Self-Reflection

I have learned a lot from taking the TOOL program. 

1. I have learned about my ability as an online teacher. The fact that I knew as much as I did, impressed me and filled me with confidence. At the same time, I was able to develop more understanding in my deficiencies and learn how to solve those issues. I have never officially taught an online course before, but I have used many web based instruction and created many websites for my classes. I would love to be able to have a completely online course. Next year, I will take the knowledge I learned from here and the resources I obtained form this course and create an completely flipped model in my classroom.
2. Here are my past observations from the proceeding year:

  * This was an observation that took place in the media center after full instruction in class was given. My administrator acknowledged the lack of having the objective at the time (it was in my classroom.) This is something that will be easily solved with the flipped model.

Rubric and Competencies

The first shot is of the Academic Knowledge and Skills that the students will learn in the up coming Units:

The next shot is the Unit on Scarcity and the objective the students will learn:

This shot is the "Preview," where the student will receive a real world application and introduction to vocabulary:

The next page, students will access a video, vocabulary, and a quick quiz for understanding.

This page is the assignment that will be turned in through the dropbox:

This last page is a quick assessment where the students will find questions similar to the EOCT and related to the lesson:

Aggregated Lesson Material

1. I really have used USATestPrep for most of my early online attempts. The school or district has to pay for each class license, but the way that it is set up is a great way to aggregate data of student performance. It is easy to use and very helpful for students to build skills beyond the "classroom." 
2. Another aggregated resource is Edmodo. It is a great LMS for teachers. You can also friend and share materials with other teacher in your same subject area. Great resource!

Define Learning Objects

Free to Use

1. Edmodo - Website dedicated to teachers as a source to share with other teachers
2. Powtoon - Animated Presentation Material
3. Prezi - Cooler than Power Point

Unlimited with Subscription

1. USATestPrep - A subscription website by school system, but great for assessments and practice
2. Desire2Learn - Full online education system, paid by school system.

Fair Use and TEACH Act

 One thing that is seems to be more difficult these days is the motivation of students. Teachers struggle to spark the interest of students. One way a teacher can is by sharing material, music, or videos that kids can relate to and be interested in. The biggest problem with this is the violation of the creator's rights of protection and copyright. One of the most important items a teacher developer can have when it comes to the Fair Use of a product is this check list. Making sure that the items you use will not cause problems and violate federal law is very important. With the TEACH Act, it has similar limitations, but it only applies to non-profit institutions. 

The TEACH Act expands the scope of educators' rights to perform and display works and to make the copies integral to such performances and displays for digital distance education, making the rights closer to those we have in face-to-face teaching. But there is still a considerable gap between what the statute authorizes for face-to-face teaching and for distance education. For example, as indicated above, an educator may show or perform any work related to the curriculum, regardless of the medium, face-to-face in the classroom - still images, music of every kind, even movies. There are no limits and no permission required. Under 110(2), however, even as revised and expanded, the same educator would have to pare down some of those materials to show them to distant students or make them available over the Internet to face-to-face students. The audiovisual works and dramatic musical works may only be shown as clips -- "reasonable and limited portions," the Act says.

 published by the University of Texas Library System

Open Education Resources

OER - 

Open Educational Resources (OER) are teaching and learning materials that are freely available online for everyone to use, whether you are an instructor, student or self-learner. Examples of OER include: full courses, course modules, syllabi, lectures, homework assignments, quizzes, lab and classroom activities, pedagogical materials, games, simulations, and many more resources contained in digital media collections from around the world.

published by the Open Educational Resources Infokit

Use Creative Commons website to find licensed material that can be used free of copyright violations.

1. Four main types of Creative Commons types
1. Attribution: give credit to the source
2. Share-Alike: conditions of material is used in the same way as the original
3. Non-Commercial: used in a way for non-profit purposes
4. No Derivative Works: can share original material without alterations

Web Tools for Student Assessment

I like USATestPrep:

1. It provides many questions, games, and activities that align with Georgia's GPS. 
2. Teachers can create classes and invite students to join the generated classes.
3. Students can login and complete the tests and activities that are a part of their class. 

