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remote learning

Ideas and Insights on Instructional Coaching

by Andrew Roush December 10, 2020

written by Andrew Roush

Instructional coaches support students and educators through professional development, relationship building, and much more. Like so many things in education (and life) this year, education has seen major shifts. As a result, instructional coaches have taken new lessons from the experiences of 2020.

In this post, we’ve compiled a variety of insights and ideas that have emerged this year to help build teacher capacity and improve student outcomes.

Coaching Defined

Texas’ ESC Region 13 describes instructional coaching succinctly as “job-embedded professional development.” To that end, they write, an instructional coach does the following:

Facilitates pre-observation conversations, goal setting, and post-observation conferences
Conducts classroom observations to collect data on specified practice
Maintains a confidential relationship with teacher
Supports teachers by consistently co-planning, co-teaching, and modeling lessons.

Supporting Learning

Instructional coaches and those in similar roles are concerned with supporting learning in many ways, from understanding social-emotional needs to navigating rules, standards, schedules, and guidelines.

Responding to Change

Last month, TechNotes featured an interview with education researcher Jim Knight. He took a broad view of instructional coaching during the current COVID-19 pandemic, pointing to ways to overcome continued challenges — and the skills educators can take from this period.

For example, what does eye contact look like for coaching when you’re doing it through Zoom versus face to face? Overall many of the same skills or best practices apply – let people finish their responses, genuinely want to hear what they have to say and listen, don’t interrupt, don’t fidget with stuff while they’re talking, and pay attention to the person. This can just be harder virtually, especially with a group. When you sit down with a person or a group face to face, you can feel if this is working or not, and that’s hard to do virtually, so working on skills like these are key.
Interview: Instructional Coaching During COVID-19

The challenges of changing schedules and changing methods of instruction mean a focus on the foundations of teaching. In the Lit Coach Connection blog, Krista Senatore outlines five lessons from the COVID outbreak that coaches can take to heart. Not only should educators focus on building and maintaining the vital personal connections that make learning happen, they should also be mindful of building a community of learners, using the right data to assess and plan, and maintain a focus on the basics of literacy, critical thinking, and reading.

Professional Learners

Not only do instructional coaches work to teach teachers, they themselves must be lifelong students. Jim Knight outlined a similar emphasis in his November interview:

“It’s really important that professional developers reflect deeply on their beliefs. Paulo Freire in the Pedagogy of the Oppressed talks about a few key concepts that need to be in place if you want to have dialogue with somebody. He said you have to have humility in the way you interact with the person. … He said when people understand that we want to hear what they have to say, we’re open to being changed by them, and we believe in them and want what’s best for them — and this is authentic — they’ll trust us. But the flip side is also true if any of those things are missing. So, I don’t know if it’s a new skill, but I think to be effective at this work, it’s really important to think carefully about our beliefs.”
Interview: Instructional Coaching During COVID-19

You can also read Knight’s thoughts on video for coaching in a previous TechNotes interview here.

Launching Ideas

The Launch Pad is the blog from the makers of the Teach Boost tool. The blog includes a deep catalogue of posts on topics relevant to instructional coaches and similar professionals.

In September, San Antonio instructional coach Genevie Rodríguez-Quiñones shared her insights on building teacher capacity — and easing the burden on coaches — in her piece in The Launch Pad. Among her insights are ways to share ideas and engage all of your professional network and colleagues into the process of improving and renewing learning. Also on The Launch Pad, Greg Jung shares a six-point blueprint for tech integration with the teacher in mind.

As noted above, video is now a standard part of coaching and education in general. Coaches and educators looking to conduct useful video training and teaching, especially those running virtual events, seminars, and more, should be aware of these tips, also shared on The Launch Pad. And, if you’re interested in running top-notch virtual trainings, check out our post on the subject, and our virtual events-themed episode of our podcast, the Ed Tech Club.

Giving Everyone Choice

Choice boards are a popular way to engage students by giving them a choice and a voice in their learning, making them active participants and creators. When it comes to providing educators with the right choice boards options, it’s all about finding the right tool for the job.

To dig deeper into choice boards, check out this post that shares ways to provide flexible choice board options for teachers, or this post from Edthena on the power of choice boards.

Taking Control with Tech

Technology can provide powerful tools to engage, assess, and communicate with students, families, and colleagues. But using tech successfully also requires effective, proven strategies, and an understanding of teachers’ and students’ individual needs.

In the Windy City Literacy blog, Liz Janusz outlines what we’ve learned regarding remote learning — a trend sure to stick around in ways large and small, regardless of how long the current COVID-19 pandemic lasts.

Want to see a wide range of tools? Explore this list from InstrucionalCoaching.com, with links to a number of strategies, apps, and resources, and even self-care and wellness tips to help alleviate the stresses of remote learning and teaching.

