Zoom Fatigue: What is it and how to combat it.

As we move into our 3rd to 4th month of online/distance teaching we are all feeling tired, stressed, and overwhelmed. We have had to make a 180 degree shift in teaching style; it is almost like we have all been required to do flipped learning with no training. Hang in there it will get better as we go along and figure this out and as we always do as teachers "Master this new form learning". One thing we need to wrap our brains around is the whole online meeting thing especially this new thing called Zoom Fatigue.

For some of us the stress of online meetings set in quickly. The stress of being on camera online figuring out how to reverse thoughts of not wanting to use the webcam. Not wanting to allow "Students" into our homes and/or the new boundaries that needed to be figure out. Then you throw in trying to figure out how to set up our remote classroom so we can get online and all the troubleshooting that goes along with that. All of that on top of trying to plan lessons, contact students and families, as well as maintain our own home front. Yet as we teachers do we did and continue to do it week in and week out. That is what makes us so unique is that we as Teachers are adaptable to most any situation. That being said we now have a new issue regarding online learning that we could use some help understanding what it is, why it is and how to prevent it, that of the fatigue that comes with meeting online aptly named: Zoom Fatigue. 

Simply put Zoom Fatigue is the feeling of tiredness we experience after being a part of an online meeting. Part of it is being stuck in an unnatural/uncomfortable position for long periods of time. Being forced to sit in furniture that wasn't meant to be sat in that long. We are as humans and teachers meant to be mobile. It is also looking at a digital screen no matter what size for extend periods of time with all that blue light coming back at us to which I recommend a pair of computer glasses with blue light blocking lens. However it is more than that even it is also a social fatigue that we as humans are not designed for mentally. As humans we are social creatures and are brains are structured in a way take advantage of that to be able to survive. We learn early on how to get the attention of care givers before language skills develop. We learn how to read non-verbal ques to be able to read a situation and react appropriately. We crave human interaction in some form (yes even those introverts like me). That being said our brains have adapted to surviving in a live up close, 3d social world but now we are thrust into an online world that is distant, 2d, limited to multiple  2"x 3" boxes, and throw in tons of distractions and our brains become overwhelmed and taxed to the point of our exhaustion. It can be similar to how we watch TV, YouTube, or other online videos. We watch but are often times doing other things because we are not fully invested in what is going on. Our brains look for other ways to stimulate because we are not getting the same stimuli as we would in a face to face conversation. Also with video we have distractions that are easier to buy into versus a face to face conversation. In an online conversation we can fidget with things on our desk, read email or other online activities. Now don't get me wrong I am not making a case for abandoning online learning or justifying why face to face instruction is better. What I am saying is that we need to be aware of this new type of fatigue in ourselves and our students and work to prevent it or at least counter it.

So what can we as teachers do for ourselves to help prevent or at least assuage zoom fatigue? To start with cut back on the number of meetings both in length and number of days we have meetings. Also try standing up when you have a meeting as opposed to sitting. To help with standing if you have the ability try calling in on the phone. This gives you the ability to walk and talk also we don't need to focus  

on a screen thus making it easier to take notes. Other suggestions are to avoid a grid view of participants. I suggest using a single person view or one that displays who is speaking; this will give you only one person to focus on which is easier on the brain. For online meeting with students those suggestions certainly apply but also give these a try:

• Use zoom for check ins only
• Question and answer
• How is it going
• Do simple demos 
• Try to avoid teaching a whole lesson or class session 
• Schedule them out so you only get small numbers of students at a time
• Be ok with kids not using video 

These are by no means the only things that one can do but hopefuly they are a start. One last thought is a positive aspect of zoom meetings for some of our Autistic students. Online meeting are being seen as helpful for those kids who have trouble processing social cues in conversation. The pauses of people not talking or trying to figure out who's turn it is are actually helpful to allow them to engage in a conversation. Something to think about going forward.

Below are a few resources I found to be helpful. I also encourage you to share your thoughts and ideas and suggestions around this or any other topic I talk about on this blog.

As always: Go Forth and Do Great Things!

