Last year, Mrs. Herrington came to the Design Center to explore her Medical Terminology course. This course is the foundational cornerstone that the rest of her program is based upon and she described her students as tired and bored with the curriculum. We looked at the options and decided to use the class as a launch point for gamification (the transformation of a course into a live-action role playing game where the modules of instruction are based upon quests) with Zombie Response Teams as the focal point of the game.
For this design session, Mrs. Herrington was wanting to create some sort of portfolio of learning together for the students to keep track of. Past examples included 3-ring binder notebooks and ePortfolios. During the exploration phase of our design session, we looked at different student-oriented dictionaries, encyclopedias, and portfolios. This resulted in us exploring the possibility of having the students put together a “Zombie” survival guide that will define procedures and routines in anticipation of a zombie apocalypse from medical personnel's point of view. Each unit of instruction will be a competition between students to see who’s material makes it into the Book. At the end of the year, a copy of the book will be uploaded onto blurb.com for purchase. The Design Center and teacher will design the cover, layout, and chapters topics (structure). Students design the chapters - including skills and knowledge in the spring semester plus assignments from fall. The students will use Indesign to create the book entries for submission into the book. The book will be titled: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Zombie Disorders (DSM-Z) and be released at the end of the year every year, with this first being a first-edition. Students will be able to purchase copies of the book online through Blurb.com once it is published. Content & Substance: The TEKS & District Curriculum were dissected and outlined for alignment with the vision/ideas. Product Focus: Zombie Survival Manual Organization of Knowledge: Everything was outlined in a Canvas Module Clear & Compelling Product Standards: Examples were created in InDesign, a tutorial was created for the technology, and a introductory/briefing page was created outlining and explaining the entire process. Protection from Adverse Consequences: Student protection is maintained in the individual lessons and modules leading up to this publication. Affirmation: DSM-Z will be published online for anyone to purchase a copy. Affiliation: Working in ZRT (Zombie Response Team) groups Choice: Course voting on best entries Novelty & Variety: Technology Authenticity: Peer-to-peer modeling and the brainstorming of the vocabulary
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In the past, Tiffany has always come in as part of a generic LOTE level 1 or 2 PLC to the Design Center. She was able to apply some of what we designed, but it was never truly effective in implementation without modification. This year, with the encouragement of both the Design Center staff and our Associate Principal, she came into the Design Center as a singleton, meaning a sole teacher of a subject.
During her first visit, she came to us with a vision. She wanted to begin by having students create a word cloud with words or ideas based upon what they wanted to learn. Tiffany could then add to the student vocabulary. Next, she wanted to create google slides for each student to drag in an image and expand on vocabulary and conversations related to the image. These slides will be presented as topics for discussion. After helping her map out her idea, we formalized and developed the following: Create Canvas course Module: 1) In-class Activity: Word Cloud creation(AnswerGarden.ch/create) Students brainstorm as a whole class using Answergarden to create a word-cloud that centers around the curricular topic focus (family, home, community, etc.) Vocabulary acquisition specifically zones in on word categories unique to those focus topics (locations, descriptions, names, directions, etc.) 2) In-class Assignment: Transition to imagery (Thinglink.com) Students create a collage in Google Slides of visual representations of the vocabulary explored in the word cloud (they choose 5-10 words). Students then export to a single image. That single image is then used in a Thinglink where students link images of ASL signs for each visual term. 3) Assignment: Canvas discussion post Students post their Thinglink into a discussion reply on the Canvas discussion board. 4) In-class Activity: Peer interaction In class, the students will use their Thinglink as a visual dictionary that progressively grows throughout the year to interact with peers in class during exploration activities. Students will exhibit peer-to-peer modeled use of language, share common vocabulary, and share opinions based upon vocabulary acquisition. This design demonstrates how a teacher can have an idea or vision about how to inspire students, and utilize the Design Center to “Flesh-out” the idea with a little help from Instructional/Technology/Design Coaches. The Design Qualities were used in the following way: Content & Substance: The TEKS & District Curriculum were dissected and outlined for alignment with the vision/ideas. Product Focus: Word-cloud (Answergarden.ch), Thinglink Organization of Knowledge: Everything was outlined in a Canvas Module Clear & Compelling Product Standards: Examples were created in Thinglink, a tutorial was created for the technology, and a introductory/briefing page was created outlining and explaining the entire process. Protection from Adverse Consequences: