In the Rearview: YouTube for Educators

BACKGROUND

The purpose of the EdTech 533 – YouTube for Educators course as offered by Boise State University during the 2017 Fall semester is to support graduate students in developing the media skills necessary for 21st century education. Some of the key deliverables for this course are as follows:

• Produce educational video for YouTube using digital video cameras and editing software.

• Design and develop appropriate instructional activities that integrate online video.

• Examine the benefits and controversial aspects of video sharing in the classroom.

ANALYSIS

The Big 3 Ideas

Though the lessons learned are too numerous to count, and further exploration is not practical for a short blog post, I feel that the following strategies will most positively impact and influence my future career as an educator and EdTech advocate:

1. Know the copyright laws and how public domain and fair use interact. As authors and publishers of instructional content, it is imperative that public access (not necessarily public domain) resources are not adopted into our materials without explicit consent. Doing the opposite may not only decreases our credibility in the education sector, but can have legal consequences. When in doubt – create your own and cite the source.
2. Creating a storyboard and media asset plan is a helpful strategy in creating large media projects. In future projects, I intend to merge both of these documents into a more cohesive and compatible format to effectively sequence media assets and increase productivity.
3. In the past, I relied heavily upon screen recorders and animation files to portray microlearning. Through the combination of many graphic and video design strategies, and through the need to learn new video editing software, I was provided the opportunity to merge video art into a cohesive, instructionally sound mini-documentary.

YouTube in Education

Though skeptical of the prolonged use of YouTube, especially when applying such a strategy in an educational setting, this video platform is actually a powerful way to communicate with students in an asynchronous matter and provide just-in-time support. For example: (1) uploading help videos and homework examples could be “unlocked” by providing the “unlisted URL” to students at the right time, (2) using existing YouTube videos in combination with Google Forms to create a multimedia-rich experience for students through a media literacy assignment, and (3) encouraging students to create video deliverables to demonstrate mastery with course content and 21st century skills. Based upon these powerful uses of YouTube, it will become one of my main tools for assessment AS learning.

Media literacy and its Educational Impact

Media literacy assignments combine the power and ease of existing educational material already developed and shared on YouTube, with the opportunity for teachers and curriculum developers to create a relevant and meaningful learning experience through higher order thinking skills. First of all, it is important accurately define the term, Media Literacy, which entails all electronic or digital graphic and video design used to transmit messages, where Media Literacy Education is the field dedicated to teaching the skills necessary for such action. In order to become a successful student and responsible working citizen of the 21st century, learners must develop skills related to sophisticated information that impacts the way we think, feel, and act.

The main competencies of Media Literacy Education surround the following framework described below:

• Access – Identify pertinent and appropriate media information and effectively organizing delivery to share with others. This was demonstrated through the selection and sequencing of the GRIT tutorials in increasing difficulty of cognitive skills.
• Analyze – Challenge learners to use critical thinking skills to evaluate credibility of the source, along with message quality, point of view, and bias. This was demonstrated through questions such as, “do you believe that this perspective is based upon fact or opinion? Why?”
• Reflect – Encourage learners to internalize information and apply social responsibility to the topic presented. This is identified through questions like, “reflect on how you, as a student, can apply motivation strategies to remain “gritty” even when the material is hard and takes some time to understand.”
• Act – This includes a call to action for learners to apply what they have learned to future interactions in the workplace, school, community, or family. This call is demonstrated through problem-solving activities such as, “Now that you have been provided an opportunity to learn how GRIT can be used to master your academic goals, think about one area in which you continue to struggle despite all your hard efforts. Consider the name of the subject, the specific problem you are having, what solutions you have tried, who you have reached out to for help, and any progress you have made.”

Application of Skills

In this course, I was introduced to leveraging educational videos to teach units through a playlist lesson which can be assigned for homework or may be used as scaffolding for developing students. In addition to adding this resource to my lesson plans, I would like to use instructor vlogging. This is an easy way to communicate with students after the school day and provide a reminder for key content or assignment directions. It is also an effective way to introduce complex topics or new modules. Finally, I will be using mini-documentaries within applied contexts such as labs or project-based learning assignments to provide background information from a variety of sources in a concise, engaging format. After viewing, the students can begin their experiential learning project.