Resources and podcast link

• https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/04/coronavirus-zoom-fatigue-is-taxing-the-brain-here-is-why-that-happens/#close 
• https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/lifetime-connections/202004/zoom-fatigue-dont-let-video-meetings-zap-your-energy
• Podcast link

Starting back up

For many of us we have been immersed in online learning for the past couple of months. Hopefully you are handling the transition from face to face to online learning at least somewhat comfortable if not something that really isn't too hard. If you are struggling I recommend checking out the Virtual Ed Tech conference at https://learningrevolution.com/. I have attended a few of their sessions and found them to be helpful both for online teaching and for when we get back to face to face. Regardless of how you feel about online/distance learning it is time to start thinking about starting back up. If you are like me you may have been thinking about how do we deal with the issue the loss in learning that may (say I said may) be facing us if/when we get back into the classroom. I used the word "may" very purposefully which I want to talk about today.

It is not lost on me that students are missing out on some learning or that there will be skill gaps between peers as we move forward next school year. If you are like me you are embracing this as an opportunity to dig deeper into topics/skills that you would normally go an inch deep and move on so you can get through what you need in the curriculum before the end of the year. I know I have read and hear a lot of professionals approach panic about next year about how we are going to "Get kids caught up" or " Make up for what they lost" or some even saying they worry about the future due to the loss of learning. I thought that way for a few moments then as I was discussing this topic with my "How Do I Learn" (HDIL) group, that studies application of brain science in education, I was reminded learning is sequential and can't be compressed. It needs to happen over time and can't/shouldn't be forced. That has been tried in the past and currently and it just doesn't work. So I am going to postulate something wild; that we should start up next year as a new starting point and move forward.

I have learned over the years of working with HDIL that kids are resilient and will bounce back as we move towards normal. However that being said it is not lost on me that there will be inequities between peers due to trauma. We will have a wealth of kids who fit into several categories ranging from little traumatic affect to those who had severe trauma. Yet don't we have those issues in class normally and we adapt our teaching to meet their needs. What I am saying though is we should look at starting next year as if kids are coming to us fresh from last year, meet them where they are at and move forward form there and not try to forcibly try and catch them to where "standards" say they should be (dare we even think about adjusting the standards). Yes I know I can imagine the in rush of air and possibly panic attacks going on as you read this blog.

I can hear it now "But what about the standards?" "If we don't get them caught up then they won't be ready for the state tests" "They won't be prepared for (insert post school choice here) if we don't catch them up". Yes you might be right but what happens if we do try and forcibly try to catch them up? We risk kids hitting and going past frustration level where learning stops due to shut down, kids not being emotionally ready to learn, not enough time for kids to absorb all that needs to be in order to be "caught up". Most importantly we risk turning kids off to learning which will be more detrimental than not being caught up by the end of next year. Maybe it is time to look at the standards or state tests for what they are; simply mile markers and way posts along the journey of learning.

I am not saying we need to abandon standards in education. What I am proposing is that maybe it is time to reassess them in the post pandemic educational world to make them work for our kids rather than against them. I have always seen standards as way makers in the journey of learning. They help me guide what I should be teaching but I never look at them for where kids should be by a specific time. Yes it would be nice if by the end of say 7th grade all kids new how to type at 25 to 30+ words a minute and be able to consistently use unique file names on digital work they create. Yet I know that there are some kids who are not ready to meet that standard until later on for a variety of  reasons.

Bringing it back to starting up next school year we will have a lot more kids who will need us to be able to meet them where they are and help guide them along the journey of life long learning. Dare I say we continue to adopt what our State Superintendent of Public Instruction has tasked us with when this all started approach learning from the stand point of being Communicative, Compassionate, and Do No Harm. That challenge has resonated with me both as a struggle to fit into how I teach and engage kids but also as a guiding light. I truly believe that we should start next year from where the kids are at and move forward rather than trying to get them caught up.

I can't wait to hear your thoughts and ideas about this topic. I encourage you to subscribe and/or leave comments. As always "Go Forth & Do Great Things!"

 Podcast link

Silver lining

I chose the image above because it represents the ray of hope and silver lining I see in a hopeful pedagogical shift in education as we move forward with 'online-learning', 'distance education', or whatever your district is calling it. That shift is a move to providing instruction in more than just face to face venues. For years doing face to face has been the go to expectation for instruction and online/distance learning has been pushed to fringes of alternative learning for those that needed something other than traditional face to face. Now don't get me wrong I still think the traditional face to face model is the best for most kids when it comes to instruction. Nothing can replace having a student in your class and being able to see them working and to be able to give real time feedback. However that being said I believe there is an opportunity to address an issue with the face to face model that a lot of teacher struggle with, what to do when kids are absent.

