Using Group resources in Schoology for collaboration

by Kirsten Fletcher

While most of our staff are lucky enough to have collaborative course-alike teams, many of our smaller programs have teachers who have no one else in the building to help them plan, write assessments, create activities, etc. This blog post is for all of us loners! (Of course, it is also useful to all PLCs who use Schoology and like to collaborate.)

As a French teacher in a small program, I never have a course-alike team in the building. I have learned to survive by relying on my colleagues throughout the district. Together, we created a Schoology group where we house shared resources. We might not all implement the same plans at the same pace, but we do have an awesome collection of teacher-created resources at the click of a mouse. This has the added benefit of acting as a back-up of important files. The Schoology group is especially helpful when a new colleague joins the team. We don't have to find and share individual files. We just add him or her to the Schoology group and everything is already there.

Here's how it works. Log in to your Schoology account. Create a Schoology group. Have your colleagues join and make everyone an administrator. Then within that group, create a shared resource folder.

Create a Schoology group

Create folders in the group's Resources

Agree on a protocol for organizing your folders. The district French team, for example, created a folder for each level of language (French 1, French 2...). Within each of those folders, we created folders for each unit of instruction. Then we broke down our documents into Vocabulary resources, Grammar, Assignments, Summative Assessments, etc. Once we had a common system of organization, we took the time to upload our favorite materials (in .doc format so colleagues can revise).

Organized by units of instruction

Types of activities within each unit

Now that the system is in place, we continue to add new materials during workshop time as well as throughout the year. I took a class last summer with a colleague on flipping the classroom and the two of us created Schoology grammar checklists for every unit in first semester of French 2. We shared these with the group so everyone can use them and no one has to duplicate the work. When one of us creates a new formative quiz in Schoology, a writing prompt with a Schoology rubric, or a video for a flipped lesson, we upload it to the appropriate folder and let our colleagues know that there is a cool new resource. This has been such a time saver!

Share anything: files, videos, quizzes, discussions or assignments (with rubrics), test bank questions...

I'd like to offer a quick shout-out to my amazing district French team: Effie Kalkounos (EGHS), Sara Kahle-Ruiz and Sharon Horwath (RMHS), Kathy Wilkens and Jenna Sandstead (PHS), Barbara Meyer and Zaya Denardo (BGHS), Elyse Hoffman (WHS), Betsy Noble and Valerie Miceli (JHHS). They are all amazing and creative educators who inspire me to be a better teacher. Merci, mes amies!

Establishing Mastery Culture

By Kim Miklusak

This year the English Department has rolled out common expectations for all grades and levels.  We hope that these agreed upon norms will create consistency in mastery and rigor for all students.

1.  Common Weights & Categories:  30% Writing, 30% Reading, 30% Grammar, 10% Habits of Work (sophomores and juniors; freshmen and seniors have adjusted percentages for an "oral communications" category).  This shifts the focus to a more standards-based learning approach.  Teachers and students will be cognizant of what category or categories each assignment goes into.  For example, if a writing assignment is scored in writing and grammar, the students should be aware in advance of how and why the assignment is being scored in each area.  This reporting will also allow parents, students, and teachers to be able to clearly identify areas of strength and weakness.  Previously categories were designated as "major assignments" or "writing" but the effect was that it muddled together skills that did not accurately report out in grade form.

2.   Revisions: Every major essay requires two revisions for the first semester.  This will instill in students, again, the continuing importance of multiple drafts as well as mastery culture.  The first grade will be a completion grade and will be reviewed by a peer, a tutor, the author, or a teacher--at the discretion of the teacher.  The students should then ideally write a brief reflection, summarizing what and how they will revise, thus requiring students to be conscious of their writing.  By the second semester, the requirements change where students who receive a D or F are required to revise, but students who receive A, B, or C have an option to do so.  This focus shifts in order to aid the students in AP who will now be required to write a timed, graded essay on the AP exam in May.

3.  Habits of Work: This is a debated topic; however, the consensus was to remove "on time" points from major assignment grades. Again, this practice muddled what the grades meant and how parents and students understood them.  Now, for example, it's clear that a student can write a quality essay but struggles with completing work on time.  Additionally, the habits of work points serve as a placeholder to demonstrate that a student has completed a first draft even if a second draft is still pending.

Using Mini-Rubrics to Provide Feedback in Schoology

By Kim Miklusak

I'm excited to use rubrics in Schoology this year.  As I mentioned on my other blog [shameless plug], I'm looking forward to working with mini-lessons on skill-specific assignments that target what each student needs to be successful in larger reading and writing assignments.

The tricky thing on Schoology is where and how to set up the rubrics.  There are many websites and videos for setting up and using them.  If you're looking to start small, I recommend setting up a few generic ones.  For example, I have one set up for "journals."  I'm not grading all of my discussions in our actual gradebook, but I do want to provide students with targeted feedback on the depth of their responses to encourage them to give enough detail to explain their point of view.

Discussion topic & rubric

Grading view of a discussion on web browser

Grading view of a discussion on Schoology app

There are pluses and minuses to grading on the app vs. website.  The website allows you to clearly see which students' submissions have been graded, but it takes 4 clicks to finally submit the rubric.  The app is much quicker, a really nice interface, but it's hard to see which submissions have been graded--not a problem if you just move down the list and check every student, though.

Grading assignments with the Schoology rubric is so smooth on both the app and website.  This will be so helpful in giving immediate and detailed feedback to students on specific skills.

Grading view of an assignment on Schoology app

Please share ways you have used skill-specific rubrics in the comments below.  And please stop down to the CollabLab if you are interested in setting these up or would like to discuss more ways to use them in class!