The Cyber Stigma: Changing the Social Perception of Cyber School

By: Peter Mysels, High School Social Studies Teacher

Once per month, my immediate family and I all meet at my mom’s house to partake in another of what we call “Haircut Night”. It is a Mysels tradition. My aunt is a hair dresser and we use the first Tuesday of every month to get together, get a trim around the edges, and enjoy a meal. Last month’s Haircut Night was a particularly memorable one. 

“So when are you going to work in a real school?”

My aunt asked me this as I was getting my haircut. I could tell by her tone that she hadn’t intended to be rude or belittle me, my school, or cyber schools in general. It was merely a case of having little background or understanding on a particular topic, in this case cyber schools, and what they can do for students, for teachers, and what possibilities they have in the education field in the future. 

There seems to be an unfortunately common stigma in our society that cyber school teachers are not cut out for “real” school – “real” referring to “brick and mortar” type schools. Often correlated to this is the perception that teaching in a cyber setting is simple compared to “traditional schooling”. This perception is inaccurate. Teaching in a cyber setting has taught me so much, not just about pedagogical strategies, but about motivating students, accommodating a diverse population, and developing a genuine relationship with my classes.

The teachers I have collaborated with in the cyber setting display a constant desire to learn more about effective pedagogical techniques and tools to help motivate and engage our students. It takes a creative and determined mind to achieve a high level of engagement when one’s student body lies behind a screen. We share ideas to help each other’s classes expand and develop to best meet the needs of our students and make class an exciting place to be. Tools and programs such as Nearpod, Kahoot, Padlet, Quizlet, and Google Applications are all a part of the lessons designed here, incorporating group collaboration as well as independent learning. These are a common sight in cyber schools such as PA Distance. We bring variety into our daily lessons, transitioning to motivation within the students as we move away from the typical “sit and get” strategy and more to one that utilizes the tools, programs, and techniques that modern education has to offer.

The diverse student population puts a challenge on the plate of cyber school teachers. Our students come from all over the state. Some stem from wealthy areas, while others come from predominantly low income areas. Some come from more urban settings while others come from more rural areas. Many of our students require various accommodations and modifications based on their individual needs. To meet these needs and to set our students up for success in the best way possible, we constantly need to be adapting, learning, and growing as teachers to help accommodate students that come from various backgrounds.

Teaching students in a cyber setting requires an extra amount of effort to get to know them as individuals. We get to know our students on a genuine level through the phone calls, conferences, emails, and chats over the course of a day, semester, or school year. We know their strengths, weaknesses, hobbies, and dreams for the future. Cyber schools prove that one does not need physical face-to-face contact to learn a lot about someone and help them on their path to success.

I would like every cyber school teacher reading this to challenge the question, “When are you going to work in a real school?” Remove the stigma that cyber school teachers do not match up to “brick and mortar” teachers by explaining just how much we do for our students to help them succeed and make school an accepting and inviting place to be. This is not to explain how cyber school teachers are more skilled or knowledgeable than brick and mortar teachers, but rather, to showcase how cyber schools and their amazing teachers are certainly just as “real” as those in traditional classrooms and their amazing teachers. 

Improving Communication Skills in the Virtual World

By Kelly Crooks, English Teacher

In today’s digital world of text-messaging, chatting, hashtagging, and online schooling, many fear the loss of communication skills and the ability to improve those skills. The fear that young people’s communication skills will suffer in both their social and professional lives is heaviest among educators and parents, but is this fear legitimate? Do young people’s communication proficiencies suffer because they live in a virtual world? Does “digital” mean lack of proper speaking and writing?

No matter the mindset of educators, parents, or older generations, “digital” or “virtual” does not have to suggest poor communication; in fact, many researchers would argue that there are no discrepancies at all between communication skills in the digital world and the in-person world. 

An article by Drew Hendricks posted on Out Reach claims that strong communication skills are vital in both environments, and that solid communication is important for building strong personal and professional relationships either digitally or in person.  Hendricks also points out:  “We’re at a strange crossroads where physical and digital communications converge . . . how do they interact with each other?”  Even though much communication has become virtual, it is possible to use those same communication standards in the digital world as we do in the physical world. Communication does not have to suffer now that it has gone viral. 

People can continue to practice good communication in any environment, but are we prepared to effectively engage and converse with people in the digital world and keep our communication skills on point?  The following are suggestions for improving communications skills in the virtual world:


Social Media

First, use social media! That’s right,  if you’re looking to improve your writing and expressional talents, then use Facebook, Twitter, and  Instagram more often! These are just a few of the social media outlets where people can express themselves, write, and converse with society. If you’re going to use them, though, be sure to use them properly! Standard English only please!

