I do believe, even after 8 years of teaching experience, I am still a work in progress. I will always learn and work hard to maintain the areas of strength I have. Because of the never ending changing of curriculum (standards), the ever growing number of tools and application becoming available, the growing expectations, any teacher, in my opinion, is a work in progress.
Among many, my greatest strength is the ability of adjusting the strategy of teaching in the middle of instruction if I feel like my students are not aboard. I can quickly think and come up with easy to understand strategy or illustration.
Again, among many, one of my weaknesses is that I am not that great in creating - on my own without depending on the district's curriculum portal - a very exhaustive and comprehensive unit projects. I do create projects, but it seems that the projects on the district's curriculum portal to be more comprehensive. The objects found in the textbooks also are very comprehensive.
Area of growth? I always want to grow in differentiating instruction for every student.
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Evaluate 3.1.1 Differentiation Quest
The following data was taken from the Fulton County Schools website, but it has been modified for this quest purposes.
Let’s assume that I was the teacher of the class above. The class just completed the first unit and I am now reviewing the unit assessment data. It is disappointing because the class average on the final unit assessment fell below 80% mastery, which is the goal set for the course. Looking at the data, John Cobb and Shemika Holland improved the most on standard 1 between the benchmark quiz and the final unit. Tamara Johnson and Anderson Cooper grew the least on standard 2 between the benchmark quiz and final unit assessment.
Based on the data, the class and I fell short of the goal because there were two students whose scores are very low. If we remove those scores of John Cobb and Anderson Cooper, the class average would be above 80%.
To meet my goals, what I could have done differently prior to the final unit assessment is the following. Anderson had been deteriorating ever since Aug 1 assessment. I shouldn’t have waited until the final test to intervene. After the Aug 15 benchmark, I should have provided extra help before moving on to Standard 2. After Aug 30, I should clearly know that there was a problem and I should have differentiated the instruction and come up with unique learning pathways for the student. I would have done the same for John Cobb as well. John seems to have more problems with Standard 2 than with Standard 1.
There were other students who didn’t necessarily do great on the two standards, so I would arrange more tutorial time, taking more time in tailoring lessons (differentiating) according to the needs of the students and make sure instruction is adjusted before moving on to the next material.
Let’s assume that I was the teacher of the class above. The class just completed the first unit and I am now reviewing the unit assessment data. It is disappointing because the class average on the final unit assessment fell below 80% mastery, which is the goal set for the course. Looking at the data, John Cobb and Shemika Holland improved the most on standard 1 between the benchmark quiz and the final unit. Tamara Johnson and Anderson Cooper grew the least on standard 2 between the benchmark quiz and final unit assessment.
Based on the data, the class and I fell short of the goal because there were two students whose scores are very low. If we remove those scores of John Cobb and Anderson Cooper, the class average would be above 80%.
To meet my goals, what I could have done differently prior to the final unit assessment is the following. Anderson had been deteriorating ever since Aug 1 assessment. I shouldn’t have waited until the final test to intervene. After the Aug 15 benchmark, I should have provided extra help before moving on to Standard 2. After Aug 30, I should clearly know that there was a problem and I should have differentiated the instruction and come up with unique learning pathways for the student. I would have done the same for John Cobb as well. John seems to have more problems with Standard 2 than with Standard 1.
There were other students who didn’t necessarily do great on the two standards, so I would arrange more tutorial time, taking more time in tailoring lessons (differentiating) according to the needs of the students and make sure instruction is adjusted before moving on to the next material.
Evaluate 2.1.2 Rubrics and Competencies Quest
The heart of this quest can be represented by the following statement,
"...competency...focuses on what students should be able to do after successfully completing a course instead of listing things they should have learned."
I believe that listing things the students have learned is legitimate during delivering the instruction as form of formative assessment. But it should not be the end goal of the standard, chapter, unit, or the course. The goal; the objective must be the competency and competency is what the students will be able to do after successfully completing the standard, chapter, unit or the course. As an example I will give two competency oriented assessments: standard specific and unit specific assessment.
