Wilkes 5036 Blog

Planning: The Genius Hour, or 20% time, can be implemented one day per week in your classroom. Scheduling this time on a weekly basis allows for consistent planning for both the teacher and the students. The time spent doing curriculum specific tasks can be done on the other days, and everyone knows which day of the week the Genius Hour will fall on.

Standards: The Genius Hour easily aligns with standards in the math classroom. Many of the math standards for my state include deep thinking and problem solving, which students naturally accomplish during this time. These standards include language like: “Apply quantitative reasoning“, “Construct and compare“, “Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others“, and “Use appropriate tools strategically” (https://tinyurl.com/mry9rmxj)

Challenging: The Genius Hour is supposed to be messy and creative, because at its core it is authentic and student-centered. It emphasizes inquiry and research and is often collaborative and social. These things make for a great foundation of learning.

Hurdles: The Genius Hour is not without it hurdles, though, for me the teacher. The first of which this time cannot end up being free time for students who may or may not wish to participate. Some planning on my part for structure and goals would need to be done. And students would have to have some buy-in with what needs to be accomplished. Another potential problem is selling it to administration – this time that seems like we are off track and not learning the curriculum. An easy way to solve that is to make sure there is an end product (not a test) that the students can produce.

My school district is a Google-only district, so we are only allowed to use Google Meet for virtual meetings. When was my first time using Google Meet? Monday March 16, 2020. Probably no reason for me to mention why. But now, it’s just another tool we use.

Currently I only use it for meeting with parents who don’t have the time to travel into school. It is very convenient to talk with someone who is currently at their own workplace and has a few minutes to talk – it’s almost replaced the telephone call.

For an entire year of school, though, I used Google Meet every day in class. I had to teach a couple classes wherein I had face-to-face students in the room and students attending virtually at home. It was awful; especially considering how unnecessary it all was. To make it more manageable for myself, though, I developed a few routines that helped. I teach high school, so I did not feel the need to require my students to show themselves on camera. (Quite frankly, I’d prefer not to see the inside of a student’s home for job-security reasons.) And instead of showing myself and the whiteboard behind me, I use software that displays what I write and overlays my voice (imagine a Khan Academy video). So the only thing the student at home sees is that. I also used a bluetooth earbud/microphone in one ear so that, if a student at home had a question or comment, I was the only one in the classroom who could hear it. But everything I said, the students at home could hear. Overall students got used to it and seemed to prefer the way I ran my “virtual” class compared to other teachers. The students who were live with me in the classroom also got used to me sometimes talking to an at-home student and not to them.

The only good part of Google Meets was there was one glorious year where all of our faculty meetings were virtual. You know those meetings that could have just been an email? Yeah, I got a lot of actual work done when they were virtual. Sigh… I miss those.

Well, this assignment sure came up at an interesting time! (Musk is biting the hand that feeds Twitter: shorturl.at/uzCLP) But for this blog post let’s just look at Twitter as a possible tool for creating a professional learning network in education.

Twitter can be used as a sort-of virtual water cooler, where ideas and information are exchanged in quick bursts. Whether through professional group chats or just surfing through ideas, using hashtags and other search methods can lead you directly to information that can improve and inform your teaching practice.

Some benefits of using Twitter professionally are: 1) Professional chats where you can learn from others (some good education chats: shorturl.at/agpOX) 2) The links you find can lead you to great resources 3) You can find actual lesson plans and materials for you classes 4) You can share and test your ideas to see if they work for other teachers 5) You can show parents and administrators the type of learning that is taking place in your classroom.

However, there are some downsides to Twitter: 1) you can easily get lost in looking through that much data 2) the tweets, being limited in length, are almost always just links to other sources (once you have some trusted sources, you don’t really need Twitter anymore) 3) Your posts are public (and have you ever read a news article where a teacher posted something and it ended well for them?), so you are ricking your career every time you post 4) it is mainly text-based and difficult to post media content 5) You don’t really know who you are interacting with.

Overall Twitter is a good place to just get in and get out quickly. If you can’t find what you’re looking for in a short time, then look somewhere else. And be exceedingly cautious in what you post.

Flickr looks like an interesting site to upload and share photos. In the classroom, students could use it search for and use photos that are in the public domain or have little to no restrictions on use. By uploading their own photos to an album and sharing it with the teacher, students can work on projects such as: Tell a story in 5 images, How-To guides, joint exhibitions, biographies, or even geolocation and mapping. One interesting idea I do in my Trigonometry class is have students measure very tall structures, like buildings or cell towers, using mathematical techniques; and they take pictures of the object they are measuring. Using a site like Flickr, we could make this an online project where the materials are uploaded.

