Several PLC's were working on the same thing.  It would have been nice to combine efforts instead of all of us trying to reinvent the wheel.  We don't want a large PLC--but it would be nice to know what others are working on so maybe we could touch base periodically.

We want to know more about:
1) Schoolloop functions,
2) QR codes,
3) Project-based math and history was great idea,
4) strategies for behaviors and rules to be consistent throughout the building needs implemented,
5) Higher level thinking where students came up with the problem--self-directed learning was a great idea.

Lessons learned in our PLC:
1.)  We worked well together to investigate our needs of the moment.
2.)  Flipped classroom/video tutorials have enhanced the classroom atmosphere and diversity.
3.)  Technology used to assess students was utilized (found many sites and even more to come).

Continued investigation will allow us to best utilize technology and diversify our classroom.

Today we spent our time preparing data and going over our presentation for the upcoming meet & greet. Technologically, we are using powerpoint to put together what we continue to discover concerning our plc learning directive.  Editing and sharing what to use and what seems pertinent allowed us to revisit our victories and troubles over the course of our discovery semester


We also discussed new methods for practice, and assessment from internet sites. I have been using thatquiz.com, thepurposegames.com, and am always looking for new tools that can be readily used to get students to assimilate material

Showcase Supplies??

I don't have any supplies ordered for you for your Showcase presentation.  If you are needing something, please see Mr. Rivera by November 30th.

Effectiveness of our method has been the bulk of the discussion after viewing and experimenting with schooltube, which may prove to be a valuable resource for storing our videos, much like youtube, and teachertube.

We think that in researching our effective use of technology we have not created quantifiable results vs other methods of instruction.  If possible for further research, we would create a method by which we could discern groups success in the varied methods of instruction.
The use of the flipped classroom and having videos that are accessible to students allows for teachers to assist those that are in the most dire need of help seems to be the biggest benefit without real success measures.

11/7

• We discussed our presentation for the coming share-out.  Some things we noted:  The test results can not really be compared at this point because we have a variety of classroom settings/students.  However, the results we can report are as follows:
• Free's up the teacher to answer student questions during class.  
• Aids the students who need repeated presentation and/or were absent
• Assures that multiple sections of the same class are able to hear the same presentation--in other words, no "did I say that already on the teacher's part?"
• Keeps students focussed on what they are expected to do, and allows them to take ownership of their own progress in learning.

Establishing a library of video and educreation lessons will give our students a resource from which they can access for assistance on homework or for study purposes.  So far, Zak has a library of his own that his students are using regularly in his classes, Holst is a good collection of student made videos that are allowing for multi-lingual learning opportunities, I am currently making my first video on logarithms which I will use as a 'jumping-off' point to begin amassing my own resources.  We know that student differentiation is more plausible and that we are moving toward a good end, we are discussing how we will measure our success vs more traditional methods of delivering.

PLC Showcase

At the end of our semester of work, all PLCs will be showcasing their work at the Wyandotte High School PLC Showcase on Wednesday, December 12th in the Social Hall.  The showcase will be a public demonstration of our learning, collaboration, and results.  Each PLC will showcase work that reflects how your learning and collaboration has impacted student learning.  Each PLC is encouraged to be creative and innovative in their demonstration (student examples would be highly encouraged); however, please be sure the following are addressed through your presentation -
    PLC Focus

Collaborative Actions   

Summary of PLC Learning

Impact on Student Learning

Connections to Future Teaching and Learning

In addition, all staff will have an opportunity to visit each demonstration during the Showcase.  Many outside guests will also be in attendance.  

If your PLC requires any kind of additional resources, please submit any requests for those materials via the comment section to this blog entry by NOVEMBER 9th. You will receive these materials by or before your November 28th meeting, so you will have AT LEAST two weeks to work on organizing your demonstration.

10/24

Using edmodo as a storage location or device.   In our continuing quest to find locations to store datafiles such as videos, edmodo may give us a viable option, up to 100mb of data per file; is it unlimited items? is 100 mb enough to store a ten minute video? We will continue to research & find out more as we experiment and open new accounts.
we continue to discover possible locations for placing videos and video lectures, we find new and exciting ways to keep our resources and 'cloud' or store and locate them for both quick retrieval and for future availability.
The group continues to move forward toward our goal of implementing technology effectively, but I feel I am further distanced from our directive than ever. While I am helping with our goals, I am finding my own use of technology and videos to be lessening and shrinking with each week. While using technology in my classroom for practice and for student enrichment, my inclusion in our plc process has become more of an aid to the more experienced teachers. Zak's resources and video directory and library has become a great resource that all teachers can use, but the size of his files is limiting his ability to save all files, so he continues to search for a u-drive or an open sharing source that can hold all of his amazing resources.  For next week, I am going to experiment with creating a video myself, using either educreation, or showme, on my ipad. I think this will help with connecting to our groups' directive and help give me some ideas for further development of in classroom technological use lessons.

