Computer Science in Algebra this Year

     I have used pieces of the curriculum from www.bootstrapworld.org for the last couple years.  It has allowed me to make sure that students have a better understanding of how expressions and functions are evaluated using Circles of Evaluation.  I have, also, used them for composition of functions to give students another way to look at the math.  It has helped my students understand graphing better and how to write equations/functions and how that is different from evaluating a function.
     This year I was using www.code.org in my classroom for their Accelerated Course to give my students a chance to learn some coding.  While we were using this course and some other courses I noticed that there was a course called Computer Science in Algebra and then a course called Computer Science in Algebra: Course A.  The later was the first half of the Bootstrap World course 1.  I was excited to see this, since it has the same feel as the other code.org course that we had been working in earlier.  I thought that the visual approach to the material would be good for my students and it had videos and validation so my students could work and check their results.
     I implemented Course A in my summer school course and received very positive feedback from my students.  They said that it really helped them understand evaluation and and generating functions better.
    I am teaching a couple sections of Algebra 2 this year and am looking forward to using this course to make sure that my students have a strong understanding of generating functions and evaluating them before we continue with generating equations for other types of functions.  Many times, my students think that they have to take in all the information from the story problem and "get an answer" right away.  Even though the question has multiple parts to it with one asking them to 1st - write the function first and 2nd - evaluate that function with the given information.
     I think this will be a helpful beginning of the year and will give them a strong refresher to start the year.

AP Computer Science Principles training in Chicago

     I just spent a week in Chicago with teachers from all over the United States.   We were all there to learn about teaching the new AP Computer Science Principles Course using the curriculum at code.org.  The first time the test will be given and scored for college credit is in the 2016-2017 school year.

     TeacherCon was an amazing experience. The team from code.org were invested in our learning and put in a lot of time and effort to make our experience positive, engaging and informative.  The chance to experience the inquiry and discovery components of the course was invaluable, since the course is set up to be hands on discovery by the students.  Letting students discover how technologies were developed will have a lasting effect on students.  When they are developing their own ideas they will have something tangible to refer back to instead of just memorizing how the previous solutions were developed.

     At this time, my school does not teach any AP courses.  This will be the first in what I hope to be a long line of APs that will available for my students.  AP CSP is an intro CS course that anyone should take in high school. The curriculum does something for our students that not many others do and that is inquiry, discovery and creation of things that already exist, so that they can understand how these technologies and protocols came into being.  This will give my students a solid foundation in understanding of the current technology so that they will be able to improve those technologies or create new.

     I am truly looking forward to implementing this curriculum and opening up possibilities that may not have existed before this course.  This course can give my students a glimpse into how computers are used everywhere in their life and how having a basic understanding can help them in the future.

     A unique opportunity of this AP exam is that students will submit 2 Performance Tasks before they take the 75 question multiple choice test.  The first Performance Task will challenge my students to explore a technology and write about it's impact on the world.  The second Performance Task will have the students create a program and write about their experience creating it and how a section of the code works. This will e great practice for their other classes, since reflection is a large part of the learning process in the course.  Later they will take those reflections and use them in their writing for the Performance Task.  This practice in writing will be helpful in my students being able to formulate an idea or stance and be able to support it through writing.

     I can't wait to get started!

Tech Tip #2 - Teacher Use of Google Hangouts (Free App within Google Apps for Education - GAFE)

We want our students to connect with people outside of our school. They need to see what it is like in other areas of the United States and beyond.  When you only see the little square of land that is your neighborhood, you don't know what your life could be like elsewhere.  You can't see the opportunities that may be just beyond the edge of the neighborhood. We don't want our students to be limited in their dreams and goals for the future.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Tech Tip #2 - Teacher Use of Google Hangouts (Free App within Google Apps for Education - GAFE)

Hello ...,

Google Apps for Education allows Teachers to connect with their students, parent and other classrooms worldwide.  Why would we want to do this?  