Unfortunately I’ll never be able to use Flickr in my own classroom, as my district is Google-only. But Google does have it’s own photo sharing capabilities and image search tools. Personally I find the Google Images search for Creative Commons licenses to be be musch more user-friendly than Flickr. You can check it out here: (https://bit.ly/3hS42fp)

How does the idea of everyone sharing knowledge in a collaborative environment affect the model of teaching and learning?

When students collaborate and their questions and ideas in a group setting, there are usually ideas and connections made that might not have come up otherwise. Envision a students’ understanding of a topic as a small sapling; some shallow roots and just a twig of a tree. When left on their own to explore and learn, maybe with some guidance from the teacher, the student’s tree grows a branch or two and some leaves. But it’s still rather small. In a collaborative environment, the student’s knowledge is bolstered by the other students’ questions and ideas. More commections are made, and the roots of all the trees begin to intertwine and help feed each other. The branches of each tree are supported by each other and grow stronger and fuller. While each student talks through ideas and develops their own understanding of the material, soon there is a canopy overhead that gathers light for the whole group and helps it grow together.

The teacher, too, can gain from all of this growth. Seeing where students struggle can give them ideas for anticipating that struggle in the next group of students. Maybe the students in one group had a particularly unique and useful idea; again, the teacher could share that with future groups. The teacher is the forest caretaker, and learns how to best develop the next group.

Title: Exploring the Use of Padlet in Synchronous Learning: Students’ Perceptions of its Advantages and Disadvantages

Authors: Fauzul Etfita, Sri Wahyuni, Estika Satriani, Alber Alber, Asnawi Asnawi

Location: https://jeltl.org/index.php/jeltl/article/view/819/pdf

In a study of online learning through teaching English as a second language, researchers used Padlet as a classroom tool and analyzed students’ perceptions of their learning with that tool.  I found this study appealing as I liken my own computer science classes to learning a new language, and any tool that gets students motivated and practicing that language can be beneficial for my classroom.  Students were queried on the advantages and disadvantages of Padlet, which can inform my teaching practice should I use Padlet in my own classroom.  Some of the results in the study were that “using Padlet to create small learning communities helped students at developing their knowledge and their psychological and cognitive engagement”,  that “the students developed a sense of self-confidence and motivation”, and that “Padlet is an incredibly simple-to-use application that allows for a wide variety of interactions.”  On the whole, any disadvantages proposed to the students about Padlet were roundly rejected, as the students were effectively engaged and invested in their own learning enough to overcome and potential negative affects of using Padlet in the classroom.

This study give me a lot of confidence in trying out Padlet in my own classroom.  It is like having a teacher you respect coming to you with a great idea that has worked for them in their own classroom.  One tends to give more thought to attempting something when someone else has already had success with it.  I am looking forward to using Padlet in either my computer science or math classes, or both!

Reference:

Fauzul Etfita, Sri Wahyuni, Estika Satriani, Alber, A., & Asnawi Asnawi. (2022). Exploring the Use of Padlet in Synchronous Learning: Students’ Perceptions of its Advantages and Disadvantages. Journal of English Language Teaching and Linguistics, 7(2), 271–282. https://jeltl.org/index.php/jeltl/article/view/819/pdf

Title: 30 creative ways to use Padlet for teachers and students

Authors: Lucie Renard

Location: https://www.bookwidgets.com/blog/2017/08/30-creative-ways-to-use-padlet-for-teachers-and-students

This article, like the title says, really does give many creative ideas in how to use Padlet.  For my own math classrooms, the idea of using this site for Exit Tickets appeals to me.  I have used paper Exit Tickets in the past, which do of course have their place in a math class if students are solving problems.  Using Padlet for a creative twist on the idea of getting students to reflect on their learning would be beneficial.  This article suggests that Padlet can be used to prompt students with the following potential questions: “Write down three things you learned today.”; “If you had to explain today’s lesson to a friend, what would you tell him/her?”; “What question do you have about what we learned today?”; “What part of the lesson did you find most difficult?”; “What would you like me to go over again next lesson?”; “Write down two questions you would put in a quiz about today’s lesson.”; “What were the main points we covered today?”; and “Read this problem … What would be your first step in solving it?”

Reading and analyzing students’ answers to these questions can inform my teaching practice not only the next day but beyond.  Getting that immediate feedback from students allows me to adjust the lessons to better serve them.  It also allows me to have one more source of information that I can use to identify students who struggle and need more support, or to identify students who may need more enrichment in their learning.

Reference:

Renard, L. (2017, August 9). 30 creative ways to use Padlet for teachers and students. BookWidgets Blog. https://www.bookwidgets.com/blog/2017/08/30-creative-ways-to-use-padlet-for-teachers-and-students

Title: 10 Ways to Use Padlet in Your Classes

Authors: ‌ Debra McFadden

Location: https://engagingbiology.com/10-ways-to-use-padlet-in-your-classes/

The teacher blog of Engaged Biology has an interesting post about the benefits of Padlet and how it can be used in the science classroom.  In my own computer science classes I am looking for ways to increase student engagement and discussions about the material we are learning.  Having students talk and write about programming in Java gets them to practice using the correct vocabulary and meanings.  Learning to code is really like learning another language, and students need to speak and write that language to really master it!

