I received some GREAT feedback in
regards to my GAME plan. Thank you to the colleagues of mine that left comments
because this really helped me to develop a good mindset as to how I could
effectively work towards getting this plan in place. I was given some great
programs that can be utilized well in the classroom. For example, Edmodo, a site program similar
to Facebook, was suggested by many of my colleagues.
There are several resources I will
need to carry out my plan. First, I wanted to research the usage of Edmodo a
little further and understand how it can be utilized in the classroom. I
decided to use the internet to research Edmodo and typed in “using Edmodo in
the classroom”. Fortunately I came across a blog from another online user (http://teachingthatsticks.blogspot.com/2010/02/using-edmodo-in-classroom-five-days.html) that laid out some good foundation and rules for using
Edmodo. This particular user also discussed ways in which his students were
learning through Edmodo. I also went to
the Edmodo site (http://www.edmodo.com/) and watched a video on how to turn my classroom into a
community with Edmodo. In order to move forward, I would love any and all types
of ways you utilize Edmodo in the classroom (if you do!). I would like to
continue learning new ways to incorporate this into my everyday teaching
practices. I went ahead and set up my teacher account, however I want to get confirmation
from my principal that this will be okay to use with my students. I am not
quite sure if I need to send something home with the students so the parents
are aware as well. For those of you that use it at your school, how did you go
about this process?
My second strategy is to develop a
collaborative partnership with the other middle school in my district. I have
contacted some of the other teachers at the school, but unfortunately I am not
receiving much support from them. I would eventually like to sit with one of
the teachers to brainstorm ways our classes could collaborate with each other,
if one of them is willing. With that being said, I started to research ways to
collaborate within a global community. For example, in one of my previous
courses, one of my colleagues mentioned the “ePals” website. I will be conducting
more online research on how to effectively collaborate with another class
globally. I will also need to look into getting this approved by my principal. One
of my plans is to explore the “ePals” website to gather ideas as to how I could
make the collaborative community work with my math students. Have any of you
had experience with ePals?
I feel I have some good ideas. However
I really want to focus on one aspect of my GAME plan which is the Edmodo. I do
not really feel as if I have the second strategy well-developed. I suppose this
will come with time, but I feel the Edmodo site will be good because students
will be able to still collaborate, but on a smaller scale for now.
Emily,
ReplyDeleteOne of my big goals was to better utilize Edmodo in my classroom as well. And I have had some of the same questions you have had. I actually really enjoyed the links you shared from your research, those will be very helpful. I actually just talked to one of my colleagues that utilizes Edmodo in her class (we are at conferences and she was sitting next to me) and she talked about using Edmodo to give her students extra activities and tasks to supplement what they are doing in class. She talked about trying to create a paperless classroom by using it to submit many of their activities. I asked her about what she does with parents and the site and she told me that she really does not do a whole lot with them, but only because, “it is a pain to get the parents set up.” Apparently you have to get them each a code, and a bunch of other stuff, and I guess it was more worth then she had time for. However, we both agreed we were going to take a better look into it. So if I find out more I will pass it along, or if you find something that works well, I look forward to seeing your post. Hope this helps a little, I really like what you are doing with your GAME plan.
Mark
Mark - I like the idea of extra activities. Just the other day, a student was talking about putting up some activities on my class website for him to try at home for extra credit. I would love to incorporate videos on there as well. I have some silly songs I play for slope, integers, etc.
DeleteYes, please let me know about the info you find! Thanks for your input!
-Emily
Emily,
ReplyDeleteI used Edmodo a LOT with my AP students last year and have done some work on it with my Freshman English kids. I really like the small group feature. That allows me to take my entire class and put them into small groups, so that only the ones in that group can see those posts. This has worked nicely in the past for me with peer review, small group discussions of a text, and group resource gathering during research projects. One that worked particularly well was when I put my AP kids into groups and each kid had to find an example of satire. They then had to post a link to their example with a brief explanation as to why they chose that piece. Each student then had to write a brief analysis of other students' examples, with requirements to respond to or add on to the comments made by others. It was a great way to get the kids analyzing a variety of work, without the struggle of having the entire class watch YouTube clips and other such things as a whole.
My students do really like the assignment submission piece. They can view the grades immediately after I post them, and I can annotate directly on their attached word documents from inside Edmodo. One of my friends teaches at a school where he's lucky enough to have every kid provided with an iPad and he's using Edmodo to run a practically paperless French class. There are some limitations, but there are quite a few possibilities with this resource.
It sounds like going further into Edmodo is a great way to work on your GAME plan. I'd like to hear more about how it works out for you.
Carrie - the small group feature sounds awesome!! Sometimes there are some really cool things to do that make much more sense in a small group because as a whole group, it might lose meaning or value!
DeleteWow, creating a paperless classroom sounds awesome! I am not quite sure I would be able to do that with math though because I feel there is so much writing with numbers and showing steps. Maybe there is a way and perhaps I should research it or give it more thought?! :) My biggest concern is I don't have pieces of technology for every student - I would LOVE it though!!!
Thank your for your input and support - I will be checking back with you for advice throughout the Edmodo process! :)
-Emily
Emily, I do like the idea of Edmodo. I was given a brief description about this type of "social networking" tool and how it is in fact very similar to facebook. Would you use Edmodo ONLY in the classroom during the time you have with your students and/or once the school day is over? My description given to me was too vague to make a judgement call and quite frankly, I do not think the students (as a majority) I have this year would do much with it if it involves outside of the classroom.
ReplyDeleteI would not be discouraged at all regarding very few of your district's middle school teachers responding to you. As this has been my first year at the middle school level, I can honestly say, there truly is NOT enough time in that 8 hour increment to do anything other than teach, go to one meeting after another, make contact with parents and fellow teachers regarding certain students, etc. I do not know about your school district, but I promise you I only have one hour a week of planning! All of my "so-called" planning and data period time is DEVOTED to data and to meetings everyday. SO, I take my student's materials home to grade and plan at home. I have no energy nor desire to do anything else "school related".
Hopefully, in your case, things are very different and you do get time to do what you need to do. Again, I will say it might very be that those other teachers you are trying to contact are just very consumed with what their school has requested them to do. So do not take the lack of contact from others harshly.
I think you have some terrific ideas and a positive attitude about it all. Above all else, that positive attitude creates energy within yourself and your desire to become a better educator. You are going to do a fantastic job!
I did enjoy reading your post. Good luck
Lori-
DeleteYou know what... it probably worked out anyway right now that I wasn't receiving much support anyway. My school is heavily involved in looking at student data and involved in meetings after school. It is quite stressful! :) I need two of me sometimes just to get one task done it seems like!
Thanks for your input - it is much appreciated! :-)
-Emily