"Shared Solutions" Ministry Resource Document

       The Shared Solutions Document, published by the ministry of Education in 2007, acts as a guide for educators, students, and parents, to maintain strong lines of communication, while attending to the needs of children with special education needs.  The document is designed to assist these parties, to ensure that conflicts can be situated appropriately, or even prevented by maintaining those open lines of communication.  Several strategies and techniques are provided, to assist with conflict prevention and resolution, while educators and parents are working together through the identification process for students with special needs.  While the document is targeted for students with special needs, I believe that the guidelines, strategies, and case studies provided, can be attributed to any elementary or secondary student in education.

       The document begins, by discussing the common responses that can occur when conflict first happens.  Common responses that occur with conflict can range from avoidance, to confrontation, or to acquiescence (giving in).  While each of these can have negative impacts when conflict arises, sometimes they can also have certain beneficial circumstances to effective conflict resolution.  While there are many factors that may contribute to conflicts arising between parties, it is important to recognize the warning signs when they first appear.  There can be numerous warning signs that a conflict could arise, and from what I read from this document, they are all rooted in the same principle:  a broken line or breakdown in communication.

       Shared Solutions promotes a "Culture of Collaboration" between educator, student, and parent, that is rooted in effective communication.  Effective communication can be promoted by ensuring that frequent messaging occurs between school and parent.  Educators can promote effective messaging by providing information about special education programs and services, partaking in training and P.D. to strengthen communication skills, and school boards developing effective communication guidelines for schools to follow.  The document continues on discussing effective strategies and techniques for dealing with effective conflict prevention and resolution.

       Currently, I am finishing up Parent-Student-Teacher conferences within my classroom.  While I find these interviews to be very informative and productive for all parties involved, I always find that I am referring back to two key elements within my educational practice: 1.  What is the best means of communication between teacher and parent?  2.  How can parents best support their child's educational development at home?

       Communication in today's day and age is very easy to do.  Ten years ago, the agenda was the key source of communication between parents, students, and teachers.  Homework, notes, events, and special days could be recorded, shared, and checked daily.  Additional information or answers to questions could be shared through phone calls or interview requests.   Today, email, the internet, websites, blogs, and social media accounts have made the sharing of information not only easier to do, but has made it more of a two way street.  Educators can share information through their chosen outlets of information and communication technology, and parents can respond more easily with questions, comments, and information about their child and concerns with their child.   Furthermore, questions of supporting children at home can be better defined through helpful notes, tips, and links provided through communication and internet outputs.

       Effective use of communication technologies is a reliable and easy means for educators to keep the lines of communication open between teachers, students, and parents.  This will result in less conflicts occurring in the classroom, regarding students progress and special needs.  While Shared Solutions is targeted more for students with special educational needs and how to deal with conflict that may arise throughout the identification process, I feel its lessons in communication and conflict handling can be applied more to all students, parents, and educators.  However, even with greater resources at our disposal in communication and technology, conflicts are still bound to occur.  Having the Shared Solutions document, is a great resource to fall back on, in such a situation.

     

Ten Great Tools and Strategies for Assessment and Evaluation

      I recently created a Wiki, outlining ten great technology tools, that can be used for assessment and evaluation purposes in the classroom.  You can access the Wiki with the link below:

https://technologyandevaluation.wikispaces.com/Ten+Great+Technology+Assessment+Tools+in+Education

Here is a quick overview of the Ten Tools.

