Thoughts on the SBAC Digital Library

I decided to update this blog post after recently exploring the library. Many resources have been added since I attended the training. I do still believe that some educators will be disappointed in the Digital Library if they confuse it for the SBAC interim assessments that have not been released yet. 

I also wanted to share screen casts of what it looks like to search the library for resources. Flash player is required.

Digital Library Resources For Mathematics

Digital Library Resources For English Language Arts 

Original Post

Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium maintains an online bank of resources, the Digital Library, to support teachers as they prepare students for the SBAC exams. Today, June 30th, I attended a workshop on the Digital Library.

A few observations:

1.) The digital library is not an assessment bank. According to our trainer, SBAC interim assessments will be available in December or January.

2.) The resource is primarily designed to model formative assessment practices. Animated vignettes of teaching practices, rubrics, model lesson plans for performance events, and information on techniques such exit slips and quiz, quiz trade are available. General instructional strategies make up more of the library than content specific, grade level resources.

3.) The library is designed for easy use. Users can filter resources by grade level and subject area.

4.) The resources in the library are high quality. An intensive vetting process was used to select resources.

5.) Perhaps, due to intensive vetting the amount of content is limited at this time.

For example:

A filtered search for resources designed to support seventh grade instruction for Reading Informational Texts Standard 4 (vocabulary in context) provided one resource, a video of quiz, quiz trade protocol from a fourth grade classroom.

A filtered search for resources designed to support seventh grade instruction for Mathematics G.B.4 (circumference) returned no results.

It is important to note that content is still being uploaded. Two resources were uploaded during the training.

So how should the Digital Library be used? It depends.

While some model lesson plans include reproducible assessments, teachers looking for digital or reproducible classroom activities for students will most likely be frustrated. However, the more time I spent in the library, the more material I found that would help classroom teachers in lesson design.  For example, a resource titled "Flustered by Fractions," included a clip from American Choppers and instructions on how to use the clip in a lesson.

For administrators the digital library could be a resource to supplement professional development on formative assessment. It could also serve as resource for curriculum writers looking for models endorsed by SBAC.

I would be interested in hearing how others plan to use this tool.

Dissection and Connection: A Day of Learning with Eye-InaBox

Confession:

Until this summer, even after spending three years in the classroom teaching middle school science, I never participated in a dissection lab. That changed while participating in a free workshop at the University of Missouri with our school's science teacher.

The workshop, led by Dr. Folk, was designed to familiarize science teachers with the ShowMe InaBox, Eye-InaBox and Ear-InaBox, kits. The kits are available for one month free check outs through Folk's office.

One of the program's strengths is its ability to connect physical and life sciences. Wave lengths, energy transformations, and chemical changes are taught through a series of hands on labs and lessons on the eye. 

Workshop participants learned how to lead labs on UV light sensitive beads, pin hole lens construction, live planarian responses, and cow eyeball dissection. The kits include readings and all necessary supplies, including the cow eyeballs. All materials are returned at the end of the check out period, with the exception of the eyeballs.

After a few seconds in the sun the beads on the right changed colors.

Because of our science teacher's participation in the Eye In A Box program, our students will benefit from seeing the connections between physical and life sciences. Students will also benefit from our school's connection to a professor who conducts research at a world class university.

They will also get the opportunity to participate in a dissection lab, at no cost to our school, at a much earlier age than their principal.

Information on the Eye-InaBox program can be found through the program's website.

Student Achievements Not Tracked By Student Achievement Data

Imagine measuring.......

As educators pour over data points, three areas of student achievement deserve consideration. 

Creativity: Imagine measuring the number of smiles produced when adults admire a painting, poem, musical performance, robot, or video game created by a student. We are all better when we give students the opportunity to imagine something that is not yet, but is better that what is. Though the creative process can be sloppy, the results are worth it.

Compassion: Imagine measuring the number of new students welcomed into a school by the existing student body. Our society is more mobile than ever. Every day schools have new students transfer into their family. More often than not these students have this difficult transition eased by compassionate students.

Persistence: Imagine measuring the number of assignments turned in after, or during, substantial setbacks in the life of a student. All teachers have students on their rosters who are experiencing trials. When these students fight through and continue to turn in work and study for tests, they demonstrate a persistence that serves them well.

Three Tips For Schools Making First iPad Purchases

Last year our school implemented iPad minis in the classroom for the first time. Due to the talents of our teachers, the devices helped create a rich learning environment. Another post reflects on reasons why the devices became effective learning tools.  This post details the process we went through to get devices to the classroom.