Text Messaging

Next up, text! Text messaging provides individuals with the opportunity to practice his or her writing skills. Texting has become second nature to most, but simple daily messaging is actually helping people improve their communications abilities. It should be noted that communication will only become stronger if proper English is used!

Video Calling

Live Learning sessions at Pennsylvania Distance Learning Charter School, web conferences, Google Hangouts, Skype, Facetime, and so on are excellent tools to use to practice using strong communication skills. There are hundreds of digital tools that allow people to connect from all over the globe - take advantage! Video calling advances your communication skills and self confidence, and it can help you become a better presenter as well.   Whether it’s your parents using video chat from work, a class at school, or a friend using Hangouts in a different country, video conference as much as you can!

Phone Calls

Don’t forget about old-fashioned phone calling either! Even though it has become the least popular function to use on smartphones, phone calling your family and friends does enhance your communication skills. Chatting with your voice helps you to become a stronger speaker, it increases your self-confidence, and improves your storytelling techniques. When it comes to communication, phone calls should never go out of style!

Writing

When possible, write! Writing is a creative outlet that not only is known to reduce stress, but also improves ALL communication skills. Writing is directly related to speaking, so enhancing your writing skills will advance all of your communication skills. How you write, what you write, or the program you use to write does not matter; the only thing that matters is remembering to write in this virtual world.  Whether it’s blogging, journaling, using Google Docs or Microsoft Word for essays and poetry, or some other program, find your comfort zone and write away!

Giving Presentations

Finally, take advantage of giving presentations as much as you can. There is no better way to become a confident communicator than giving a presentation. Formal or informal presentations on topics you enjoy enhance your communication skills because you can practice eye contact, voice inflections, non-verbal gestures,  and speaking properly. Take advantage of any opportunity you have at giving a virtual presentation! Do you have a fear of speaking to groups of people? No problem! Video yourself giving a presentation.


Now that you are on your way to improving your communication skills in this digital world, there is one last thing to keep in mind: always stay in touch! Communication abilities can be only be hindered in the digital world if they are not used. Be creative, and find what works best for you!


Works Cited:

Hendricks, Drew. "How to Improve Communication Skills in a Digital World." 

UVM Continuing and Distance Education. UVM Out Reach, 24 Sept. 2014. Web. 28 Mar. 2017.    

<https://learn.uvm.edu/blog-business/improve-communication-skills>

But, It’s Just Art

By Renee Belville, Art Teacher & Julie Dellert, Art Teacher

“But, it’s just art.” The statement that we, as artists, hear too often yet laugh when we do hear it. But...it’s NOT just art. There is so much more to it than just a “pretty picture." Art is relevant to everyone as it helps us academically, mentally and socially. So when does art become part of our lives? 

PART ONE- The Early Years 

When we were toddlers running around and playing, we actually were learning about art without even knowing it. Child development involves just that. As we were getting messy with crafts and figuring out how to cut with scissors, we were actually working on our fine motor skills. Hand-eye coordination was being focused on as well, because one needs to have the skills to accomplish tasks such as learning how to write. In Pre-School, children have fun while being educated. Weren’t identifying shapes, colors and objects one of the very first things we were taught as youngsters? Building blocks, Play-Doh, matching and puzzles are a few developmental activities that help lead children into the next stage of their life...school. 

Art is important in K-12, because of cognitive development, creative thinking, and integrating core subjects as such as math, language arts, history, etc. It can help children improve with decision making, critical thinking skills, school involvement and higher grades. A study called Reinvesting in Arts Education states, “Art Education can be a valuable education reform tool and classroom integration of creative opportunities could be key to motivate students and improve standardized test scores.” 

With cognitive development, art can help children solve problems, figure out patterns and learn critical thinking. “A picture is worth a thousand words,” comes to mind, because children learn how to plan by visual storytelling. This helps academically, starting with language arts, by using descriptive words with artwork. For example, the third- and fifth- graders at Pennsylvania Distance Learning Charter School draw a picture of a story with a written explanation. In class, language arts is involved in many ways like introducing vocabulary, reading aloud, writing reflections, critiquing artwork and completing literacy strategies, like the Venn diagram and exit slips. 

Another vital subject included in Art is math. For example, the seventh-graders complete a perspective lesson where they learn to use a ruler and discover the different types of lines (vertical, diagonal, parallel, etc.) They also study the element, value, which helps make two-dimensional work look three-dimensional. The seventh-graders utilize math terms such as a sphere, cylinder, rectangular prism, etc. With both elementary and middle school classes, we discuss symmetry, pattern and proportion. One popular math-related lesson is the process of creating a tessellation and the history of the mathematical art whiz, MC Escher! 

