Edmodo is accessible online using any Internet capable device, such as a PC, Mac, tablet (iPad), and Smartphones (including Android devices and iPhones). Free downloadable apps allow students to quickly and easily access their account from any mobile device or computer and set up notifications within Edmodo to receive alerts via text or e-mail regarding important class assignments and reminders for upcoming events. Parents will also be invited to create their own account which will allow them to monitor their child's assignments, grades, and posting activity.
Edmodo will not be used as a social network like Facebook. The site will be used to discuss school-related content only, in an open forum design. Private student-to-student messaging is not a supported feature of Edmodo.
Students are expected to adhere to the following rules:
- Pay attention to your audience. All of your posts will be seen by all of the sixth grade students, teachers, Mr. Ichimura, and the D.A.R.E. officer. Only the posts that you send directly to Ms. King are private. You should only send posts directly to her if there's a problem, you have a question that cannot be answered by a peer, or want to confidentially report bullying or other issues.
- Do not address other students in your posts. For example say, "I respectfully disagree about..." NOT "I disagree with Sally about...."
- DO NOT USE OUR CLASS SITE FOR SOCIALIZING! Do not post a question like, "Hey, John, Steve, and Scott- Do you want to come to my party on Saturday? Save your personal business for IM, texting, or other social networking sites with your parent's permission.
- Stay Positive! You can debate and disagree with others without put-downs and making a person feel badly about their post.
- USE APPROPRIATE LANGUAGE! Do not use slang words such as "suck, gay, etc." Do not use text abbreviations.
- Write complete sentences.
There are or will be additional tutorials for using Edmodo in Edmodo. If you have trouble getting in, please email me at sandra.king@jordandistrict.org or just wait until school starts. Don't panic! :o}
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What will homework look like now?
For homework, students will be required to watch 2-10 minute videos or other types of presentations, take notes, write a summary of what they learned and a question to ask during our class discussion. Most videos will be about 5 min. and many will be created by me where I will teach the students a mini lesson. Activities might include:
- Watch a video clip and take notes.
- Conduct a simple science experiment with items that can easily be found at home.
- Write a reflection about their learning
- Discuss a topic w/peers via Edmodo
- Prepare for a science experiment by learning some background information and then writing down a hypothesis
- Work on a web 2.0 project
- Complete some "traditional homework".
Students will be able to pause, rewind, or re-watch any segments of the video at any time. They will be able to learn at their own pace and become more self-directed. When students are absent due to illness, they will not fall behind in classroom instruction and will be able to return to class almost without missing a beat. The videos will be archived and easily accessible in several places including Edmodo.
What will classwork look like now?
When students come into class, we will begin by reviewing their notes, summaries, and questions. This may be done as small cooperative learning groups or as a whole class. This will give me the opportunity to clear up any misconceptions and to answer questions. After reviewing, students will be engaged in simulations, activities, experiments, reading, writing, group projects, and learning center activities. I will be moving from group to group to help, answer questions, and to challenge the students to use higher order thinking skills. As they are working in small groups, it will also provide me with more 1:1 time to better meet the needs of each student.
What does a "flipped classroom" require of you as a parent?
The "flipped classroom" will enable you to be more involved in your child's education. Many parents comment about how much they learn throughout the year and how they appreciate being aware of what their child is learning. Parents will no longer need to ask, "What are you learning in school?" only to get the common tween answer of, "Nothing!". They will know and be able to ask a question more like, "What activity did you do in class today?".
Parents can help their student in the following ways:
- Provide your student with a quiet place to watch the video (preferably with headphones to limit distractions) each night. If Internet access is not available at your house, provide your student with the time to stay after school to watch the video in my classroom or at the public library.
- Ask your student questions about what they watched and have them read their summary to you.
- Read the summary yourself to make sure it sounds complete and makes sense.
- Read the question they have ready for the class discussion and see if they can answer it.