It is ironic that it takes a pandemic and stay at home orders to get students and teachers to stay home both when they are not and they are feeling well. How many of us have uttered this phrase or something like it "I would rather go to work sick than write sub-plans". Yes the bane of most teachers existence the all mighty sub-plans. Yes I am guilty of it myself of going to work on days I should have stayed home rather than write sub-plans or because I know the kids won't do what is needed because there is a sub. On the flip side, as a parent, I have also committed the sin of sending my kids to school so I and my wife could go to work when they are sick. Another off shoot of this dilemma is those families who take their kids out of school at odd times to "take a trip of a lifetime" or to take advantage of off season travel deals. Even as a teacher who knows better I have done this at least once. That all being said I believe the pedagogical shift we are all having to face now is the answer to some of those problems.

Instead of seeing online teaching as a necessary evil in these rough times. I believe it is something we should embrace as a new normal. When planning lessons It is important to look at it form the face to face perspective and from the online perspective. How cool would it be to be able to stay home and teach your class remotely when you are feeling just be little under the weather or if your kids could stay home when sick and still do the activities/lessons for the day. Yes it might be a little more work but I have found through the flipped model of teaching, once you get into and used to the in's and out's it is quite easy. Yes it takes some more tools and possibly equipment but often times you can get what you need as a free or freeium extension on a chormebook or plugin. I am not foolish to think that there are not other challenges to this over planning. Yes I understand that the biggest one is that of access to the internet and/or equipment. However as most if not all of the county is being forced to do online learning they are also having to face those challenges as well. I have heard talk at least in Washington State the broadband access should be considered a utility like phone service, sewer & water, etc. Also more and more districts are starting to explore and adopt some form of 1:1 model to provide instructional technology access to students. The time is ripe for all of us to start to adapt our current lessons and instruction to one that can be done both online and face to face.

For those that are ready to start to explore this shift here is how I go about making my learning accessible both fact to face and online.  I start out by building a relationship with my students and letting them know a little bit about me and my story, just like any good teacher. I also talk about and model the importance of taking notes during a presentation (I try not to call it a lecture due to the negative connotation & because outside of school no one lectures). I then start shifting my presentations to both an in-person and online format by recording them and posting them on youtube. The format I use for taking notes while watching a video is broken into 3 parts:

1. Watch video/presentation all the way through to get the big picture. I like my students to know where they are going before they get there. They have to 2 guiding questions: What is the final product and What are the expectations (although I use the term specs). I also have them write down questions they may have.
2. Watch the video/presentation again taking notes on the procedure, details, instructions, hints, etc.
3. Watch the video a final time looking for answers to questions they wrote down in previous viewings and writing down questions that are not answered or that you may have regarding how to complete the activity.

During each viewing I encourage them to pause and play the presentation. I also encourage students to use CC (closed captioning) to be able to see what I am saying. This is also a helpful tool for our English Language Learners to be able have CC in their native language (if they can read it). I also encourage them to write down questions during each phase to encourage active listening. Once they are finished watching the presentation they are able to either start the activity/project/lesson and send me questions. Students are able to send me questions in several different ways. They can ask in person or via email or via google form I created (to mimic the use of trouble tickets). From there the work is in the students hands and I wait for them to turn it and/or ask questions or for feedback.

The tools one will need to do this do come at some cost to you and/or your district (a webcam & mic, and laptop or computer). Although that being said there are some free to low cost options out there depending on how detailed you want to go. Most computers/laptops come with a built in webcam and mic. I chose to go with an external webcam and mic so I can record on my desktop at home and have better quality but they are certainly not needed. You can also find screencasting extensions, plugins, apps for free that will do the trick some I have used and recomend are Screencastify and Nimbus both do a good job on the free version but also offer freeium options. I chose to go with a video editing suite Movavi as it allows me to both record and edit video a little more professionally with effects and the like. Another option is to use the record meeting feature on your video conferencing app. You can do this by setting up a meeting with yourself and record it then save it and post it with your lesson.

After I have a recording of my presentation I post it along with the lesson in my google classroom page for the class to view along with all the the other digital materials needed for the lesson. This does pose a challenge of what if there are physical materials needed and I have students who don't have access. I am certainly in this boat with my robotics class. I have looked for virtual options such as CoderZ to provide a virtual option. This is where I defer to my experience with online learning and am looking into ways to provide those materials to kids via traditional mail. I don't have an answer as of yet but hope to soon.

