Let's Discuss Schoology Discussions

For anyone that knows me, it's no surprise that I am obsessed with Schoology. I bombarded my district's in-house professional development program with courses about how to use Schoology and courses taught online completely in Schoology. I recently tweeted about an easy way to have students evaluate each other's work through a Schoology discussion, so I decided to elaborate on that in today's post!

Here's what my eighth graders did in Technology Applications:
As their first coding project, students create a "guess the number" game in Scratch. It's pretty simple - the player is supposed to guess a number within a given range, and the player will receive hints like "too low" or "too high" each time they guess incorrectly. The player has five chances to get it right before the game ends. Because Scratch is such a visual program, I also use this game to teach students the elements of game design. Students incorporate these elements in their game; for example, a game might be along the lines of "Help me figure out my locker combo so I can get to class on time" game. Students (or should I say, game designers) develop a scenario and a space where their guessing game takes place. They incorporate components that enhance the game play experience.

And here's where Schoology comes in:
Playing the games in the end is one of the best parts of the project! So often, I've seen students create amazing projects using some technology application, but then the only person who ever sees the project is the teacher. I get it, there isn't time for students to present every project they create. This is where Schoology discussions shine. They allow students the ability to link or attach any product to their post. As the teacher, I can also grade the projects using a rubric attached to the discussion.

Once everyone's work is posted, students can view each other's projects easily and quickly. For this particular project, I assign three questions that students must answer in their reply to a peer's posted guessing game. To make sure everyone receives a comment, I require that students reply to whoever posted just before them (or just above them if you're thinking about the discussion thread visually). How easy is that?! I project the questions for replies on my SMART Board and then students get to work. Once students reply to their required "partner," they are free to play and comment on anyone else's game.

Requiring that students evaluate and think critically about their classmate's work is essential to learning. We can not expect student growth if students are not required to evaluate their own work and the work of others. Receiving deliberate, constructive feedback on their work from a peer may be received more positively than the feedback of a teacher. Crafting feedback for peers requires a deep level of critical thinking. Schoology discussions provide my students the medium for sharing and reflecting on their own work and the work of the peer's. There are so many positives to Schoology discussions, but this is definitely one of the strongest in my opinion.

UNEED a PDF Annotator: Try UPAD!

On Friday, I had the opportunity to help out at another school in my district during a morning of iPad-themed professional development for our future 1:1 teachers.

I led sessions about UPAD, the PDF annotating app that we primarily use.  (We also have students evaluating Good Reader so we can compare before distributing more iPads next year.)  Anyway, the experience was really fun and rewarding.  UPAD is probably the app our pilot students use the most so it seems a bit mundane at this point, but introducing it to a fresh set of eyes really reminded me about how much the app can augment and modify certain tasks.

After looking at some samples of student and teacher work in UPAD, we reviewed how to convert Word, Pages, and Google documents into PDF's.  Then it was time for to explore the app! Here is the practice activity I created as a simple way for the participating teachers to explore the common tools in the app.  We practiced free writing, typing, highlighting, and inserting images, while looking at lots of other settings and features!


The most interesting part of each session was the discussion that ensued throughout.  Here are some of the highlights:

If you're just doing guided notes or fill in the blank, how is this really different from using paper? 
Until you have an iPad every day, it's really not very different from completing the task on paper.  It's simple substitution.  When our pilot students were surveyed, however, the #1 advantage they see in having an iPad is their organization.  Organization has improved, students lose less work, and students have work available at all times.  At that point, UPAD becomes a necessary part of your workflow.

And along with that, how does the app make things better? 
How many times do you have a student ask you for a pencil every day? No student is going to forget his or her iPad!  Three of my favorite features are:
1.  User has access to a bunch of different pen colors
2.  User has access to a bunch of different highlighter colors
Great tool for locating different elements in non-fiction reading!
3.  User can quickly insert (and annotate on) images from the camera or camera roll
Excellent for science lab reports!

How are you teaching students to use this app? When do you do it - during the core class? 
Ideally, this type of learning is integrated at the time that the students use the app.  One practice that we have found successful is learning to use apps in "low stakes situations."  For example, we often show students some of the basic features of an app during a Homeroom period, and then give them the time to explore the app on their own or with a partner.  Sometimes we even include a "low stakes" assignment to accompany this exploration.  We also know that students are excellent at exploring apps on their own.  We often encourage students to look at an app at home before we know we are going to use it in school. Because of the nature of the teacher teams and student schedules, that's what has worked for us.


I highly recommend UPAD if you're looking for a PDF annotator.  We've run into a few cases of the disappearing document, but since students back up each night, we've been able to retrieve all work. And like all apps, don't be afraid to let the students explore (never play with) the app and teach each other and you!  For example, our students are the ones who figured out how to create folders and color code them in alignment with their regular paper folders. And your teachers will find great ways to use it too!  In one class, when students digitally submit work, the first page is always the rubric.  The teacher can then open the assignment in UPAD and mark up the rubric on her iPad.  Work is then sent back to the students digitally, rubric included!  It's pretty amazing how a simple app can completely change the workflow of a classroom for the better!

The Little Things Go A Long Way

Today my entire district had a professional development day.  For me, the day was all about 1:1 iPads.  In the morning, I was fortunate enough to attend a session with Anita Huffman, the Director of Student Learning from CPS National Teachers Academy.  

While our initiatives are quite different, this time was especially helpful in broadening my perspective and analyzing our current program.  Below is a list of some of my takeaways in addition to some simple ideas for future plans for enhancing our 1:1 pilot program: 

• Empower Teachers - Anita discussed some of the ways she leads teachers, and I found this one to be quite powerful.  
• For about two years now, I have wanted to develop some sort of teacher collaboration or showcase event where teachers share one or two ways they've used technology in their classrooms.  Even some of our teachers who are right next door to each other don't have the chance to talk to each other about their fresh, new ideas.  
• Empower Students - The National Teachers Academy hosted a parent night where students demonstrated the use of apps to parents in a "speed dating" format.  
• While we've done QR Code App Speed Dating with teachers, I would like to see my district do something like this.  With our 1:1 pilot program, one of the few criticisms we've heard from parents is that they find it difficult to help their children with homework.  An understanding of some of the most-used apps would certainly be beneficial to them. 
• Build a School Community - While I think my school is full of collaborative teachers, Anita demonstrated how connected teachers at National Teachers Academy are.  They tweet and blog as ways to connect and share with each other. 
• When we first started the pilot, we talked about starting a blog on which each of the pilot teachers and admin's involved could post.  Hearing about NTA's experience makes me want to implement this as soon as possible.  I have it on my Friday iPad meeting agenda already! 

I feel like my PD days through my district are so often cluttered with in-district presenters, but I think this proves that there is always something to be learned from your PLN outside of your district.  It's encouraging to hear about the successes another school has had with things like parent nights, and I can't wait to roll out some of these ideas.  And on top of that, they seem so attainable and quite frankly, obvious.  Why wouldn't we be doing each of these three things?!  So, here's hoping I can make them happen with gusto and support from teachers!