- Encourage them to take their time while watching the videos, which means they pause, rewind, or re-watch portions. Make sure that they're taking good notes.
- Watch the videos with them so that you can help them study before a test.
A "flipped classroom" doesn't change the fact that your child will have homework every night. The only thing that is different is the type of homework. Students are expected to come to class each day prepared with background knowledge of a concept. They are not expected to come to class with full mastery.
The "flipped classroom" requires your student to take responsibility for their learning in several ways:
- Plan time to watch the video.
- Take initiative to re-watch videos that they need to see again.
- Be responsible to watch the video when they are absent so that they can come back to class prepared.
- Take initiative to communicate with me either online (via Edmodo or e-mail) if there are issues with watching the videos. This includes coming in before school or staying in for a recess to watch them before their class.
A large portion of a student's grade will come from their notes and quizzes. Students will take quizzes often so that I can assess their learning.
The notes, summary, and question is their homework on most nights. Failure to complete homework will result in a mark on their RC card and the consequences for being unprepared.
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A Few Other Important Items
Digital Citizenship: It is imperative that students understand online safety and etiquette (netiquette). Parents should take the initiative to set guidelines for Internet use in their home. They should be aware at all times about the sites that the students are visiting for research. Cyber-bullying is a crime! Students who engage in cyber-bullying will immediately have a conference with Mr. Ichimura, their parents, myself, and our D.A.R.E. officer. They will face school suspension and will most likely lose access to the computers other than for submitting their work. Anyone who is being harassed by another student should save the message and/or take a screenshot as evidence and immediately tell their parents, a teacher, or someone at the school's office. Click on the "Safety" tab here on this blog to access videos for students that you can use to start a discussion. The students will have the assignment to watch at least three videos and discuss the topic with their parents. Please stress that students SHOULD NOT share passwords (even with their friends).
Email/Web 2.0 Tools: In most cases, students will not need an email to use a site for our projects. Most of the projects that we will use are available to the students through educational accounts via a teacher. In some cases however, a student will need an email just for the purpose of starting an account. You can easily set up a dummy email for that purpose. (I would be happy to show you if you need help.) Some sites, regardless of whether a teacher is using it for classroom projects or not, require parent permission for students under the age of 13. In those cases, I will need a parent to help their student set up an account. The students will also have a gmail address (Google email) --sort of. They will use their gmail account to sign up for various sites but all of the email will come to me as their teacher. Unfortunately, many great web tools are not free to schools, but they are free to the public just to try. Sometimes I will ask the students to use the free public version so that they have the opportunity to learn that tool. Hopefully, by the end of the year, your student will have a little taste and knowledge about how to use a variety of web 2.0 tools. As our world changes, they will need these tools for their future assignments and job responsibilities. I think that we're headed for a fascinating year of learning and I hope you'll join us on our journey and learn some cool things too!
STEM/STEAM: STEM is an acronym for science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Some professionals in the field of education choose to add in the A for arts and I will too. Many of our classroom activities will be based on STEM principles. I will also be working with the University of Utah's Engineering Department. There are several activities planned specifically with engineering in mind throughout the year. Some students with an aptitude and interest in programming will be able to learn and use their programming skills to demonstrate their learning in social studies.
Disclaimer: Although we will be using a lot of technology for our school projects this year, I am not a techie. I am learning! I will make A LOT of mistakes this year. Videos (or other presentations) won't be perfect and I most likely won't do much editing if ever. It is REALLY different to talk to a computer for a mini lesson than to talk to a classroom full of kids. I will do my best. Hopefully, I'll improve as we go throughout the year. My goal is to get the kids to a point where they can make videos and teach each other. I'm planning on the students and myself learning a lot together. They will probably teach me more than I could ever teach them. I'm inviting you to join in on the journey. If you are a techie, HELP! Please help me to help your kids especially if you have a background using Google Apps. Please, come in the classroom at any time. The door is open, but please excuse the possible noise and mess because we'll be busy learning!