So to close out this post I hope you are able to see the silver lining as I have described it and hope you at least start to think about how you can modify your lessons so they can be done both online and in the classroom. For those of you that have already done this or are doing this I look forward to your thoughts and suggestions in the comments.

As always "Go Forth and Do Great Things!"

Link to podcast
https://www.buzzsprout.com/662542/3325930

Music license podcast:

Fearless First by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3742-fearless-first

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The Gift of Time

I was inspired this Sunday by a quote from one of my favorite Educational Leaders, Jimmy Casas (@casas_jimmy on twitter). I first encountered him at an ed tech conference where he talked about what it means to be a leader in today's world. I was inspired by his book "Start Right. Now" where he talks about leadership and what it means to be a leader. He has gone on to write more books on culture and being your best self. The quote he posted on twitter was:
     One of the most precious gifts we can give to others is the gift of time. Our influence is even greater when we invest in our students & colleagues in a kind & caring way that supports their success. When they do better we will feel better.
I think this encapsulates how we should be thinking as we venture into teaching online for the first time. Instead of worrying about test scores and how far we can go into the curriculum we should think about giving students an opportunity to explore and use what they have learned to make the world around them a better place. So to hopefully live up to Mr. Casas's quote I want to lay out my journey and hopefully give you some suggestions to use as we give our students the gift of time.

To start I plan on keeping it simple by just checking in with my kids and asking some basic questions like:

• How are you doing?
• What have you been doing?
• What were you working on before we left?
• What would you like to work on? 

The hope is to give them an opportunity to record a message (however they choose video via flipgrid, email, google doc, voice recording, google hangout, etc.) to reconnect with them. I also will be sharing how I am doing and what I have been doing. That will take us into spring break where I plan on encouraging them to get outside and get some fresh air, play a game, run around, basically be a kid. For a lot of my kids I imagine some of them have been taking care of siblings or helping out around the home. I want to try and give them permission to be a kid and play. I say this because as I have learned play is one of the best ways young kids can learn social skills. 

After spring break we will be working on 2 things review of the engineering/design process and figuring out what we want to do next. For our review I plan on having them focus on telling me about the parts of the engineering process and then have them apply that to a simple problem in their lives. Things like making a schedule, food delivery, making a meal, connecting with another person online, helping a teacher connect with/use online tools like zoom, google hangout, etc. My goal is to show them that they do have some control over what is going on and they also have something to offer. 

Once we have reviewed to Engineering/design process we will go into talking about what they want to work on which is where the gift of time comes in. I am going to treat it sort of like my 20% time project where they get to focus on a problem that is of importance to them. For some it may be focusing on school work, for others it may be actually tackling the problem to talked about in their review, for some it may be something else. My goal is to help them work on something that allows them to apply what they have learned and us that to dig deeper into their understanding. I imagine the 2 big thing will be to work on finding a cure and figuring out a way for life to return to normal. The other big topic I expect to come up is that of not wanting to take advantage of the time given and just be. I know some of my colleagues this is a concern and if life was normal and this was normal online learning I would be too, however this isn't normal. For some having time to not do work or just be is more important. That in and of itself is solving a problem as well, taking care of themselves and their family. Anyways that is my plan which may change at some point as I see how thing go and get more direction for the state and my district as to what I need to be doing.   

Some thoughts on what you could do based on the subjects that are out there:

• PE
• Have kids develop an personalized exercise routine
• Explore ways to do team games with virtual fans
• Invent new backyard sports/activities (Thank you KING5 sports for the idea)
• Have them teach and/or organize outdoor games/sports/activities with family
• Math
• Look for how products are design using geometric shapes and explain why they are that shape
• Develop a daily schedule using date and time
• Measure out their home and figure out the square footage of the home and rooms
• Design and outfit their dream home (thank you to my Math department for that idea) with a budget
• ELA
• Write a letter to nursing homes describing things they see around them and questions they may have
• Write up shopping lists for groceries and help plan out meals
• Develop a comic strip to hare with others 
• Record children's stories to post online
• Social Studies
• Use maps and research to plan a post quarantine trip
• Keep a historical journal of their daily activities for future civilizations
• Create a Google Lit trip of places they have heard about or studied in class
• Create a map of their home as if it was an ancient ruin
• Science
• Have them explore how the world is changing with the lack of human travel
• Track chemical reactions when mixing common household items
• Do a sleep study to see how different sleep habits affect mood, productivity
• Track data of activities around the home and see what patterns they notice
• Foreign Language
• Learn a new language
• Practice writing letters to people/pen pals in other countries
• Offer to do translations of important documents/materials/news casts
• Art
• Design a paint scheme for their room
• Explore different artistic styles
• Delve deeper into the relationship between colors, color and mood, etc.
• Create original works 
• Explore what Creative commons and copyright are
• Music/band
• Explore music theory
• Explore what IP is and how it relates to music
• Perform an online concert
• Produce a digital concert
• Improve soloist skills

