Written by Well .. here goes nothing … my first blog post! My homework placemat has been sitting on my coffee table for just over four weeks now, staring me in the face every time I sit down on the couch at the end of the day. Each week I add “Cohort 21 blog post” to my to-do list and each week I know it won’t get done until the Monday of my long weekend … why even pretend?
Well, that Monday has finally arrived and it’s been really nice to spend the day reflecting on my year so far. Last week my school was fortunate enough to have Garth Nichols and Justin Medved facilitate a PD session. In just two short hours they had us reflect on and set action plans for our curricular, pedagogical, and personal-professional goals we had set in August. For many, this was the first time we’d thought about our goals since setting them …
My curricular goal is a mess of ideas including student self-assessment, digital portfolios, edtech apps such as Seesaw or Sesame, and student-led conferences. I feel really personally invested in these ideas which I expect will make for a fun year and a great F2F meeting next weekend.
Unfortunately, my classroom doesn’t have any actual hardware to facilitate this documentation which is posing to be my largest challenge. The Junior School is due to receive new hardware in September but that doesn’t help me this year. It finally hit me though that instead of delaying this project for another year I should just move on and find a solution (practice what you preach, you know?). So I’m writing about it here to hold myself accountable and ask for suggestions. I’ll start by using my personal cell phone as a documentation tool for students and work on finding more devices.
Do you have any suggestions on edtech apps for documentation, student reflection, and portfolios? Do you know how to gain access to more hardware on a small budget?
Thanks
Way to go @kshier on publishing your first post!
I trialled a student reflection software last year called Sown to Grown: https://www.sowntogrow.com/
I had minor to moderate success with this in my Grade 11 English class. Much of the resistance came from having to learn a new software that wasn’t as user-friendly as, say, snapchat!
If you use Google Classroom, however, it does a handy job of allowing you to use all of the info already inputted so you don’t have to retype student names and assignments.
See you at the next meet-up!
E.B. Daigle
Thanks Eric!
I’ll definitely check out that software! Thanks for sharing.
Hi Kirsten,
I’ve been using the Class Dojo app on my phone this year and I find it very efficient. Let’s connect on Saturday and I can show you how I’ve been using it and how it collects the data.
Hi Michael,
Wow, that’s great to hear! I love Class Dojo but only use it as a classroom management tool. I’d love to see how you use it to collect data.
Hey @kshier ! We have all been there, don’t worry!
Student portfolios are that wonderful nice to have in a ideal world butI agree that they pose all sorts of problems for educators. @mmoore is on to something with the class dojo. I also use this as a skills tracking tool but the portfolio options within it are endless. Let’s chat Saturday!
Hey Kirsten,
I totally appreciate your honesty about the process of blogging. It’s a challenge to find the time even in the most ideal of scenarios…but you DID IT! “Monday is better than someday” as @jmedved likes to say 😉
Have you tried Seesaw yet? It is ridonculously easy and can be a place for students to document and collect artifacts or something that only you use. Worth a peek!
@kshier This is perfect. @ljensen and @mhudson and I are all looking at portfolios as well this year. We all have been playing with SeeSaw pilot projects and helping build our own schools visions for how portfolios play a role in student learning. This will be a great opportunity to collaborate.