This past Friday I noticed just how much paper shuffling teaching takes. When I was in private industry, there were papers to shuffle, but they were not in the same realm as the ones I deal with now. I have papers to grade, both homework and tests/quizzes. I have papers to write: homework, tests/quizzes, lesson plans, and student recommendations. I have other grading to record: programs and projects from computer science classes and online work for math classes. Then, I have to put all this on the online grading system ... plus I have to put assignments, etc. on the internet ... plus I have to create a certain amount of online work so that my math students get more practice. Also, in the modern American way, I have to send out either by email or the post office progress reports in case a student is failing or close to failing. Aaaagh!
I am working on moving our school to an LMS (Learning Management System). I personally like Moodle, partly for its free software and constant upgrades, etc. from the international Moodle community, but our school would need to have it hosted by someone else ... and that is where the problem lies for Moodle. Or for any other LMS around. Any suggestions, anyone? I could certainly use them.
Showing posts with label moodle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label moodle. Show all posts
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Waiting for the hurricane
I felt the title was appropriate since our NC community usually gets the tails of hurricanes, and, right now, we are getting an increase in humidity, clouds, and wind. It also fits the beginning of the school year. It's the first Saturday after the return of the students, and I am so glad to have the weekend off because I need the chance to rest and review for next week.
After 17 years in the profession and 10 years at my current school, I have very few problems with student behavior. (I just wish sometimes that politicians and people-concerned-with-education knew how few of the first ten responsibilities of a public school teacher have to do with actually helping students learn. They deal mostly with managing student behavior at all times and in all situations on the school property.) Since part of my responsibility, training, and interest lie in using technology to help teachers teach and students learn, I am always adding technology to my lessons. Currently, I am in year two of trying out Moodle with the intent of switching to it or some other LMS (Learning Management System) next year. This year all but my AP CS classes will have internet assignments through the school's Moodle test system. In addition, my math students will also be using the Khan Academy as part of their learning and practice process.
So I spent part of the week helping my math students start using our Moodle system and getting set up with the Khan Academy. Yesterday, to get as many students ready to go further on these systems, we were in the general computer lab. I felt like we were the shakedown crew because my classes were the first ones to use said lab this school year. We kept on running into software problems, but at least the computer technology coordinator and I learned some important lessons for next year. My poor students in all my classes get to be guinea pigs for almost all new general educational technology for the school. I think they feel it's a badge of honor to be the first to try things. They certainly end up with several stories to pass on to their friends. Last year, my Intro CS class used Moodle all year, so each quarter they each had an extra project grade to compensate for being first in using Moodle at the school. I believed that part of their learning was the input they gave us in using said system and in tolerating problems well I had with the system until I learned it better. This year there will be no extra grades for using these systems. They will, however, lose grades if they don't use the systems and do their work on time. Obviously, I am not concerned with my students liking me personally; I just want them to learn.
While keeping up with lessons and help for the 4 subjects I teach this year, I am also trying to finish helping other teachers get their homework websites up to date on syllabi. This school is the only one in which I've been required to have a syllabus for each subject area. Syllabi are mostly used in college, not high school, but we are a college-prep school, so it makes sense. It also makes it easier for the parents to know what their children should be learning and what the teacher's requirements and expectations are.
There is one new habit I want to have this year. I want to carry my planning book with me always and everywhere so that I keep up with all my lessons and all my other duties plus having the school's calendar items in one place. I mean to carry it with me because I teach using my classroom upstairs and 2 different computer labs downstairs, not to mention faculty meetings and parent-teacher conferences. I have always had a poor short-term memory, so note-taking is one of my talents. The problem lies with the fact that I don't always put my notes where I can use them; hence, the need for carrying my planning book with me and keeping my notes in it. Wish me luck.
After 17 years in the profession and 10 years at my current school, I have very few problems with student behavior. (I just wish sometimes that politicians and people-concerned-with-education knew how few of the first ten responsibilities of a public school teacher have to do with actually helping students learn. They deal mostly with managing student behavior at all times and in all situations on the school property.) Since part of my responsibility, training, and interest lie in using technology to help teachers teach and students learn, I am always adding technology to my lessons. Currently, I am in year two of trying out Moodle with the intent of switching to it or some other LMS (Learning Management System) next year. This year all but my AP CS classes will have internet assignments through the school's Moodle test system. In addition, my math students will also be using the Khan Academy as part of their learning and practice process.
So I spent part of the week helping my math students start using our Moodle system and getting set up with the Khan Academy. Yesterday, to get as many students ready to go further on these systems, we were in the general computer lab. I felt like we were the shakedown crew because my classes were the first ones to use said lab this school year. We kept on running into software problems, but at least the computer technology coordinator and I learned some important lessons for next year. My poor students in all my classes get to be guinea pigs for almost all new general educational technology for the school. I think they feel it's a badge of honor to be the first to try things. They certainly end up with several stories to pass on to their friends. Last year, my Intro CS class used Moodle all year, so each quarter they each had an extra project grade to compensate for being first in using Moodle at the school. I believed that part of their learning was the input they gave us in using said system and in tolerating problems well I had with the system until I learned it better. This year there will be no extra grades for using these systems. They will, however, lose grades if they don't use the systems and do their work on time. Obviously, I am not concerned with my students liking me personally; I just want them to learn.
