Another Insight

Another aspect of 'blogging' about the lessons and the thinking process attached to the research process has been the quick turn-around remediation I can do before the quizzes. I have quick access to what the students are doing, and what  they are understanding or NOT understanding. I can check the blogs (used as journals) frequently during the week so any misunderstanding can be corrected quickly.

That's been worthwhile.

Authentic Data

Surveys can be valuable for
collecting opinions
or identifying trends.

The students are starting to work on their authentic data constructions. Interviews, surveys, and experiments generate data that can prove or disprove a project's essential question. For the surveys, the students will learn how to use Google Forms and Spreadsheets. This will be far and away a more efficient way to gather data and make graphs.

Lessons Almost Done

The research lessons are almost done....only a week away. The assessments have gone well this semester, in spite of glitches with the technology which has been documented. There are some striking differences between the paper and digital versions of this research class that are worth noting.

www.gabrielweinburg.com

1) Students are doing more writing in their blogs than they did in their journals. While it is true the students who were always writers still write, overall the amount of writing has been more extensive. The connection between the lessons and the projects has been more detailed, and have been illustrated. More connections are being made.

2) The assessments, overall, have shown the students are understanding the lessons without having to re-teach portions of the lessons for re-testing. In semester's past, the quiz would indicate portions of the lessons I thought were understood were, in fact, not. This led to re-teaching and re-testing. This semester, the first test is all that has been needed to show that students have connected concepts to their research topics. Students may miss one or two questions, but in my opinion the blog writing has helped.

3) I can access their writing without having to ask that journals be left behind. I can make comments and move on while they work. So, the students know I can see their writing immediately, they know their blog is open for others to read, and they know their parents can read the blogs. All around, it is not as easy to slip through a class period anonymously and then end up with an empty (or token) journal at the end of the week.

Frustration

Yesterday the level of frustration with the wireless connection sent several students at one school into overload, expressing by slamming shut their laptop lids and refusing to work further. Two of these students had taken the Packet 4 quiz three times without getting it to submit properly due to equipment lock-up or shut-down. The IT person for the school visited the class twice.

www.electronicstakeback.com

Today, a thought came to me about why it is that one school has more troubles than the other one with the same type/age of equipment. What I did this morning was to take all the laptops out of my office and set them up in the library where the wireless connection box sits on the check-out desk. So far there seems to be an improvement with connectivity.  Of the two classes, the IT person only had to visit once and that may have been because the student anticipated the usual trouble. By the time IT arrived (within a few minutes), the student had figured out something and all was well.  Clearly, the plan for that school is to arrive early, roll the laptops on a cart 10 feet from my office, plug them in, and we're good to go.

flatclassroomproject.org

more about Distance Learning

Some students did, in fact, access their blogs and took the quizzes. They came back to school after the snow day prepared to move on with the lesson previously planned for the day. Others had excuses about web access,  parents not willing to give up the computer, and just plain forgetting they could had access to school work at home.

In Chicago, school districts have planned distance-learning days for the purpose of practicing learning from home in case of blizzard or flu pandemic. I know very little about the results of those trials. I wonder if students get used to doing distance learning if it would be more utilized and therefore become routine.

Distance Learning

sophlylaughing.blogspot.come

A snow storm is coming. The students are excited. The students were surprised when I said they are still held  for their quiz and blog/notes check on Thursday.  Being on the Cloud allows for access anywhere and this will be the test since everything they need is available: lessons through next week, rubrics, quizzes, grades, spreadsheets, research sources....it's all there for retrieval and self-pacing.

March 1, 2013

No ChromeBooks. Students have been bringing it up everyday when their machines lock up, turn off, or lose access to Google and/or the wireless connection.  Today, students began mentioning their parents are asking.

paulgotthardt.com

Several have lost posts they've worked when their machines lock up, or turn off without warning. It takes quite a while to log in and repeatedly try to sign into Chrome to get to their lessons and blog. When I use my desktop, I get right into Chrome with no trouble. But when I use a laptop it is chancy if I can get to Chrome much less use it. Will these issues be present with the ChromeBooks?  The second school I work with has far fewer problems with the machines and the connection. The curiosity is present with those students but not like the level of frustration I see in the students during the first two periods of the day at the first school.