Have a great day!

Further discussion today involved storage sites or locations where videos can be uploaded to or downloaded from with littlest time or difficulty.  I learned how to record on Quicktime and received a Ti-83 emulator with which I plan on making a video that shows matrix multiplication or solving systems using technology and matrices.  Also discussed composition of function lesson that Holst used to get students to understand that; which I plan on using in my next class session.  Overall, a good use of our time, although our plan for the December 12 showcase is only loosely defined and we will plan more at a later date.

We have discussed our PLC project results to be presented in December.  Each member is researching different aspects of creating videos for tutorial purposes or notes or teaching.  We are also searching for the best way to store masses of information.  The dialogue amongst colleagues is stimulating, and we have discovered and shared many ideas.

10/3

After grading some papers last Wednesday, I arrived late to the slc, where in lieu of discussing our planned topic (I think the rest of the group was wrapping up their discussions, I was able to discuss some of my students' strengths and shortcomings with holst and zak who had a few of them in previous classes.  In addition to this, we discussed a recent assessment I gave and the results together, helping me to decide if the method could be considered a success (which  think it was!!).  This week we will not meet with the slc, but I hope to continue picking the brains of my compatriots and colleagues at each opportunity.  In the coming weeks I hope to experiment more with the project I had planned although I am going to alter it to using technology effectively in the classroom while teaching the use of calculators in every possible lesson to bring learners the skills necessary for successful taking of the ACT (or SAT or other standardized tests).

Anyhoo, Happy teaching! See you around the blog, my faithful followers>>

10/3

Today we discussed a few different assessment techniques.  Mr. K and Mr. Zak discussed ICA test results from a large test Mr. K had designed.  I had also given a quarter test, and we discussed the results.  The technology piece we were looking at from last week (teachertube), Mr. Z tried and did not really care for at this point.  He is going to look into it further.  We (Holst's classes) are ready for round 2 of video making.

9/26

Well, to quote Lori Holst: "There was progress".
Collectively, the group worked together to figure out iMovie and the details of using Lori's Hovercam, in making movies. We also discussed at length the possible options for placing our movies in Teachertube, the cloud, a district hard drive, or a external hard-drive that might be a valuable resource for the department(math since 3 of us are math teachers).
Personally, I have only experimented a little with iMovie, and have not begun recording lessons or examples.

I feel a little overwhelmed, honestly. Teaching has its own set of unique responsibilities like keeping up with the gradebook(otherwise the students are always asking what is what!), grading of homework, quizes, and tests, new teacher responsibilities like preparing goals and directives for my mentor, my observer, and that doesn't even count the planning of each new days lesson!  The PLC project has taken a back seat to all of these other things; sadly, since it seems that it would make a worthwhile experience and tool. By the looks of it, Zak, Parbs, and Holst are all using videos effectively and creating differentiated classrooms in the midst of the regular chaos that is high school teaching.   I wonder when I'll get caught up, and what life will look like when I do...
Using all that I am blessed with, I am moving forward in each class learning each day as I teach.
The students and teachers around me are turning out to be supremely valuable resources for my experience and thankfully ehlp each day seem fresh and exciting despite the troubles that are a lack of time, and a constant fatigue.

Anyhoo, Until we meet again my blog & diary dujour

Today, we whelped each other figure out a good place to post videos (Teacher Tube) for better student access.  I will repost some of my You Tube videos in Teacher Tube to see if it makes a difference in performance during class.  We also put our heads together and learned how to edit videos on iMovie.

Today we experimented with Lori's Hovercam to see if there was a way to significantly reduce files sizes.  We did not find one.  We think the solution is in having centralized local storage to store videos that teacher make.  Students would need access to this storage, that way teachers could simply post linktsto the videos in School Loop.  Rich will follow up with Logan regarding the feasibility.

Today I had several student stay late to finish work before the progress report grades were to be turned in. I wish they worked this hard every day!

As I only just received a disc drive for my laptop, I have yet to view the instruction manual for the elmo, meaning I have yet to try out my taping the lesson experiment, hopefully I will be able to get the ball rolling in the next day or so. I hope to record my note taking and lessons in trig on friday and have a viewable lesson (or part of one) to bring to the next plc meeting sept 19.

Happy teaching and Learning!!

For next week, I plan on having an experimental video or taping of classroom use of technology, which will assist our development of a plan to differentiate while implementing the elmo device as effective tool for recording notes, etc.

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Welcome to all members of the Effective Teaching Team!
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Thank you Katie

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