History is another significant subject that is tied into the art curriculum. Students study art history by exploring geographical regions and the work of cultural artists. From storytelling using a buffalo hide to designs like a mandala and mola, students grasp a better understanding of cultural history. 

Even though core subjects are important in art, so is self-expression. This can help students express themselves in a creative manner. This can be called  “escaping” as art can help cope with stress and obstacles in life. It improves one’s health and well-being which overall can help a child succeed as an individual. And with success comes growth. 

And with that, children transition into the next stage of their life...high school! 

PART TWO- High School and Beyond

In high school and college, students enroll in art courses such as Intro to Drawing and Painting, Art History 101, and Introduction to Photography or Ceramics. They add these courses in as filler, with the mindset that it’ll be a (scoff) blowoff class. But, what students don’t realize is that, like we have seen earlier, much of what you learn in art transfers into many different core subjects, like math, language arts, history and science.

In the Introduction to Art and Studio Art courses offered at Pennsylvania Distance Learning Charter School, students learn how to draw images using the gridding technique. This method breaks their image down into small squares that can be graphed. Once gridded, the picture can be resized and redrawn to create a more accurate drawing.  The grid technique uses calculated measuring and graphing skills.  These same skills are used in math, except instead of graphing lines and parabolas, the students are graphing eyes and hands.


In Introduction to Art, students learn about different art in the real world.  They discover nature art, or art that is created using nature as a medium, and art that is formed naturally in our world. The students learn about chemical reactions, how Fibonacci's sequence affects the growth of plants, the famous art installation The Spiral Jetty, and the beauty of our own natural world.  Mathematics, history, and science are intertwined throughout the entire learning process.

Art is such a vital part of K-12 learning because it is so interlaced with the core subjects. But what about after graduation? People always joke that those with an art degree never achieve much more than a job at McDonald's or Starbucks, but they do make the best latte art!  The truth is, art is more than just a narrow path that leads straight to the french fryer. 

Take architecture for example.  Blueprints are calculated and measured precisely.  Historical and demographic information about the surrounding neighborhood are researched to design the most historically accurate building.  Architects couldn’t create a beautiful and desireable building without some knowledge of art.  By utilizing their artistic expertise, they can assess what building style is more eye catching, emphasize a part of a room using colors, shapes and objects, and even know how much wainscoting is just too much.

What about something in the medical field?  Let’s say a plastic surgeon.  Although a doctor studies many years in medical school, a plastic surgeon also needs to accurately know the anatomy of the human body.  Discovering where the eye sockets connect to the bridge of the nose, or how your phalanges are situated onto your hand is also taught in most college level anatomy art classes.

Video game design and technology careers are one of the fastest growing job markets today.  Because of the high demand for easy-to-use, immediate-response technology, there’s always an opportunity to grow.  Video game designers must have technology skills such as coding and creating algorithms. Without a background in art, their games have very little purpose to them.  Using art to create the characters, colors, and overall atmosphere sets the tone of the game, and is what makes it popular.  Take Minecraft for example.  One of the reasons the game is so widely popular is because of its bright, simple colors and its aim at advertising to the generation that craves nostalgia.

Below is a small list of the many careers that utilize art.  As you can see, art isn’t limited to just learning about the colors of the rainbow and who painted the Mona Lisa (It’s Leonardo Da Vinci, if you’re wondering).   It is utilized throughout our lives from childhood into adulthood.  By incorporating art into our students’ lives, we can offer them a more well-rounded education.  One that will help them not only in their future endeavors, but with every aspect of their lives.

Sources:
http://www.theartcareerproject.com/art-as-a-career/ 
http://educationcloset.com/steam/what-is-steam/
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/10/131022170624.htm
http://www.pbs.org/parents/education/music-arts/the-importance-of-art-in-child-development/
http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-19576763
http://www.pcah.gov/sites/default/files/photos/PCAH_Reinvesting_4web.pdf

Learning is Messy: Group Work in the Online Setting

By Allison Harvey-Benedum, English 7-12

Learning is Messy

Learning is messy and group work is even messier. Question marks, emoticons, and a rainbow of text fill the corners of the chatbox to the brim. The chatter flows like mud through your toes. Squiggles, shapes, and text boxes appear on the once pristine whiteboard. Nothing a little bit of cleaning can’t clean up when we’re done. Learning is digging deep into the muck with your bare hands and searching for the treasures buried within. 

In my English IV classes, we wade deep into the BOGs for our messiest learning adventures. In our online setting, BOGs is an acronym for Break Out Groups.