Looking for even more insights? Register for TCEA’s virtual Convention & Exposition, beginning February 1, 2021. Check out sessions just for professionals like you here, and don’t forget to register here!

More from TechNotes

Photo by Christina Morillo from Pexels

December 10, 2020 0 comment

Web 2.0 Tool

Fix Your Grumpy sELF: How to Change Your Bitmoji Expressions

by Miguel Guhlin December 9, 2020

written by Miguel Guhlin

Have you noticed the Bitmoji elves displayed in the phone app or the Chrome Bitmoji extension? They are a bunch of grumpy elves. Perhaps they’re unhappy and want to strike, but can’t? Maybe there are strict labor laws at the North Pole, who knows? That’s only one possible reason that they are so grumpy looking in the Bitmoji app.

The question is, how do you fix those grumpy faces? In this blog entry, I’ll share some of the tools I use to turn sad faces into happy. At the end, you’ll find a video walkthrough of the process.

Note: This image by author was edited with Kleki.com, a free, easy image tool that works great on Chromebooks.

Note: This blog entry is written with tongue firmly in cheek. If the dry humor is too much, try some eggnog.

Wait, Bitmoji Avatars Are Grumps?

You may not have noticed it, but Bitmoji toxic positivity runs rampant in the app. Most of the avatars are smiling so much that it must be painful. But some of the Bitmojis are grumpy bears. That wouldn’t be a problem if Bitmoji could put in a mood adjustor. You know, a digital slider that ranges from angry to sad to happy to joyful. But unfortunately, Bitmoji lacks that feature (tweet a link to this blog entry to the @Bitmoji folks!).

Is this a case of toxic negativity in holiday settings? That’s the reverse of toxic positivity, defined below:

The excessive and ineffective overgeneralization of a happy, optimistic state. across all situations. This positive has several results that deny or invalidate “authentic human emotional experience.”

The DSM definition (which I’ve fabricated) for Bitmoji toxic negativity might read like this:

The excessive and ineffective overgeneralization of a sad, pessimistic state across holiday Bitmojis. This negativity denies, or invalidates, authentic use of certain Bitmojis. These certain Bitmojis, instead of evoking happy states, do the exact opposite.

Let’s explore some examples of this in the wonderful Bitmoji app.

Did You Know?

Toxic positivity is a real term, unlike the tongue-in-cheek “Bitmoji Toxic Negativity” I joke about in this blog entry. Be sure to learn more about this phenomenon through this curated list of articles.

Bitmoji Toxic Negativity

Earlier today, I had the chance to run across a sample greeting card some librarians had made. I shared it with my work colleagues and a few of them said, “Hey, that looks great. Why don’t we do that, too?”

With that in mind, I started looking through my Bitmoji app. A horrible observation quickly became evident: There were rampant examples of Bitmoji toxic negativity. Let’s take a look at some of the most prevalent ones.

Exhibit #1: The Angry Assembly Line Elf

Sherry at TCEA was working her way through her app and found the perfect elf. The elf, aside from its expression, is working hard at an assembly line making toys for children.

“You look like a grumpy elf! Don’t like your job, elf?” asked Peggy Reimers (@preimers). This means you cannot use this Bitmoji unless you want to imply you are unhappy with your job.

Exhibit #2: Sad Santa Picture

I don’t know about you, but many children experience Virtual Santa without a tear in their eye. Yet Bitmoji characterizes all Santa engagements as tearful opportunities.

These tear-filled Bitmojis reinforce Bitmoji’s toxic negativity. We don’t know why there are tears, only that this is a negative experience. As Bitmoji fanatics, it’s time we stood up for sad Bitmojis. More on how in a moment.

Exhibit #3: “I Don’t Love the Holidays”

This “I Don’t Love the Holidays” is an otherwise wonderful Bitmoji. It emotes the wonderful love many of us have for the holidays, but its use in positive ways is impossible. It’s clear that something is wrong.

Fix That Grumpy sELF

In my experience, it’s possible to turn that angry or sad elf into a happy one. (Ah, if we could only do this in real life with our teammates. Who wouldn’t want to see toxic positivity reign supreme in the work place? But Bitmoji prevents that with their grumpy avatars.)

To fix that, we’re going to rely on two powerful, free tools available to us all. They include Kleki, an image-editing website, as well as Remove.bg. I will show how you can use Kleki to re-make grumpy Bitmoji avatars into happy ones. You will also learn how to use the Remove.bg website to remove backgrounds and erase unwanted pixels.

Want to learn more about working with Bitmojis?

Register for the online, self-paced TCEA Bitmoji Educator course. Course developer, Lisa Marie Bennett, will guide you step-by-step to creating your Bitmoji classroom and more.

Steps to Fix the Bitmoji Avatar

Below are screenshots and a video that outline the short series of steps you need to follow. Note that you can use these steps to make a Bitmoji avatar happy or sad. Do what best reflects your psyche. Don’t let the Bitmoji designers determine your attitude this holiday season!

