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Let Flexibility Lead To Alignment

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  In my previous school district, I was the only teacher teaching a physics course with set, district-wide learning outcomes. These same outcomes were also taught in physics classrooms at the other high school in our district. But at our school, I was one of the 2 physics teachers. The other teacher taught the AP-level physics courses. So, in many ways, I had opportunities to incorporate strategies I believed were best for learners and that I found worked best for them without being seen as out of alignment with anyone in our building. My amazing friend and one of my teaching philosophy goddesses, Katie Novak, stated the following misconception about alignment: All teachers must deliver instruction in the exact same way. True alignment, she says, is about shared goals, rigor, and outcomes. Thank you, Katie! Katie has taught me to truly believe that learner variability is the rule, not the exception. I encourage you to take 10 minutes to listen to Katie Novak explain it in the ...
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Using Infinite Campus to Give Grades Meaning

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At Brookfield Central High School have just passed the three week grading period and are approaching the first parent teacher conferences of the year. My thoughts are turning to clarifying my grading practices to students and parents as more scores are being entered into the gradebook.  I have completely restructured the grade reporting in my online gradebook this year.  This was due to struggles I had last year in trying to implement what I believe to be best grading practices into my grade reporting.  Much of my grading philosophy has been informed by Robert Marzano and Marzano Research, specifically the wonderful book Classroom Assessment & Grading that Works .   Traditionally, as I prepare for teacher conferences, I use a student summary report I print from our online gradebook to guide the discussion with parents.  Our grading program in my district is Infinite Campus (IC).  I really like the software and find it extremely easy to use. ...
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This Is How We Kick It Off!

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  As I write this, NFL Kickoff Week is about to begin.  The NFL know how to stage an event to get people excited for the 5 month season ahead.  It’s a journey millions of people tune in for and have been waiting all year for.   This is the type of enthusiasm educators hope to generate in their students.  Incorporating a project based approach is one way I’m hoping to bring this enthusiasm into my physics classroom.  Sometime this kick-off event can be called an entry event. It is meant to generate thought not simply increase student engagement.  Entry events can take many different forms from field trips to a teacher presenting the class with a reading, statistic, or problem that elicits a reaction and curiosity. The driving question for our first term project asks students “How can I use physics to hack sports?”   Students will consider personal athletic events or sporting events that they enjoy.  They will examine ...
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Best of InstructureCon: Episode II

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So, I finished watching the last of the 119 InstructureCon 2015 Sessions on YouTube today.  To be honest, I didn’t watch every single one beginning to end.  If I realized that the session had nothing to do with my current role as an instructor, I went to the next session.  What this meant was I didn’t watch many sessions about configuring Canvas to work with my SIS.  But, on many occasions, I was mesmerized by a the great presentations and realized by the end that I would never be doing any of this because I am not a tech integrator for my district.  It is very interesting to see how we all work together to make learning happen in the classroom. It's a side I don't get to see very often. In the end, it's wonderful to see passionate people talk about their passion for education. So, this will not be a trilogy of reports. In the end, these are the best videos from my perspective. I can't recommend highly enough that you go to YouTube and find the sessions that...
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Upgrading My Canvas Use

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As I start looking forward to the 2015-16 school year, it's time to start upgrading. The first tool I’ll be gearing up is Canvas. Canvas is the powerful learning management system created by Instructure that my district has been using for the past two school years. I am very happy with the abilities and functionality it provides.  I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface in what the system has to offer. The first year I used Canvas, it was part of a pilot program in the district. The district rolled it out to a number of different teachers and hosted its own version at the district level. I spent that summer learning all about it via YouTube tutorials and was ready to use some of the basic elements.  That year, I used it only in one class. I set up each unit as a module, created online quizzes for problem sets, created assignments students could submit online, and also had students create ePortfolios. Last school year, Canvas was rolled out district wide...
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