The collaboration of brainstorming the word-cloud, the creation of the Thinglink as a visual dictionary to scaffold the learning of the vocabulary. Affirmation: Peer-to-peer modeling, and validation through shared opinion Affiliation: Whole-class (word-cloud), and partnering for target language practice Choice: Brainstorming activity, Thinglink creation Novelty & Variety: Brainstorming activity, technology Authenticity: Peer-to-peer modeling and the brainstorming of the vocabulary PHASE 1 & 2 Research and Design Brief: Ms. Smith wanted her students to work on a year-long project involving reading a non-fiction novel over winter break that lead to the students formalizing a value that they find important in America. the students would then write a proposal for the value, research scholarly literature to support their value and then synthesize a paper for a grade. Design meeting 1: (Oct 1, 2016 - 7:30 to 11:00) The project suggested was a redesign from the previous year. Ms. Smith wanted to refocus on more small skills in quarter 1 and 2 in order to make quarter 3 easier. Similarly, the following changes were made through the design process:
Design meeting 2: (Nov 5, 2016 - 11:15 to 2:30) The following list of books were chosen for the students to read:
A suggested list of values was generated as well:
PHASE 3 Implementation Email to staff dated Dec 17: Good morning, Just a reminder that our AP Language students have chosen a nonfiction book to read over winter break. When we return, we will have informal “book talks” January 6 and January 8 in F110 after school. As they read, they will be looking for connections to one (or more) of the following values: education, ethics, status, religion, individuality. I have also encouraged them to Tweet out interesting quotes, passages, etc. and include #wordletes in their message. Here is an example of what I sent to them last night: Thank you to those of you who have already emailed me to let me know which book you will be reading! How cool will it be for students to see their teachers, administration, coaches, etc. sitting down and talking to them about what they found interesting in a book? We would for you to join us! Happy Holidays. Ms. Chancy Smith AP Language and Composition/English 3 Email to staff dated Jan 7: Good afternoon, As you know, we had our first “book talk” yesterday after school. I was moved to tears listening to them yesterday after school. I was so impressed. There was no plan yesterday. I had no idea who was coming, what books they had read, or what they might say. We just sat down and talked about what they found interesting, connections they made to society, to humanity, to each other. It. Was. Beautiful. Having a daughter, I know the one thing I hope for her is for her to find confidence in herself and to find her own voice in this world and this is what I saw yesterday with the students that showed up. We didn’t talk about the “plot” of the book or answered any study guide questions. We just talked. You would have been so proud! The kids especially enjoyed hearing their administrators, teachers, counselors, and librarians talk about concepts that don’t involve “school.” We have two more opportunities for you join in our discussion. Like I said, even if you didn’t read one of the books, please stop by! We will be in F110 tomorrow morning from 6:45 – 7:15 and again after school tomorrow from 2:45 – 3:15ish (we cut it off yesterday at 3:30, but could have talked longer). Thank you to those of you who are participating and those of you that continue to support these students! Ms. Chancy Smith AP Language and Composition/English 3 Photo of Student and Teacher Book Talk morning of Jan 8: Storified copy of tweets: https://storify.com/Ayersjj/wordletes Video of District Interview of Product: McKinney Boyd's AP Language & Composition class invited teachers and administrators to their collegial-style book discussion, which is designed to prepare the students for their final exam in May. “I wanted to try something different,” explained teacher, Chancy Smith, “and it led to a better discussion today." https://youtu.be/TD1mrE3j1Mc Good morning, First of all, thank you to everyone who participated in our book talks or had a discussion with the students about their book or a book you are reading. When I asked them what they thought about the book talks and the whole process, they continued to comment about how “cool” it was to see their teachers and staff talk to them about different perspectives on not only our books, but the values we focused on. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you! Our next step of the process is formulating their research question. Students worked on this step through a questioning technique that comes after a discussion with Craig Parson about the ADI strategy in Science and a book titled Make Just One Change: Teach Students to Ask Their Own Questions that JJ Ayers told me about. Students created questions and have typed them into a Google Doc where we can “conference” with each other throughout their research process. I am sharing these documents with you hoping that you will have some insights to share. Your insight could be adding questions, helping students to clarify their questions, and/or commenting on how your field of expertise (or current event, etc.) relates or provides evidence for their questions. This is the first year that we are trying this, so thank you for participating and helping them find their way! |
AuthorThese are case studies of some of our most successful designs in the Design Center. These studies are added by any of the leaders. ArchivesCategories |