May 15

Specific Feedback, Especially While Digitally Learning

Feedback is the path to excellence and growth for students.  Teachers have the power to shape thinking, give guidance, help students adjust, and propel students to the next level.  However, feedback needs to be meaningful and intentional for it to make an impression on students.

Purposeful feedback takes time to craft.  Educators love to see students grow.  In the classroom, it was easier to shape student performance because most of the feedback could be verbal and in the moment.  It could come in the casual side conference while visiting a student’s desk during the work process.  It could unfold in a conference for reading, writing, or monitoring a PBL project.

The classroom environment allowed for ease. The valuable moments where you share and highlight the amazing work you see one student doing propel everyone. Taking advantage of a chance to interrupt and instill how students are applying a mini-lesson into their work is powerful. What about the opportunity to interrrupt a class to shift and redirect when the application of learning needs an adjustment? All of these moments are the ones the kids miss and teachers crave to give during eLearning.

However, we have always faced the evaluation of work while grading at home and interpreting performance after the work was completed. It is tedious and the part of our job that sometimes requires a deep breath before beginning because we know it is labor intensive. Those feelings now are amplified because we are distanced from the process of engaging students in the beautiful moments of classroom learning. How do we truly give feedback in the absence of seeing all of it unfold?

What have I tried?

Mid-Workshop Interruption Videos

When my students were working on writing, I had them send me their prewriting and drafting.  It allowed me to give a mid-workshop interruption videos that I sent as an announcement on my Canvas course.

Writing Conference Feedback Videos for Individuals

For students that I felt I could shift their craft of writing better with specific feedback points, I made a video. This student needed assistance with punctuating dialogue.  Zoom sessions were hosted for students to share and conference, but not all students were able to attend.  Regardless, the student received the feedback that was needed.

Make Sure to Use Specific Rubrics on Canvas Assignments

Canvas Rubric

Use Rubrics on Canvas with Each Step of eLearning.

 Rubrics are always an effective way of sharing the progression of skills for students to use as they are working.  This is an example of a rubric scored for drafting.  Along with the rubric you can add specific feedback through comments or a video as mentioned.

Writing Specific Feedback in Comments on Assignment Submissions

Clipboard History Pro Extension Sometimes as you are grading you tend to state the same things to multiple students.  Spend time crafting a response that meets the need you are seeing.  You can always copy and paste the comment.  If you have multiple comments that you use for various levels of performance use a clipboard extension tool for quick use.

Pro Tip:

Add the Clipboard History Pro extension to your Google Chrome. Also, establish the idea that you want students to master activities. During eLearning, allow students to receive feedback and make changes.  It allows students to return to content and improve.  We want our students to grow and multiple attempts enchance learning. In the video below, you will see how easy Clipboard History Pro extension makes it for me to give meaningful feedback.

 

Category: ELA Instruction, Feedback | 1 Comment on Specific Feedback, Especially While Digitally Learning
May 1

Making Learning Accessible and Interactive

Interactive Read Aloud during eLearning

In this time of eLearning we are all attempting to do our best to use best practices in our instruction while being distant from students.  We want to engage students’ thinking and keep them in an instructional rhythm they have come to expect. Students need us to recognize their variablity and instructional needs, which brings in UDL guidelines.  We also need to be able to utilize our Learning Managment Systems, like Canvas, so students can get to assignments with ease.

One of my favorite components of language arts instruction is the interactive read aloud.  There is nothing better than when a group of students is into a book with you and responding with their thinking, connections, and inferences on what will happen next.  In my twenty years of education, the groan when you close the book has made my heart burst with joy.  You have them hooked. You are making books one of the best choices they can desire.  We build lifelong readers one page, one book, one reading experience at a time.

How can I make this happen during this time?  I mean…really make it happen!  I started off the time by just creating YouTube videos of our read aloud. However, it just did not give me the response back from kids that I am accustomed to receiving.  A next step was to add in Flipgrid, which allowed me to gain a verbal response and did help. Could there be an even better way? Then it occurred to me that I might be able to make Nearpods for each interactive read aloud.

Nearpod Features that Improved my eLearning Sessions:

  • polls: Example-Would you make the same choice as the character? Yes or No. (DOK 1)
  • YouTube Video Embeded: allowed for fewer links that need to be shared.
  • Open-Ended Questions: students could respond with audio or typed response to a higher level question. (DOK 2/3)
  • Collaboration: students could respond and see their classmates responses (DOK 2/3)
  • Matching: students could match characters to their traits; vary by direct traits or inferencial traits (DOK 1/2)
  • Flipgrid: is embeded into the Nearpod so students can have videos for shared thinking and collaboration. Higher level (DOK 3) questions can be debated in this forum.

Adding Nearpod to Canvas Integration

Nearpod can be integrated into many learning management systems.  Since my district is using Canvas the remainder of my blog will feature Canvas.

 Guide for Adding the Nearpod App to your Canvas Course. You will get a unique app code to add to your settings for external tools.  The guide is clear and easy to follow.

Features in My Interactive Nearpod & Canvas Integration

Setting Expectations

Students will have the Nearpod open right in their assignment on Canvas.

A teacher can create Nearpods or use a presentation from the Nearpod library. For my sessions, I created slides on Google Slides or Power Point and added the visuals into the Nearpod session.

This slide shows that I am establishing the tone and objective of the lesson.

Providing Video/Audio of Text

My strategy was to read a chapter and record a video of that chapter for students to be able to listen to me read. Then Nearpod allows you to add the web url for your YouTube video right into your Nearpod.  The video plays right within the session and student stay on the same Canvas assignment page.

Virtual Turn and Talk or Thinking Spots

After students listened to a chapter, I was able to give them thinking space just like we did with our reader’s notebooks or a turn and talk to a partner moment. On Nearpod students may choose whether they want to respond by typing their response or they may respond orally.  Students are able to decide which action and expression fits them best.

Accessibilty

Some students with an IEP need questions read to them. However, all students have the option of using Immersive Reader if they need to have the question read in order to process what it is requiring them to do. This is option is especially important during this time of eLearning so our students can meet their needs and feel independent.

Collaboration

Nearpod has a new feature that allows students to have a virtual bulletin board.  You can pose a question and students can see how their classmates respond.  Students are craving typical connections to each other.  This feature allows a bond between students to continue.  We do not want our learners to feel isolated in their thinking.

We love for students to answer open ended questions and debate.  Adding Flipgrid to the Nearpod allowed for virtual turn and talk discussions.

(It also allowed me to hear and see my students.  I could listen in and give them feedback.)

Adding in a poll allows for “Would you rather..” type thinking.  Also, you can reveal yesterday’s poll results in next session on Canvas. Later, students can see if they agreed.  We must look for ways to keep kids engaged.

 

Settings Necessary in Your Nearpod Account

Please use the visual below to make sure you have all of the settings turned on in your Nearpod Account.  To do this go to your settings and switch the buttons on that you see below.

Grading & Assessing

When you integrade Nearpod into your Canvas assignment, it allows you to use Speed Grader for assessing your individual student’s reports.  This process is much faster than having to go back to your Nearpod account and access a report.  Plus, you can offer specific feedback to each student within the LMS and keep students in one location.  Parents will also be able to see the feedback in their observers view.  Often apps that we use are difficult to go back to for record keeping and completion details.  We are all on our screens a lot right now!  Make it easy for yourself too!

Video Support

To help you in your own development, please use my video to help you with this process.  Reach out if you have any questions.

 

 

Category: Uncategorized | 1 Comment on Making Learning Accessible and Interactive