assessment.  However, if I have a student that consistently does the homework assignments and makes a 80 or 90 on a quiz, then I expect them to do well on the summative assessment as well.  To measure the validity of a summative assessment, I use the attached spreadsheet (I couldn't get the actual file to attach, so I had to do a screenshot of it).  This spreadsheet is designed to tell you how many questions of each standard you need to have on the test based on the amount of time you spent on it.  This is a very helpful tool to make sure I am not putting too many of a certain type of question on the assessment.  To measure the reliability of an assessment, I check to make sure that the formative and summative assessments line up, for the most part.  To evaluate security, I give two or three different versions of a test.  I also check students work to make sure it matches up with the answer that they actually wrote down.  If it doesn't, then I know something has compromised the security of that test.

I have also included some screen shots of the assessment I created based off this spreadsheet earlier in the school year.

Evaluate 1.1.2 Quality Feedback

As discussed in previous posts in my blog, feedback is essential to a student's education, especially in the area of math.  If a student doesn't know what they are doing wrong, they will just continue doing it wrong.  But as a teacher, we don't want to just be critical and tell students they are doing things incorrectly.  When I give feedback, I try to say it in a way to let them know I appreciate how hard they are working but they just got a certain thing mixed up or maybe did one operation incorrectly, which affected the rest of the problem.  I also try to balance out corrective feedback with complimentary feedback.  I like to try and point out the things that a student did correctly, especially if it was a difficult problem.  In my current traditional classroom math classes, I have a lot of students that will write me little notes on their papers about how bad they thought their graph is or how they think my bonus question is impossible.  I always like to respond to them in a fun way too!  It helps them feel more comfortable with me and know that I have a sense of humor too!  Since I don't currently have my own virtual classes, I do not have any examples of digital feedback to share on here.  But I have linked a few of my previous posts on feedback to show the importance that I think it plays in education.

Communicate 4.1.1 Evaluation Methods and Communication Practices

Communicate 4.1.2 Rubrics 

Communicate 4.2.1 Feedback

Communicate 4.2.2 Digital Feedback

Evaluate 1.1.1 Formative Assessment

Formative assessments are an essential tool to check your students progress and understanding of material.  There are many different types of formative assessments that can be used in a variety of different ways.  It all depends on needs of the students as to what I would decide to use as a formative assessment.  In math, in most cases, the students have to understand the current material before they are able to move on and be successful in the next lesson.  If I see that a student or group of students is struggling with a particular topic on a formative assessment then I know that they are not ready for the unit test and we need to spend some more time working on that.  Or I may need to reteach something in a different way.  Formative assessments are very useful to teachers and students.  Below I have taken some screen shots of some short formative assessment (ticket out the door) type activities that I have used this year in my analytic geometry class when graphing and writing equations or circles and parabolas.

Circles Formative:

Parabolas Formative:

Create 4.1.3 Aggregating Lesson Material

Edmodo - This is a free way for students and teachers to come together and collaborate.  Students typically prefer edmodo due to the fact that it functions much like the other social media that they are used to.  Also, teachers and students can store a wide array of digital content including pictures, podcasts, videos, projects, and more.

Moodle - This is a learning management system (LMS) or platform that allows you to build courses, lessons, and student-centered activities for free.  I was trained on Moodle a few years ago but have never had the chance to use it in an online course or a traditional setting.

Haiku Learning - This site is a good learning management system.  Teachers can create their own classroom pages, add and organize content blocks, change layouts, and publish them whenever they are ready.  You can create your own content simply by using the third-party services that are involved with Haiku.  However, Haiku is not a free site for the full version.  Teachers are free for up to five classes with 2GB of storage but you can upgrade for a fee.  For a school or school district, depending on how many users there are, there is a free trial, but after that it is anywhere from five to ten dollars.