In this example, I’ll reconfigure my angry elf picture and replace the angry face with a happy one. Here’s my first effort working with a colleague’s avatar. Note that the elf hat is a trifle large.

Step #1: Get Your Desired Bitmoji Avatar

Using either the mobile Bitmoji app or the Chrome extension, find the Bitmoji you want. Save the Bitmoji to your computer (e.g. Mac, Windows, GNU/Linux, or Chromebook).

One easy way to do that is to send it to yourself via your text messaging app (e.g. Android’s Messages or iOS iMessage). Either app can be accessed via your computer. See how by clicking the links in the previous sentence. I rely on Signal, a more secure tool. I save Bitmoji avatars to “Notes to Self” in the Signal app on my phone and then get the picture from the Signal Desktop program. You can see what each looks like below:

Signal Mobile version:

Signal Desktop version:

Another way is to use the Google Photos app. Save the Bitmoji to your Camera Roll (iOS) or Gallery (Android), then let Google Photos make it available to you online.

Step #2: Remove the Background

Remove the background for your Bitmoji. This is important since it means you will be able to place it anywhere, such as a greeting card or landscape image. Simply go to the Remove.bg website and then upload your Bitmoji picture. Click the REMOVE BACKGROUND button and the process will take place automatically.

Step #3: Isolate the Image Elements

Isolate any portions of the image that are too difficult to edit. You will save those as individual images you can add to your updated Bitmoji. These elements may not be obvious at first. You can use Remove.bg’s erase/restore feature to get the job done:

In this example, it was these two items:

Some avatar heads or components may need to be rotated. Never fear, Kleki makes that possible as you can rotate specific elements in Kleki when you import them as layers.

What are image layers?

Layers are used in digital image editing to separate different elements of an image. A layer can be compared to a transparency on which imaging effects or images are applied and placed over or under an image. Today they are an integral feature of image editors (source: Wikipedia).

Step #4: Reassemble the Bitmoji Avatar

Now that you have the parts you need, you are going to reassemble the Bitmoji avatar in Kleki. If you are not familiar with the concept of layers, think of it as overlaying transparency sheets. These are transparent layers that allow you to move portions of an image around on the screen. These layers are independent of one another, yet when combined, create a new look. Most modern imaging programs have support for layers.

Watch this video for a walkthrough of the process from start to finish (about nine minutes long):

Step #5: Save the New Bitmoji Avatar

Now that you have re-assembled the Bitmoji avatar, you can save it to your computer and then drop it into a Google Slides if you want to use it for your Bitmoji classroom. Or you can put it on a holiday greeting card. The sky is the limit!

Reflect: How Did It Go?

Let’s take a moment to reflect on Reversing Your Bitmoji’s Toxic Negativity. What do you think? Was the process easy enough that you could do it for other Bitmoji avatars? Please share your reflections in the comments. And share your revised Bitmoji before and after pictures via Twitter. Be sure to use the #tcea #ToxicBitmoji hashtags.

Feature Image Source

Created by author.

December 9, 2020 2 comments

Five Tech Tools to Simplify Your Teaching Life

by Miguel Guhlin December 7, 2020

written by Miguel Guhlin

Looking for quick learning opportunities? Be sure to gift yourself and other digital learners with these five stocking stuffer videos that showcase how to use five different tech tools. The exciting, easy-to-use tools will have you exploring fresh ideas and simplifying your life. Each comes with a short video tutorial and page of resources to expand your knowledge.

Be sure to view the interactive web page to click and view the videos. You can see them full screen via YouTube. Get your own copy of this infographic.

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels

December 7, 2020 0 comment

Educational Trends Good Teaching

Even More Virtual Field Trips

by Andrew Roush December 4, 2020

written by Andrew Roush

Previously in TechNotes, we’ve explored virtual field trips across our home state of Texas and even around the world. As students and teachers head to the end of a hectic year, digital tours and field trips can still be useful ways to engage students, whether on a break or at a distance.

In this post, we’ll share some more virtual field trips to take the learning on tour.

Discovering with Discovery

Discovery Education has compiled a large database of interactive field trips that you can search and filter by topic. They also offer tech tips and a variety of field trips that go beyond the standard museum visit. Unique interactive tours include topics like body positivity and the Internet of Things.

Exploring at Home

As school schedules (and delivery methods) change, parents are looking for positive ways to keep their kids engaged with learning, even as so much else around them seems uncertain. A number of outlets have put together digital resources to help families take their kids to the most interesting corners of the world, even when they can’t leave the house.

