A New Normal
(May Not Be A Bad Thing)
POSTED: May 26, 2020
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Well, teaching has certainly been different of late. The distance-education portion of this school year, thanks to Covid-19, has been a trying time for everyone. Parents, kids, workers of all types, and teachers. For myself, I know it’s been difficult trying to teach high-school teachers from afar, keep my two young girls from hurting each other or themselves while also preparing their lunches and snacks every few minutes (or so it seems), and also finding some time for myself. Times are tough.
Well, teaching has certainly been different of late. The distance-education portion of this school year, thanks to Covid-19, has been a trying time for everyone. Parents, kids, workers of all types, and teachers. For myself, I know it’s been difficult trying to teach high-school teachers from afar, keep my two young girls from hurting each other or themselves while also preparing their lunches and snacks every few minutes (or so it seems), and also finding some time for myself. Times are tough.
Luckily for me, the work I have been doing in changing my educational approach have helped prepare me for this even more than I could’ve imagined. I am certainly not alone in my belief that the current educational framework is flawed, and that there has to be a better way, but that’s a topic for another post. What I have been doing is investing heavily in tech, mainly Google Forms and Sheets, and have also been borrowing/stealing ideas from the Gamification of the Classroom movement, mainly the #XPLAP Twitter community, and was set up well for Distance Learning.
Luckily for me, the work I have been doing in changing my educational approach have helped prepare me for this even more than I could’ve imagined. I am certainly not alone in my belief that the current educational framework is flawed, and that there has to be a better way, but that’s a topic for another post. What I have been doing is investing heavily in tech, mainly Google Forms and Sheets, and have also been borrowing/stealing ideas from the Gamification of the Classroom movement, mainly the #XPLAP Twitter community, and was set up well for Distance Learning.
Basically, my class is fully online, it auto-grades student work (plenty based simply on completion), and I have set up a gradebook that allows for student choice of over one hundred (!!!) assignments per course where they can choose how they achieve their target grade and earn bonus XP, cash and other perks if they do more than is required.
Basically, my class is fully online, it auto-grades student work (plenty based simply on completion), and I have set up a gradebook that allows for student choice of over one hundred (!!!) assignments per course where they can choose how they achieve their target grade and earn bonus XP, cash and other perks if they do more than is required.
First off, the auto-grading XP stuff has been a gamechanger, but I cannot take credit for it. That would go to @MarianaGSerrato, who has this incredible post on her blog Teaching Above The Test. I have so many =IMPORTRANGE and =VLOOKUP formulas in my gradebook that it’d make your head spin, but I have gotten so used to adding new ones that it’s second nature to me, and once the Sheets are all connected to each other you never have to reconnect them.
First off, the auto-grading XP stuff has been a gamechanger, but I cannot take credit for it. That would go to @MarianaGSerrato, who has this incredible post on her blog Teaching Above The Test. I have so many =IMPORTRANGE and =VLOOKUP formulas in my gradebook that it’d make your head spin, but I have gotten so used to adding new ones that it’s second nature to me, and once the Sheets are all connected to each other you never have to reconnect them.
Next up, all of my assignments are collected via Google Form, which I have began to house of my own Google Site but can still be used in the Google Classrom (and as a perk, marks can be automatically imported from Forms in here). I give tests, quizzes, multiple-choice assignments and the like, but also collect files via the “File Upload” function in Forms. It creates a folder in my Drive where I can go and preview all the work to make sure they didn’t hand in trash, and tell students if they get caught trying to cheat the system that they’ll be penalized in the game.
Next up, all of my assignments are collected via Google Form, which I have began to house of my own Google Site but can still be used in the Google Classrom (and as a perk, marks can be automatically imported from Forms in here). I give tests, quizzes, multiple-choice assignments and the like, but also collect files via the “File Upload” function in Forms. It creates a folder in my Drive where I can go and preview all the work to make sure they didn’t hand in trash, and tell students if they get caught trying to cheat the system that they’ll be penalized in the game.
Next up is what I’m most proud of though: my gradebook that allows for student choice, and automatically compiles bonus. As you can see from the image I posted earlier, my gradebook has “Required” and “Optional” assignments. The Required ones must be done in order to earn full credit for the Optional ones, or else they only get half (I have some fun =IF statements on the go there). But while the total section is out of 325 XP, it caps itself at 250 XP which is the target, which means they only need to do 10 of the 13 assignments to earn full marks. Anything above and beyond the 250 XP can be banked 1:1 as test credit or 2:1 as currency, where perks and powerups can be purchased. Some of these perks multiply the values of assignments submitted, meaning even less assignments need to be done, but if a student is willing to do all of the work in that section, why not reward them?
Next up is what I’m most proud of though: my gradebook that allows for student choice, and automatically compiles bonus. As you can see from the image I posted earlier, my gradebook has “Required” and “Optional” assignments. The Required ones must be done in order to earn full credit for the Optional ones, or else they only get half (I have some fun =IF statements on the go there). But while the total section is out of 325 XP, it caps itself at 250 XP which is the target, which means they only need to do 10 of the 13 assignments to earn full marks. Anything above and beyond the 250 XP can be banked 1:1 as test credit or 2:1 as currency, where perks and powerups can be purchased. Some of these perks multiply the values of assignments submitted, meaning even less assignments need to be done, but if a student is willing to do all of the work in that section, why not reward them?
The result? I’ve created numerous sections of classroom content on a Google Site that I’ve built for each class, each with 13 assignments, links to YouTube videos, articles, documentaries, podcasts, you name it. And the process of planning additional ones has already began, mostly because I’ve been slowly building up assignments over the years already. I just need time to put it all together, and luckily that is something that we have during these quarantine days.
The result? I’ve created numerous sections of classroom content on a Google Site that I’ve built for each class, each with 13 assignments, links to YouTube videos, articles, documentaries, podcasts, you name it. And the process of planning additional ones has already began, mostly because I’ve been slowly building up assignments over the years already. I just need time to put it all together, and luckily that is something that we have during these quarantine days.
I feel like a content curator instead of a teacher at the moment, and that may continue for a bit even when schools reopen, as the new normal has yet to be specificed. But I think that’s okay. It’s basically a flipped classroom to some degree, and it’s going to have to be for the time being, but with the tech I’ve incorporated, the gamified elements, and the instant feedback nature of it all, I think I’m on to something. My new normal will also not be the same, either, and that’s the best part to come from all of this.
I feel like a content curator instead of a teacher at the moment, and that may continue for a bit even when schools reopen, as the new normal has yet to be specificed. But I think that’s okay. It’s basically a flipped classroom to some degree, and it’s going to have to be for the time being, but with the tech I’ve incorporated, the gamified elements, and the instant feedback nature of it all, I think I’m on to something. My new normal will also not be the same, either, and that’s the best part to come from all of this.
(A preview of one of my Google Sites sections for my Creative Promotions class)
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