Create 4.1.2 Principles of Building Portable Learning Objects

A portable learning object is the arrangement of content, examples, or any kind of test items into one manipulative object that students have access to.  Most portable learning objects are things like websites, videos, or interactive materials such as games or puzzles.  These are designed to reemphasize the standards that are being taught in the class.

To complete this quest, I focused on a topic that my students has some struggles with in my Analytic Geometry class.  I used the topic dealing with angle relationships and parallel lines.  The first learning object I built using Quizlet.  This was my first experience with quizlet and it is so cool!  It is very easy to use and does so many great things!  I created a simple set of 7 vocabulary words dealing with angle relationships and parallel lines.  From entering those the site created flashcards, fill in the blank definitions, a test with mutiple choice, free response, and matching questions.  It also created a couple of games that the students could play to help review the words.  Below is a link to the quizlet that I created.

Angle Relationships Quizlet


The other learning object I created was using USA Test Prep.  With this site you are able to select the domain and strand of information that you want to focus on.  You are able to take practice tests, do review questions, and play a variety of different games.  I set up a one player game that also focused on angle relationships and parallel lines.  If you get a question wrong, you get an explanation on why it is wrong and what the correct answer should be.  It was brief and a lot of fun!  Below are a few screen shots of the game I created.  I was not able to import the link because you have to have a subscription to use USA Test Prep.

Create 4.1.1 Define and Explain Learning Object Authoring Tools

1) Smore - This is one of my new favorite sites to create cool and engaging news pages for announcements and even reminders of upcoming events.  It is free for all users for the limited version.  You can pay for the upgrades.

2) Class Tools - This is a free site that instructors or students can use to create games, puzzles, quizzes, and diagrams.

3) Edmodo - This is a free virtual learning and social multimedia site that is great for students.  Edmodo helps all parties to connect for students and teachers to reach their full potential.

4) Articulate - This is a resource that can be used to create online courses and content that are both interactive.  There are two applications to choose from:  Articulate Storyline and Articulate Studio.  There is a 30 day free trial but it does involve a cost to go further.

 5) Glogster - This is a really good resource to create posters and news items.  It is also a great way for students to create some fun and engaging presentations.  However it is not free, but does offer several types of payment plans/options.

Create 3.1.3 Locating Resources

Below are examples of solving log equations.  One example is a video, the other is text, and the third is a link to a step by step explanation of how to solve log/exponential equations  All of these resources come from Open Educational Resources or Creative Commons.


Video:

posted by Khan Academy



Text:

posted on OpenAlgebra.com



Link to Step by Step Explanation:

Logarithmic/Exponential Equations

Create 3.1.2 Fair Use and the TEACH Act

As an educator it is imperative that we are aware of and follow all copyright rules.  But as an online educator, it is almost more imperative because you are not actually in a classroom with your students.  You are constantly having to come up with ways to engage your students and you want to do so in a way that is not breaking any copyright laws.  If you are ever unsure about any part of Fair Use you can always consult the four big questions that surround it.

1. What is the purpose and character of the use of the material?
2. What is the nature of the use?
3. How much is being used as compared to the whole?
4. The effect of the use on the market of the original work?

Fair Use and TEACH act work together to allow online educators to be able to use more resources without any copyright violations.  There are many cases where educators are excused from copyright laws as long as the material is being used in an educational and instructional manner.  Fair Use and TEACH act work together to help educators gather and use high quality materials to teach with and not have to worry about whether or not they are breaking any copyright laws.  

Create 3.1.1 Open Educational Resources and Creative Commons

There are many open educational resources that are available for teachers to use for free in their classrooms. These resources allow teachers to share information with their students.  However, teachers need to know how to use the resources correctly.  Most of the time when a teacher needs something, they just do a quick Google search for it and then use whatever they find.  This method is typically unethical and not legal.  As teachers, we need to make sure that we are following copyright laws and regulations.  Teachers need to understand how licenses work and what restrictions are placed upon resources.   These resources can be found using the Advanced Search in Google or by searching the Creative Commons website.