This list doesn't hit every subject and certainly is not exhaustive but hopefully it is a start or at least inspires some ideas of your own. I would love to hear about what you think and any ideas you come up with to give your students the gift of time.

As always "Go Forth and Do Great Things!"

Link to MP3 of podcast.

Unprecedented Times call for Unprecedented Teaching

I am sure I am in the same boat as most if not all of you. I am at home doing all the things I told myself I would do when I got time. I am doing Kyte learning classes, I am reading coding books to learn new languages, I am doing yardwark, reading for pleasure (yes that does exist), working on CTE (Career and Technical Education) class frameworks, & thinking about my students. This last one just got real for me as I saw a message from our state education agency (OSPI) & article saying that education must go on. I know for me I got butterflies in my stomach about this. At first (I will be honest) I was a little frustrated and hurt but then I got excited about the possibilities of teaching remotely.

Last year our building had some extenuating circumstances with a small fire and lots of snow that had the possibility of sending us into the summer. In a planning meeting I half seriously suggested online learning. We were a 1:1 chromebook district and being a reviewer of online providers for our state was very familiar with the tools and programs out there; I could see how easily this could be done. My comment was met with a lot of skepticism from many of my colleagues, yet our Assistant Superintendent and leader of our TLI (Teaching Learning & Innovation) department expressed it wasn't a bad thought. He shared that it was being done back east to help with snow days. It turned out that online learning was not a good fit a the time but fast forward about a year and here we are trying to figure out how to do online learning equitably. There are a lot of hurdles that need to overcome and I don't have all the answers but I do want to address some of the ones that came up that are easy to deal with.

My colleagues had a lot of issues with online learning and I agree with some of them but that doesn't mean it can't work. One of the biggest is not all families have access at home; Yes this is a big issue but not so hard to overcome. Some districts have been issuing out hotspots to families that need them, providers are offering low cost internet for low income families, I am seeing more and more free hotspots pop up like comcast asking people with their modems to provide a hotspot, free internet at starbucks, etc. Cell companies like Verizon are now enabling phones to be used as hotspots on unlimited plans. So yes not everyone is connected there are ways to overcome this issue with a little creativity and resourcefulness. The second issue is what do we do about kids not showing up to "class online". What do we do with kids who don't show up to class in person? We mark them absent and a phone call goes home (at least in my state). Yes kids will not show up or will skip out in middle of class, etc. there just has to be consequences for when it happens. Trust me kids will show up if for nothing else to be able to be online (more on this later). The third issue was my subject can't be taught online for I teach music, art, science, PE, etc. and kids won't have the supplies. Well yes that is tough but again resources and creativity are the name of the game. There are tools like smart music, and flipgrid that students can record themselves playing and/or singing. While not perfect I believe no I know they will get better over time. As for science and virtual labs yes it is not the same as the real thing but then again medicine is not the real thing. More and more surgeries are becoming robotic in nature and even remote. I bet a scan you have had done recently was not read at the hospital/clinic it was done. I may have even been done in another country. I have read where doctors are not performing surgeries remotely. As for PE well that is easy. Look at companies like Peloton and Mirrorfit. You have virtual workouts. How could would it be to be able to customize a workout plan for your students. I could go on but the point is that with any new educational endeavor there will be obstacles and challenges. We need to see them as just that obstacles and challenges that can be over come not barriers to success.

