Friday April 24, 2020

Today I recorded a brief video message intended for both students and parents. Hopefully it is encouraging. Here it is.

Monday April 20, 2020

Today all members of my advising group received

Monday April 13, 2020

Good afternoon,

From now through Friday April 24, please follow the process below for your learning with Mr Crocker. New expectations may come after the 24th, but here is what to expect for now.

1. Students, if you haven't already, click here to activate your remote learning with Mr Crocker
2. Parents and Students, Click here to activate my new Remind account, specifically for communications during this covid time. Remind is cool because you can text me directly via the Remind app on your phone, or use a computer to message me using Remind.
3. Students, login to your Google Classroom around the same time you would be scheduled in regular class each week. You won't find a live video class session there, but you will find learning opportunities posted there, for the week. You can choose how you flexibly want to approach the work. Just check at the time of your class session, and you'll be able to start there and make progress in your learning. I will only update your Google Classroom once or twice per week, not daily.
4. Parents and Students, if you would like to have real-time contact with me, set an appointment during my afternoon office hours. Follow these steps...
   1. Click this link to set an appointment. This link is also available in my email signature, at the bottom.
   2. Find and click one of the gray boxes for the time that will work for you. You will see that each 15-minute appointment is called "Office Hours." After you click the gray box for the time you want, a new box will appear that says "Book an appointment."
   3. In the space that says What: Office Hours (Robin Crocker), please change this space to contain only your first name and last initial, so I know who set the appointment. This space will be visible to anyone using the calendar.
   4. Next, in the space that says "Where" indicate whether you want this meeting to be Zoom video, Zoom audio, email, or Remind text.
   5. Finally, in the space that says "Description," write one or two lines about what you would like to discuss. What you write here will only visible to me.

• For Mon / Thursday classes, since you're receiving this message late on Monday, expect your first Google Classroom assignment before noon on Tuesday April 14. All other classes will be ready this week at their regular times.
• For advising, expect to hear from me by this Wednesday 4/15 before 4 pm. There will be one task for you to complete for the month of April.
• For REM classes, expect to hear from me by this Wednesday 4/15 before 4 pm.

I look forward to seeing you logging in to Google Classroom and hearing from you at the afternoon appointments.

Onward,

Mr Crocker

Monday April 6, 2020

Good afternoon,

This message is for all classes, all students and parents. I am thinking of you fondly and I know how difficult this time may be for each of you. In Google Classroom are two videos, one of me (here), and one of the Queen of England (here). I hope you find them both to be encouraging. If the videos don't work for you, the summary is this:

- I miss you

- We're living in a historical moment, and it's very difficult

- The Queen has lived through many life-altering events, and yet this one is unique and different

- My goal is to not pile on a bunch of busy work. I want to give you time to honor what this moment means for you

- Let yourself feel whatever you're feeling

- We're all in this together

- Think about how you might make this a special time that you will remember fondly

- Stay tuned for more updates throughout the week

Hang in there,

Mr Crocker

March 27, 2020

This is What History Looks Like, Vol 2

Consider keeping a daily journal of how this stay-at-home situation is affecting you, how you're spending your time, what you're thinking about, anything new that you're doing, etc. You never know who might read it, or when they might read it. Anne Frank was an 11 year old girl in 1941 who simply wrote a personal diary while she was hiding in an upstairs closet so the Nazis wouldn't find her. Later, when the war ended, her journal was recovered and saved. It is now widely read by hundreds of thousands of people each year in schools and elsewhere.

We are fortunate during this Coronavirus quarantine we are that we are not at war or under attack. Still, this is an incredibly unusual and difficult time for daily life in America and the world. I have friends age 70 and older who are saying they've never experienced anything like this. That includes the AIDS / HIV epidemic in the 1980s, the Vietnam war and Korean war. There was also a global flu pandemic in 1918 that is very similar to what is happening now. Most people alive now did not experience that flu, but it was just as devastating as what we're all experiencing now, and is in most history textbooks.

I believe this covid-19 pandemic will be in the history books that your children and grandchildren will be using in the decades to come. You too could be part of the history books and stories that live beyond 2020. Consider writing and keeping evidence of your daily life, even just for 5 minutes a day.

March 26, 2020

Results of My Master's Research

During October and November of this year, two of my high school classes served as an experimental population for my Master's research. The focus was whether personalized learning technologies help students grow their vocabulary skills, specifically with identifying Greek and Latin word roots.

The slideshow linked below is a summary of that culminating project, which resulted in my earning the degree (M.Ed in Learning and Technology from Western Governor's University). The slide show provides a medium level detail (not too deep, not too shallow). Below is also a bullet point summary of the experiment's outcome. And you can view the full slideshow here.

• Two groups of 24 students completed the same 7 days of learning activities, focusing on building comprehension of Greek and Latin word roots.
• Group A used only traditional learning methods (paper, pencil, class discussions, note-taking, flash cards, quizzes on paper).
• Group B did the same activities as Group A, but was also allowed to use various digital and online learning technologies.
• Both groups took the same pre-test and post-test.
• By the end of the unit, both groups had improved their scores on their respective post-tests, showing that learning did occur in both groups.
• Interesting Outcome: The final scores for Group A, who did not use technology, were higher than the final scores for Group B, who did use technology.
• In Group B, who used learning technology, the software that yielded the most measurable learning was Quizziz. The other learning technologies (IXL and Sadlier) showed only small impacts in helping students learn.
• Keep in mind -- this is just one study, in one school. Still, the results are thought-provoking.

March 24, 2020

OpenLibrary.org

If your local library is closed, and/or you've racked up fines, and/or all the good ebooks they have are on hold or weeks away from being available, consider a free account at OpenLibrary.org. I was able to get Harry Potter Book 5, PDF download on a two week loan.

https://openlibrary.org/

March 23, 2020

Greetings to all parents and students. We are living in unprecedented times. It is really "into the unknown" and just doing the next right thing. Taking care of ourselves, our feelings and our families. Below is a video showing what I was up to today. ("This Is What History Looks Like, Vol 1")

After Spring Break, we may see a more formal return to digital, online learning assignments and Google Classroom. For now, just stay tuned to your emails for updates like this. And relax, eat well and get a full nights' sleep. Here for you.

What History Looks Like Vol 1.mp4