This collection from Good Housekeeping includes virtual trips to places like museums and galleries, as well as farms, zoos, nature sites and more.
Meanwhile, Today offers exotic natural spaces alongside amusement parks. You can even find some fun digital classes to take together, or to boost a skill or engage with a child’s hobbies or interests.
At KidsActivities.com, you will find more than 40 different digital trips and activities to keep kids off the couch during breaks, or any time. Spelunk into the world’s largest cave, go on safari in Namibia, or scan the skyline from the top of the Empire State Building. The choice is yours!

Natural Wonders

While in some cases it can be safe to explore the outdoors, doing so can be difficult with restrictions and concerns about travel. Those looking to see the wonders of the great outdoors are in luck, though, with these helpful guides connecting you to nature.

The Nature Conservancy’s Nature Lab has deeply developed resources for teaching with virtual trips, including videos and a teacher’s guide. These tours even take topics and extend them around the world, meaning tours can cover ideas and not just places. These tours are made for students aged 5–19, but can also be adapted and customized.
In addition, you can find compelling natural field trips online, courtesy of the National Parks Service and National Park Foundation. If you like those, you might also look into Google Arts & Culture’s “The Hidden Worlds of the National Parks” or this massive list from PBS.

Getting a Guide

If you’re looking to vet different tours and activities before sharing them with students, you’re not alone. Common Sense works to vet educational pages and online sources, and they’ve done the same with virtual field trips.

Trips to museums, parks, historical sites, and more show students that learning (and life) happens outside the classroom, too. During field trips, students discover new things and learn in authentic environments, placing classroom content into new contexts. Unfortunately, for many schools and students, field trips are rare (if they happen at all). Thankfully, there are great games, apps, and websites that can bring places and experiences fostered by field trips to the classroom. While not an outright replacement, these field trip tools can offer inspiring and intriguing experiences for students.
Virtual Field Trip Apps and Websites (Common Sense)

Check out their list of 32 carefully reviewed resources with detailed information. You can also find digital teaching tools at their Wide Open School site.

Where will you be visiting digitally with your students? Let us know in the comments!

Photo by Zen Chung from Pexels

December 4, 2020 0 comment

Chromebooks LMS

Three Fantastic Solutions to Schoology Problems

by Miguel Guhlin December 2, 2020

written by Miguel Guhlin

Have a Schoology question that needs answering? Struggling through the use of a learning management system (LMS) on your own can be tough. Thank goodness for other educators out there who are figuring it out. In this blog entry, I’ll share three questions that generated discussion in the Schoology Educator Community.

1 – Mirror My Second Screen, an iPad

“I am having to teach from home for the next 2 weeks. I thought I could connect my iPad to my laptop and use it as a second screen. Would this work? What should I do? I have to be able to show how to work out math,” asks Jess. This is a tough one that isn’t particular to Schoology. Some of the responses educators shared include the following:

“Join the zoom call on both devices. Present your screen on your iPad. See app list below.”
“You can use a locker shelf or something similar and run Zoom on both the iPad and your laptop. (Have the sound off on one of them to avoid feedback).”
“Get the $20 phone holder gooseneck mount. It works with a variety of smartphones.”

Those first two solutions are great because they mean you don’t nee to go out and buy something else. You will need an iPad app that allows you to have a whiteboard. Here are some apps that you can use, but may need you to spend money on an in-app buy:

The problem with most of those apps is the recurring cost. You will have to decide if it is worthwhile. Tools like Whiteboard.chat, Google Jamboard, and AWWApp work great on your computer.

Source: Matthew Patty, Northside ISD

A second grade teacher I know well decided to invest in a document camera. She’d rather draw on paper or traditional whiteboard she has. The camera, the HUE USB Camera, connects via a USB port. This makes it easy to get Zoom to use it as an alternate source for video/images. Get the HUE document camera from Amazon for about $90. Prices are going up, I notice so you may want to shop around.

Schoology

Another possibility? Try Sidecar. It allows you to mirror your Mac screen to your iPad. For Chromebook users, the Dualless extension simulate a dual monitor. Looking for more solutions like this? Explore the Teach Without Wires: Mirror Your Device blog entry. It features one of the solutions I’ve invested in, Mirroring360.

2 – Requiring Video Viewing Before Assignment Access

“Is there a way to make sure a student views a video lesson before they have access to the assignment?” If you have students that skip the video on their way to complete an assignment, you can try to stop that in Schoology.

Two approaches that work some of the time include completion rules and magic words. Be aware that you can use completion rules to stop them. After a few seconds, they are able to continue to the assignment. Another way is to put a password or “magic word” in the video. This word becomes the first question in the assignment.

Two solutions that you can try that work well include:

It’s a shame Schoology lacks a more foolproof solution, but do try EdPuzzle or PlayPosit. Either solution will cost you money.

3 – Disabling Assignments at Grading Period’s End

“It is the end of our first nine weeks! Is there a way to do a MASS disable of assignments? Our cut-off day is today, and I don’t want them working over the weekend and messing up my grades! HELP!!!!” That can be a bit of a bummer. You have all your grades set, and then students turn in more of their work.

