OLLIE Iowa

Once again experiences help us deliver good instruction. So if we are taking classes and learning we in turn become better teachers and know what struggles may happen or what worked and what didn't

Up until this course, I honestly had no idea how difficult it was to do everything for a course on the computer. Despite being very tech savy, I find myself somewhat challenged to manage the different windows required.

Working both in a school setting and outside of the schools, I see this as a standard that should come at or near the top of most instructors lists. I want my students to have an environment that they feel safe and want to come learn. I want my students to feel that instructors genuinely care for our students and want the best for each of them.

I love to give students a voice in their classroom. It can be something as big as classroom rules and expectations to something as small as a choice of what to do next from teacher selected activities, and anything in between. Giving students a voice will give them some ownership of the class and give them a reason to want to keep coming back.

I need to do this because I get set in my ways and need to find out what the students would like to learn in my classes.

Agreed! This is a very important, even though you may get feedback that is difficult to read. It is extremely helpful in knowing what is most effective from those that are actually completing the assignments. When students have a voice it makes it more meaningful and more effective.

I think there is a two-fold situation brewing here. On one end of the spectrum, we have teachers who are happy to explore lots of ways to use digital tools and processes. We see a lot of app and extension requests come in from "these kinds of people". After a while, the district has started to take a stance and wants a way to filter out the requests to the essential ones. It's a slippery slope, however, because no one has definitively decided what is essential, and even if they had, it could change overnight. On the other side of the spectrum, you have teaches who are overwhelmed by all the choices, and so they select none. They would prefer that someone tell them "THIS one" when choosing the right tool for the right job. I believe there is happy medium in the middle where vetted tools are supported. Not quite there yet. It's a bit of a jungle.

I think there is a two-fold situation brewing here. On one end of the spectrum, we have teachers who are happy to explore lots of ways to use digital tools and processes. We see a lot of app and extension requests come in from "these kinds of people". After a while, the district has started to take a stance and wants a way to filter out the requests to the essential ones. It's a slippery slope, however, because no one has definitively decided what is essential, and even if they had, it could change overnight. On the other side of the spectrum, you have teaches who are overwhelmed by all the choices, and so they select none. They would prefer that someone tell them "THIS one" when choosing the right tool for the right job. I believe there is happy medium in the middle where vetted tools are supported. Not quite there yet. It's a bit of a jungle.

Another vision for down the road is an accessible repository for high quality assessment items linked to standards which could be pulled while our collaborative teacher teams start to build their common formative assessments.

I think this is especially important because it is hard to be sincere in an electronic space. I love when teachers introduce themselves. I need the personal touch to be more invested in the coursework. Students will need that, too.

This is so critical as we move to even more online content for classes. We need to teach our students to give credit where credit is due.

I think it is extremely difficult to stay current on all of the technology tools. There are the new tech tools and then the others are continually being updated. We seem to have certain leaders who are know about certain products. We all know who to ask about Google Calendar. moodle-Iowa

I definitely agree with this!! I used to think that I was good with technology and doing well with new things until we went to ISTE last summer! That, along with these classes has really showed me how much I really don't know!

I strongly believe this is the most essential part. It is the understanding of the big picture (Understanding by Design concepts from the late 90's), assessment, and how are we going to get there is the key to any teaching. This front loading, upfront planning, and focus on the big picture will ensure more learning. It is planned and not rushed. You will always need to adjust, and the moodle allows ample ways to adjust instruction as the students need it. Technology or no technology, this is the heart of teaching.

I really struggled which to pick out as being most essential in the 2nd area and I went between self assessment and the ability to differentiate with all learners. I decided to go with the self-assessment and pre-assessment. Hattie studied thousands and thousands of strategies and found the number one way to improve learning is through reflection- knowing where I am, setting goals, and reflecting along the way. This is the nice part with online learning as it forces all students to be transparent and not blend in with the class and not engage. With solid planning for a variety of abilities in the classroom, good assessment & feedback, and constant reflection, we should see improvement in learning.

This is a demonstration note

Self-assessment are not very helpful because the user often does not answer the questions truthfully.

Joan Walton has helped me with this class. the student-student interaction has help me with this learning process.