10.    Wikispaces - Wiki creator for idea building (ancient civilizations activity)
9.      E-Portfolios - Mixbook Scrapblog for sharing understanding and work (health portfolio)
8.      Dreambox - Math concept and skill development and tracking
7.      Socrative - assessment tool for laptops, iPads, tablets, and smart devices
6.      ForAllRubrics/Rubistar - online rubric creation for activities and projects
5.      Kidblog - easy to use blogging site for students - create a writing portfolio
4.      Student Websites - Wiggio/Weebly (video conferencing, group collaboration, and file sharing)
                                      - literature circle/guided reading assessment
3.      Livebinder - online web binder - create a binder with pages/tabs that share learning
2.      Edmodo - subject communities - communicate with students on specific subjects
1.      Google Docs - for commenting and ongoing feedback throughout assignment completion

Reporting and Evaluation, and Technology Use

      Technology is becoming more of a mainstay in the classroom, especially with regards to reporting and evaluation.  It gives teachers and educators an easy access to continual feedback, in respect to student progress and achievement.  Teachers can track student progress throughout a unit, rather than waiting for formative and summative assessment tasks to see if students have understood and applied the learning material.  Given the constraints of the classroom, computers and technology can also provide additional methods of assessment, that allows for evaluation to be accomplished outside of the classroom.  For me, one of the key features to technology and assessment, is the use of running records for multiple subjects.

                                         When assessing reading, my school board always looks to PM Benchmarks and DRA for establishing current and up to date reading levels among the students.  Both assessments are done a minimum of twice a year, usually around October and May.  Quite often, I like to do a mid year assessment around February likewise, to see how students are progressing with their reading habits, fluency, and comprehension.

        From these assessments, educators can establish reading programs to suit the needs of each student, and create guided reading groups that allow teachers to choose reading materials that are at the ability of that group of readers.  Furthermore, many schools use these assessments to create data walls and running records, that not only track student progress throughout the year, but track student progress throughout continuing grades likewise.  This allows educators to work together and identify students who may be struggling with reading, so they can provide extra support in order to catch them up to their peers.

      These data walls and running records have often taken up corners of staff rooms in schools, or can be located in teacher binders for quick reference.  With technology, data walls can easily be created online, for teachers to post and share the results of their student's reading levels.  This would make it easier to identify students who are low or have special needs, then teachers, administrators, and educational assistance can work together to help these students with their reading abilities.  A program such as Evernote, would be ideal for this tracking progress.  Evernote is an application used for online note taking and archiving.  These notes could include formatted text, webpages, photographs, voice memos, or uploaded handwritten notes.  Notes can also have file attachments and be sorted into folders.  This would not only be ideal for tracking reading levels, but voice memos or videos could be included of students performing the reading assessments, and answering questions that test for comprehension.   A more thorough piece of information about reading levels can consequently be saved and accessed later, rather than just a mere number indicating a reading level.

          Another great running record that my school board has been pushing is Dreambox.  I have discussed Dreambox in previous blog entries, discussing the benefits to completing math activities online and helping students to build their math skills.  Since I've started using Dreambox with my students, I have since discovered the benefits of this program with its use of running records.  The program tracks student progress throughout the lessons and units, and even identifies areas where students struggled with particular concepts and lessons.  All of this information can be tracked by teachers in the Teacher Dashboard Area, which gives access to classroom summary reports, student progress by standards (program and curriculum standards), student groups by proficiency, and includes a progress monitor.  Continued use of this software by students, allows teachers to track students throughout the lessons, and can even shape what concepts a teacher needs to cover with particular students, who may be struggling with particular algorithms.

        Here is a video by Cathy Fosnot Ed.D, discussing the advantage of Dreambox's seamless assessment, which gets away from static assessment that has plagued classroom based evaluation for decades.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXGayCdAICM



        Assessment and evaluation, needs to be seamless, and continual, and the use of running records and technology allows for this to take place much easier than traditional classroom evaluation methods.  There are so many ways that technology can be utilized in assessment and evaluation.  In my next blog entry, I'll be discussing ten methods that utilize technology for assessment and evaluating purposes.