Enter the BOGs


Group work is an important, albeit messy, step in the learning process. A step that I prioritize in my English classroom. Working together in small groups encourages students to take intellectual risks and ask questions they may not feel comfortable with in front of an entire class. Small groups can also offer a space to play and try ideas without penalty. Small groups offer a safe space to dig your hands into the mud and enjoy learning. According to a Carnegie Mellon University’s Eberly Center, “Group projects can help students develop a host of skills that are increasingly important in the professional world (Caruso & Woolley, 2008; Mannix & Neale, 2005). Positive group experiences, moreover, have been shown to contribute to student learning, retention and overall college success (Astin, 1997; Tinto, 1998; National Survey of Student Engagement, 2006)” (What are the Benefits of Group Work?). While our online setting helps students quickly adapt to 21st century tools and become independent learners, it is also a space to work together collaboratively.

BOG Activities

These are some of the activities I've done this year in our BOGs:

• Color Coding - In the BOGs, I have a list of character and thought bubbles. This was an activity analyzing internal conflict and character motivation in the Shakespearean play Macbeth. Students worked in small groups to color the thought bubbles to match the different characters. Their small group discussion focused on digging deeper into the characters and differentiating between subtle motivational changes. This could translate into a history review with key historical figures and their thoughts/decisions in the thought bubbles or a chemistry review with attributes of different family groups from the periodic table.
• Graffiti Walls - This is a discussion technique where they rotate from room to room writing/drawing as quickly as possible to a prompt - I have used this to introduce units with Big Questions/Ideas from the unit. They have 90 seconds or so to respond to the topic on the board and I “throw” them from room to room when time is up. As they go through the rooms, the conversations grow and they can start responding to each other as well. They can also respond in unconventional ways by drawing, using emojis, and adding hashtags. When they make it back to the beginning, they work in their small group to star good responses and present a summary of the conversation. It’s messy, fast-paced, fun, and students learn to analyze, discuss, and debate in a low-stress environment.
• Quote Analysis - In each BOGs, students have different quotes to analyze. They have directions to highlight, underline, summarize, and answer analysis questions. For one activity, during our Renaissance unit, students received different sonnets to scan the meter, summarize the stanzas, label the rhyme scheme, and decide the form type. To differentiate, I was able to use various sonnets from different eras. To extend, students could illustrate the imagery in the sonnet to create a themed whiteboard.  
• Gallery Walk - At the end of each BOG (time permitting), we travel from BOG to BOG and share our work. This offers an audience for students and a chance to present their ideas. When groups had different topics, students are able to teach the rest of the class about their topic.

Embrace the Mess

I encourage every teacher, student, parent, or any member of our learning community to go ahead and get a bit messy. Dig your hands into the mud and enjoy the process of learning. Go ahead! Laugh. Make loaves of mud bread. Get frustrated. Mix ideas. Have an epiphany. Change your perspective. Take a chance. Fail. Fall in the mud. 

Just make sure you always get back up embrace the mess and continue to progress in your learning adventure. Learning can be messy, but it is a beautiful mess.

Works Cited

“What Are the Benefits of Group Work?” Teaching Excellence & Educational Innovation.     Carnegie Mellon University, 2015. Web. 12 Dec. 2016. 

Townsend, Alison. “The Literature Collection: What the Body Knows: Poems: Mud Poem.” The Literature Collection: What the Body Knows: Poems: Mud Poem, University of Wisconsin, 2002, digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/Literature/Literature-idx?type=turn&entity=Literature.Townsend.p0011&id=Literature.Townsend&isize=M&pview=hide.

How Do You Teach Music in a Cyber Setting?

By Elisa Carpenter, K-8 Music Education Teacher

When I have a colleague, family member or friend ask me what I am currently doing with music, I tell them I am an online K-8 Music Teacher.  The FIRST thing that is asked 99% of the time is the question, “How do you do that?”  Some other questions that are asked are,

• Do you even see the kids?
• I bet playing instruments is really difficult, right?
• Isn’t the value of music depreciated because it is not in person?
• How do they participate in games?

These are all wonderful questions…..but these are also the most common thoughts that people have about teaching music online.  Teaching music online has recently been limited to specific fields most related to technology and the creation of music. Fields such as Music Technology Performance, Professional Sound Recording, or even Technology Composition, emphasize real-time products and computer-assisted access to the latest digital technology.  This technology assists instrumentalists with the ability to work with notation software, digital performances, sound boards and mixing professional tracks, synthesizers, multi-track digital audio workstations, audio engineering, advertising, radio, music publishing, marketing, MIDI instrumentation, and much more.  To live in an exciting time where technology and music are one in the same, our students in a cyber school setting deserve the very best in an online environment, regardless of the materials to be learned.

