EEND 713 Course Reflection

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Takeaways

          I had two big takeaways from this course.  The first was the open- educational resources, and the second was the student orientation/ road map.

Open- Educational Resources

          I really like how the open- educational resources are free and can be accessed on a chromebook.  I experimented with a similar resource last year, but it was very expensive, and my students could only access it for five minutes at a time (in the free version).  I also love how it integrates directly with google docs and google classroom.  I have found that I am most successful when I use as few login platforms as possible.  My students will be able to start the activity quickly and easily through google classroom.


Student Orientation/ Road Map


 I also really liked creating my student orientation/ roadmap.  You can view my website at bit.ly/nvhs-simmons.  I created a simple google site with a link to each of my classes.  This assignment inspired me to reinvision several things I have done in previous years.
  • In the past, I gave my students access to google drive.  This year, I decided to give them access to one google doc for each unit with all the resources, answer keys, and class notes hyperlinked instead.  My students will be able to access the google doc through my website and through google classroom.
  • Last year, I used topics (on google classroom) such as homework, answer keys, assignment sheets, etc., but to keep consistent with my course roadmap, I will use topics like Unit 1, Unit 2, etc.
  • I also found making screencasts to be very easy.  I would like to make screencasts similar to the one we used for the roadmap for my parents for curriculum night.  I always have many parents who aren’t able to attend, and I’m never able to say everything I want to in my session.  I plan to link all the videos in my website and send them the link to my website via email.  This will be a great resource for my parents to access throughout the school year.

Feedback

          I would appreciate any feedback you have for me!  Please reach out to me via twitter: @nvhs_simmons or feel free to leave a comment below.  Thanks for reading!

Comments

  1. UnknownJuly 28, 2017 at 3:53 AM

    Hi Katie,

    I like your ideas for simplifying things for your students. Having fewer logins and using unit numbers rather than topic names will make your tools easier to navigate. I have also thought about making a screencast to send out that goes over all that I present at curriculum night. Teaching kindergarten I don't typically have a lot of parents miss this night, but I believe it would be a good resource for those few that do miss, parents of any new students I get throughout the year, and as a tool for parents to go back and look at if/when they have questions.
    Your website looks great and I know if my child were in your class I would really appreciate such a tool.

    Enjoy the rest of summer and I hope you have a great school year!

    -Kyla

    ReplyDelete
  2. Always LearningJuly 28, 2017 at 9:53 AM

    Hi Katie,
    I also agree that you have to be transparent for your students. I like your idea about providing screencasts and giving all students access to the answer keys. Students, just like adults, need to have accessibility to all resources. I have also set up a google sites and am impressed with all of the options available. I'm always on the look out for free internet resources, therefore I have appreciated learning about those applications that have been mentioned by my colleagues. Also, I would like to create more screencasts and email them out to my students' parents. Good luck with your courses and enjoy the summer. Sincerely, Nat Osmani.

    ReplyDelete
  3. jim_nielsen@ipsd.orgJuly 30, 2017 at 12:32 PM

    Hello Katie,

    I feel like we had some very similar take-aways from this course. I to enjoy utilizing open-educational resources and found some really good ones I am going to use next year in my biology class. It is always great when a graduate course leads to actual opportunities in the classroom for your students. At the high school level I also agree that simplicity is best and that many problems with technology arise because getting the students to the material is to complicated. I like your idea of making one sheet with all the resources for each unit, that should simplify it for your students.

    Lastly, I also ventured into screencasts for the first time this summer. I am really excited to make more in the future and for the students to watch them as previews or reviewing them for assessments. I think they are a great tool to "steal" back some time in the classroom as well and give me more opportunities for labs and activities.

    I hope you have a great end to your summer.

    Thank you,

    Jim

    ReplyDelete

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