Audio and Visual Assessment Tools

      I am always on the lookout for useful, easy to use apps and software that I can easily incorporate into my classroom practice.  I have used many Web 2.0 tools over the last few months to make learning more engaging and more enjoyable for my students.  The kids love to use technology, and to utilize technology in such a way, that they can be creative in ways that move beyond simple pencil and paper activities.  One major area that I am continuing to develop within my teaching practice is assessment, using online applications that will assist in evaluating student understanding and performance.  In terms of audio and video assessment strategies, I believe I have found two, very easy to use applications, that can incorporate online audio and video into a formalized diagnostic assessment.

     There are many programs and applications online that utilize audio for sharing purposes.  One such application that I recently discovered is the Vocaroo online voice recorder.  I have used many online voice recorders in the past, but I have to say that Vocaroo is by far the most simplest and easy to use recorder, especially for elementary student use.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBUsOrAXcLw


      There is no need to make an account, provide a user ID and password, or register for anything.  It is simply a click to record, play, listen and save application.  The recordings are very clear, and it is easy to save and share as an MP3, QR code, as an email, or share through social media.

      A specific expectation for the grade five social studies curriculum strand, looks at the ways that citizens of Ontario, and Canada, can take action to address social and environmental issues. Specifically, students will:

B3.7  -describe some different ways in which citizens can take action to address social and
environmental issues (e.g., by determining the position of their local candidates on various issues
and supporting/voting for the one whose position they agree with;...) http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/elementary/sshg18curr2013.pdf

A great task for the students to partake in, would be to create radio spots as candidates in a municipal, provincial, or federal election, and to discuss how they would resolve a conflict within society today. Students would use the Vocaroo software to record their radio spots (working individually or in partners) outlining their plan to deal with this societal issue.  After recording and listening to each radio spot, students could then have a mini election, where they vote for who had the strongest arguments and made the best plan within their radio spots.  The votes and follow up discussion would be valuable data for assessment and evaluation.

     Aside from audio and voice recording tools, I have also used many web video tools for the curation and creation of lessons and projects to display student understanding and learning.  One tool that I have talked about in past blog entries is that of Jing, the screencasting software that allows users to take a picture or video of the user's computer screen, and uploads it to the web, automatically creating a URL for sharing purposes.  I have been looking for ways to use this application within my practice, and I stumbled across a great article and video from "Ideaconnect", the professional blog of Graham Whisen, physics teacher and part-time teacher librarian.  He shares a great strategy for using Jing to assess students online work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ow0pguD3Ic


      Graham uses the Jing software, to give assessment and feedback for an assignment that a student has submitted online.  He can use the application to go through all parts of the assignment, recording video of him giving feedback for each section of the assignment.  This is a great application to use for assessment purposes.

      I recently have started my grade four and five students with online blogging.  I encourage students to not only use it to share writing assignments, but to post their thoughts and ideas on anything that is of interest to them.  The Jing application will be a handy tool for me to review the writing with them on their blogs, give feedback, evaluation, and next steps for future blog posts.  Furthermore, the access that parents can have to both the student blog, as well as my feedback videos, will help to keep parents updated on the progress of their child, and what they can do at home to reinforce what is being done at school likewise.

      I look forward to using both of these assessment strategies within my classroom!

You can check out some great links below, that I have updated on my online bookmarking page:
https://delicious.com/timstevens111

E-Learning in "Growing Success"

      In 2010, the Ontario ministry of education developed the document, Growing Success, to complement the change with the provincial reporting assessments.  The document outlines the structure of the current provincial progress reports and report cards, assessment and evaluation strategies in the classroom, and  accommodations and modifications for students with specific and special needs.  This document has become a key component for structuring teaching practices for assessment and reporting within the classroom.

      In reviewing this document, one short chapter that caught my eye was the chapter on E-Learning. The chapter outlines the structure of E-Learning in Ontario for secondary school students.  The ministry of education has made it possible for secondary students to obtain certain secondary course credits through e-learning courses, developed through the provincial learning management system, (LMS) and delivered by school boards throughout the province.  These courses serve as an alternative to supplement traditional classroom teachings, and abide by the same provincial assessment, evaluation, and reporting policies.