The AECT Connection

AECT Standards for Professional Education Programs	Project	Demonstration of Mastery
STANDARD 1: Content Knowledge (Managing)	Media Asset Plan	“Candidates demonstrate the ability to effectively manage people, processes, physical infrastructures, and financial resources to achieve predetermined goals.” The Media Asset Plan required me to identify, categorize, and assign media elements to the development of the mini-documentary by planning media creation processes.
STANDARD 3: Learning Environments (Ethics)	Mini-Documentary	“Candidates foster a learning environment in which ethics guide practice that promotes health, safety, best practice, and respect for copyright, Fair Use, and appropriate open access to resources. “ When developing the mini-documentary, I was required to adhere to copyright laws and fair use. This project helped me uncover new resources that are open access such as pixabay images and public domain scientific images sponsored by the CDC and FDA.
STANDARD 2: Content Pedagogy (Using)	Playlist Lesson	“Candidates implement appropriate educational technologies and processes based on appropriate content pedagogy.” The playlist lesson required me to identify relevant and appropriate video resources to meet a learning objective. Further, this project mandated that the sequence of this media was effectively sequenced for a cohesive lesson covering the relative content that would meet intended learning outcomes.

 

Creating SMART Objectives from Standards

BACKGROUND

Lesson objectives are specific statements written in behavioral terms that identify what a student will be able to do as a result of the teacher’s instruction. Lesson objectives should be student centered, with a focus on student outcomes, not the action of teachers.

Many school districts use the mnemonic acronym, SMART, as a guide for writing desired objectives. Each objective should be:

• Specific
• Measurable or observable
• Attainable for the audience
• Relevant and results oriented
• Time-bound

Please consult the following infographic for an example as to how SMART objectives can be applied to the Common Core.

Applying Standards in “Real-Life”

The concept of reverse curriculum development is a popular form of instructional design within the ADDIE backwards design model. In this unit, we learned how to apply the principles of backward design and unpacking a standard to ensure that the required learning content and skill level is achieved by the student.

It is important to understand the standards that govern the education in your school, district, and state as they guide the learning requirements for each student dependent on grade level and content area. Once the proficiencies have been defined from the action verbs included in the standard, the teacher can apply the same level of Bloom’s revised taxonomy to create learning objectives using measurable action verbs. These objectives must be measurable, and a best practice is to write these as SMART goals. Another important concept is that of the “big idea” or theme of the lesson. By keeping the focus as the “main thing”, teachers and students can remain on-track during the class period and ensure maximum learning.

As an example, I unpacked a 9-10th grade standard in Common Core for scientific exploration with claims and counterclaims. Keeping in mind the summative assessment (scientific paper) and providing assessments AS learning (activities), the students were properly scaffolded to move from their present state of not knowing how to effectively argue claims and counterclaims, to an organized, persuasive factual paper.

REFERENCES:

Common Core. (2017). English Language Arts Standards. Retrieved from http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/

eLearning Industry. (2017, Jan 19). ADDIE Vs. Backward Design: Which One, When, And Why? Retrieved from https://elearningindustry.com/addie-vs-backward-design

Teachthought. (n.d.). 50 Resources For Teaching With Bloom’s Taxonomy. Retrieved from https://www.teachthought.com/pedagogy/50-resources-for-teaching-with-blooms-taxonomy/

Backwards Mapping Standards

INTRODUCTION

Educational experts, Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe, propose that educators begin planning with the end-in-mind – specifically what students should know and be able to do at the end of a lesson or unit. These outcomes are captured in the goals or standards that have been developed by a school, state, or country. This unique approach to designing curriculum and lesson plans is explained within their publication, Understanding by Design.

Drawing further upon this theory is the process “backwards mapping”, often used in the modern classroom by teachers wanting to create assessments and learning experiences to help students meet goals or standards.

There are three main steps for successful backwards design:

1. The teacher determines the goals or standards that student should accomplish (desired result).
2. The teacher determines how he/she will know students are meeting the goal or standard (summative assessment).
3. The teacher plans the activities that will help students meet the goal or standard (instructional strategies).

SCOPE & RATIONALE

This blog post focuses on the requirements of Arizona’s College and Career Ready Standards (ACCRS) adopted from the Common Core for 9-10th grade Biology students.