To help overcome these obstacles and meet these challenges I want to talk about some tools I have used as I stepped into the world of virtual/digital instruction. The biggest one that jumps out at me is the concept of flipped classroom. This is where students watch the "lecture" at home and do the "homework" in class. Biggest difference is they might be doing both at home. How I use this in my classroom is not so much in a flipped way but to differentiated instructional way. I record my presentations so kids can go back and watch them, watching them if they were gone, watch them with a different language in the close caption. What I like is that it frees up my time to help students and get work done around the classroom. There are any number of tools out there to do screencasting of lectures. The 2 that I am most familiar with are screencastify (an ap/extension for your browser) and Movavi (a video editing suite). I prefer Movavi as it is a little more robust and give me more tools to work with but it does come with a cost as does screencastify. If you want to meet live with students you have google hangouts or the various web meeting programs/apps (Zoom, microsft teams, webex, etc.) I have used any number of these and they work great. The hardest part is getting people to overcome being scene on a webcam. This one I don't get as you are seen daily live by your students as well as public in all your glory. But having to use a webcam makes one shy and self-conscious? Get over it people. The keys I have found is make sure you are dressed (as well as others in your house) at least from the waist up. Do your morning routine of shaving, makeup, hair etc. and then get online. Make sure to have a neutral backdrop that won't wash you out and have fun. Don't worry if someone jumps in while you are recording or presenting. Remember it happens all the time with announcements, people walking into your class, and background noise. Just do what you naturally do but asking others to quite down, not disturb you, etc. As for online tools to help with remote learning there are any number of them like Google apps for edu, Microsoft 365, Peardeck, padlet, etc. that I could go one about but won't as you need to work with what your district gives you. What I will say from my experience from a reviewer of online providers is the most helpful and important is to have a quality Learning Management System (LMS) that is user friendly for students, teachers, and parents. Without this your program will fail. I have seen and worked with many LMS's both as a teacher, students, and reviewer and have can say that they are the tent pole that holds the whole thing up. There are many out there ranging from the simple Google Classroom to more complex/robust ones like Schoology, Blackboard, Canvas, etc. to ones that are integrated into actual online schools whose names escape me at the moment.  I have my favorites among these but again I would encourage you to go with what your district offers or has in place for you to use.

Lastly are activities that can be done for online learning. This really excites me as a teacher not only because it is what I do as a CTE teacher but as a teacher who wants to help teachers be better teachers. This is where meeting your kids where they live (figuratively as well as literally), digitally, is both fun and important. I have written before about the power of projects and the many digital projects I do ranging from google lit trips/stories, coding, 3d and 2d design, 20% time, etc. (I actually find it harder to get physical projects up and running now) and I have found that the more I do digital project with kids the more they want to jump in and try it out. Not all work but that is the same with any project/assignment you do. This is a great opportunity for you to jump in and let your students be both learners and educators. You would be surprised at how resourceful they can be when they want to do something and need to figure out how to do it. Yes you will have those that sit and wait for you to help them but more often than not you will find students will find the help they need to get the work done. The key is to make projects engaging and something they want to do. Here is a list of suggestions of projects that can be done digitally in most any classroom:

• Do a digital version of getting to know you:
• I do one where I have students create a 1 slide presentation about
• Their likes, dislikes, motivation, heritage, etc. 
• Then I have them use a voki (voki.com)to read what is on their slide
• Code.org for computer science
• CS discoveries for Upper elementary & Middle School ages
• Detailed lesson plans with differentiation built in 
• CS principles for High school
• Detailed lesson plans with differentiation built in
• Free curriculum by those who create hour of code
• Creating online kids books with original art work and/or animations
• Doing a google lit trip instead of a report or essay
• Map out the journey of General Washington's battles
• Create a "field trip" of key land forms or historical places
• Map out how students get to school and back 
• map out the story they are reading highlighting key landmarks
• Lead students through the games of interland to discuss digital citizenship
• Using phones or other devices create a virtual art gallery of things around their home

The possibilities are virtually endless as long as you are open minded and willing to be patient. That is the key being patient. Things are not going to work out as you plan, there will be snags, kids will need help, on and on. Just like in a normal classroom. Some suggestions when you hit these snags:

1. Do things before hand 
1. But don't put too much effort into trying to know it all
2. Let the kids explore on their own (model what you would do given the same situation)
1. Show them how to use the help menu
2. Show them how to find help online
3. Encourage them to ask others
4. See what they come up with and fit it into what you planned
5. Don't be afraid to modify mid lesson

These are just some of what I do when working online/virtually/digitally with kids. Also don't be afraid to share with other colleagues lessons you learned and experiences you had so we can all grow. 

I know this was a long read but hopefully you found it helpful. I would love to hear your experiences and suggestions as we move forward with online learning en mass. As always:

Go Forth & Do Great Things!