Creative Commons is a non-profit organization that allows people to share their resources and allows educations to search for and use resources ethically and legally within their classrooms.  There are four different types of restrictions that can be placed on resources.

1) Attribution - This means that someone may use the work, as long as you get credit for it.

2) Noncommercial -This means that someone can use your work as long as they are not making money from it.

3) No Derivative Works - This means that the resource can be used only if the original work is not modified or changed in any way.

4) Share-Alike - This allows people to modify the work as long as they share it with the same terms that were on the original work.  So if the original resources had the attribution restriction and the share-alike restriction, when the person who modified it does to share it, it must have an attribution to the original restriction and share-alike restriction.

These restrictions can be placed on the resource however the original creator wants to do so.  There are eleven different combinations that can be used for these four restrictions.

Lastly, if a person would like to relinquish all rights to their work, they may do so by simply using the creative commons website to make it available to the public domain.  the public domain license allows the person to hold "no rights reserved" to their work so that anyone may use it.

All information from this blog post can be found at http://info.ulright-schrader.de/node/455

Create 2.1.3 Using Web 2.0 Tools to Differentiate Student Assessment

There are many tools available on the web to assist in differentiating student assessment.  I have USA Test Prep pretty often in my traditional classes where I teach.  Another site that is great for differentiating student assessment is Socrative.  This is a quick easy way to assess student's learning.  Another thing to consider when thinking about differentiating student assessment is the needs of a special needs student.  I have had students in the past that needed to verbalize the steps to me instead of write them down.  While i have had other students that were not able to verbalize but wanted to type everything out and email me their work.  These were all acceptable and great ways for the students to still learn the material and be assessed on what they learned.

There are many more out there, but for this quest I chose to use Toon Doo.  This is just like a ticket out the door in a traditional classroom.  This would make a great transition to make sure our students content and process before moving on and before reaching the unit test.

Create 2.1.2 Using Web 2.0 Tools to Differentiate Teacher Instruction

Differentiation is extremely important in the world of  instruction.  If it crucial for us, as educators, to understand that not all students learn the same way and are able to communicate the information they learn in the same way.  The goal of differentiation is to use different paths to end up at the same goal.  I chose to do a lesson on solving quadratic equations where my student could use any form or solving they prefer.  And their end product could be a picture of the graph with solutions marked, a description or the process, or a poster showing the work in detail.  Quadratic functions is a big part of secondary math so it is important that students learn the process for solving them.  I chose to use Prezi for my lesson.  It gives a brief description of what is expected and how the students can go about doing it.

Solving Quadratic Functions Prezi

Create 2.1.1 Web Tools

Presentation:

Prezi - Prezi is a site that I have just recently learned about.  I have only played around with it a little, but it seems very useful.  It is much like PowerPoint but easier to use and a little more appealing to the eye!

Glogster - Glogster is a nice free collaborative tool.  Students can use this to create digital posters.  This could be used by students to work collaboratively on an assignment and then receive feedback from others.

SpiderScribe - This is mind mapping in more detail!  The first 3 mind maps are free.  It is a great organizational tool for writing or projects.

Testing Preparation:

USA Test Prep - This is great for EOCT prep.  There is a subscription fee though.  Our school has purchased the licences for all of our students to have access to it.  Very useful!

Socrative - This is a very useful site to get a quick poll of where your students stand with current material.  You poll the class and they send you their responses from their phone.  Quick results!

Study Island - This is another site that is very useful for EOCT prep.  It does also have a subscription fee.  It has a lot of tutorials and practice problems.

Resources for Sharing Information:

Smore - Smore is another site that I have just recently learned about but it is a great way to share announcements and upcoming due dates with students.  It is very user friendly.

Remind101 - This is an extremely easy way to remind students of assignments or upcoming test, etc.  Students can receive a text message to their phone.  I use this all the time with my students!