This state standard was selected because modern-day scientists will require the ability to not only think critically about health/science/medical claims, but also effectively organize their position in a cohesive, persuasive manner. This will be especially important when presenting findings to executive leadership, stakeholders, project teams, and for publication in scientific journals.

STANDARD SELECTION … 9‐10.WHST.1

Writing Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects 6–12: Text Types and Purposes – 9-10th grade students

Write arguments focused on discipline‐specific content.

1. Introduce precise claim(s), distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and create an organization that establishes clear relationships among the claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence.
2. Develop claim(s) and counterclaims fairly, supplying data and evidence for each while pointing out the strengths and limitations of both claim(s) and counterclaims in a discipline‐ appropriate form and in a manner that anticipates the audience’s knowledge level and concerns.
3. Use words, phrases, and clauses to link the major sections of the text, create cohesion, and clarify the relationships between claim(s) and reasons, between reasons and evidence, and between claim(s) and counterclaims.
4. Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone while attending to the norms and conventions of the discipline in which they are writing.
5. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from or supports the argument presented.

PROFICIENCY	ASSESSMENT	LEARNING ACTIVITY
CATEGORIZE alternate and opposing claims drawing upon scientific evidence.	Matching exercise graded for accuracy in mapping evidence to claims, and appropriate categorization.	Case Study and collaborative matching exercise to map evidence to claims. (1 class)
CREATE an organization to establish clear relationships between claims and counterclaims.	Complete and accurate Fishbone diagram which reveals appropriate categorization of claims and counterclaims with evidentiary support mapped for the student’s selected research topic.	Search pop culture and identify topic of interest. Research topic in peer-reviewed journals to locate claims and counterclaims. (1 class) Fishbone diagram mapping template to document claims, counterclaims, and supporting evidence for their research topic.  (2 classes)
DEVELOP claim and counterclaim arguments objectively while citing evidence to support or negate such claims.	Scientific essay will provide clear arguments for validity of claims, and be objective in nature.	Using Modified IMRAD format to create scientific papers. (1 class)  Organize scientific essay based on IMRAD. (1 class)

 

Managing the Learning Environment: Reflecting on Fears

Overview

Not all effective teachers have the same classroom management style. Their style evolves over time based on their knowledge and experience. The following chart reflects my perceived strengths and weaknesses for classroom management at the midpoint in the Educator Preparation Program, and contains strategies and professional development activities that may bolster required knowledge, attitudes, skills, and interpersonal requirements (KASI’s).

CONFIDENCE

Maintaining a Positive Classroom Climate. STRATEGY: Create a Classroom Pledge with the involvement of students. Where needed, implement a behavior card or progress report for parents. Establishing Norms and Procedures. STRATEGY: Embed process controls at each step in the lesson delivery. Set clear expectations for compliance with limited steps (up to 5) and provide reminders to serve as “job aids” at desks and stations. Gradual Release of Responsibility model has been mastered during my early years as an experimental scientist. STRATEGY: Explain the model to the students and describe how we move from novice to master. Include the What, How, and Why within the description to students. Setting High Expectations for academic performance and behavior. STRATEGY: As part of the class pledge, include “I” statements for students so they internalize the action. For example, “I can apply my best effort and behavior in this class so I can become a responsible and valued member of the classroom.” De-escalating aggressive behavior directed towards others. STRATEGY: Use Love & Logic principle to attend Recovery Room with student to understand problem.

FEARS

Classroom transitions will require more practice. It is desired to include these actions as part of the lesson plan, and create routine. PD ACTIVITY: Pay particular attention to these during live class observations and visit the Teaching Channel for ideas. Planning for Classroom Movement and Classroom setup for high school students. PD ACTIVITY: Consider evidence-based approaches that are effective in a lower academic setting and determine the best practices that can be applied to high school. For example, “circle time” may not be effective on the floor, but certainly can be created using desks or shared spaces. Teaching in an inclusive classroom. Lack of familiarity with SPED laws and disabilities. Many classes offer the support of a Paraprofessional or SPED teacher, but not clear on responsibilities and management. PD ACTIVITY: Seek out recent field-tested co-teaching resources and peer reviewed journals for effective and impactful practices. Observe a class with co-teaching and determine pros & cons. Applying principles of PBIS in classroom. PD ACTIVITY: Work with mhy new school to understand the strategies to implement if they operate within a SWPBIS. In the meantime, consult the Teaching Channel for New Teacher Help in managing behavior. De-escalating aggressive behavior directed towards me. PD ACTIVITY: Attend Love & Logic conference to understand how to reach resistant students.