Schoology

Source: Use the Lock Option in Assignment view, Schoology

Here are a few responses to this question:

Put all your assignments into a “First Grading Period” folder and then unpublish it. If an assignment is not published, students are unable to see it. You, as the teacher, will still be able to see the assignments in the unpublished folder. Your Schoology administrator does need to have enabled this option that ensures that unpublishing assignments doesn’t result in a removal of grades.
Another option is to lock assignments, but that may be time-consuming if done after. When you set up the assignment, add the lock with a future date to ensure the assignment can only be completed during the acceptable time.

It appears that the best solution is, “Lock assignments after a specified time (e.g. one week after due date). No late submissions allowed.”

Sharing Schoology Solutions

Need any more ideas for getting things done with Schoology? Be sure to check out the TCEA’s Schoology Educator online, self-paced course. You may also want to explore the TCEA Community.

Schoology

December 2, 2020 0 comment

Uncategorized

Santa Claus Is Coming to Town (Virtually)

by Andrew Roush December 1, 2020

written by Andrew Roush

Watch the livestream, above, or click here to open the Virtual Chat with Santa in YouTube

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE LIVESTREAM!

You and your students have likely spent a fair amount of 2020 looking at screens. And while, for many, it has led to Zoom fatigue, interactive chats, lessons, and fun can still be valuable, even much-needed, during a hectic and unpredictable year. That’s why, for the sixth consecutive year, TCEA will host a free-to-anyone chat with the man of the hour, Santa Claus himself. You and your students are invited to join us, and even submit questions to Saint Nick.

Wondering how Santa manages it all? Who feeds the reindeer? What are the protocols for leaving milk and cookies? Submit your questions to Santa, and tune in on Tuesday, December 8, from 2:00 to 2:30 p.m. Central for a live chat to get all the answers!

Santa will be stopping by TCEA’s socially-distanced headquarters to host a free, live chat for students all over the world. Grab your cup of cocoa (or eggnog) and get ready to get to know the beloved holiday mascot.

Here Comes Santa Claus…

Our annual virtual chat with Santa is open to kids of all ages — including you! This event requires no registration and is broadcast through YouTube. You do not have to be a member of TCEA to be a part of the fun.

During the chat, Santa will answer the burning questions your students may have about him and his North Pole crew of toy-makers and reindeer. If you’re an advance planner like Kris Kringle (he makes his list and checks it twice, after all), you can submit your questions for Santa ahead of time using this form. Like to ask your questions in the moment? You can. Santa will also accept questions live during the chat. If you submit your questions in advance, however, Santa may give you a shout out by name during the live event!

Spreading Good Cheer

Santa won’t just be answering questions. He is known for his ability to bring joy and jollity, after all. So he’ll also give an exclusive update on the latest happenings at the North Pole. And as an extra-special gift, he’ll be reading one of his favorite holiday books, Santa Mouse by Michael Brown, to everyone. Join us live to get the low-down on happenings up north, and have your students’ questions answered live by the big man himself!

How to Join In

Ready to join us for this celebration of much-needed merriment? It’s easy.

Tune into the event, Tuesday, December 8 from 2:00 to 2:30 p.m. Central.
Submit your questions for Santa here.
Make sure YouTube is authorized on the computer you’re using.
Check the event page (or this post) to find the link to the live stream the day of the event.

We ho-ho-hope to see you there!

Photo by Jill Wellington from Pexels

December 1, 2020 0 comment

remote teacher interacting from a coffee shop

Good Teaching

Essential Gadgets for Remote Educators

by Miguel Guhlin November 27, 2020

written by Miguel Guhlin

Have a teacher in your home and you need to give them something that will make them smile? Consider these pre-holiday season gifts to ease the strain of teaching online. These essential gadgets will make their remote teaching a breeze. One of them is bound to catch their eye.

essential gadgets

Essential Gadget #1 – Face Tracking Swivel Mount

Whether you are in the classroom or the home office, a swivel mount may be what your teacher needs. For less than fifty dollars each, these face-tracking swivel smartphone mounts follow you as you teach. Some of the benefits and features of these include:

Face or target tracking. These rely on auto face recognition and target tracking. Sure, you can use them for selfies and videos, but they’re also fabulous for teaching.
Phone holder. The mount doubles as a phone mount that you can use to perch your phone on.
360 degree rotation
Remote control. Some more expensive models come with a remote control you can use.
Multi-stream so that you can stream your video to the web.