Teachers want their students to see the world around them but logistics limit this ability in many cases.  Through Google Hangouts, teachers can

• During the Global Read Aloud (October 3rd - November 11th, 2016)
• https://theglobalreadaloud.com/
• During this time teachers can set up a Google Hangout with another classroom in Michigan or beyond to read one of the chosen books to both classes.  During this time, students would be able to talk with the other class about the book.  ( I am currently putting together a list of grade level teachers across the US to connect with our teachers that wish to take advantage of this opportunity)
• During Mystery “Skypes” (we would use Google Hangouts instead of Skype)
• https://education.microsoft.com/connectwithothers/playmysteryskype
• Teachers set up Mystery Skypes with individual teachers based on their schedule and needs for their class.
• This activity allows teachers to do pre-work with their students on questioning strategies, narrowing down search criteria, map reading, etc.
• This activity, also, gives students the opportunity to meet and learn about other classrooms and cultures outside of Pontiac.
• They practice soft skills when working with the other class.

• Parent communications
• For parents that aren’t available to come in for Conferences, teachers can use a Google Hangout to connect in a virtual face to face environment.  (Parents are not required to have a Google account to participate)
• Experts
• Bringing in experts in a particular field is generally difficult to do, but many will work with Teachers to do a 10-30 minute Google Hangout.
• Maybe Authors of Children’s books will talk with a class for 10-15 minutes without the speaking fees normally charged when coming into the classroom or charge a small fee.
• Professional Development
• Many teachers use Google Hangouts to connect to their PLN (Professional Learning Network) or other experts to learn, show, teach how to use a particular app, strategy or brainstorm ways to tackle a learning area of growth.

_________________________________________________________________________________

I'm hoping to bring many of the teachers that I have talked with about these opportunities along for the ride.  I know my superintendent is very excited about the possibilities that these opportunities provide our students.

Tech Tip #1 - Administrative Use of Google Classroom (Free App within Google Apps for Education - GAFE)

I have started to document some of the cool features of being a Google Apps for Education (GAFE) School for my Superintendent and Curriculum Director in the form of Tech Tip emails.  As I send them out to my Administration, I will post the email contents here as a reminder of the extension to our classrooms that using GAFE provides.


_________________________________________________________________________________
Tech Tip #1 - Administrative Use of Google Classroom (Free App within Google Apps for Education - GAFE)

Hello ...,

Google Apps for Education allows Administrators to maintain a class within Google Classroom with Teachers as the students.  Why would we want to do this?  

This would allow a class to be set up with Ms. Williams, Ms. Jones and Ms. Janell as the co-teachers. Teachers would be students in this class.

• Surveys, forms, articles, training, flyers, etc. that are normally sent out through email would be assigned as an assignment in Classroom with a due date.  
  What this alleviates:
  • Teachers searching their email to find the survey, form, etc. to fill out.
  • Teachers not knowing or being able to find the due date.
  • Admins sending multiple email reminders to teachers before and after due dates.
  • Admins searching their email for responses from teachers. (Responses can be recorded, uploaded, etc directly into one location - Google Classroom).
  • Attaching actual files to emails. (Files can be linked directly from Google Drive to the assignment in Google Classroom. No more multiple version of files that untraceable.  Can force the creation of an individual file for each teacher from a template document to each teacher’s account, if individual copies are needed.)

If you have any questions, please let me know.

Kindest regards,

_________________________________________________________________________________

As I document these exciting opportunities for teachers and administrators, I am also talking with teachers and administrators, documenting their needs and concerns, contacting experts in these areas, and creating training for them to easily implement these tools into their classrooms for the benefit of our students.

Flash Blog - Balancing workload

I implemented a new structure for my flipped mastery classroom a couple weeks ago. Students are still getting used to the structure and mastery pieces, so we have not implemented many activities in this unit. We have brought in quizzes almost every day on 2 concepts at a time. This Unit I am allowing students to retake quizzes as many times as it takes to get them correct before the test in a week and a half. 

In talking with students, we have decided to move quizzes that normally happen on Mondays to Tuesday or Wednesday. We meet every other day. We also decided to move the quizzes to the last 10 minutes of class instead of the first 10 minutes. That allows students to ask questions throughout the class period. 