The Standards are:
M8A1. Students will use algebra to represent, analyze and solve problems.
a. Represent a given situation using algebraic expressions or equations in one variable
c. Solve algebraic equations in one variable, including equations involving absolute values
To teach to the standards, students will learn how to solve equations: Two-Step Equations, Multi-Step Equations and Solving equations with variables on both sides. Students must demonstrate their knowledge of these standards (competency) by solving the following three problems.
"...competency...focuses on what students should be able to do after successfully completing a course instead of listing things they should have learned."
I believe that listing things the students have learned is legitimate during delivering the instruction as form of formative assessment. But it should not be the end goal of the standard, chapter, unit, or the course. The goal; the objective must be the competency and competency is what the students will be able to do after successfully completing the standard, chapter, unit or the course. As an example I will give two competency oriented assessments: standard specific and unit specific assessment.
The Standards are:
M8A1. Students will use algebra to represent, analyze and solve problems.
a. Represent a given situation using algebraic expressions or equations in one variable
c. Solve algebraic equations in one variable, including equations involving absolute values
To teach to the standards, students will learn how to solve equations: Two-Step Equations, Multi-Step Equations and Solving equations with variables on both sides. Students must demonstrate their knowledge of these standards (competency) by solving the following three problems.
After completing the entire chapter on Equations and Inequalities, students will complete a project shown below.
Taken from holt online learning: http://my.hrw.com/hrw
Monday, May 19, 2014
Evaluate 2.1.1 Data Driven Instruction, Analytics, Reporting Tools Quest
Enrollments and Attendance
The enrollments information is important for an online teacher to have some kind of knowledge about the class he/she is going to teach. It is a good information to start with. The teacher could use this information as the semester progresses. It might be important in some cases to keep in mind the number of students you have in that class when the teacher prepares quizzes, tests, and projects.
Having data of students' attendance is a valuable information for a teacher. If a student attendance is poor, we will probably do not expect the student to do well in class. That's where we start our intervention. Research has shown student and teacher attendance is directly correlated with student achievement. Having data of student's attendance definitely helps a teacher to help the student succeed.
To have data of the communication log is important not only for accountability purposes, but also helps to come up with a strategy in collaboration with all concerned stakeholders (parents) to help the student improve if he/she is failing. So keeping parents posted about students' progress is vitally important. If you record what information you have already shared with the parent, you can continue from there. In your next communication log, you can praise the student for improving or you can update parents that the students is not improving or you can warn the parents that the students may not pass the class unless he/she show improvement as soon as possible. The point is the teacher can build on information he/she had already shared about the student.
Monitoring Course Progress With Observational Data & Analytics
This is what is going to drive your instruction. If you have the above analyzed data, you will be able to differentiate your instruction accordingly. It helps the teacher to know who is working hard, spending time accessing the course content, and actually doing the work by just observing their activity data.
Students Monitoring Their Own Learning
This information is also important in its own right. Students can see how they are doing in the course and know what it takes to get what they want to get in that course. Students can read feedback from their teachers, monitor their grade, get due dates reminders etc.
The enrollments information is important for an online teacher to have some kind of knowledge about the class he/she is going to teach. It is a good information to start with. The teacher could use this information as the semester progresses. It might be important in some cases to keep in mind the number of students you have in that class when the teacher prepares quizzes, tests, and projects.
Having data of students' attendance is a valuable information for a teacher. If a student attendance is poor, we will probably do not expect the student to do well in class. That's where we start our intervention. Research has shown student and teacher attendance is directly correlated with student achievement. Having data of student's attendance definitely helps a teacher to help the student succeed.
To have data of the communication log is important not only for accountability purposes, but also helps to come up with a strategy in collaboration with all concerned stakeholders (parents) to help the student improve if he/she is failing. So keeping parents posted about students' progress is vitally important. If you record what information you have already shared with the parent, you can continue from there. In your next communication log, you can praise the student for improving or you can update parents that the students is not improving or you can warn the parents that the students may not pass the class unless he/she show improvement as soon as possible. The point is the teacher can build on information he/she had already shared about the student.
