This week was interesting to say the least. I have 100% of my students now signed up for their Schoology account, and have posted and downloaded assignments for the week. This part worked out well, as the flu is raging through my classes and twenty percent of my students have been absent. Feedback from the site, from both parents and students was positive. My editing and peer review did not go as well. My grand hopes of online interaction and editing came to a crashing halt as the system would only allow five students at a time to edit. This is my error and how I set up the system, so hopefully it will be resolved this week...wow, there is so much to think about when starting up! I did make a conscious effort to go over my lessons right after class and make notes, something I should have been doing all along, but now I am making it a habit. I have made a request for the computer lab, to have set times for my students, in an effort for all students to have access while I am around to answer questions. The only materials needed is a more techno-savvy teacher!
My next goal is to have a peer tutoring, it will have to be an after school project, for my struggling writers and diverse learners. It is my plan to have the students write their rough drafts in class, then have several peer tutors, I have five who have volunteered so far, go over and edit before they write their final copies.
On the personal front, to address my growth and development, I signed up for National Boards!
Call me crazy......
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Okay Edie, I'll call you crazy (though "brave" is more in tune with what I'm thinking)! I have considered National Boards and have chickened out every time. Just the thought of video cameras trained on me in the classroom is enough to make me turn my back on the whole idea. I have heard that the program is very rigorous but extremely worthwhile, and I wish you the best of luck. Anyone with your gumption is sure to be successful. Kudos to you!
ReplyDeleteI hadn't even heard of learning management systems (LMS) until taking this class, but I visited the Schoology site after finding out about it from one of your earlier classroom posts. Did you have students &/or parents sign any special permissions beyond the typical technology use agreement that most schools have? How DO you set up things like student messaging? I have terrible fears of students sending each other all sorts of inappropriate garbage just like they can on any ordinary social networking site. I also saw that premium membership is required for increased storage. Have you encountered any problems with running out of space? You are right; there is so much to consider that it is dizzying!
Again, I hope you don't mind my piggybacking your experiences to learn more about using an LMS. I know that I don't have much to contribute to your understanding of it, but you sure do have my warm support as you work with it! :0) I know that it may be pushing things too far, but is there any way at all that I might get access to your Schoology site? I promise not to mess with anything and only want to learn by seeing more directly how you and your students are using it. I understand completely if you say "no!"
It sounds as if you are moving forward full throttle, and I envy your sense of techno-adventure and your willingness to take risks. You have very lucky students!
Trina
Trina,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the words of encouragement, I have been having serious doubts about handling all this over the holidays. I think that I will just be crazy until June, then home free! I would love for you to check out my Schoology account, I will send you the link. So far no problems with storage, I will let you know what I encounter along the way though.