Searching for Balance in Your Universe

As we begin a new week of extended eLearning, I know that many are searching for balance in this new work at home life. Some are trying to juggle taking care of our own children's basic and educational needs along with helping to address the needs of our students at the same time. Others are caring for elderly parents or family members who are sick, while trying to plan lessons that may be beyond the reaches of your own comfort zone. Many of us are trying to find a boundary between work and home when they are both happening simultaneously, in the same space, and around the clock. Dedicated to be excellent in both areas, how do we make it work? How do we preserve our sanity?

Suggestions for Bringing Balance to the Force

Live streaming is great for connecting with students, and it definitely can play an important role in the days and weeks ahead. However, you do not need to live stream your teaching every day! Tools like Screencastify, Screencast-O-Matic, Camtasia, Adobe Spark Video, Touchcast, Apple Clips, and FlipGrid can be used to create short instructional tutorials or video lessons for students. I've even see teachers using the filters in Snapchat to create quick video instructions! Sharing pre-recorded videos, hyperdocs, or Google Slides with clear instructions and valuable resources through your LMS or similar platform is an effective way to provide instruction for students, while making yourself available to help students along the way.   

Give students something to look forward to each day! I've heard of a teacher who wears a different crazy wig each day to entice students to check on what he has posted. A friend of mine is changing the pun on her light up sign to share with students each day. Many schools are doing a Virtual Spirit Week to give students something to look forward to each morning. Logging in to see your face, hear your voice, play a online game, go on a virtual field trip, watch an educational video, listen to an engaging read aloud, or work on a creative project will keep students engaged and learning in the days ahead. Few will continue to log on if they are only doing so because of our expectations, but many are logging in because of the relationships teachers have worked to establish and the exciting things you have prepared.

As you embark on eLearning, focus on collecting ONE weekly assessment that reflects student learning throughout the week. This evidence of learning might be a journal, essay, multimedia project, or quiz. Though you will be posting a number of activities and resources for learning each day, trying to collect daily assignments will make everyone (teachers, students, parents, administrators, and counselors) want to pull their hair out! So many of our kids are working through the same significant stress and anxiety that we are also feeling, and I would love if “school” and learning could be a positive experience each day without adding additional worry. I know many teachers are using tools like FlipGrid, Quizizz, Quizlet, GimKit, Desmos, and EdPuzzle to provide students with formative feedback to drive their learning, and this is critical. However, do not try to collect and grade daily assignments for each student!

Not all of our students will be able to keep pace throughout the week, and assignments may take longer to complete without a teacher physically present to keep students "on track." Consider using Friday as a catch up and enrichment day. Offer time for those who need to "catch up" alongside some fun activities or resources for those who have kept pace. I've see some great virtual scavenger hunts, virtual field trips, and ideas for snuggling up with a good book! Keep it simple, and be available to the student who have questions or concerns about wrapping up for the week.

Stay connected with your colleagues, and reach out for help if you feel overwhelmed! For the teachers at RC Edwards, I set up a Good Morning chat for our teachers using WebEx called "Preisig Perk." It's just a chance to check in with colleagues and enjoy coffee  and conversation together.  In addition, my teammate hosts another WebEx session called "Lunch with Lu" that allows for a casual debrief at the end of our morning hours. For those that can't pop in during our live WebEx chats, we are also using FlipGrid to connect and share reflections. In addition, I know after hours FaceTime chats with teaching buddies have also been a vital component to staying sane. We all need adult interactions and support during these crazy times. Together, we've got this!

Establish time for yourself and your family, and stick to it! I know it is very easy for me to allow "work life" to take over because the job is never done... even in normal times. Perhaps setting family time hours, in which all devices and distractions are put away, will be a helpful way to find balance for the entire family. We've been trying to go for a walk, play tennis, or kick the soccer ball each day. In addition to family meals and playing with the boys out in the yard, I've also tried to set aside personal time to enjoy a good cup of coffee and a good book each weekend. Somehow a good book is like an escape to another world, and it feels good to get away from it all.

3 Things

Today, I am thankful for a spacious backyard that allows us to escape the confines of our home, my Kindle that provides and endless supply of good reads, and the discovery of our old bread machine that allowed me to make some delicious, fresh bread over the weekend.

Assessment in Guided Math

For many teachers the word "assessment" is synonymous with "testing," but Lanney Sammons writes, "Assessment is more than testing - it is evaluating students' progress, their understandings and misconceptions, their ability to solve problems and think critically, and their ability to apply their knowledge to new situations." In the guided math classroom, formative assessment drives instruction daily and helps teachers to know how to meet the diverse needs of students.

During our training this month, I asked teachers to post responses to the question in the AnswerGarden shown below. One of the teachers commented that the change to using a Guided Math approach has made ongoing assessment more essential and easier than ever! Students are no longer passive consumers of knowledge, but they are engaged learners receiving ongoing and regular feedback about their work and progress.

Tools for Assessment

One of the most important and powerful tools that we are using for formative assessment at Powdersville Elementary is Seesaw. This app allows teachers to share resources and links with students, and it allows students to create and to post station work with images, screenshots, and audio. This work can be reviewed by the teacher and shared with parents. Because our school recently began to a Seesaw for Schools Pilot, I took some time during this session to discuss some of the great features that teachers can now access, including Skills View. I'm excited to see how teachers can use this feature to document student learning and progress!

January's session ended with a quick look at some of the technology tools that teachers are using for formative assessment in the Guided Math classroom (see Slide 8). I encouraged teachers to look at the homework mode in Quizizz for an interactive station task that provides students with immediate feedback. (One group of teachers even found a Quizizz that they could use the following day!) Several of the teachers are also excited to begin using Classkick for exit tickets.

I am so excited about the work that my teachers are doing, and it makes me feel good to know that our students are benefiting from the collaboration and professional growth of their teachers. Being able to provide resources and serve as a support for this dedicated group of teachers makes me proud and excited to be a small part of something amazing!

"Appy Holidays" at Powdersville Middle

Teaching sixth grade math for ten years was a transformative, fulfilling, and challenging experience. It was a job that became my passion, and I continue to reflect upon my work in the classroom as I strive to make a difference in my current role as an instructional technologist.

Because of my years spent teaching at the middle school level, I know all about the challenges of teaching during the week leading up to Winter Break! With that in mind, I pulled together a collection of holiday themed formative assessment options that my teachers can use during this final stretch. 

Segments of time during a modified schedule can be an excellent time to try out some new tools and websites with fun content. Hopefully, teachers will find that they can use these same tools for standards-based content when we return in January. 

Please check out the Thinglink below for some great shared resources from Kahoot, Quizizz, Quizalize, Quizlet Live, and Yummy Math.

Ts @PVMSPatriot have some fun with @quizizz during planning time this morning #pvms #asd1 #christmastrivia pic.twitter.com/QuX0rh3RlM

— Jessica D. Preisig (@PreisigJessica) December 13, 2016