Monitoring Course Progress With Observational Data & Analytics
This is what is going to drive your instruction. If you have the above analyzed data, you will be able to differentiate your instruction accordingly. It helps the teacher to know who is working hard, spending time accessing the course content, and actually doing the work by just observing their activity data.
Students Monitoring Their Own Learning
This information is also important in its own right. Students can see how they are doing in the course and know what it takes to get what they want to get in that course. Students can read feedback from their teachers, monitor their grade, get due dates reminders etc.
Evaluate 1.1.3 The Summative Assessment Quest
Here is an example of a summative assessment. It is a test on government. It was created using edmodo.com
Validity
It was multiple choice test and all necessary action was taken to make sure the choices have detractors to differentiate students who really learned the material and those who didn't learn. There were choices that seem like reasonable answers.
Reliability
It is expected that the item analysis to show the scores of the assessment and the overall average in the course to have high correlation.
Security
For security purposes, edmodo asks the teacher and the students to login.
Validity
It was multiple choice test and all necessary action was taken to make sure the choices have detractors to differentiate students who really learned the material and those who didn't learn. There were choices that seem like reasonable answers.
Reliability
It is expected that the item analysis to show the scores of the assessment and the overall average in the course to have high correlation.
Security
For security purposes, edmodo asks the teacher and the students to login.
Evaluate 1.1.2 Quality Feedback Quest
KEY STANDARDS:
M6N1. Students will understand the meaning of the four arithmetic operations as
related to positive rational numbers and will use these concepts to solve problems.
d. Add and subtract fractions and mixed numbers with unlike denominators.
e. Multiply and divide fractions and mixed numbers.
f. Use fractions, decimals, and percents interchangeably.
g. Solve problems involving fractions, decimals, and percents.
Rubric
Feedback
Hi Zack,
As always you did a good job in organization, following all directions and your explanation of the steps. Your work is super. You could have done better when you divide numerator by the denominator. You should have kept dividing until you get no remainder. You stopped before no remainder was left.
Also remember to turn your work in by the due date. I deducted 1 point for the late submission.Overall, good work!
M6N1. Students will understand the meaning of the four arithmetic operations as
related to positive rational numbers and will use these concepts to solve problems.
d. Add and subtract fractions and mixed numbers with unlike denominators.
e. Multiply and divide fractions and mixed numbers.
f. Use fractions, decimals, and percents interchangeably.
g. Solve problems involving fractions, decimals, and percents.
Rubric
Feedback
Hi Zack,
As always you did a good job in organization, following all directions and your explanation of the steps. Your work is super. You could have done better when you divide numerator by the denominator. You should have kept dividing until you get no remainder. You stopped before no remainder was left.
Also remember to turn your work in by the due date. I deducted 1 point for the late submission.Overall, good work!
Sunday, May 18, 2014
Evaluate 1.1.1 Formative Assessment Quest
One of the reasons why we use formative assessment is to know where the students are and to check if the students are getting the material during the instruction. It is also an indicator of students' engagement. I always use question-answer technique as the instruction progresses to check on students how they are doing. As of last year and especially this year, however, I have been using www.ixl.com for formative assessment purposes. Questions/problems well organized and you can go directly to the lesson you're teaching in no time.
This is how the pages of the www.ixl.com look like.
This is how the pages of the www.ixl.com look like.
- Searching your lesson...
- the problem/question...
- The most useful feature of the website is its feedback if the student do not solve the problem correctly
Create 4.1.3 Aggregating Lesson Material Quest
Among the many LMS and CMS, I chose the following three:
Moodle. A free, open source, learning platform for producing web-based courses. Easy to use, with many features to customize your content.