All of the above mentioned careers in music technology are important to our rapidly expanding use of technology as a classroom.  The careers above are normally discussed with students once they reach high school.  This is after they have had their general music education and time to experience music in many simpler ways. In a cyber setting, we can foster an interest in music, and technology at the same time, at the Kindergarten level, and the possibilities are endless!

So where do we start? We can’t possibly limit students in a cyber setting to experience music from 9th grade and up only…….and if we limit it to the career paths listed above, we completely leave out Music Therapy, Music Education, and most importantly…..Music Performance!  The students in our cyber setting receive an all-inclusive elementary music education curriculum that allows them to explore music through singing, playing instruments, composing, notating, listening, analyzing and performing individually and in groups. This is the kind of education that traditional brick and mortar schools offer, so why should we be any different?

This brings us to the meat of the article….how?

It truly starts with the elementary students. The youngest of minds can be the most inspiring and imaginative, the most creative and comprehensive.  Zoltan Kodaly, a famous musician and master in music education says the following about children:

"Let us take our children seriously! Everything else follows from this...only the best is good enough for a child." (1941) 

Kodaly had it right from the start – when we invest in our youngest students, our students will invest in

themselves and others as they continue to grow. So our investment is two-sided.  Yes, we as music teachers need to be concerned with the material taught and how they receive the experience in a cyber setting, but also that the material is authentic and exciting!  It is like telling your kids you are going for ice-cream, and you go to the grocery store to get yogurt…..kind of a letdown!

Here is how, as an elementary music teacher, I make my musical experiences for my students engaging, achievable, but also fun!

1. I have general goals for my students as musicians and people too!
2. The curriculum has music that stands the test of time, and is developmentally appropriate.
3. What we do is relevant to the music industry today, fun, and has goals that they can reach!

My utmost priority as a music teacher is to not create the next Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart or Michael Bublé…..although that would be pretty awesome……it is to have a classroom environment where my students can learn about music, and explore what their musical purpose is in life.  I want to aid in the well-balanced social and artistic development of my students, and to offer the opportunity to become a musically literate adult. I want my students to be able to sing to their children when they go to bed, or sing Happy Birthday to celebrate another year.  Music is about sharing the gift of expressing who we are, and how we are effected by the world around us.  My students don’t have to be the next big thing, just a big thing in their own lives.  I do this by implementing the following rules in my classroom:

1. At all times, we are respectful of the level of musicianship of our friends, and choose to support their learning.
2. We always have some class time to perform for our friends, and practice audience etiquette.
3. We give helpful feedback during a presentation of what we have listened to.
4. When working in small groups, we keep each other accountable – following rules and being polite helps us all learn better!
5. If you or a friend is struggling, offer encouragement, or ask for help!  Learning music in any way is like learning a second language, and that takes time!

I put in place activities, performance opportunities, progress checks and games so that my students can consistently be encouraging and well-minded musicians.

Second……the huge elephant always in the room….is the curriculum.  The two most important aspects of my curriculum are that the music being played stands the test of time, and that it is developmentally appropriate.  I feel as though having these firmly in place allows for some really wonderful and musical things to happen! When the curriculum is built upon how children develop physically, vocally and mentally, their achievement rate will be much higher, and the sense of accomplishing musical tasks will become intrinsically valued and later built upon, rather than just another check on the to-do list.  Music that stands the test of time simply is music that intrigues their musical ears and employs them to move. See the example below:

Setting: Student in a kindergarten classroom, at home currently in their music class

Activity: Gross motor – Skipping

In this class, a student will practice skipping to 5 different types of music: A classical overture with a rhythmic skipping value, Irish tap dancing music, to the beat of a lollipop drum, to an unaccompanied children’s folksong and to a short piece of rhyming literature.

In the example above, the student is at home, but still gets the opportunity to move in a way that they are already familiar with. They are also in the comfort of their own setting.  On top of that they are experiencing different cultures, and mediums as to how a rhythmic skipping pattern can be found in instrumental music, literature, dance music, and folksongs, while reinforcing gross motor development. You could also see this in a traditional setting.

Whew…almost done!

Lastly, the material is relevant to what they see today.  Most young musicians are exposed to music through the radio, television, mobile device or through music in their own home or culture. Technology is expanding quickly, so we must keep up with it, and offer learning materials that are just as exciting and new, but also attainable. Below you will see a chart of tools that I use for games, assessments, and some big ideas I cover in each of my grade levels. 

