October 2015 Professional Development
Hi History team. Today we're looking at ways to thoughtfully incorporate educational technology into our History instruction.
I've embedded this PD page on my old course website for ed tech so that, during work time, you can peek at what DP scholars have learned in the past and tools that I've found helpful. Objective: TWBAT evaluate educational technology tools and identify at least two to incorporate to improve learning and grading in History class Session Agenda 1. Do Now + Discussion 2. Welcome and Intro 3. Activity #1 - Digital Assessment Tools 4. 10 Minute Break 5. Activity #2 - Tech-Infused Lesson Planning 6. Share Out 7. Exit Ticket |
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Activity #1 - Digital Assessment Tools
1. GradeCam Modeling
2. Whole Team Discussion: What are the pros and cons of using GradeCam? If you've used it before, what has your experience been like? If a teacher wanted to begin using GradeCam, what would their next steps be?
3. Individual Exploration (20 minutes total)
4. Complete the Mini Independent Practice by answering the questions below:
1) What benefits can a digital assessment like GradeCam or Socrative offer over paper-and-pencil assessments?
2) On a scale of 1-5, where 1 is not likely and 5 is very likely, how likely are you to use a digital assessment in your class in the next month? Explain your thinking with examples and reflection from Activity #1.
2. Whole Team Discussion: What are the pros and cons of using GradeCam? If you've used it before, what has your experience been like? If a teacher wanted to begin using GradeCam, what would their next steps be?
3. Individual Exploration (20 minutes total)
- Three other assessment tools that team members have used are Socrative (http://www.socrative.com) Juno (https://juno.jupitered.com, plus video advice) and Instagrade (http://instagradeapp.com/how-it-works).
- Rashid raves about Instagrade and uses it regularly. Juno is linked to our grading software Jupiter and can be set up to import data. The Writing team is training on Juno at PD today - their packet w/tutorial is here
- Take the next 15 minutes to explore one or more of these tools with a partner or two from your grade-level team. This will help you navigate and discuss what you're seeing.
- Suggested approach: pick one tool, go to its website and read about it/watch a demo, create a login, make a sample Exit Ticket, complete the sample Exit Ticket as a student, look at data analytics
- When the timer goes off, take 5 minutes to debrief with your grade-level team: What were your experiences like? What was challenging? What is worth trying out?
4. Complete the Mini Independent Practice by answering the questions below:
1) What benefits can a digital assessment like GradeCam or Socrative offer over paper-and-pencil assessments?
2) On a scale of 1-5, where 1 is not likely and 5 is very likely, how likely are you to use a digital assessment in your class in the next month? Explain your thinking with examples and reflection from Activity #1.
-- Ten Minute Break --
Activity #2 - Tech-Infused Lesson Planning
For this activity, you will work with your grade-level team to explore subject-specific tech tools. Follow the agendas below! You have until 4:40 PM to complete your tasks and upload your Word doc.
Tip - Designate one teacher per team to act as scribe, to compose the Word doc and submit below.
Tip - Designate one teacher per team to act as scribe, to compose the Word doc and submit below.
6th Grade TeamFocus Topic: Geography of Egypt (Unit 3)
Overview: The lesson you're developing will be a new third lesson that supplements two current lessons that teach why the Nile River was important. The broad goal for this new lesson is to build scholar understanding of settlement patterns and geographic features that influenced Egyptian settlement. Group Assignment: Submit a Word doc that:
Let's get started! Take 15 minutes to explore Resources below, thinking about what would help your scholars. Resources
Post-Exploration Discussion Questions
After discussion, begin outlining the lesson. If teachers have different ideas, it's OK to break out into sub-teams to draft different lessons. Above and Beyond (if extra time): Should we create a new website for Global Lit, like 7th grade US History is using? If so, what would be valuable to include? How would it be used? |
7th Grade TeamFocus Topic: Protesting the Stamp Act: Mobs or Crowds? (Unit 4)
Overview: For 7th and 8th grade, we have found an exciting digital platform for history called Zoom In. We will use the Stamp Act lesson from Zoom In during Unit 4. We have allotted three days for this. Group Assignment: Explore the Zoom In lesson to understand how it works, and discuss how you'll teach with it. Submit one Word doc for your team that:
Let's get started! To familiarize yourself with Zoom In, complete the following with a partner: 1. Go to this link 2. Sign up with a student account. Make up your own password. The Student Access code is RedSpenser757 3. After logging in, click on DP History Team under Your Classes 4. Click on the first link: "Protesting the Stamp Act: Mobs or Crowds?" 5. Take 20 minutes to complete the activities until you finish all documents. Discuss "Think About It" questions with your partner, and submit answers whenever prompted on the right side of the page. Don't worry about writing detailed responses - the point is to see what scholars will be asked to do! 6. Come back together with your full team to debrief. What was your experience like? What are you excited by? What are you worried about? 7. Begin planning a three-day sequence. How much of the activity can be completed on each day? Do we want to do the culminating writing task as written? Should there be an accompanying packet for any reason? What about homework? 8. Have your scribe record lesson ideas in a Word doc. 9. If interested, go back and create a teacher login to see how you will create and manage classes and their work. Optional: Lesson plan overview PDF here Above and Beyond (if extra time): The 7th grade course website has received positive feedback. What more can we do with it? What other resources would be useful for scholars? Should we host other digital lessons on it for the American Revolution unit? Homework extra credit? If you have time, locate additional resources to be added.
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8th Grade TeamFocus Topic: Should the United States Have Annexed the Philippines? (Unit 4)
Overview: For 7th and 8th grade, we have found an exciting digital platform for history called Zoom In. We will use the Zoom In lesson on the annexation of the Philippines in Unit 4. We have allotted three days for this. Group Assignment: Explore the Zoom In lesson to understand how it works, and discuss how you'll teach with it. Submit one Word doc for your team that:
Let's get started! To familiarize yourself with Zoom In, complete the following with a partner: 1. Go to this link 2. Sign up with a student account. Make up your own password. The Student Access code is RedSpenser757 3. After logging in, click on DP History Team under Your Classes 4. Click on the second link: "Should the United States Have Annexed the Philippines?" 5. Take 20 minutes to complete the activities until you finish all documents. Discuss "Think About It" questions with your partner, and submit answers whenever prompted on the right side of the page. Don't worry about writing detailed responses - the point is to see what scholars will be asked to do! 6. Come back together with your full team to debrief. What was your experience like? What are you excited by? What are you worried about? 7. Begin planning a three-day sequence. How much of the activity can be completed on each day? Do we want to do the culminating writing task as written? Should there be an accompanying packet for any reason? What about homework? 8. Have your scribe record lesson ideas in a Word doc. 9. If interested, go back and create a teacher login to see how you will create and manage classes and their work. Optional: Lesson plan overview PDF here Above and Beyond (if extra time): The 7th grade course website has received positive feedback. Should we create a similar website for 8th grade? How would it be used, and what would we want to add?
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Final Whole-Team Share Out
- What is your team's plan for new tech-infused instruction?
- What excited you most today? What concerns did you hear, and how can they be addressed?
- What can we do to inspire our scholars, campus directors, and each other to thoughtfully use more technology in our work?
Exit Ticket
Please write a paragraph summarizing your takeaways from today.
What ideas or tips are you leaving with? How are you feeling about tech integration and the lesson planning with your team? What lingering questions or concerns do you have that we can address in our next PD on technology?
What ideas or tips are you leaving with? How are you feeling about tech integration and the lesson planning with your team? What lingering questions or concerns do you have that we can address in our next PD on technology?