One particular option for using Padlet is to create a Mind Map.  The author says that “The Canvas board type allows students to post to different types of mind maps. You can use a tree map, a circle map or a flow map. Use it as a whole class or with small groups of students.”  The idea behind a Mind Map is to use a visual diagram to map concepts, words, or related items that allows the creator (or creators in a group project) to build a framework around a central idea.  Students could place and move ideas and concepts around on the Mind Map in order to focus on various concepts and enhance vocabulary understanding.  As the teacher I could start the Mind Map off by creating a central focus.  Students would then add their thoughts, ideas, and research in branches off that central idea.  Students could then continue to branch out as they discover more through their programming experiences in class.

Hopefully this will be a fun and engaging way to use Padlet in my CS classes!

Reference:

McFadden, D. (2020, April 9). 10 Ways to Use Padlet in Your Classes. Engaging Biology. https://engagingbiology.com/10-ways-to-use-padlet-in-your-classes/

History of Computing Timeline

You will be creating a timeline of some major events in the history of computing and computers.  The science of computing has actually been around long before the computer as we know it was invented.  Here you will find a description of your assignment.  I’ve included below the events and/or people you will be researching. 

Old Directions: You will use https://www.timetoast.com/ to make the timeline.  Each event on your timeline should include a description that is a minimum of three (3) interesting sentences about the topic and inventor, written by you.  (It’s a minimum of 3 sentences, but really the reader should be able to understand something about the event/invention by reading your description.)  Each event should also include at least one picture.  Each event should include a link to where you found your information.

New Directions: You will use https://www.symbaloo.com/ to make the timeline. Place the symbaloo tiles in historical order. Each event on your timeline should include link to where you found your information. Each tile should also have an appropriate thumbnail picture associated with the topic and a brief clear label (such as “Abacus” or “Mac OS X”).

Events that must be in your timeline:

Abacus, Napier’s Bones (John Napier), Slide Rule (William Oughtred), Pascaline (Blaise Paxcal), Stepped Reckoner (Gottfried Leibniz), Jacquard Loom (Joseph-Marie Jacquard), Arithmometer (Thomas de Colmar), Difference and Analytical Engines (Charles Babbage), Augusta Ada Byron, Scheutzian Calculation Engine (Per Georg Scheutz,) Tabulating Machine (Herman Hollerith), Havard Mark 1 (Howard Aiken), Z1 (Konrad Zuse), ENIAC (Eckert & Mauchly), UNIVAC 1(Eckert & Mauchly,) EDVAC (John von Neumann), The transistor (Shockley, et al), COBOL (Grace Hopper), FORTRAN (John Backus, et al), Computer Chip (Jack Kilby & Robert Noyce), The mouse (Douglas Engelbart), The floppy disk (Alan Shugart), Ethernet (Robert Metcalfe), Radio Shack’s TRS-80 Apple II (Steve Jobs & Steve Wozniak), IBM Acorn, Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, iPhone, Chromebook, Molecular Informatics (DARPA)

This plan seemed to fit well with the visual aspect of social bookmarking. The big advantage for this modified plan is that it streamlines the assignment and the class could spend less time creating the timeline and possibly more time discussing the topics. However, the disadvantage is that I would really need to make a point about discussing each topic with students, as students may not spend as much time reading through the material. Because they no longer have to write their own brief summary of each topic, since symbaloo can’t handle that much text.

I was a bit surprised to see we would be learning about RSS feeds in this class.  RSS is an outdated technology, originally created in 1999 for Netscape Navigator.  The latest software release for RSS was way back in 2009. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS#Current_usage).  Many internet browsers and applications have long since stopped supporting RSS feeds natively, which is why you get a bunch of strange looking code when you try to subscribe to a feed.

In my opinion, setting up an RSS feed in something like The Old Reader is a complicated mess.  I can’t imagine spending my time looking through random postings about topics I may or may not be interesting in.  It’s like doing a Google search for 20 different topics all at once.  RSS feeds are an inefficient way of looking for information.  Using RSS instead of just looking up information directly is like scrolling through Facebook trying to find out what your friend Bob is up to, rather than just giving him a call.

With that off my chest, I did subscribe to a number of computer-science related topics, such as “AP Computer Science A”,  “Learning Java”, and “Google Sheets” to look for ideas and materials for my classroom.  I also subscribed to “James Webb Telescope” and “NASA” just for fun to see images from the new James Webb telescope.