Student Learning is ascertained through keyboard performance. The students have supporting materials throughout their musical experiences.	Games	Assessments	Big Ideas in Music	Learning Theories Used
	-Circle Games used with online spinner http://wheeldecide.com/ -Prezi Presentations    https://prezi.com/ -Reading with an interactive book https://prezi.com/ -Flashcard review games https://quizlet.com/latest -Jeopardy    https://flipquiz.me/ -Resources: http://www.classicsforkids.com/composers/	- Google Forms -Quizzes -Tests -Written papers -Notated music -Group work -In-class performances	Google Document Link: Big Ideas in Music	Zoltan Kodaly Carl Orff Dalcroze Gordon Music learning Theory

I would like to encourage you to think of music learning as nurturing a mind to be aware of all facets of human life; that sometimes we don’t have the words to explain how we feel.  There are those who are better with mathematical computation skills, or others who use a written language to make human experiences tangible.  Regardless of our gifts or talents, music learning in a brick or mortar school or cyber setting should be the same; a chance to explore each bridge that music connects us to.  Whether the bridge leads to the divisions of note values and math, to describing the science behind amplitude and frequency to musical pitch, or the physical demands of practicing an instrument – music is in everything we do. Why not figure out how we can do it best?

The title of this article is “How Do You Teach Music in a Cyber Setting?”……and I hope this article has led you to answer the question in the title; that technology enhances music learning – not solely to make a way of living, but a way of life.

Writing Feedback that Cultivates Growth

by Hannah Lewis, High School English Teacher

In Virginia Woolf’s masterful and strange Orlando: A Biography, Orlando begins writing a long poem, “The Oak Tree,” when she is a young attendant on Queen Elizabeth I. She continues to work on it over the course of her 300+ year life, constantly revising, changing it, transforming it into something new. By the end of the novel, she plans to bury the poem under the oak tree of her youth that inspired the poem. That way, it can continue to transform and grow after she has passed away. 

An old adage says that “a poem is never finished; only abandoned.” I prefer to say that a piece of writing is never finished, only ready--to send, to publish, or to turn in! And while publishing a poem or turning in an essay for an English class might be a form of abandonment, it should also be an opportunity for that piece of writing--and the writer who created it--to go on growing like that centuries-old oak tree.

Why, then, do we English teachers so often assign numerical grades to a piece of student writing, then abandon it, along with its writer? 

There are decades of research that have firmly established that writing is a process. This may not come as news to any of us adults who have agonized about how exactly to word that email to our boss, that resignation letter, that message to a state representative. I suspect it isn’t really news to students, either, who agonize over how to word that text message to a crush or that comment on a friend’s Instagram photo. 

If we know, in the real world, that our writing doesn’t come out perfect the first time we write it, why does it often seem that school assignments expect students to get it right the first time? Or imply that there’s a right way of writing to begin with? If students are consulting their friends about how to craft that perfect text message, why aren’t they looking for feedback about how to craft that perfect thesis statement?

Part of the answer is student engagement, of course. The stakes seem a lot higher to a 14-year-old if her text message comes across wrong than if her “thesis statement”--whatever that is--isn’t quite right.

A more important part of the answer is the way we train students to write for school based on the type of feedback they receive on their writing. 

A student typically gets two pieces of feedback on her or his writing for school. First, she will get a letter grade, which seems awfully final and finished. Then, she might get some explanation of her mistakes. This feedback might include explanations about comma splices, inappropriate capitalization, or passive voice. Errors. Detractions from an otherwise seemingly “right” or “whole” or “perfect” piece of writing. 

This type of feedback provides students with two misconceptions about writing. First, we are saying that they are done with that piece of writing--their cue to abandon it. We are also saying that their “grade” reflects “deficits” from some kind of perfect whole--also, obviously, not true!

Of course, we cannot escape the necessities of applying a letter grade to student work. But we can and should change the way we approach student writing and the kinds of feedback we provide. If we want to convey to students that writing is a process, we must give them feedback beyond the kind that implies there are rules to writing that students are breaking, and that following those rules creates perfect writing.

When giving feedback both on rough drafts and on “final copies,” I try to use the following techniques:

Respond with Genuine Reader’s Questions

Amy, what do you mean by this sentence? Or Mark, I’m not sure who “you” is here--can you be a little bit clearer? These questions should come from a genuine reader’s response to the student’s writing, not a teacher-grader hunting for errors to deduct points. Often, I leave these kinds of comments using Google Doc’s “commenting” and “suggesting” features, and students will actually reply to my comments/questions, even if they were a part of the student’s final draft. They are still thinking about their writing, even after conventional wisdom tells them to abandon it.

Model Revision and Make Connections

Students need to know that Virginia Woolf and William Shakespeare and Ms. Lewis all write, re-write, abandon, start fresh, and constantly revise their writing. They need to be made to see that they do, too! Talking to students about their own literacy practices outside of school, as well as sharing my own, hopefully demonstrates to students that writing IS re-writing, and that writing is personal, organic, and messy!

