You may notice that Digital Tool Tuesday is now Digital Tool Tidbits. As the year has progressed I've gotten busier and busier (which is AWESOME!), and I grew a bit tired of having to rush posts in order to get them posted on a Tuesday. Also, I am hoping to blog more about a variety of things in general; hence the name change! Today's digital tool is a Google Docs Add-on called Kaizena. Kaizena has been around for a while, and I had heard about at some point and obviously signed up for it because I get their emails, but I had never actually used it. Anyhoo, Kaizena just recently fully integrated with Google as a Docs Add-on, and it is an excellent way to provide effective feedback to students (hello again, Classroom Instruction that Works). One method of feedback that Kaizena allows you to provide is comments, much like Google Docs already does, but you can color-code your comments for easier identification. But the best feedback you can provide with Kaizena are the things that Docs doesn't already have. You can do voice comments, add a lesson, and track a skill. To begin with, the Voice Message option is pretty awesome. Personally, if I can talk out my feedback to a student rather than have to type it or write it, I know I am going to leave much better feedback. Kaizena makes it easy to do that.
The Skills option allows you to put rubric items within your comments. Each skill is like an item on a rubric. You can set the different levels and then grade student work based on the levels. For example, if you put grammar as a skill (as seen above) you can give a student a rating for how well they did on grammar. Want to get started using Kaizena? Click here to install the Google Docs Add-on (students will need the Add-on as well, but it can be pushed out from your tech. administrator). Then, this help page from Kaizena's website provides you with a ton of useful information to help you as the teacher get started, and this one is great for students when they are ready to review their feedback!
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Any veteran teacher will tell you that education is always changing. New standards, new curriculum, new students, new staff - from one year to the next, something is going to be different. One thing that hasn't really changed, however, is the structure of the classroom. Traditionally, students sit in desks that are in rows, facing the chalkboard, with the teacher standing in the front, transferring his or her knowledge to the malleable minds of students. There are exceptions to the rules (did you know standing desks were around in 1899?), and there are many teachers who put their desks in groups or use tables, but overall, this structure has perpetuated.
I spoke with resident innovator and seventh grade ELA teacher, Deneen Schoenfeldt, who is boldly going where few teachers have gone before and trying flexible seating. Deneen was drawn to flexible seating after researching Genius Hour, something her team is implementing with students this semester. She came across a teacher Instagram community that documented their flexible seating journeys, and she was encouraged to dive in. Flexible seating is not something that can happen overnight. Deneen, like most teachers implementing flexible seating, has been curating furniture for her room slowly, and therefore still has some desks in her room. She is paying for the seating out of her own pocket, but slowly she is building a classroom that defies tradition. Now, this type of classroom is not for the faint of heart. Teachers need strong classroom management skills and high expectations of students in order for it to work. Deneen started with having her students read and discuss an article on "Starbucks Classrooms". They discussed pros and cons and then went over her expectations. She emphasized that the point was to optimize student learning and engagement, not to let them get comfy and fall asleep (aww man!). Since she does not have flexible seats for everyone yet, she is implementing a VIP system to start out. When I asked Deneen what advice she would give to those teachers looking to start implementing flexible seating, she said make sure you do your research. Over-plan everything and every scenario. Know what the pros and cons are, and make sure you know your students well. Be prepared that as the teacher, you are giving up some control. This can be really tough, but necessary! To facilitate cooperative learning and maximize student engagement, we have to give up some of that control. Flexible seating is a good way to move in that direction!
Happy New Year, everyone! I hope the start of your quarter is going well. For me, things started on a high note, with week-long instructional coaching training in Lawrence. I was able to lap up some knowledge from instructional coaching guru Jim Knight. He is one of the go-to names in instructional coaching, and he works out of our own University of Kansas! I won't go into too many details of what all I learned, because that would end up being a novel, and I try to be concise with these posts as to not take too much of your time. Overall, I learned a framework for how to partner with teachers to improve student learning. I am excited about what Knight calls "The Impact Cycle" and what we can do together. It's all about learning and growth. I love how Knight puts it in his book: "When we grow, improve, and learn, when we strive to become a better version of ourselves, we tap into something deep in ourselves that craves that kind of growth." I like to think that since we're all teachers, we love to learn, even crave it, as Knight says. That's what is great about the Impact Cycle, not only do our students learn, but we do too. Here's the skinny on the cycle stages: 1. Identify - Collaborate to get a clear picture of current reality in the classroom, identify a student-focused goal (centered around our AW Framework: Academic Readiness, Skills for Success, and Effective Teaching), and choose a strategy to try to hit the goal. 2. Learn - Get comfortable with the strategy to be able to implement it. 3. Improve - Implement the strategy and monitor progress toward the goal, making adjustments until we reach the goal. I will be reaching out to a few teachers to practice the cycle. I am new to this Instructional Facilitator gig and I am looking to learn with my teachers! You guys and your students are the heart of what I do. If you have a goal you would like to work toward, PLEASE reach out to me and let me know. I am so pumped to work with teachers within the cycle and so if you are too, let me know! |
AuthorChristin Barkemeyer Archives
April 2020
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