Below are three tips for educators buying school iPads for the first time.
1.) Device Purchases:
 Work with Apple directly. You will get the best value if you purchase devices in ten packs. To do this you must enroll in the volume purchase program for educators. This process is not too cumbersome but it takes some time, so start early.
2.) App Purchases:
Plan your app purchases. The time spent enrolling in the volume purchasing program will pay off in purchasing apps. Schools enrolled in the program can purchase apps for a reduced rate when purchasing more than twenty apps. The best way to do this is to purchase a voucher card. The physical card will come in the mail and has a code. When you redeem the code online, Apple emails a spread sheet with individual redemption codes for each app purchase. Our school set up an Apple ID, which is not tied to a credit card (a good practice for many reasons).  All of our student devices used the same apple ID to load the apps.
3.) Questions:
Don't be afraid to call your apple representative with questions. Once you've made contact with the representative for your area, be sure to save the direct phone number. Calling the Apple's toll free number will always put you in contact with friendly folks, but they will most likely have to transfer you to the representative who works only with schools to help you.

Summer's First Fishing Trip

What started out with a question, ended with lunch. The fact that we hit for our version of the cycle and missed the afternoon storms made it even better.

Today was the first day of summer vacation that I was able to spend at home, and when I asked my oldest daughter if she she thought we should run to the store to buy worms to go fishing her reply was, "Can we?"

Soon we were dodging snags and rain clouds. We beat the rain back to shore with the perfect amount of fish for lunch. By the time we were finished, the basket held at least one of the lake's three tastiest species: bass, crappie, and my favorite, bluegill.

The picnic table, camp stove, and cast iron skillet served as our  backyard kitchen. Tortilla shells, which are perfect for checking to see if the oil is ready, were our side dish. Thin fillets crisped to a golden brown in the Andy's fry mix. The mullberry tree provided dessert.

We both agreed to do it again soon. Now we need a day without meetings on the schedule or rain in the forecast.

What lessons can schools learn from the Kepler 16 solar system?

As an amateur (and even that is a stretch) astronomer, the kind who can barely track the path of Jupiter's moons, I am fascinated with Kepler 16-b. Kepler 16-b is a circumbinary planet, meaning it orbits not one, but two stars.  A two star solar system forces a paradigm shift for us when we are first exposed to the idea, which makes it a perfect metaphor for classroom and school culture.

Kepler 16-b's orbit is driven by the gravitational pull of stars: Kepler 16-A and Kepler 16-B. These stars are not considered opposite, or competing, but one binary star.

Similarly, master educators are driven by one binary star, with two factors: challenge and support. At different times in the life of a classroom, each mass has a stronger gravitational pull. Master teachers know when to give the stern look, and they know when to smile. They know how to present the rigorous assignment, and the scaffolding necessary for students to meet the challenge.

Likewise effective schools must be flexible enough to exert the forces of challenge and support as needed. Students must be held to high standards, academically and behaviorally. Systems must be in place to help them meet those standards, and support them when they fall short.

Questions to consider:
1.) What aspects of the class or school culture are designed to challenge?
2.) What aspects of the class or school culture are designed to support?
3.) What data is used to determine when the orbit of a class or an individual students needs to be influenced more by one than the other?

Why I'm glad we had iPad minis for a year BEFORE having WiFi.

This fall, thanks to the support of our community, our school will have WiFi for the first time. Our students will have a richer learning environment, which is exciting. But it is also a time to stop and consider the following questions:

Why do we have WiFi?
What are the learning goals?

It's possible our students will be better prepared for these opportunities thanks to the work of their teachers in implementing iPad minis last year in classrooms without WiFi. When the minis were introduced to the school,  a blog post was tweeted to parents explaining the goals for the devices. As the year progressed the vision laid out became a reality. Students honed their skills in presenting knowledge creatively using apps such as iMovie, Doceri, and Keynote When the wireless routers come on, and the hot spots go live, the devices will certainly be used for research, but because the school had a year to practice in spots that were cold, the students will see connectivity as a way to collaborate and create, not just consume.

One Reason Our School Is A Little Better: Outdoor Classroom

"An individual with a high degree of naturalist intelligence is keenly aware of how to distinguish from one another the diverse, plants, animals, mountains, and cloud configurations in her ecological niche" Howard Gardner.

The students at our school benefit from a few wooded acres that border the campus to the west.  Featuring a small pond, a path, and an amphitheater, the outdoor classroom is a result of the efforts of teachers and community members alike.

Science students are provided unique opportunities to study biology. Animal, fungi, and plant kingdoms are easier to learn when students are able to put their hands on fishing poles, morels, and spades. When rain gauges supplement text books, and a planned project to build a raised flower bed is postponed due to weather, meteorology is more meaningful.  The outdoor classroom also serves as the subject of student produced documentaries and the setting for student produced dramas, filmed and edited with iPads in communication arts classes.

Howard Gardner's multiple intelligence theory includes a naturalist intelligence. Teachers and students at our school are better positioned to leverage the power of this intelligence due to the outdoor classroom.