Applying PBIS in Schools & Classrooms

Overview

Beginning with the 1997 amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), positive behavior intervention and support (PBIS) was identified as an approach to addressing student behavior. Many states have adopted the PBIS framework and are training teams of teachers and administrators at schools, but the PBIS approach can also be integrated by individual schools and teachers to manage student behavior.

The overall goal of PBIS is to replace punishment for misbehavior with a system of positively responding to students for achieving high expectations for behavior. PBIS requires the development of norms to be followed by students in school settings.

Please view my Sway presentation to learn more about PBIS and how teachers can integrate Tiers 1-3 in the classroom.

Applying Art & Science + Love & Logic to Classroom Rules

The premise behind the Love & Logic phenomenon, developed by Dr. Charles Fay, is quite simple:

When students feel respected, appreciated and even loved by their teachers, they are far more motivated and cause far fewer problems.

Within the book The Art and Science of Teaching, authored by Robert Marzano, several strategies are offered to not only acknowledge and capture negative behavior, but use intentional practices to publicly and privately reward positive behavior.

Outlined within this flowchart are the steps to be taken when encountering varied behaviors during classroom activity. The strategies listed within are actually a hybrid approach between Art & Science, and Love & Logic.

Analysis

(a) When and how will you give positive reinforcement to students who are following the rules and procedures?

Teachers must possess a “withitness” ability to quickly and accurately predict future problems. By recognizing good behavior, such as class participation, staying on task, obeying established classroom rules, and positively collaborating with teams, teachers can use these opportunities as a model for other students to level-set expectations.

Positive reinforcement will include: public praise, merits, nonverbal acknowledgements (i.e. thumbs up), rewards set through a token economy (prize box or “homework pass”), and a praiseworthy note home to parents.

(b) When and how you will respond when students are breaking the rules or not following procedures?

As part of “withitness” awareness, teachers must respond to poor behavior quickly.

As part of the Love & Logic curriculum, teachers are encouraged to delay consequences and use a recovery area to promote self-discipline and control. Imposing natural consequences, such as moving seats for chatty groups, may also be a solution to controlling bad behavior.

Monitoring Student Behavior

Student behavior in the classroom is affected by many factors. Some students may have an emotional or behavioral disability, while others may be affected by events at home or in the community that leads them to acting out in the classroom.  It is important for every teacher to be prepared with a number of strategies for behavior management as disruptions often come unannounced, though not always unexpected.

Public school teachers and guidance counselors were interviewed to determine the enacted policies in dealing with student misbehavior. Below is a summary of this conversation:

• Behavior Plans – As per the federal requirements, a functional behavior assessment (FBA) is the first step to determine the real cause of a child’s problem behavior. This is established through a multidisciplinary team dedicated to developing an effective behavior intervention plan which may become part of a 504 Plan.
• Support Groups – These are generally managed by the school counselor and psychologist and may include students by invitation only. In some cases, the 504 Plan includes accommodations for behavioral issues. Some popular strategies include: Making a separate “space” for different types of tasks, implementing behavioral/academic contracts, and encouraging self-monitoring and self-recording of behaviors. These groups change the dynamic of the classroom by helping students to deal individually with their behavioral health needs, and cease disruptive attention that previously provided a sense of control and source of attention. 
• Parental Involvement – Prior to engaging administration in behavior management, teachers are encouraged to notify the parent(s) of behavioral issues. In some cases, a change in sleeping or eating habits can correct the poor behavior. Additionally, the student receiving disciplinary action at school and at home can influence the probability of better choices in the future. Should this not be effective, the teachers are directed to have security escort the child from class to the Vice Principal’s office for further discipline.

This Pinterest board includes a collection of behavior strategies, charts, and checklists that can be applied for appropriate behavior management. All documents included will require edit for the secondary classroom, but each pin has a unique purpose to redirect energy and self-assess behavior.

This checklist builder was used to draft a Behavior Contract created to address the challenges in a public high school setting.