      The chapter goes on to outline some key benefits for students accessing e-learning courses.  Students who live in small, rural, or isolated schools would have the same access to diverse course and learning resources, as all other schools throughout the province.  Furthermore, e-learning courses allow for great flexibility and choice in course selection, they provide alternative formats for course delivery, give additional options for students recovering credits, and provide students with the opportunity to succeed in online learning beyond secondary school.  This last benefit is the one that stands out for me the most.  Much learning today is being done through these types of courses, at all levels and avenues of education.  E-learning courses and tools allow for a wider range of activities that meet the needs of all types of learners, and provide students with the opportunity to work at their own pace.  It is a great idea to expose learners to this method of content and course delivery sooner rather than later.

      While the chapter is targeting e-learning at the secondary school level, I pose the question:  Why not start sooner than that?  There are so many great Web 2.0 tools that educators can access, for free, to supplement traditional classroom practices.  Teachers can pick and choose their tools that they are comfortable using and see fit, or they can access great sites like Edmodo, to structure the delivery of specific units, or even their entire program.  The key to success, would be in shaping assessment and evaluation tools, to stay in line with provincial assessment and reporting standards.  Many teachers are already doing this within their course planning, so why not extend this chapter to include elementary and middle school grades.  Most teachers are expected to develop their own content, delivery, and evaluation methods anyways, why not do it online.  There are even sites such as Quizlet, that allow for assessment strategies to be utilized by teachers over the internet.

      While I do believe that e-learning can be extended to elementary level students, this should be done to complement traditional learning practices.  This would provide an excellent system of scaffolding for students, who will eventually move to online courses later on, as they progress along their chosen educational path.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOvPUMTIRSc

Assistive Technology Interview - Reflection

      Recently I sat down with my Special Education Resource Teacher (SERT) to discuss two students who have been identified and will be receiving support, in the form of their very own iPads to use during classroom activities.  This lead to a discussion on the procedure and wait times for Assistive Technology support for students within Halton.  While I knew of the process and was aware of the timelines for students receiving AT, I still found it interesting to see just how well Halton is meeting the needs of our students.

      Speaking with my SERT Jeff, we discussed just who is eligible for AT within the board.  In order for a prescription to be assigned to a student, a formal assessment needs to be completed on the student, with the results outlining a specific need for AT within the classroom.  The students who are identified as needing AT, would show certain deficiencies in terms of fine motor skills, visual motor skill (e.g. The ability to copy notes), organizational skills, or just maintaining sustained attention during prolonged tasks.   Once a diagnosis is confirmed, Jeff can then write out a formal assessment on a mere two page form, requesting the AT device or software, and the technology should arrive at the school within a four to six week time frame.

      During this time, students can begin training on the AT device while they are still waiting for their prescription to arrive.  Halton supplies schools with extra laptops, iPads, LiveScribe pens, software and other devices just for this purpose.  Students will receive training from the SERT directly, or in the case of my school, an Educational Assistant who has been assigned as an AT teacher, to assist in training students who are new to the technology.  Likewise, teachers can be trained on the devices and software as well, to better assist their own students.  Training can come from in house experts or itinerant teachers contacted by the school SERT.  Quite often, full and half day PD workshops can also be provided for certain types of devices and software.

      As I have posted and blogged about many times, Web 2.0 tools are becoming used more regularly, replacing many old forms of software, that the board has paid lots of money to license out and provide training for.  Programs such as Premier Tools, Worksheet Wizard, and Dragon Naturally Speaking, seem to be becoming more obsolete, as easier to use programs such as iPad notebook, and Dragon Dictation are easier to use and free for everyone.  As for as next steps go for Halton, I find that the board is doing an excellent job with keeping up with the demand and need for more Assistive Technology within our schools.  While some discrepancies still exist between schools and the availability of technology for students, I find that my school in particular is doing a fantastic job with providing necessary tools for students.  The only next step that I can see for the board, is creating an online document that tracks students AT use, and what types of training the student has gone through, so future teachers can be made aware of this quickly and easy.  This can be done however, at the individual school level.