As we move into our next unit, I will be adding in more activities and less practice problems. That will allow them a chance to make a connection to the material other than rote practice. My goal is to not give 50 practice problems and an activity, but to narrow the focus of the practice problems and use the activity to solidify the learning. 

So balancing the practice, activities and quizzes will encourage learning and limit stress.  Instead of trying to give students full sets of everything in the time allowed in class. Sometimes less is more.    

Flashblog - Homework grading a new way

I have been teaching Algebra 2 for over 10 years and have been through various methods of HW checks.  When I started, I checked homework everyday for correctness and entered the grades accordingly.  The policy was no late work, so students who didn't turn in work could do it for the learning but not for credit.  Of course students did not go back and do the work for no points.  The students that did the work, hand it in and received comments on their work didn't correct their work either.  This was a loss of learning possibilities, so I started requiring students to make corrections to their incorrect problems and handed back in to be checked.  Students were continuously handing work back in for a recheck.  This became extremely overwhelming for so many students and I had to keep going back to old solution keys and was grading all the time after school.

I tried just giving students credit for turning it in completed with work.  I didn't check the actual work, just counted up the problems that were completed fully.  Most students would turn in work for the lesson, but some would try to pass off an old assignment for credit fir the new assignment.  When it got to be time for the test.  Surprise!  Students who had done work and not checked it or copied their friends or turned in an old assignment performed poorly on the assessment.  So conferences went something like this..."Billy is doing great on his homework, but when he gets to the test he freezes and does poorly.  Billy is just not a good test taker."...and then I would have to reiterate that homework is not checked for correctness but for completeness.  I told them that their child needed to check the answers and correct their mistakes on their own before turning it in.  That didn't seem to work very well.

I wanted to be able to assess student learning without having students continually turn in their homework so I could grade their papers every night.  Students work better in my classroom when they get to work with peers of their choosing and ask me questions when they are stuck.  So my policy now is that students are to work in teams of 3 that they get to choose.  The team is responsible for helping its members learn the material and ask me if they have questions.  In order to receive credit for their work, each student needs to complete a one questions quiz on the material individually with me.  They will have 1.5-2 minutes to complete the problem.  If they get it wrong, we will talk about what went wrong and then they are sent back to relearn the material.  They are not allowed to quiz on the next material until the previous quiz has been passed.

This allows me to work with students individually, get to know what they need and allow students to learn responsibility for their learning and not just a piece of paper to hand in.

What is Working in Class Today

Looking back at this past semester and forward to the next semester that starts on Tuesday, Schoology has started to work.  Using Schoology to trigger the assignments has helped me keep track of where students are in their progression through the Unit, as well as, help students recognize where they stand with the material.  The Unit is currently set up to open each folder and assignment in a linear progression.  It starts with the first folder and the first video assignment.  Once students post pictures of their note packet filled in, then the WSQ opens and they can fill in their summary and questions.  Once that is submitted, the assignment opens.  Students submit pictures of their classwork and then the next folder opens for the next topic.

I need to use the information I gain from the WSQ more strategically in class. At first I was responding to the questions individually, but I would like to take a group review approach in class the next day for common questions.  That way I can clarify and get more feedback on what isn't understood through the video notes.

I, also, use Interactive Notebooks to review the concept at the beginning of class.  It gives students one page of procedures and examples to put into a bound notebook that they can use as they progress through my class, then PreCalc and on to Calculus.  For students who have used the notebook, it has been useful.  I am still working to get students to understand that you cannot just remember or ask for every procedure to be explained each time you need it.  You have to refer back to something.  That is the biggest struggle I have with students and notes.  They need to use the notes and not just check it off as an exercise in writing things down and then just set them aside.

This coming term, I will be allowing students to fast forward past material that they already understand and move on based on quiz results.  If students do not pass out of the material, they will detour into video notes and practice for those topics.  I need to find a way to structure this in Schoology along with allowing students to choose the application problem that they are going to complete next in teams.

Lots to think about!