Padlet - This is a great site for sharing information.  Students can work together on project using this site or teachers could plan lessons together.

Create 1.1.3 Appearance

Appearance is a very important aspect of designing an instructional website.  It is usually what gets someone interested or not.  But appearance is definitely not everything that is important about an instructional site.  There needs to be appropriate educational content as well as have media inserted that captures the appropriate age level user.  The site also needs to be easily navigated with properly linked buttons and tools.  Here are some examples of good educational sites and some that are not so good.  This is based on my opinion so feel free to share your comments about them!

Good Examples:

• Khan Academy - The site has great resources mainly for math and science.  It has a lot of tutorials and helpful information.  
• Brainpop - Brainpop has a lot of short length videos that give good introduction to endless topics.  It is a bit on the juvenile side, but I used to use this a lot when I taught middle school math.  But I do believe a paid subscription is required for this.
• PBS Kids - This is a great resource for young kids. It has so many educational games and videos that can be watched.  Excellent use of media and videos.  
• Kids USA - This site has a lot of information from art to healthy eating to math.  Great site!
• Shmoop - This website demonstrates excellent integration of audio and visual representations demonstrating task analysis, math skills, and knowledge.

Bad Examples:

• Cool Math - This site is mostly games that are not even related to math.  They are mostly mindless games.  
• I Know That - This site is not one b it appealing because I couldn't even enter the site because I need to install two news versions of things to be able to do anything.  Not what I want to have to do to see a site.
• Vocabulary - This site is fine, it just seems a bit boring.  There is nothing that would make me want to go back to it.  
• Enchanted Learning - This site has a lot of information.  I wasn't even sure where to start with it.  
• Choose My Plate - This site is a great idea to educate kids on how to eat healthy, but there is just way too much information on it!  It is overwhelming.  It could easily be presented in a simpler manner. 

Create 1.1.2 Creating a Content Map

Before I am able to start planning lessons about what is coming up, I have to have a plan in mind.  I need to have some organization in mind as far as what order things need to be taught.  In math pretty much everything we teach is built upon something that has previously been taught.  All of those things need to be taken into consideration when creating a content map of what is to be learned.

I chose to do my content map on the topic of conic sections in the Analytic Geometry class.  I feel like the first thing the students need to learn how to do is graph the different conic sections (parabolas and circles in this class).  Once they know how to graph then they can work backwards to write the equations.  Then finally they can learn how to use completing the square to convert the equations from general form to standard form.  I created this content map based on those things.  It may look fairly simple, but these topcs are pretty intense!  I use bubbl.us to create this content map.  

Create 1.1.1 Time Management

Learning to manage your time is critical in the busy world that we all live in!  We all have jobs, families, hobbies, etc.  If we do not learn to manage our time effectively, then we will tend to struggle with everything we need to do our our lives.  Here are my top five items that I think help me most with managing my time.


1. Planning/Scheduling - I like to have a plan for the day/week/month.  I like being able to know what is coming and be able to effectively plan for it.  One of the best resources I use is my calendar on my phone.  It is also synced with my outlook calendar from my work email so that I can open my calendar and see any upcoming meetings at work, birthday parties, doctors appointments, etc that are coming up.

2.  Prioritize - It is important to prioritize what really needs to be done and also what is most important to you.  I do not like to do any of my school work until my daughter goes to bed at night because I prioritize my time with her over my school work.  I also have to prioritize chores around the house and what needs to be done within my school work.

3.  Lists - I am a list person!  I like to be able to mark things off my list once I complete them.  I use an app on my phone called "color note."  I love this app because you can make lists, checklists, set reminders in your notification bar, and set alarms to remind you of things.  This helps me stay organized!

4.  Interruptions - When you are trying to get something done or stay focused on something, you pretty much will always have some sort of interruption or distraction.  Like just now, I sat down to work on this quest after putting my daughter to  bed but then heard her on the monitor and went up to check on her and she had a big messy pull up!  So, I ended up getting a later start on this quest because I had to get her all cleaned up and back in bed!  Interruptions always happen, no matter how hard we try to avoid them.  But you have to learn how to refocus once the interruption has been taken care of and complete the task at hand.