While keeping up with lessons and help for the 4 subjects I teach this year, I am also trying to finish helping other teachers get their homework websites up to date on syllabi. This school is the only one in which I've been required to have a syllabus for each subject area. Syllabi are mostly used in college, not high school, but we are a college-prep school, so it makes sense. It also makes it easier for the parents to know what their children should be learning and what the teacher's requirements and expectations are.
There is one new habit I want to have this year. I want to carry my planning book with me always and everywhere so that I keep up with all my lessons and all my other duties plus having the school's calendar items in one place. I mean to carry it with me because I teach using my classroom upstairs and 2 different computer labs downstairs, not to mention faculty meetings and parent-teacher conferences. I have always had a poor short-term memory, so note-taking is one of my talents. The problem lies with the fact that I don't always put my notes where I can use them; hence, the need for carrying my planning book with me and keeping my notes in it. Wish me luck.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Working on the house
I've been preparing my kitchen in anticipation of scraping the ceiling. We plan on putting up a tin or fake-tin ceiling this summer. I will finish taking down everything on the cabinet tops today, my husband will wash clothes this evening, and I will cover the lower cabinets and appliances tomorrow and start scraping. My father would probably tell me that I take too long to do these things. I think he would be right, but I like to do quiet things in the heat and humidity of the afternoon.
My younger brother, however, seems to think I do a lot in the summer. He skyped me yesterday and made a comment about how busy I am when school's out (I don't remember his exact words, just the gist of what I got from them.). I do know that I hate doing the work, but I love the results, so I do it. Plus summer can be a waste if one does nothing useful. Besides, it's either do physical labor or exercise by walking down the greenway. Right now the physical labor is winning. Going up and down the step ladder for a couple of hours each day is great for my leg muscles.
I'm also trying to finish my Moodle site for the first quarter of a math class. I know that I will either have a study hall or a different math subject this fall, and I want to be ready in case the latter happens. I also need to do the same for both my Intro CS class and my Honors CS class. One thing I learned this past year is that I need to insure that my CS students cannot find the answers to their problems on the internet. For some reason, they don't think they're cheating when they do that.
My younger brother, however, seems to think I do a lot in the summer. He skyped me yesterday and made a comment about how busy I am when school's out (I don't remember his exact words, just the gist of what I got from them.). I do know that I hate doing the work, but I love the results, so I do it. Plus summer can be a waste if one does nothing useful. Besides, it's either do physical labor or exercise by walking down the greenway. Right now the physical labor is winning. Going up and down the step ladder for a couple of hours each day is great for my leg muscles.
I'm also trying to finish my Moodle site for the first quarter of a math class. I know that I will either have a study hall or a different math subject this fall, and I want to be ready in case the latter happens. I also need to do the same for both my Intro CS class and my Honors CS class. One thing I learned this past year is that I need to insure that my CS students cannot find the answers to their problems on the internet. For some reason, they don't think they're cheating when they do that.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Opportunity knocks!
My son and I went to the school yesterday morning so that I could have an accounts payable "bill" signed and faxed to our host's office. It should have taken all of 5 minutes, but it took closer to an hour. The business manager was on the phone, so we had to wait. A teacher borrowed my son to help him with computer hardware problems in his classroom while waiting. I taught a new teacher the basics of using his homework website. Then I got the paper signed and faxed. Son was still working in the one classroom, so I spent some time talking with a graduate I taught a few years back. Son was still working, so I spoke with a teacher about setting him up with a Moodle account for testing purposes. Son finally returned, but he had not been able to fix the problem. Funny thing is that the school pays for 2 full time tech people, one being my son's boss who was out yesterday, but the faculty call on my son whenever they have a problem and he's at the school because they have had no success with getting help from the other tech person.
Meantime, I finally took my serger sewing machine to a repair shop. It's been broken but usable for more than 10 years, but I was always leery of leaving it with anyone to fix it. The last time I left a sewing machine to be repaired (in another state), it really wasn't, so "once bit, twice shy" am I. I hope these people do a good job because I need a reliable repair place for my other sewing machine ... the one that has the problem that was never fixed.
In regards to both the one tech person at the school and the repair shop that never repaired my machine, I wish people would understand that life is far more than earning money. One's life has to have meaning as in doing the best one can do for others, like fixing machines or solving computer problems. Perhaps it's my religious view, but I believe that we all need to help each other whenever possible and appropriate. No one was ever put on this earth "to make money", no matter how much he/she wants to believe that.
Meantime, I finally took my serger sewing machine to a repair shop. It's been broken but usable for more than 10 years, but I was always leery of leaving it with anyone to fix it. The last time I left a sewing machine to be repaired (in another state), it really wasn't, so "once bit, twice shy" am I. I hope these people do a good job because I need a reliable repair place for my other sewing machine ... the one that has the problem that was never fixed.
In regards to both the one tech person at the school and the repair shop that never repaired my machine, I wish people would understand that life is far more than earning money. One's life has to have meaning as in doing the best one can do for others, like fixing machines or solving computer problems. Perhaps it's my religious view, but I believe that we all need to help each other whenever possible and appropriate. No one was ever put on this earth "to make money", no matter how much he/she wants to believe that.
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