If you’re wondering what the pricing looks like, the lower end models start at $40 at Amazon. The high-end models with a three tracking sensors and wristband cost more ($760). Here’s a quick list of some of the ones that came up in a chat with TCEA members:

essential gadgets

Move N See Pixio Robot Cameraman ($760). What appears to an expensive, top of the line tracker that comes with sensor beacons to lock in on your position.
Pivo Pod Silver ($199). This auto-tracking smartphone mount comes with lots of features, including voice commands. With a 10-hour battery life, you can stuff your phone into it without worries.
Auto Tracking Smart Shooting Holder ($45.98). This offers a lot of functionality.
Apai Genie Cameraman ($39.99). This mount comes with most of the features mentioned earlier and includes LiveStream, YouTube, and TikTok support.

There are many options available on the market. You’ll need to find something in your budget that does what you need it to do. How many times could you have used something like this in the last few months?

Essential Gadget #2 – Document Camera

essential gadgets When the pandemic sent most educators home in March 2020, some took equipment home. Whatever document camera you had, you took. But there were a lot of teachers caught at home who had no document camera available. The pandemic made it impossible to go back to the office and they needed something reliable. Enter the home document camera.

There are many wonderful document cameras available. Here are a few that are reliable, inexpensive, and good for at home remote teaching. Let’s take a quick look at them below:

HUE HD Pro USB Document Camera ($89.95) for Windows, MacOS, and Chrome OS (Black).
INSWAN INS-1 Tiny 8MP USB Document Camera ($99). This document camera comes with auto-focus and LED supplemental light.
Thustand Document Camera ($79.99). This camera works with Windows, Mac, and Chromebooks.

As you may imagine, these are eight megapixel cameras that work well for showing a sheet of paper. One teacher I know uses her HUE USB document camera to write on small whiteboard as she demonstrates her math. The built-in app displays the document on her computer screen. It’s a simple matter to share the document camera app via Zoom so that students can watch. For teachers engaged in remote teaching, the document camera is a must have.

Essential Gadget #3 – Headset with Microphone

You would think a gadget round up wouldn’t be complete without a headset mic. Many educators have taken to relying on earbuds and yelling. That laptop microphone never quite does as good a job as you think. For that reason, my first buy for any teacher is a USB headset and microphone.

If you’re using the microphone on your laptop to record, you may want to spend a little money to get a better mic. A BIG tip is to avoid acoustics headphones or microphones like this one. Instead, get a USB headset/microphone. While there are many expensive options, get a headset/mic combination that you can use for webinars, as well as screen recording.

essential gadgets

My favorite headset/mic combination (shown) is the Logitech H390 USB headset. It features a noise canceling microphone. Due to pandemic, the cost has risen, but it is dropping again.

Some less expensive USB headset/mic options:

$14.99 – Logitech Stereo Headset H111
$16.13 – Amazon Basics USB Headset with Mic and Mute Option

Trust me, getting a headset/mic combination is worth the investment.

Those are three of the must-have gadgets for 2020. If you don’t have them, you’ll wish you did. If you do have them, you will appreciate them all the more. That’s especially true if you bought them before the holiday rush. What other essential gadgets would you recommend for remote teaching?

November 27, 2020 0 comment

Math

Virtual Manipulatives for Math Learning

by Miguel Guhlin November 24, 2020

written by Miguel Guhlin

Do you remember how you learned mathematics? My earliest recollections are a bit fuzzy. One thing I’m sure of is that using blocks and LEGOs to count is something I did at home, not school. The way I learned math in school involved endless worksheets. I remember graying out columns of blocks in two dimensions (on paper) with my pencil. As you might imagine, math was not my strong subject. I suspect it comes down to the fact that I seldom, if ever, had the opportunity to learn with manipulatives.

In this blog entry, we’ll explore the research behind manipulatives and see some online virtual manipulatives that can be used in hybrid learning situations.

Why Teach with Virtual Manipulatives?

The answer may seem obvious. Virtual manipulatives allow us to make the abstract concrete. For a subject like math, this is critical. Let’s take a look at what the research says about the use of virtual manipulatives in mathematics learning:

Need to foster abstract reasoning? Manipulatives allow students to move from concrete experiences to abstract reasoning. (Heddens, 1986; Reisman, 1982; Ross and Kurtz, 1993 as cited here)
Want to help students think and reason in more meaningful ways? Provide them with manipulatives. You can develop students’ well-grounded interconnected understandings of mathematical ideas. Do this when you give students concrete ways to compare and operate on quantities. Manipulatives such as pattern blocks, tiles, and cubes can assist in accomplishing this.

Long-term use of manipulatives in the classroom has yielded some additional benefits such as:

Verbalizing mathematical thinking
Discussing mathematical ideas and concepts
Relating real-world situations to mathematical symbolism
Working in collaborative ways
Thinking in a divergent manner to find a variety of ways to solve problems
Expressing problems and solutions using a variety of mathematical symbols

Find other curated research relevant to manipulatives online, including the source for the insights shown above. Need more research insights? This YouTube video may be helpful.

