|
|
I wrote daily about my experience during triage distance learning last spring here. My system in the fall was heavily dependent on Google Forms as the primary learning interface.
This year I have significantly simplified the system to involve weekly Google Doc "Notebooks" templates pushed out to students each Sunday. In this revised system, Google Doc responses and public products posted using Padlet (click here for an example in my Robotics class), provide the primary interfaces for learning and assessment. Material is batched weekly as I do not know when we will be returning to school, thus a weekly gives me flexibility in planning a system that honors our content but is designed for the online learning structure. I use this hack to make my templates. Below are links to examples of "Weekly Notebooks" for my three classes following this distance learning schedule. I am hopeful that sharing an "under the hood" view to my materials and planning process will spark ideas in your own process, and hopeful create opportunities for collaboration and growth for me! Click here to access the final of three recordings for my "Spark Learning" Masterclass. This session explored research and strategies related to delivering and applying content in response to student exploration.
Today I gave a short presentation to my colleagues on my use of ONE Google Doc to drastically simplifying how my students access and engage with our lessons during this temporary time of online learning. Click here to access the document referenced in the video and here to access a recording of the presentation. The presentation recording is also embedded below. Since the start of summer I have the opportunity to work with a myriad of teachers and schools as they prepare for the the inevitable chaos of developing new and meaningful systems/schools in the context of the even changing COVID-19 Pandemic landscape.
Rather than focus on technology, I have been stressing pedagogical structures and cycles to help inform the lesson planning process in a way that can transcend whatever "blended" or "distance" or "hybrid" learning approach school leadership decides. Myself and my colleagues are deep in this process of our own reflection as well. I am true believer in inquiry and delaying direct instruction long enough to build student desire for information. This method, in my mind, transcends discipline, and is a solid pedagogy that technology can then be added to as a strategic partner to empower learning. There are many structures and systems in place that help teachers visualize inquiry and lesson plan accordingly. The 5E Learning Cycle, and its coincidental overlap with the Hero's Journey are two that I share often. Last week, a different structure resonated with the teacher's I was collaborating with. In this new model Bloom's Taxonomy is used as the central focus of the learning cycle. In this model, teachers begin their planning cycle at the top of the Bloom's level challenging students to complete tasks in creative tasks that require evaluation and analysis with little background knowledge. Once student questions surface, and help is needed/requested information to promote understanding and remembering is relayed in the form of direction instruction. Once new knowledge is in hand, students then travel back up applying assimilated information, evaluating new scenarios, and producing new creations. To quote a teacher in yesterday's workshop: I really like the 'Bloom's Walk Around' planning model because it addresses both the 'type' of task (Bloom's) and how difficult the task is (Depth of Knowledge). We start planning with simpler, higher Bloom's tasks, then once we turn the corner, we transfer basic content to student to fill in gaps in knowledge. We then climb back up, planning tasks become more difficult in nature. This model incorporates inquiry, but also type, and depth of learning. See the image below for visual of "Bloom's Walk Around" model and click here for downloadable drawing: My instruction for this period of EMERGENCY distance learning is over, and thus, this will be my last formal post reflecting on the process.
Click here for an archive of all reflections during this time. My colleagues and I are in the process of brainstorming potential models for reintegration in the fall, and Jennifer Gonzales does a fabulous job outlining potential options here. I will be writing about next steps as they develop, along with sharing instructional strategies, and FAILURES, etc., as they happen. Stay tuned! In the meantime, although shared sporadically over the course of this reflection series, below are direct links to all the major resources that were developed for during this time. Lessons (includes forms, created videos, simulations, assessments and Q&A docs) Padlets (student work, tutorials, and final projects)
|
Categories
All
Archives
February 2024
|