Sal Khan's "The One World Schoolhouse" Part 2 Reflections

      In Part Two, of Salman Khan's The One World Schoolhouse, Sal starts to look at the current state of our educational system, and the model that we have created for our students.  He talks about how our educational system is a human construct that is intertwined with many others customs and institutions within our society.  He outlines the history of education, from mimicking, to the apprentice, to standardized learning.  It was in 18th century Prussia, where standardized schooling first came into existence, supported through tax funding.  The idea then was to produce "loyal intractable citizens" who would learn the value of submitting to the authority of parents, teachers, the church, and the ruler.  It was this innovation that later created the huge middle class of society, and has remained the constant for the last 120 years.

After reviewing the development of education within Germany and the United States, Sal turns his attention to marks and testing.  He discusses how our current system views 75% as a good grade, but yet that student still has not mastered a good quarter of content, leaving a lot of students with what he describes as "swiss cheese" learning.  Learning with holes or gaps of understanding left behind, that inevitably sets many students up for failure later on.  Tests themselves say little about a student's potential to learn, as they are just a snapshot in time of student understanding.  What if the student grasps the material later on, then ends up excelling past his/her classmates?  Tests make good diagnostic tools to identify gaps in learning, but they should not be the be all and end all of assessment in learning.

      Our current education system is thus a flawed model that deprives students of being able to reach their full potential according to their own timelines.  Creativity is underappreciated and math and science are not seen as creative fields in their own right.  Using tests and assessments to filter out students, streamline their learning, or discourage them from pursuing all options, are segregating many students, leaving their full potential unfulfilled.  The demands of homework likewise, can bring down student creativity and potential.  Sal asserts that homework should not be about quantity, but quality, which is a difficult measure to take into account.  He believes that homework is demanding and time consuming, but necessary, because not enough learning is taking place during the school day.

      Flipping the classroom is Sal's solution to the issues of homework and identifying gaps in student learning.  Through the use of technology, educators can now post lectures and lessons online for students to view.  Then when students come into class, class time can be used for activities that build on learning, on enriching what the students already know.  Teachers can give extra support to students who may be struggling, and can work with smaller groups to help promote better understanding.  Class time can be spent on engaging activities, or the work that was usually assigned as homework.  Making class time more meaningful is the key to promoting students to a more mastery learner ideal.

      While I really like the idea of students coming into class each day already knowing the lesson, perhaps with questions or ideas they wish to share, I always come back to the issue of access to technology.  Not all families have equal access to technology at home.   The school can provide technology in many cases, but not always in all.  This in itself can lead to inequalities within education.  Furthermore, just because a student views a lesson at home, does not always mean they are going to grasp the concept any quicker.  Realistically speaking, many students might end up taking the same amount of time to understand the concept, as they would if they were present for the lesson in class.  Sometimes I find that I've presented material to students in two or three ways, and they still can not seem to pick up on the concept.  What then?  I have given extra support, given the extra time, and still gaps.  I believe that it often just comes down to maturity.  All kids mature at different rates, and I think the same is true with understanding.  Some students just are metacognitively not ready to grasp certain ideas and concepts being presented.  They will eventually, but unfortunately, there is other material that needs to be covered, and it is time to move on.

      While Sal argues that the demands of our curriculum are too extraneous on students, not allowing students to move at a pace they are ready for, and taking away from their creativity and full potential, he also states that education is intertwined with our society.  Is not the society we live in very fast paced, always moving from one thing to another.  Time management and strong organizational skills are important factors for many households and families that are juggling, work, home, chores, and responsibilities.  Should not our current education system continue to model this as well, to properly prepare students for this society?  While creativity is important, I wonder just how much does our society truly value it, and does it pay well?