Podcast pt1
Podcast pt2

Acquiring Vocab: The Vocabulary Acquisition System

One of the things I struggled with as a student and still struggle with today is Vocabulary. I find myself understanding how words work in a sentence but not necessarily their meaning. Words like Nonchalant, Serenity, Proforma, etc. I can use them in a sentence so it makes grammatical sense but and when asked to define them I stumble. I also see this in my classroom with my students. They can use the vocab we talk about but can't necessarily define it correctly. Thankfully I don't ask my kids straight up what words mean I stick to can they apply their understanding of them in context. For example we recently just wrapped up learning about the parts of the Engineering Process. In the version that I teach there are 5 to 6 parts as illustrated in the image tot her right with the 6th part being present your solution that I present as your way out of the circle.

Over the many years that I taught this I seen many a kid struggle with understanding each of these parts. I find that putting them into context and using illustrations helps with building their understanding and use of them in real life projects. That being said I have been shown a system that helped me and other students with learning and understanding vocab that works at helping people not only learn but how to use vocab correctly.

Over last summer I took a class on drone flight that helps students earn the commercial drone pilots license (FAA Part 107). This was a very rigorous class that was more than just how to fly a drone, if anything that was what we did the least. It covered topics such as the 7 levels of US Airspace, Weather and its affects on flight, communication, and most importantly all the vocabulary involved in drone flight. And true to the English language it is full of words with multiple meanings. This set me into a slight panic as I knew I wasn't good with vocab. However as part of the class we were introduced to a tool/system called the Vocabulary Acquisition System by the instructor from Advanced Aerial Education (AAE). By the way if you are looking for a drone flight curriculum I would check these guys out. They instruction and curriculum is top notch and will help you and your students prepare for the FAA Part 107 exam. But I digress I want to get into the tool/system for vocab.

The system they showed us has 3 parts that when followed help you learn vocabulary and how to use it in a way to helps it to stick in your brain. It is very easy to do and can be done in a low tech way with just 3x5 index cards and a writing implement. I will qualify that I may be over simplifying it a bit but you will get the general gist to be able to use in your classrooms. It utilizes the use of flash cards that is more rigorous than just the simple memorize the word and definition way. It can be done both individually and with a partner and I highly recommend that you have students practice both with partners and individually.

Step 1: Learning the words and definition 
In this step students simply make flash cards out of 3x5 index cards. On one side they write the word and the other side they write the definition, preferably in their own words. Cards are shuffled and randomly drawn out 1 at a time. Students say the word and then say the definition/meaning of the word. If they get the meaning correct words go in a pile on the right; If they get it wrong they go in a pile on the lift. Any wrong words the cards a shuffled again and the process is repeated until there are no cards on the left hand pile.

Step 2: Identify Relationships
After mastering step 1 with 100% accuracy students work on ID'ing relationships between words. In this step students shuffle the cards randomly and draw out 2 cards. They then say what the words have in common or how they differ. You go through the deck of cards same as before, putting correct matches on the right and wrong matches on the left. This process is repeated 2 times to 100% accuracy. However there is a catch, if you get any wrong you have to go back to step 1 and start over. ID'ing patterns may seem easy but gets hard both as more words are introduced and you have to find similarities.

Step 3: Sentence Formulation
This is the final step and where the rubber meets the road in my opinion. Once students have mastered how vocab relate to each other they move to application of the word. Students shuffle the cards into a random order. Then 3 cards are drawn and arranged in any order the students wants. They then must correctly use the 3 words in a sentence. With words correctly used placed on the right hand side and those not used correctly on the left hand side. This is repeated 3 times with any slip ups causing you to go back to step 1 and repeat the whole process.

It seems like a lot of work but I am here to tell you that it works. Yes you and your students will grumble and complain (I know I did). But after awhile when you see how well it works and how easy it is to do the grumbling will minimize. The trick is to have students hold themselves and their partners accountable. You can't just say oh yeah I messed up but I understand the word so I will just put it in the right hand pile. You have to be honest for it to work. The beauty is that it is pretty easy to catch students who are not using the system. If they say they have the words mastered then have them run through the system with you. If they have been practicing they should be able to run through the word stack at 100% accuracy, if not they haven't.

I have used this system with my middle school kids and have seen great results even with my non-graded after school program. I have kids who can correctly use terms like Pitch, sUAS, Roll, and yaw in the aviation context. What I really like is the simplicity of the activity. All you/students need is a set of index cards and time. It is something that can be done at home and at school and doesn't require a ton of background knowledge if you are doing it with family members (the definition is right there). It is also a good entry task activity to start out the class.