Make Time for Revision

Students cannot appropriately revise based on teacher’s growth-oriented inquiry-based feedback in one day, or a few hours. If we are just giving them pointers about editing (e. g.: capitalize i,move the thesis statement from there to here, get rid of “you” and passive voice), that kind of a time frame for revision would be appropriate. If our feedback is genuine, students will need time to think about it, to play around with alternative ways of wording sentences, and to ask questions. 

Note: This one isn’t easy! It means a very quick turn-around time from when students submit drafts to when they get teacher feedback! There are ways to reduce the workload and turnaround time, but that’s a topic for another day.

Make Revision an Expectation for EVERY Writer

Every student needs to revise. If Virginia Woolf needs to revise, then a 15-year-old honors student is no exception! No piece of writing is perfect, and revision must be an expectation for all students. Otherwise, we are communicating to students that, actually, writing is about following rules and getting it “right.” We do a disservice to struggling and strong writers when we tell strong writers that their writing is “good enough” and doesn’t need to be revised. 

Ultimately, school writing is about learning how to do real-world writing better, and creating the illusion that there are specific rules to follow to create “right” writing in school separates school writing from the messy writing process of real life. 

Maybe most acorns don’t become trees, but when teachers give students feedback that cultivates growth we ensure that those germs that have the potential to grow aren’t abandoned prematurely. The most perfect acorn is still not a tree, and an imperfect seed may still sprout. Our job is to teach students that the acorn isn’t the tree, but that, with some sun, soil, and water, it can be. 

Photographs courtesy of Pixabay. 

When am I Ever Going to Use Algebra in Real Life?!

by Claudia Lee, Secondary Mathematics Teacher

Pushing a greased elephant up a hill – some people think it would be easier to do that than to do algebra.  Why is that?  Maybe they think they don’t have the “math gene.”   You know, the one that allows you to find that ever evasive “x”?  Even the letter x is mysterious.  Think about it.  It’s not the most commonly used letter in the alphabet, and just saying the letter seems to have a negative connotation.   There are those that think they’ll never find x – they think it’s constantly on the move like a fugitive, trying not to be discovered, hiding in dark alleys and behind dumpsters.  But what if we changed our thinking?  What if instead we thought of it as that poor little helpless puppy who just wanted to be discovered?  Wouldn’t you do anything in your power to find it?  

I hear people say, “I can’t do math,” or “I have a mental block when it comes to algebra.” Or better yet, “When am I ever going to use this in real life?”  Well I promise you, when you get abducted by aliens and your only way home is to solve a system of linear equations, you’ll be glad you know how to do it.  OK, I might be exaggerating just a little.  The truth of the matter is, you may not need to know at what time Train A catches up to Train B if it is traveling at twice the speed of Train B but leaves one hour later than Train B, I’ll give you that much.  But you might need to know how to figure out how much material to buy to fence in a yard, or to tile a floor.  Maybe finding out how much solution is needed for the proper ratio of a chemical mixture is something you’ll need for your job.  You might want to know how to calculate earnings on different types of investments, or the probability of a certain event happening.  The list goes on and on.  Here’s the point:  in order to be able to do all of these things, you need to be able to think logically, systematically, and analytically, as well as be able to problem solve.  And guess what?  Algebra teaches you to do that.  Yup, I’m not kidding.  

I’ll prove it to you.  Ready?  Here’s a good one.  

You start with 1 penny on Day 0.  On Day 1, you double it, so you have 2 cents.  On Day 2, you double that, so you now have 4 cents.     Every day, the previous day’s amount is doubled.  Now, let’s say I hire you for only 30 days.  You have the option of one of the following two salary structures.  You could either take $1,000,000 at the end of 30 days OR I start you off with 1 cent before you even start working.  On Day 1, I double that 1 cent, and continue each day according to the algorithm above, for 30 days.  At the end of 30 days you will receive the sum of the 30 day’s earnings.  Which option would you take?  I’ll make it even more interesting…instead of $1 million I’ll make it $5 million.  That’s a lot of money for 30 days of work!  BUT, is it the RIGHT choice???  Let’s look at it more analytically, shall we?

If you start with one cent and double it every day for a week, here is what you would have:

Not very impressive after one week, is it?  I bet that $5 million is looking pretty good right about now, huh?  Well, let’s look at what happens after the second week:

It’s marginally better, but still nowhere near $5 million!!  You are probably thinking who would be foolish enough to choose this option???  Let’s keep going…

Now that’s starting to look a little more promising!  But it’s still so far away from $5 million!  How can this option reach $5 million in 9 days???

Now here’s the kicker…I said in the beginning that at the end of 30 days you would receive the sum of the 30 days’ earnings.  Want to see me really blow your mind??  If you add up all 30 days of earnings, you end up with…wait for it…

$21,474,836.47.  Boom.  Mic drop.