5.  Learn to Say NO - It is hard to say no when someone asks for your help.  But when it comes to time management you have to be able to say no because you can't always be available to others.  This goes back to prioritizing.  You have to say no to things that are not necessarily are priority to you.

Communicate 4.3.1 The Synchronous Session

As an online instructor, the synchronous sessions you have with your students are the most "classroom" like interaction that you get with your students.  The synchronous session serves as the time for students to ask questions and get live feedback from the instructor about class happenings and content.  As a math teacher, I would imagine the synchronous sessions would be extremely useful to the student and the instructor.  The instructor would be able to see how the student is doing with material and help direct the student in the right way.  And the student (hopefully) would receive the assistance he/she needs to do the material correctly.  Since I am not currently teaching GAVS, I do not have any first hand experience with this.  But I have been able to participate in a synchronous session that a friend was holding.  It was very neat to see how easy it was to communicate with each other through adobe connect.  I think that the white board tool would be very useful for me to be able to work problems out with my students.  From what I have seen, there are many tools that make the synchronous sessions extremely useful.

Communicate 4.2.3 Discussions

Discussions are a great way to check the mastery of concepts with students.  Students have to show a certain level of knowledge in order to answer questions posted on the discussion board by the teacher.  Discussion boards encourage social interactions among peers.  Also, students who participate in discussion boards tend to have more success in the class because they read others posts and learn to thoughtfully respond.  That helps them have a better understanding of the material as well.

As the instructor, it is important that we model good discussion board habits.  We need to always respond to questions and make sure we are actually answering the question.  We also need to continue to challenge our students by prompting them further with questions.  We also need to encourage our students to make sure they are reading and responding to others posts.  The instructor needs to consistently monitor the discussion board to make sure all students are participating and that all posts are relating to the topic at hand, not unrelated comments or personal attacks.  Instructors must always give appropriate feedback.  We do not want to tell a student they have done something correctly, when they have not.  We have to pay close attention to everything that is being posted on the discussion board.

Communicate 4.2.1 Feedback

Here is an example of a math assignment I found that uses a detailed rubric to grade the students' work.

Conics Section Project

Using graph paper, create an image using the major conic sections we have learned about in class:  ellipse, circle, hyperbola, parabolas.  You need to have at least 8 conics in your image.  You may also use lines to complete the image.  Each conic section must then have a correct equation to match it.  You will also need to write the equation of any lines as well.  Creativity, color, and accuracy are important.

Standard Covered:

CCGPS Mathematics Advanced Algebra Standards:

•  MCC9-12.A.CED.1 Create equations and use them to solve problems.

CCGPS Mathematics Pre-Calculus Standards:

• MCC9-12.G.GPE.1 Derive equations of a circle with given center and radius
• MCC9-12.G.GPE.2 Derive equations of a parabola with given focus and directrix
• MCC9-12.G.GPE.3 Derive equations or hyperbola and ellipse given the foci

Communicate 4.2.2 Digital Feedback

There are many methods that can be used to provide digital feedback.  Here are three that I think would be most useful.

1) Audio Feedback - Even though I am not currently teaching GAVS, from everything I have read, it seems like this is a great way to give feedback to your students through the D2L platform.  Especially in math, students need to verbally hear what they are supposed to do to fix something that has been done wrong.  Audio feedback is a great tool to use!

2) Real Time Feedback - Real time feedback can be given during the class synchronous sessions.  This would be a great place to work problems out with students so that they can see how you expect them to do the problems and it would probably give them some help in areas where they may have been struggling.