Web Tools

Instruction / Presentation

1. Prezi
2. Powtoon

Communication

1. Google Hangouts
2. Smore
3. Google Calendar
4. Evernote
5. Voki

Evaluation

1. iRubric

Appearance

Appearance Awards

The Good:

1. Gwinnett Online Campus
2. Khan Academy
3. Econedlink
4. Google+
5. CK12

The Not So Good:

1. CoolMathGames
2. Center for Advanced Visual Studies at MIT: Yes, you would have thought differently too.
3. Harcourt School Publishers
4. Purple Math
5. Healthcare.gov: Sorry had to.

Time Management

1. Google Calendar - I like using Google Calendar because I can add as many viewers as I need. It can also be set with reminders and can be sent through emails and I can create a link to the calendar on the homepage.
2. StayFocusd - This app will be embedded in my LMS, because it allows me to block websites that will become a distraction for students. A great way to keep students focused and on task while assessing my site.
3. Evernote - I like evernote, because I can create groups and different folders. I can remain focused on tasks and also make sure that I don't forget things for later. I can also include others in evernote and they can also include things and reminders in their note sessions.
4. Decision Matrix - This tool is an excel template. I will be able use this in class, not only as a way to teach one of my lessons (Cost-Benefit Analysis); but I can also have students, and myself, use this for important tasks that are coming up.
5. Nozbe - This is a great way to combine my Google Calendar, Evernote, Dropbox, and others which will allow me to make sure I don't forget one thing in Calendars, while I have it in Evernote. It is another get organizing tool.

Synchronous Sessions

During this cohort, I have really played around with Google Apps. One of the apps is Google + Hangouts. This; and many others, gotomeeting, skype, and the like; allows synchronous sessions for collaborated works and discussions. To replace the interact in instruction a face to face classroom brings, online teachers need a tool that can allow live communication and interaction to happen. I have used the Google Hangouts to meet with my teaching team this summer. One teacher is in St. Kitts, and another was in New York. I was able to be in my classroom at school and discuss topics that we need to focus on for the next school year.

In the online setting, I will use this type of tool to replace the "boot camp" that I have close to the EOCT for my subject. It will be a great way to help students in real time and allow them to ask questions with the group. I will also create small group sessions for projects.

Discussions

Discussion forums are beneficial as a replacement for a classroom discussion. It can also be used as a way to collaborate with students and they can interact as they might in a regular classroom. I use discussion boards to provide a writing sample for each students and I require each student to comment on at least two of the their classmates reply. Keeping up with the forum is the hardest part for the teacher. A teacher can use these effectively if the teacher sets them up ahead of time and with a time requirement that does not last the entire semester. Providing feedback as well as the students will let students know that you are actively monitoring and grading the discussions. One of the major ways of an ineffective discussion board is to not be active on the board, so stay on the discussion.

Feedback

The Assignment:

Students will create a power point project. The presentation will highlight the four economic systems: traditional, market, command, and mixed economies. Components include: *Title slide and subtitle slides for each system *A short analysis of how each economic system addresses the three economic questions *A listing of positive aspects for each *A listing of negative aspects for each *Examples of nations that use or have used each economic system. *Graphics or pictures for each slide.

The Rubric:


The Feedback:

              Evernote feedback.

Evaluation Methods and Communication

Because a face to face setting allows personal interaction between the teacher and student, it is a lot easier to pull a student aside and discuss grades, motivation, or concerns. In an online setting, not so much. Communication must be top notch, because if it isn't, it could be the difference between a student failing and passing on the teacher's end. If authentic feedback and effective communication is not given, then the student will not have the resources needed to improve. By communicating through emails, Voki, Smore, Remind 101, or any of the number of online communication applications; online teachers can replace that face to face connection.

Differentiation

Voki - This is a great item to embed on my homepage to create notice of an upcoming event. You can change the characters to be sure that the message gets across.