Virtual Manipulatives

Keeping the benefits of manipulatives in mind, how can we mirror those with digital tools? Virtual (a.k.a. digital) manipulatives may offer students one way to do that. Here’s how one website defines them:

Digital Manipulatives are computationally enhanced versions of physical objects. The goal is to make more concepts explorable via direct manipulation (adapted from source).

Be sure to take a quick look at my curated list of available digital manipulatives online. Of those listed, here are five to look at first.

1: Didax Virtual Manipulatives for Math

Didax’s website offers web-based manipulatives you can use at no cost. They also offer video tutorials for how to use their virtual manipulatives.

2: Mathigon’s Polypad (Updated: 09/16/2021)

Appearing in a tweet from Tony Vincent, Polypad offers some incredible digital manipulatives. You can add fraction bars, change the colors of objects, and much more.

virtual manipulatives

On September 15, 2021, Ctrl-Alt-Achieve’s Eric Curts (@ericcurts) reported that “Polypad now has 3D solids. You can use the built-in solids or create your own with polygon tiles.” Eric’s tweet appears below:

Polypad now has 3D solids https://t.co/3EdoQUgCfj You can use the built-in solids or create your own with polygon tiles. #edtech #mathchat #mathschat #mtbos @MathigonOrg pic.twitter.com/NiITHjEcj7
— Eric Curts (@ericcurts) September 15, 2021

3: Mathspad

Thanks to Sue Hellman’s contribution in the comments, please find the Constructions Tool shown below. This Mathspad creation offers invaluable tools in digital space.

Give it a spin and see how it works for you and your students.

4: Toy Theater

This is a rich digital manipulative website. You can find a lot to explore. Before you ask yourself “How can I use this with my students?” watch Jessica Oldham explain how. Her audience is her students, and we can learn from her efforts.

5: Make Your Own with Google Slides

The K-5 Math Teaching Resources site offers a fascinating suggestion: have students work with digital manipulatives in Google Slides. They offer tips on how to best organize the lesson and provide several Google Slides templates. The templates include Five Frame, Ten Frame, Number Line 0-10, and Hundreds, Tens and Ones Mat among others.

Need Help Teaching with Virtual Manipulatives?

If you’re like me, teaching with virtual manipulatives may be a stretch for you. Explore these quick, short videos that provide suggestions.

November 24, 2020 7 comments

Good Teaching Professional Learning

Interview with Jim Knight: Instructional Coaching During COVID-19

by Adam Geller, Guest Author November 23, 2020

written by Adam Geller, Guest Author

As educators, we talk a lot about how teaching and learning has dramatically changed as a result of the pandemic. We seem to be talking less, however, about how these new ways of operating are changing our professional learning and professional relationships.

With so many demands on our attention, it’s easy to let the process of self reflecting on instruction fall down the list of priorities a bit. But, as I uncovered in a recent conversation with Jim Knight, the importance of these coaching-style relationships has never been higher. Yes, instructional coaching may look or feel different, but it’s still possible — even if we can’t be together in person all the time.

I trust Jim’s opinion. He’s a respected researcher and author of multiple books, including Focus on Teaching: Using Video for High-Impact Instruction, who has spent more than two decades studying instructional coaching, effective learning, and professional learning.

During our conversation, we first discussed why video should be a central part of professional learning, and Jim was clear that this idea is true regardless of whether educators are in the classroom or teaching virtually. Then, we delved into tips and strategies to help coaches successfully support and connect with teachers online.

With the shift to online and distanced collaboration among educators, how is professional learning changing for today’s virtual world?

While in-person workshops are good for providing an overview, I don’t think they are great for deep, transformational change. That’s why we need coaching. And I think we’re moving to a point where the coaching part of professional learning is going to be more pre-eminent than workshops.

Today, we can do a lot of things virtually that aren’t possible if it’s exclusively face to face. We can differentiate in a whole lot of ways, divide up into groups, meet at different times, and use asynchronous communication. While these opportunities for professional learning were there before, they weren’t being fully exploited.

I think these methods are going to work. For example, it’s helpful to have a person to send a video of your teaching to or watch your lesson happening virtually, and then have a Zoom call with after and try different things out. Coaches and educators are able to respond using this method and it should be more powerful than our more traditional forms of professional development.

What new skills should coaches try to build to become professional learners?

It’s really important that professional developers reflect deeply on their beliefs. Paulo Freire in the Pedagogy of the Oppressed talks about a few key concepts that need to be in place if you want to have dialogue with somebody. He said you have to have humility in the way you interact with the person. This means, “I’m open to being changed by what you have to say, in fact, I’m encouraging you, I want to hear you and I’m open.” You also have to communicate faith, which is to say, “I believe in you and I really think you can succeed.” The other condition is love, which means “I’m engaging in my will for the good of you and I have an attitude of benevolence toward you.”