3) Positive Feedback Images - Even though we think this may be a bit juvenile and kind of silly, everyone loves to know they are doing things correctly.  And they love receiving compliments, in any way possible!  I have 17 year old students that love to get a sticker on their test saying they did great!  It cracks me up, but they love it!

Communicate 4.1.2 Rubrics

Rubrics are a great way to make sure that students understand what the expectations are on an assignment or project.  The rubric used needs to be clear and concise so that there is never a question about why a student scores what he/she scores.  When using a rubric to grade an assignment or project, it is important that the instructor give plenty of feedback to let the student know why certain areas were not met or what the student did that was very good.  In math, rubrics are not as commonly used, unless you are doing some sore of project (typically).  I have not had much experience with rubrics but the few times I have used them, they have been very helpful.

Communicate 4.1.1 Evaluation Methods and Communication Practices

As stated in previous posts, communication is essential to having an effective online learning experience.  Having good communication does not always mean that the teacher is giving effective feedback.  Some teachers are great at making sure students know what is going on in class and when things are due, but never give good individualized feedback on how the student is doing.  Even if they are doing things correctly, it is good to be able to tell them some specific things that they are doing exceptionally well.  It is also important to be able to identify weaknesses in a student's work and help them learn what they are doing wrong.  In math, if a student forgets to change the sign when moving something to the other side of an equation every time they work a problem like that, then that is something that is easily identified and fixed.  Some problems are not so easily identified, but it is always important that we try to help our students find their mistakes so they are able to correct them.  If the teacher does not give effective feedback, then the student may get a false sense of confidence in what they are doing.  As teachers, it is important that we ensure that our students are learning things in the correct way.

If a teacher consistently provides effective feedback to their students, then I would imagine those students have a better chance of doing well in the online setting.  However, if the student has a teacher that does not give much feedback and just expects the students to figure it out on their own, they probably choose to not continue with the online setting.  They would probably feel more comfortable in a traditional setting with a teacher they see face to face.  The instructor has a big impact on how the online setting goes for the students.

Communicate 3.2.2 Differentiation

As we all know, everyone learns differently and it is important that we consistently use differentiation in our lessons and communication to ensure that all learners are getting the information they need and in a way that they can understand.  While working on this quest I discovered some new resources to help with differentiation in communication.  Here are the three that I found to be pretty easy to use and seem helpful to the learner.

The first resource I played around with was Voki.  This seems like just a fun way to get information to your students.  It is not something I would necessarily use in a lesson, but it would be good for reminders and things like that.  Here is a link to the Voki that I created.

Voki

The second resource I learned about is Prezi.  I had heard about Prezi before but never done anything with it.  It seems like it is pretty user friendly, but would take some getting used to.  But again, I think that students would like to see something different than what they normally see, and this would probably be a good way to achieve that.

PREZI

The third resource that I played around with was wordle.  Being a math teacher, wordle is never something that I have thought would be useful to me, but after playing around with the site, I feel differently!  You could use a wordle in a variety of ways, but I chose to create one that went over important terms from unit 5 in analytic geometry (quadratics).  Below is a picture of the wordle I created.

Communicate 3.2.1 Newsletter

There are many ways to communicate with our online students.  Here are my top 3:

Email - Email is usually the most convenient way to communicate.  If you have a quick question or just something simple to let the student or teacher know, then email is a great way to do that.  Also, email is usually very readily available for most people these days.  Most people have access to their email on their phone or tablets, which are usually close by.

Phone Calls - Phone calls may seem may seem silly to some people, but email does not convey tone.  Sometimes emails are taken the complete wrong way because the reader infers something from the email that was not intended.  It is hard to go wrong with a phone call.  The only downside to a phone call is that there is no documentation of what is said on the phone call.

Newsletter - A newsletter is a simple way to communicate upcoming due dates and important items.  I recently discovered the Smore website that lets you easily create newsletters to share with your students.  The site is very easy to use and is free!  Here is a link to the simple newsletter that I created for an Analytic Geometry class.  NEWSLETTER