Other notices I have used are Smore, Google Calendar, and Thinglink. Here is the link to the previous blog that has these examples: Newsletter Blog

The Newsletter

1. Google Calendar - I enjoy Google calendar, because you can add any viewer to the calendar and you can set the reminders for each. All it takes is an email address from every stake holder, student, parent, administrator. You can even have multiple calendars in view at once. Here is a screen shot of the month of June: 
   
2. Smore newsletter - This is an easy way to communicate important dates and events coming up and they have great templates and easy add-ons to make sure your newsletter has everything it needs. Here is a newsletter I created for my daughter birthday party:

Thinglink - This is a very cool site that will allow you to create from a picture a popup tag. You can place any image and tag things to it. Explain a diagram. Utilize a picture to explain people, events, or situations. As far as a newsletter, you can even have important dates or events tagged:

Homepages

This is a really fun and creative app that can generate fun and enthusiasm for students. Placing something like this on the homepage can actively involve all stakeholders with access to your course. Enjoy!

Ongoing Communication

The truly important communication is the ongoing communication. In a traditional classroom, you are constantly interacting with students face to face, which makes it easy to inform them of upcoming events, tests, and due dates. In an online presence, it is more important to find ways to communicate with all stakeholders, since the classroom is virtual. Having a variety of communication is key to the student's success. Also, it is easier to provide evidence of communication with Remind Me 101, emails, and messages on the News board, like the one above.

Communication Guidelines

1. My welcome message through the portal will be delivered upon sign up to the course. It will introduce the course; my expectations; and of course, myself and contact information. I will have a link to Remind 101 for the student to sign up for the Remind of my class. Upon signup, the student will receive a welcome message explaining Remind 101 and the purpose of the text application.
2. Mass emails and messages are the same as I would put on the traditional white board or bulletin board in the tradition class. I would never post grades in mass emails or messages. I might remind students to check their emails for individual messages and grades. Example: "Students, your grade and feedback for your Scarcity project will be located in your dropbox, please access them and reply in the link provided if you have any questions. Great job, everyone!"
3. Personal notes are just that personal notes. In a traditional classroom, I would never have a student conference at the front of the class in front of everyone. I would never print a class list and grades for everyone to see. Common sense is key when it comes to the privacy of the student.
4. Stakeholders would be involved in the process of the student's performance and success, but I would limit the messages and emails to all stakeholders to ones that are on a need to know basis. I would not flood an administrator's emails with reminders of the next test or that grades are now located in their dropbox.
5. In the orientation piece of my courses, I will have each student process a module on the needs and rules of communication with school and district policies. Similar to the "course book" or "sign off sheets" that students would receive at the beginning of the semester, the online student would receive the same information and process.
6. The tools involved would be explained through orientation. Links and sign ups, like Remind 101 would go through a module similar to a lesson module. I would also require every student to go through the orientation before they can begin the course. All of this should be done no later than the first week of instruction.   

Differentiation

Since I do not have a course of students to go by form the past, my school gradebook is locked , and I don't have online data to go on; I decided to borrow the Economics EOCT test results for Gwinnett County.

Here is my modified data:

1. To help Edward West, who dropped out of school; I would want to try and investigate why he left. Is there some alternative to his decision to becoming a drop out. What is Edward's goals in life? Has this class or has another class caused his situation? Is there something at home? Can we catch him up in a credit recovery and full online learning; or having him in a blended class, so he can be monitored and motivated?
2. Vinnie, Mea, River, and Berk are Tier 1. These students passed, but can use more support to gain higher scores. More teacher led review and lessons might need to be offered to these students. I would utilize the online quizzes and tests and break down the data to see their individual deficiencies. I will individualize instruction based on their deficiencies. I will offer more opportunities for improving their scores.
3. The students in Tier 2 can benefit from more individual opportunities, but may not need as strong of a teacher led focus as those in Tier 1. They can utilize the same online resources given the the students in Tier 1, depending on their deficiencies. 
4. The students in Tier 3 have the motivation and the understanding of the basic knowledge that these student might benefit from more in depth lessons. Individualized instruction in personal finance and high learning options can benefit these students for their future. They can direct themselves better than lower tiers, which allows more teacher focus on those tiers.

With online learning, I can take the limitations of a whole class instruction out of the equation. All students can benefit in the same classroom, whether virtual or blended. I will have the opportunity to increase help sessions, focus learning on individual support for each student. Each student can his or her own learning path that will help solve any deficiencies they might face.