He said when people understand that we want to hear what they have to say, we’re open to being changed by them, and we believe in them and want what’s best for them — and this is authentic — they’ll trust us. But the flip side is also true if any of those things are missing. So, I don’t know if it’s a new skill, but I think to be effective at this work, it’s really important to think carefully about our beliefs.

What new skills should teachers try to build?

I don’t have research on this the way I do for coaching, but I would say the same thing applies in instruction. Teachers can step back and ask what beliefs guide their interactions with students. They can ask questions like: Do I truly see the dignity in every child that I teach? Do I really communicate that I believe in them? Do I genuinely want what’s best for each of my children? Can my students see these things?

Beyond beliefs, it’s important to try to figure some skills out. For example, what does eye contact look like for coaching when you’re doing it through Zoom versus face to face? Overall many of the same skills or best practices apply – let people finish their responses, genuinely want to hear what they have to say and listen, don’t interrupt, don’t fidget with stuff while they’re talking, and pay attention to the person. This can just be harder virtually, especially with a group. When you sit down with a person or a group face to face, you can feel if this is working or not, and that’s hard to do virtually, so working on skills like these are key.

How do you think empathy and listening between a coach or school leader and a teacher changes in an online context?

I think the good thing is you’re able to communicate in a number of different ways, so you can find different opportunities for asynchronous communication using video. And, you can just get online anywhere.

The opportunity is there, but what’s different is you have to find other ways for taking the temperature of the relationship. With face to face, you can usually feel what’s happening and get a sense if you’re in sync or not. But online, it’s a little harder.

Jim Knight is a research associate at the University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning and the president of the Instructional Coaching Group. To watch more of this interview with Knight, visit the Edthena blog. To read more insights from Jim Knight, check out our past interview on TCEA TechNotes.

Photo by Julia M Cameron from Pexels

November 23, 2020 0 comment

Content Areas Google Tips and Tricks

Pixel Art Activity Help

by Lori Gracey November 19, 2020

written by Lori Gracey

Being a TCEA member means that you are never alone. If you have a question, a problem, a technical difficulty, need advice, need a shoulder to cry on, or just need to vent, 54,000 other dedicated educators are there to listen and help. That happens every day, especially in our online Community.

There was a great discussion and sharing of resources recently in the Community group Technology and Solutions. One member, Robyn Tompkins of Cypress Fairbanks ISD, was looking for a coloring activity for her math students to do in the week before the Thanksgiving holiday. She wanted them to have to solve a problem and, for each solution, the correct answer would tell them what color to use where in the picture. She was able to find lots of printed worksheets for her in-person students to do that would meet that need, but nothing for those students learning remotely. So she posted her question to the group. Read how our TCEA members came to her aid with the fun ideas below.

Ideas Start Flowing

Naomi Harm recommended she use a Google pixels sheet. She also found a YouTube video that showed how to create a paint-by-numbers Google Form and a blog post that explained how to do it. And finally, Naomi (who was on fire with ideas!) offered a paint-by-number pixel art resource.

South Texas ISD science teacher Efren Rodriguez offered this idea: “If you use Google Drive or Google Classroom, you could create a Google Drawings for students to fill out.” Then he created a quick video showing how to make that work.

More Pixel Art Thoughts Emerge

Those ideas sparked Robyn’s mind and she quickly came up with another solution. “I have my drawing as a vector file in Illustrator right now. I just found a video that talks about how to convert the vector image to Google Slides by way of Google Drawings. I’m hoping this will allow me to not have to redraw the image in Google Drawings.”

Librarian Brenda McElyea of Dallas ISD added more to the idea: “They can paint on it in Google Drawings if you upload it as a PDF. You can also do the same in Nearpod.”

Then Kelley Ramsey-Valdez, a librarian from Northwest ISD, joined in: “I turned the Pixel art into a coding activity last year and my kids loved it.” And then she shared a template for the activity from Alice Keeler.

Bringing It Home

Also wanting to share was Kimberly Wassmuth of Round Rock ISD. “i have made a couple of these and have included steps on how to make your own.” You can see her Mystery Picture in Google Sheets template here.

Andy Adams of ESC VII had two more resources to share. The first was a Virtual Sticktogether Stickerboard, which sells for $5, but that is refunded to you when you use the code provided. He then added, “Also, while it’s not in the “paint by number” category, Shapegrams has some great ideas for getting students to do the creating.” Shapegrams is just $35 for one year of access with two new shapegrams added each month to their already full library.

Finally, I had to throw my limited two cents’ worth in by recommending the free, online drawing program Pixelart. Pixelart is both a drawing platform and a social site which is safe for students older than 13 to use.

TCEA members are always willing to help out. And they do it quickly, too. Robyn had a variety of choices to solve her dilemma in less than 48 hours. Why aren’t you a TCEA member?

November 19, 2020 1 comment

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