(Moodle=an acronym for Modular Object-Oriented DynamicLearning Environment)
Edmodo. I have been using edmodo for two years now. It provides ways to connect, collaborate, share content with students, access homework and grades. Edmodo is free for all teachers, students, schools and districts.
Desire2Learn. It is pretty much an alternative to Blackboard Learn. It is better suited for higher education. It includes synchronous tools and asynchronous tools. Some of the tools are live chat, videos and an interactive whiteboard. E-mail, a blog tool, ePortfolios, and instant messaging are also included
Moodle. A free, open source, learning platform for producing web-based courses. Easy to use, with many features to customize your content.
(Moodle=an acronym for Modular Object-Oriented DynamicLearning Environment)
Edmodo. I have been using edmodo for two years now. It provides ways to connect, collaborate, share content with students, access homework and grades. Edmodo is free for all teachers, students, schools and districts.
Desire2Learn. It is pretty much an alternative to Blackboard Learn. It is better suited for higher education. It includes synchronous tools and asynchronous tools. Some of the tools are live chat, videos and an interactive whiteboard. E-mail, a blog tool, ePortfolios, and instant messaging are also included
Create 4.1.2 Principles of Building Portable Learning Objects Quest
1. I created a mind map using examtime. Very very useful app.
by shishay
2. I created flashcards and quiz using studyblue.
Click here to see the flashcards and quiz. I don't think they have the "embed" service with the free version.
by shishay
2. I created flashcards and quiz using studyblue.
Click here to see the flashcards and quiz. I don't think they have the "embed" service with the free version.
Create 4.1.1 Define and Explain Learning Object Authoring Tools Quest
Learning objects are one way to engage students. Several the environments for creating these learning objects are:
what2learn. This learning object creating tool is good for (mathematical) games. You can build your own games. It is also good for creating quizes and tests. It has automatic recording feature that makes easy for teachers and parents to follow a student's progress. It has free version as well.
articulate storyline. This a software that can be used to develop courses, quizes, and tests. This is part of the articulate package that also have the studio package. They have a 30 day trial period.
BCCampus.CA. I checked this website and it has cool features. The authoring tools enables to easily combine video, audio, images and texts into one synchronized learning object. I tried to start authoring and I didn't see anything related to cost. I believe it is free.
glomaker. It is an authoring tool for creating rich and interactive learning resources. It is an open source and it is free for educational purposes.
pearltrees. This one is amazing! You can create and upload anything you want using this authoring tool. It is very easy to use and it has a free version. I tried it myself for completing this quest. Please see below and click on any of the circles to see the content.
what2learn. This learning object creating tool is good for (mathematical) games. You can build your own games. It is also good for creating quizes and tests. It has automatic recording feature that makes easy for teachers and parents to follow a student's progress. It has free version as well.
articulate storyline. This a software that can be used to develop courses, quizes, and tests. This is part of the articulate package that also have the studio package. They have a 30 day trial period.
BCCampus.CA. I checked this website and it has cool features. The authoring tools enables to easily combine video, audio, images and texts into one synchronized learning object. I tried to start authoring and I didn't see anything related to cost. I believe it is free.
glomaker. It is an authoring tool for creating rich and interactive learning resources. It is an open source and it is free for educational purposes.
pearltrees. This one is amazing! You can create and upload anything you want using this authoring tool. It is very easy to use and it has a free version. I tried it myself for completing this quest. Please see below and click on any of the circles to see the content.
Create 3.1.3 Locating Resources Quest
Multi-Media
By C. Barret under the Creative Commons license: Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0
Image
Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/Algebraic_equation_notation.svg
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License
Text
By C. Barret under the Creative Commons license: Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0
Image
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License
Text
Name:
________________________________ Date:
__________________
M8-U1:
Notes #1 – Translate & Solve Class:
__________________
Warm-Up: Solve and check the following equations.