Strategies for an Inclusive Classroom

Image courtesy of Top Education Degrees.

Often teachers work in inclusive classrooms that include one or more students with a disability. In some cases, the disability may be one that contributes to a student not always being able to control his/her emotions or behavior. However, it is not always the students with one of these specific disabilities that disrupts the class. Other students sometimes act out in the classroom as well.

This post serves as an analysis of one teacher’s effectiveness in managing student behavior as addressed in the video, New Teacher Survival Guide, ADHD in the Classroom.

Identify strategies being used to manage student behavior:

• EFFECTIVE
  • “Do Now” activities keeps students on-point and busy.
  • Does not take bad behavior personally, but rather positively redirects students to get back on track.
• INEFFECTIVE
  • Assigns the work without giving clear directions.
  • Too many directions are given verbally. Consider writing these on the board and do one thing at a time. Teacher needs to scaffold or provide a checklist for classroom cues & routines.
  • Verbally explaining time on lesson versus using a timer. A “time timer” shows time remaining in red for a visual cue.

Teacher Recommendations:

• Create strategies that work for a particular student. Ask them what types of challenges cause disruption and distraction. Ask them what helps them refocus. These actions will build intrinsic motivation on behalf of the student, and reinforce 21st century skills such as critical thinking and problem solving. Further, metacognition, defined as awareness and understanding of one’s own thought processes, may lead to positive behavior transformation.
• Use visual cues for the class agenda, learning objective, and lesson plan. Research indicates that our brains are mostly image processors, and providing visual clues can promote retrieval of information.
• Add checklists to tables to reveal classroom routines and post rules throughout the classroom. These thought organizers not only break down complex tasks, but also promote consistency and efficiency among groups. See this article for further details.

Describe the relationship between Teacher and Mentor:

A teacher guides the learning content for a student, and generally dictates the associated activities. The roles of a teacher-student can be thought of as a hierarchal relationship, where one individual manages, rather than leads. A mentor is a trusted advisor and is responsible for considering the position of the mentee in all transactions. Teachers that intentionally seek out the role of a mentor or coach will lead classrooms with a more student-centered approach.

Strategies to be included in my classroom:

• Use timer to gamify the classroom. Make it competitive and reward with a leaderboard for public recognition of top performers. This will create extrinsic motivation to complete coursework.
• Use checklists for lab stations cleanup and classroom procedures. I will be introducing a “warm-up” and “cool-down” session in each class, with 3-5 items for completion on each part. The checklist will remove ownership of item completion from the teacher and place the responsibility upon the student.
• Apply visual cues to all classroom directions. Intentionally leverage visual literacy strategies to communicate to a wider audience and support varied learning styles. Further, each class should incorporate a routine where the process remains the same, but only the content changes. This will build consistency in the class and promote better student behavior over time.

Applying Classroom Rules & Procedures

BACKGROUND

One of the keys to managing a classroom effectively is to know what students are doing at all times. These are the teachers who “have eyes in the back of their heads”. They are always aware of student behavior–a skill called withitness. This skill allows teachers to be proactive in avoiding misbehavior and immediately intervene to prevent potential negative student behaviors.

In this activity. I observed how different teachers manage their classrooms to keep disruption to a minimum. Their practices are summarized in chart linked below, and positive / negative strategies are identified.

Tough Young Teachers, Episode 1 & 2

Classroom Management Breakdown Chart

Using merit system to publicly encourage and reward good behavior of students.

POSITIVE STRATEGIES

• Detention used as therapy to get to know student, relate on a personal level, and talk about shared goals for learning.
• Low stakes verbal “quizzes” to build confidence in learning.
• Promoting learner choice in assignments.
• Countdown 3-2-1 to get attention then move onto new content.
• Providing course “flow” on board with time allotments (warmup, lesson, activity, free time)
• Go in “tough” and do not let any bad behavior slide.
• Scaffolds activities with instruction.

NEGATIVE STRATEGIES

• Yelling at students to stop behavior.
• Ignoring behavior.
• Allow students to disrupt class by taking breaks whenever they wish.
• Becoming emotionally upset with disruptive children instead of evoking the “leave class” punishment.
• Allowing excessive teamwork – tends to excite the children instead of allowing them to work independently then groupshare.