Now, this particular example is probably not going to happen in real life.  I’m fairly confident that a company would go out of business if they offered this salary structure.  But at first you probably thought the $1 million option was pretty good because there was no way that one penny could turn into over $10 million in 30 days.  We approached this very analytically, making a chart so that visually it was easy to understand.  Now, I’m not going to go into the mechanics of the formula and how it works, but suffice it to say, if we hadn’t done this example and I had just given you an equation and said “Here’s a formula for exponential growth”, you might look at me like I have 3 heads.  More importantly, the concept of exponential growth might not make any sense at all to you.  And quite honestly, I wouldn’t blame you.  That might be the equivalent of me saying, “You have 12 pencils and the mail is delivered at 4 pm.  If the dog’s bone is bacon-flavored, how long will it take the dog to bury its bone in the backyard?”  But if we can apply something tangible to it, so that it makes more sense to us, doesn’t that make it easier to understand?  And yes, my friends, this concept of exponential growth is actually algebra, and it’s used in the real world.  Biology, physics, economics, finance, and computer technology all use exponential growth.    

So let’s get rid of this notion of “when am I ever going to use this in real life?” or “I can’t do math.”  It doesn’t fly with me.  You can do it, you just have to do it.  I can’t make it any simpler than that.  You. Can. Do. It.  Is it going to be hard?  Probably.  Will you understand it right away?  Maybe, maybe not.  Will you get discouraged?  Most likely.  Does that mean you shouldn’t try?  Of course not!  I guarantee that even the most notorious mathematicians have made mistakes.  Even they have failed miserably at some things they’ve tried to solve.  But they persevered, and you should too.  Give yourself the chance to be successful – you really have nothing to lose!!    

I implore you to think of algebra not as some course you have to take to get through high school, but rather as a tool that will help you to function in the real world.  Even if a topic doesn’t seem like something you’ll ever use in your life, think of it more as learning how to process information, how to approach a problem systematically, how to determine if a numerical answer makes sense.  I promise you, if you change your viewpoint, you’ll be determined to find that little puppy!

Establishing a Human Connection in a Digital World

by Katie Devlin, Secondary Social Studies Teacher

When I first became an online teacher three years ago, I felt as if I needed to adapt and acquaint myself with a brand new world. However, I knew that I still needed to present myself as the teacher that I knew I was; someone who was dedicated to her students and school and who really wanted her kids to succeed and do well. In a cyber world, the computer is both a gift and a curse. It enables us to create lessons that are interactive and at the cutting edge of technology. However, it can be so hard to maintain that human connection in our digital world. As a fairly new educator who is currently in the midst of her fourth year teaching, I have found that connection is key to fostering student success. Here are some of the tenets of online teaching that I try to integrate into my daily practices as an online educator:

1. Embrace your humanity! As I often stress to my students, we are all human. This means that mistakes will happen, as well as amazing successes in the school environment. In my live classes, I use my webcam so my students are aware of what I look like and see my smile as they enter my online classroom. When I create videos for courses, I use my camera so my students see that I am putting time and effort into crafting a (hopefully) great lesson for them. If I make a mistake, I acknowledge it and move forward; modeling to students that we can all overcome our missteps in the online world. Keeping a human element in an online world can foster connections.
2. Make it a community! Throughout my years as an online teacher, I have stressed to many students that this is a community of learners, not just a teacher and students. I also use online mediums such as Twitter and Instagram to follow educators that inspire me. One of the things that has stood out most to me in the past year is that teachers also need to assume the role of learner in the classroom. If we aren’t willing to accept changes, we won’t move forward in an ever-changing society! In my courses, I offer students the chance to offer feedback on lessons. Many students can be timid, so I stress to them that all feedback is valued and appreciated, even negative feedback. By showing students that they have a valued voice in the classroom and can indeed “teach the teacher”, a community is formed where everyone is valued.
3. Keep in communication! The hardest part about working in an online environment is communication. Many students who come to our school are extremely shy and mentioned that they “don’t like talking”. This means that self-advocacy skills are often lacking. I’ve tried to diversify my means of communication with students at our school. This means that I text students, email them, use gchat as a communication means, and use the phone to contact. While a student may be shy on the phone, they could be comfortable expressing themselves in a different manner. I’ve also found it important to ask students about their lives as well as how school is going. In the past, I have done check in emails that ended with a fun question instead of asking about their grades. The insight I gained into the lives of my students was powerful and helped the human connection grow in our digital environment.

Although this list is short, there are many different ways to foster the human connection in our digital world. How do you do so? I’d love to see your feedback in the comments section below!