Doc Appender: I hate you Doc-Appender. I spent around 30 minutes trying to configure and re-configure this App. It didn't work. The end. Awesome Table: This was easy as pie. I downloaded the add on, connected the dots as I was shown in the demo video, and viola! It provided me a beautiful set of tables that broke down each of the answers I asked. This is a great way to review one's own tests. Are my tests too hard or too easy? Take a look at the charts and you will have a pretty good idea it seems like most students got most of the questions right or wrong. Flubaroo: Love you Flubaroo! Once again, I followed the demo video, connected the add on to a pre-existing form/spreadsheet I had in my folder, and it provided me a nifty graph. Form Notifications: This was another nifty and easy add on. I added it to a pre-existing form I had ("Animal Farm Test") and tested it myself. The first response (see below) didn't include my name or e-mail, which I would prefer to see so I could do a checklist while waiting for tests to be submitted. Knowing who submitted a form is key to knowing who should and shouldn't still be on their chromebook. I went back to the Add on to see if I could remedy this. Form Notifications (Take 2): Form Notifications apparently does not have the option of showing me the names of who has submitted a form. I will be in touch with them to see if they can remedy this. Otherwise, I can't imagine using this one much for class quizzes.
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The Just in Time concept is very interesting. Using Forms for a "pre-entry" ticket to understand what students took away from the previous week's lessons is great. There is an aspect of accountability and the teacher can benefit from being able to re-adjust the day's lesson to what the students missed from the homework assignments. I really like that. I strongly believe that homework should not be busy work, it should have practical, real world applications. In English class, that means homework should be reading the short story or novel we are learning. Class time should be reserved for discussions, projects, activities, or group work.
One of the things I suspect that JITT requires is that ever elusive teaching need: time. Reviewing these kinds of forms every day, prior to a lesson, and then re-orienting my lesson around that information would be unrealistic for me. I am a working mom with three small children. I am happy if I have time to eat...ever. I would need to orient my lessons plans around this from day one. I could envision using the forms as a way to do an end of the week review of what the students really understand from the reading and discussions the week before. Then, I could orient my Monday morning class around reviewing the concepts I can see that they are lacking, based on the information from the end of the week FORMS. I have experimented with the "flipped classroom" model, off and on, for the past five years. A supervisor recommended it to me as her favorite model. I read the book, and dove right in. I haven't been impressed with the results. "Flipped classroom" seems to me to be no more than a glorified lecture. As Dr. Mussallem comments, "Good teaching, regardless of discipline, should always limit passive transfer of knowledge in class..." (http://www.edutopia.org/blog/flipped-classroom-ramsey-musallam).
It is difficult to to a quick check for understanding and to gauge for how the material is being received. If I give a bad example in a flipped lesson, I can't look at my students to get a read on how it is being received and if I should try a different approach. While proponents of the model believe that it will allow teachers to utilize their time in better ways, like higher order thinking and differentiation, as a wise teacher once told me, "If you don't have the time to do it right, when will you have the time to do it over?" If a flipped lesson goes over poorly, you have not helped anyone. A teacher needs to know their strengths and weaknesses. Personally, I am a dynamic classroom personality with a strong ability to quickly pick up on my students' understanding of the lesson. I really lose something by allowing the front loading of information to happen in an off-site environment. It would take me time to assess their understanding of the lesson, and that time is valuable. Even with a quick "entry pass" or similar tool, I have lost something...a je ne sais quois, if you will. When I find flipped lessons successful: I use flipped lessons when I am out. I give the screencast video to my sub, along with any relevant worksheets and explanations. The students can watch the lesson together, discuss it, and ask each other or the substitute questions. The students appreciate this kind of lesson, when I am out, and the substitute can evaluate real time and give me feedback on the success of the lesson. |