Schoology

The more I think about Schoology the more I am feeling… limited… by the platform and privacy restrictions. The global audience is the motivating element behind digital publication and when it is taken away so is that spark.

I am of course going to continue my Schoology trial. I simply wanted to share some of my early reflections. Hopefully as students learn to login independently some of these early kinks will be ironed out.

Just read this interesting Edutopia article about social media in elementary… Writing rarely extends past 144 characters at the start of the year… maybe…

What goes into the PYP portfolio? This is very closely aligned to assessments.

Research:

• #PYPchat Twitter hashtag conversation from March 2013
• Here are a few annotated examples of great PYP Assessments
• Kath Cassidy’s thoughts of digital portfolios with her Grade 1 class

Here is my current thinking:

Portfolios include summative assessments but also have to include documentation about the learning and thinking that is occurs up to this point (formative assessment). As part of my professional learning plan (our school calls them LEAD goals) I am researching and using pedagogical documentation practices to make student thinking visible. This means portfolio items will be both student and teacher created (but always student centred!) Sometimes entries will be individualised and other times will be reflective of whole class experience. Its also important to include student action. Planning must also be flexible so this is by no means set.

UPDATE: After speaking with my coordinator I am going to have this list as a suggested inclusions as the PYP portfolio only needs to have one sample homeroom teacher chose, one sample the student chose, and one sample from each of the specialists. (September 2015)

UOI 1: How We Express Ourselves

• Literary Analysis: Main Elements and Plot Pyramid
• Magical Garden of Claude Monet by Laurence Anholt
• Camille and the Sunflowers by Laurence Anholt
• The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson
• The Gruffalo’s Child by Julia Donaldson
• Zog by Julia Donaldson
• Storytelling Analysis: Techniques and Plot Pyramid
• Mook Mook the Owl by storyteller Anne E. Stewart (Australian)
• The Crocodile by storyteller Anne E. Stewart (Australian)
• Beer Rabbit by storyteller Diane Ferlatte (African American)
• The Boy Who Wanted a Drum by storyteller Peter Chand (Indian)
• 5 Little Brothers by storyteller Estrella Ratón Pérez (Spanish)
• Writing Journal
• Addition and Subtraction – Path to Abstraction
• Number Sentence Story
• Story Tower
• Oral Storytelling Project

UOI 2: How the World Works

• 2D & 3D Shapes tutorial
• 2D Shapes in Art
• 3D Shapes collaborative artwork
• Simple Machines Photo Essay
• Measuring Length
• Science Journal
• SImple Machines Marble Run
• Unit Reflection

UOI 3: Where We are in Place and Time

• Day 3 in Grade 1
• Suitcase Mystery
• Show and Share – artefact
• Seasons: Book of Hours Calendar
• Time: Telling the Time
• Biography Reading Response
• Family Crest
• Family Timeline
• Unit Reflection

UOI 4: Who We Are (in review)

• Classroom Map
• Day in the Life Story book
• Skip Counting

UOI 5: Sharing the Planet (in review)

• Addition and Subtraction tutorials
• Animal Documentary
• planning document
• documentary
• reflection document or audio of conversation

UOI 6: How We Organise Ourselves (in review)

Last post I wrote about how we are using Groups Courses to share our learning with the school community, including parents. This post I want to write about portfolios.

We are a PYP school so portfolios are an integral part of our inquiry cycle. Portfolios are about making thinking visible and giving students the opportunity to present their findings. They are a central place for collecting, currating and communicating our thinking and learning.

After a bit of trial and error I think I will have all students create 1 portfolio called “Grade 1”. Students can then post media, documents, and pages with the Unit of Inquiry prefix, number, and title.

Important features I know about so far:

• Can reorganise portfolio items easily
• Can drag and drop files straight from computer and then edit if necessary.
• Can create pages where students can write directly in Schoology, insert media into text, and even edit HTML.

Note: When you drag and drop files directly onto the web browser it will have a generic cover image – this can be easily edited by opening the portfolio item and changing the image.

Students can open their portfolios with single subject teachers and create similar entries.

I am so very excited to be piloting Schoology portfolios for the elementary department of TCIS. I am documenting this experience and the thinking behind each step so that I can make informed reflections. First, a bit of background…

I have been using Schoology for about a year. In the elementary, we mainly use it as a communication tool: keeping up-to-date with school events and our fellow teachers across our PreK-12 campus. In the second half of the year, after trying a few other options, I started a ‘group’ in Schoology with all Grade 1 students and teachers (homeroom and single subject) as members. It was really a trial run for next year.

This group is like a digital bulletin board hanging outside our classroom that communicates our learning to interested parties. Yet unlike a bulletin board; it is never stagnent, it has multiple authors (all members can post), it is interactive (people can comment or like an update), it can include video and audio media, and it is accessable from any connected device.