1. 4x +16=14 Check:
2. -p +7 = -13 Check:
Contributions to http://mrallens.wikispaces.com/ are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike 3.0 License. Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike 3.0 License
Create 3.1.2 Fair Use and the TEACH Act Quest
Copyright laws apply to both digital and non-digital materials. Fair Use applies to both of these categories of materials. The quests in the TOOL that deals with copyright laws and fair use are eye-opening to me. I never had a complete peace of mind when I make a copy of a worksheet for my students. I have never been clear with the copyright laws and what is permissible under the law. The Fair Use information in these quests gave me some peace of mind and now the TEACH Act gives us another layer of legal protection. It mainly deals with copyright exemptions for online distance education when certain conditions are met by the educational institution. For more information, please visit http://www.copyright.com/media/pdfs/CR-Teach-Act.pdf.
Saturday, May 17, 2014
Create 3.1.1. Open Educational Resources and Creative Commons Quest
Open Educational Resources (OER) are digital educational resources that can be accessed freely; used and re-used for purposes of teaching, learning, research and more.
The Types of Creative Commons licenses
The Types of Creative Commons licenses
Attribution
CC BY
Attribution-NoDerivs
CC BY-ND
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
CC BY-NC-SA
Attribution-ShareAlike
CC BY-SA
Attribution-NonCommercial
CC BY-NC
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs
CC BY-NC-ND
For their
brief descriptions, please visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/
Create 2.1.3 Using Web 2.0 Tools to Differentiate Student Assessment Quest
Students will be given a project in Solving Multi-Step Equations. Students are required to
- Define what an equation is and describe the difference between an equation and algebraic expression
- Solve one problem on One-Step Equation and one problem on Two-Step Equation
- Come up with their own problem of Solving Multi-Step Equation
- Describe the difference between Two-Step Equation and Multi-Step Equation
- Solve the the Multi-Step Equation they created and describe and justify each step
Students can complete this project using text, audio, or video presentation methods. The suggested web 2.0 tools are:
Padlet
Storybird
GoAnimate
Smore
Create 2.1.2 Using Web 2.0 Tools to Differentiate Teacher Instruction Quest
Create 2.1.1 Web Tools Quest
Presentation
www.prezi.com. Very good web-based tool for presentation. Very engaging and it is way better than using Microsoft PowerPoint.
http://edu.glogster.com. It incorporates text, images, video, audio etc. Easy to use; user-friendly. It is common-core aligned. They have free to use version.
Storyboard
http://www.toondoo.com/ Good tool for creating cartoons and comic strips. Easy to use. It has a library of clip arts. It has free to use version.
http://www.storyboardthat.com/ It has versions for education and for businesses. You can put your thoughts and ideas to storyboard with good flow of the story. You get a free trial period for 14 days. It is very well designed website; easy to navigate, user-friendly.
Discussion Board
Most LMS applications have discussion boards. For example, Desire2Learn has a very good discussion board. I think Padlet.com and piazza.com are worth mentioning for this part of the quest.
www.prezi.com. Very good web-based tool for presentation. Very engaging and it is way better than using Microsoft PowerPoint.
http://edu.glogster.com. It incorporates text, images, video, audio etc. Easy to use; user-friendly. It is common-core aligned. They have free to use version.
Storyboard
http://www.toondoo.com/ Good tool for creating cartoons and comic strips. Easy to use. It has a library of clip arts. It has free to use version.
http://www.storyboardthat.com/ It has versions for education and for businesses. You can put your thoughts and ideas to storyboard with good flow of the story. You get a free trial period for 14 days. It is very well designed website; easy to navigate, user-friendly.
Discussion Board
Most LMS applications have discussion boards. For example, Desire2Learn has a very good discussion board. I think Padlet.com and piazza.com are worth mentioning for this part of the quest.
Thursday, May 15, 2014
Create 1.1.3 Appearance Quest
The best five websites I have seen/used with good appearance are:
1. www.ixl.com its appearance of the content is beautiful; guides students through the course easily. The choice of colors, fonts etc are perfect.
2. www.funbrain.com Easy to navigate, but I am not sure about the choice of colors.