I can see so many applications for this beyond aviation. It is great for science classes where there is a ton of vocab. It can be used in a social studies class with all the vocab that comes up with government, civilizations, etc. It is a natural in foreign language classes and all the vocab they have. I also see it as being especially useful in Special Education and English Language classes, helping kids master everyday English words. The possibilities are endless.

I look forward to hearing not only how you use this system as well as other ways you help students acquire complex vocab.

As always "Go Forth & Do Great Things!"

Link to Podcast on this topic

We're going on a trip, a Google Lit Trip, Zooming through the internet

Hopefully as you were reading the title you had the theme song to "Little Einsteins" pop into your head. If you didn't I linked to it on YouTube. I chose that title based because for this blog post I want to talk about a new twist on book reports and a way to make history come alive for kids. It is called a Google Lit Trip. In a nutshell a google lit trip is where you use google earth to show a journey from one point to another. As I learned about them while doing my Google certified educator work (something I highly recommend all teachers do by the way) I couldn't stop thinking about the many ways they could be used to jazz up everyday assignments in education.

For awhile now it has been pounded home that we need to start integrating technology into the work we do as educators. We need to move away from the traditional book reports, worksheets, PowerPoint presentations, etc. that we did as kids. However I get it there are a million excuses one can give as to why we don't (I have addressed this in pas blog posts). Yet doing a Google lit trip is probably the easiest way you can integrate technology into formative assessment. Yes it does require a computer and internet access but the beauty is that most students already have or can quickly pick up the skills to do one in no time. Most kids these days have played around with Google Earth and/or Google Maps and are familiar enough with search for places and navigating the tool. Also most are pretty familiar with searching the internet for information or at the very least you can teach them this valuable skill.  The only other skill/thing you may need show/teach them is how to pin locations and add info and pictures to that pin as well as share their lit trip. Although I can tell you from experience that is pretty easy to do and once they get understand how to do it they can do it with ease. The hardest part will be getting them to add info to their trip rather than search for places on Google Earth. In fact it is so easy to learn I will cover the basics in this blog post as well as include a screencast I use with my students.

There are 3 main parts to a Google Lit Trip:

1. What is your Lit Trip about
1. Historical figure's journey (Harriet Tubman's journey on the underground railroad)
2. Following the journey of a book character (Beremiz Samir's journey in the book "The Man who Counted")
3. Tracing the timeline of events (Civil Rights Movement)
2. Where are you going on your Lit Trip
1. Countries
2. States
3. Cities
3. What Info to include about each place on your Lit Trip
1. Facts
2. Pictures
3. Opinions
4. How will you share your Lit Trip
1. Link
2. email
3. Presentation

Once you know the answers to these questions it is time to start making your Lit Trip. To start I have kids plan out the places they are going and the information they are going to include in their lit trip. I have them do this on a google doc as an outline but it could be easily done using a spreadsheet to help organize info for students that need more structure. I have students include links to information they researched on the web as well as pictures they are going to use to include as references. Once this is done students then go to the Google Earth  website and launch it. After it is done launching then have them go to the projects link and start a new project. They can create a project or open a saved project from drive. It is important to have them give their project a title to make it easier to find later on. Now the fun begins. Using the outline students then start adding new features for the places they are visiting. They can add places or search for places once they have a place located they place a pin and then edit it to add in the info you want them to include. Once done they then move on to the next place and so on till they have added all their places. Along the way or afterwards they can add a line showing the route to each place. When they are all done and it is time to share their project either as a link or via email. When others want to watch their trip they simply open it up and click on present. Another option which I really like is to do it as a screencast. Students can open a screencasting app or extension (I have students use screencastify) and start recording then open their Lit Trip and narrate their journey. They can then save and share that as well. I really like this idea as it gives them practice not only sharing info verbally but also in a safe online format which is an essential employability skill.

There are websites out there that you can go and search for pre-made lit trips as well as have them made for you (which I include in the links below) but I think it is is more important to have kids develop their own. I also am including links to a screencast I use with students to show them how to create one as well as my podcast on this topic. I would love to hear and/or see how you are using Lit Trips in your classrooms with your students.

As all ways: Go Forth and Do Great Things!

Links: 
Podcast
Google Lit Trips site
Making a Lit Trip screencast