Virtual Class Visits & Professional Collaboration Across D214 Schools

By Linda Ashida

Live streaming isn't new, but the Collab Lab has recently been exploring innovative ways to use this technology to expand professional learning connections across schools.

In our first virtual professional learning adventure, we used Periscope and Google Hangout to connect with teachers at Riverside Brookfield High School to live stream from two classes at EG and then debrief with the teachers at both schools.  Even with a few tech glitches, that experience proved to be so valuable, energizing--and FUN!--that we couldn't stop thinking about the possibilities to use the same technologies to expand professional learning connections across our own District 214 schools.

That led to Round 2: Our first D214 Virtual Professional Learning adventure.

Seven teachers from three D214 schools connected with us at EGHS via Persicope to visit Mark Heintz' AP World History class.

Our colleagues connected to our Periscope broadcast, and, just like with Facebook Live, they were able to interact with each other, and me while I live streamed, to make comments and ask questions.

Mark's lesson offered examples to our virtual visitors of the varied ways he engages students in interpreting primary source documents to find evidence to support a claim, in order to later synthesize information from those complex texts. After working through the first document as a class, with Mark modeling how to interpret and note key evidence, the students worked in pairs to interpret a second document and respond to the prompt on the whiteboard tables.

As students collaborated with their peers, Mark circulated to offer support and feedback, and pause, when necessary to give clarification to the whole class.

After students responded to the prompt, with evidence from document 2, they rotated tables to read another group's response and offer feedback to their peers.

Students then returned to their tables to reflect on the peer feedback and make revisions.  They wrapped up the class by taking photos of their work to continue with new documents and synthesis writing the next day.

Mark's lesson included models of work, student-centered engagement in learning, ongoing feedback, peer assessment, self-assessment and revision. None of the work was graded. It was all part of the formative learning process to build students' reading and interpretation skills and lead to improved quality in their final summative writing assessment.

Following the live stream form Mark's classroom, we connected via Google Hangout with the visiting teachers from the other D214 schools to debrief the lesson, share feedback, and make connections in student learning across disciplines.
                                             

 

Once again we were energized by this kind of collaboration connecting us with colleagues across schools.  Not only did we share teaching strategies and learn from one another, but we also discussed possibilities for future collaboration across all of our schools.

In fact, we've already planned our next live stream from Kim Miklusak's AP English Language class, in which students will be engaging in a writer's workshop. Look for a new post on that soon!

And, based on feedback from the group that visited Mark's class, we have already modified the process. Participants suggested that more teachers would be inclined--and better able--to participate if the the class visit and debrief conversation were shortened and occurred during the same class period. Guided by this advice, we will live stream from Kim's 1st and 2nd hour classes for fifteen minutes and then debrief with our virtual visitors for 20 minutes in a Google Hangout. We will also look for ways to include more student voice in the process, whether it is asking questions directly to students during the class, or asking a few students to join us in the Google Hangout conversations.

We'd like to thank Matt Hamilton, Teri Buczinsky, Erik Hodges, Kate Glass, Jeff Vlk, Becky Kinnee and Carrie Mattingly for joining our Collab Lab tream in this first D214 Virtual Professional Learning experience and sharing their feedback and insight for future collaborations to support our students.

Do you have ideas or suggestions?  Would you like to join us?

We'd love to hear from you!

Making Pre-Test Review Interactive and Cooperative

Written by Quinn Loch

A couple weeks ago I was inspired by a review activity that AP environmental science (APES) students did at Prospect High School. In the activity, students were split into groups and assigned a topic in which they had to visually represent the most important concepts, diagrams, and terms within their topic. Students used neon-colored wet-erase markers on the black science lab tables and had great results. A lab table one day, and a make-shift "whiteboard" table the next. Time to get some markers!

Neon wet-erase markers on science lab tables.

I decided to try my own spin on it and have groups of students rotate around the room answering one of six questions for one of six topics. After six rounds, each group will have answered one question per topic. I used big pieces of butcher paper for this unit - going to give wet-erase markers a try the next time.

This jigsaw strategy is nothing new, however technology can lend a hand in making the end products accessible for students outside of class. After each poster's topic was finished, one student from the group took a picture and uploaded it to a Schoology Media Album. This media album provided another resource for my students before their first big test.

Our Unit 1 Review Media Album

I asked my APES students at the end of the jigsaw activity if they liked it and I got an overwhelming "Yes." I told them that I had seen this done another way, where each group was in charge of single topic and on student responded, "Oh yeah, that'd be cool too"!

My goal is to pool these resources both on paper and on schoology throughout the year, so that when the AP review starts in April, we'll have lots of resources to draw from.

Self-Reflection on the First Week of School!

By Mark Heintz

Linda Ashida has a way in making the people around her better and enthusiastic to make positive changes in their teaching.  For the past few years, Linda strove to have as many people Tweet everyday as a means of reflection.  At the end of last year, I talked to Linda about changes I wanted to make.  She brought up that fact that if I had been documenting my work daily the changes would come more naturally and daily.  This year, I have made the commitment to document my work.

Monday:

The first day of school! I was fortunate to get white board tables for the room.  They are amazing and their functionality will be a future blog post! But for now, they are amazing!  I have done this lesson for several years now.  I have the student compare the Venus statue to Taylor Swift. This year, the students wrote their comparisons on the tables. They were so willing to try and wrote so much! If they were wrong, they simply erased it! I love this lesson and I feel I will continue to use it in the future.  It gets the students comparing (AP HISTORICAL THINKING SKILL...) and intrepreting historical artifacts for themselves!

 

Tuesday:

The students read about paleolithic and neolithic societies. They learned about the importance of being able to manipulate fire.  In first hour, I had the students draw a world without fire and it did not yield the results I wanted. Second hour, I changed the lesson to drawing a picture that would summarize the lifestyle of paleolithic lives from the reading.  Then, students moved from table to table and wrote constructive criticism on the drawing.  When the students moved to another table, they wrote what they were able to decifer about paleolithic societies from the other student's drawing.

 

Wednesday:

The students categorized words on small cut outs into Paleolithic, Neolithic of both.  They drew a Venn Diagram on their desk and sorted the information.  Then the students further categorized the information into the AP themes.  It was amazing! The students went up to the board to defend why a word was under a theme. Students were supporting their argument with evidence! It was a great way to get the students to see the changes and continuities over time between the two time periods.  

Thursday:

The College Board released some amazing materials that have students analyze Jared Diamond's contention that the agricultural revolution was horrible for mankind.  Having the students read his argument was an amazing challenge for the students.  First, they came up with his thesis. This took more time than I thought. He uses sarcasm and uses counter evidence to begin his argument. The text is only two paragraphs, but the writing is incredibly dense.  Next year, I need to spend at least two days with this reading.   It was a major challenge, but sets up the close reading that is required for the course.  I wish I had spent more time on this.  

Friday:

Students took a short answer quiz on Paleolithic and Neolithic revolution.  The students were beyond impressive. They knew so much and took the majority of the period writing out their understandings! There were only a few misunderstandings that needed to be corrected, but that was conducted with very short one on one student meetings.  

Overall, this week I put a lot on the students.  They interpreted the texts. They sorted information. This takes a lot longer to get through information and I have had to omit a few things that I use to teach.  But, I feel that the students are understanding the things I want them to know more.