3. www.freeprintableonline.com Well organized; contents are well categorized and you can access them with great ease.
4. www.cliffsnotes.com/math Contents well categorized for easy access. Colors and layout is just right.
The following five websites needs some work in their appearance:
1. www.artofproblemsolving.com. It is probably the best website regarding content, but the appearance of the homepage is not eye-catching.
2. www.coolmath.com It has plenty of math games, but the pages are so crowded with too much color and too many commercials.
1. www.ixl.com its appearance of the content is beautiful; guides students through the course easily. The choice of colors, fonts etc are perfect.
2. www.funbrain.com Easy to navigate, but I am not sure about the choice of colors.
3. www.freeprintableonline.com Well organized; contents are well categorized and you can access them with great ease.
4. www.cliffsnotes.com/math Contents well categorized for easy access. Colors and layout is just right.
5. www.algebrahelp.com The organization, details, choice of colors and fonts are very good.
The following five websites needs some work in their appearance:
1. www.artofproblemsolving.com. It is probably the best website regarding content, but the appearance of the homepage is not eye-catching.
2. www.coolmath.com It has plenty of math games, but the pages are so crowded with too much color and too many commercials.
3. www.mathpickle.com/K-12/Videos.html It is a good website ; they just need to work on their color choice.
4. www.aaamath.com The website needs to work on many aspects in its appearance. It is just not attractive
5. http:/tutorial.math.lamar.edu/ The notes in this website are written by Paul-Paul's Notes. The notes / tutorials are on Algebra, Calculus I, Calculus II, Calculus III, and Differential Equations. The notes are simple, but the appearance is not appealing to high school students. When I was taking Calculus II and Calculus III in college few years ago, this website was literally my textbook.
Create 1.1.1 Time Management Quest
On the time management quiz, I scored 57 which is in the effective range. It is a good feeling, but I always feel that I have to do better with time management. There are many apps that helps with time management. I still keep changing apps in search of getting the best app I can get.
1. Calendar. I use outlook calendar for work and Google calendar my personal daily life. The outlook calendar is in sync with my phone, so I get reminders on my phone. Calenders are important because you can schedule for months ahead.
2. wunderlist This is a To-Do-List app. It is probably the app I used the longest for this purpose until I replace it with another app. The one thing I look for in these apps is how fast I can go in, put my reminder, and get out. I don't want to spend time to fill out a lengthy form. It has folders to organize your task.
3. Do It Tomorrow. I don't know why they named it like that, but this app is a very user friendly time management app.
4. Evernote. It is a note-taking app; just not a to-do-list app. You can incorporate text, photo, video and audio files. You can also do sharing.
5. Rescuetime. It is a web-based time management app. After you install it, you don't have to do anything, it just gives you analysis of how you spent your time on the computer.
1. Calendar. I use outlook calendar for work and Google calendar my personal daily life. The outlook calendar is in sync with my phone, so I get reminders on my phone. Calenders are important because you can schedule for months ahead.
2. wunderlist This is a To-Do-List app. It is probably the app I used the longest for this purpose until I replace it with another app. The one thing I look for in these apps is how fast I can go in, put my reminder, and get out. I don't want to spend time to fill out a lengthy form. It has folders to organize your task.
3. Do It Tomorrow. I don't know why they named it like that, but this app is a very user friendly time management app.
4. Evernote. It is a note-taking app; just not a to-do-list app. You can incorporate text, photo, video and audio files. You can also do sharing.
5. Rescuetime. It is a web-based time management app. After you install it, you don't have to do anything, it just gives you analysis of how you spent your time on the computer.
Communicate 4.3.1 The Synchronous Session Quest
Synchronous Sessions create a true classroom culture because
- encourages student-teacher and student-student interaction
- encourages active learning because the students won't sit idle while the instructor is continuously encouraging them to actively participate
- Students will be able to get a feedback immediately
- students will learn how to respect other peoples opinion and ways of learning
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