While I'm still getting "back to normal," my reading pace has slowed down considerably. But I'm ready to get back to routine so I thought I'd share my online classroom with you today.
Just like having an online presence in the blogosphere is important, it's imperative in education today. I use my online classroom has a resource for students, parents, and other teachers. It's still "in the works" but I figure it always will be.
What I like most about my online classroom is that I can post all of the class notes, power points, work sheets, study guides, and any other sort of material on the website for students, parents, case workers, and other teachers. It's been a great alternative to printing multiple copies for students after they've lost their original copy. It's been my policy to reply to "I've lost the worksheet" with "You know where to find another copy" or "It's my job to provide the first copy, it's your job to provide subsequent copies" (my personal favorite).
There's also a supposedly very detailed class calendar (utilizing Google Calendar) for both my Sophomore and Senior classes that highlights What's Due, What's Homework, and the Current Lesson. Unfortunately, as I mentioned, I'm still getting my feet on the ground after the accident and I haven't updated the calendar (I'd like to say parents and students have noticed the lack in updates — but let's be real). The thing with technology is that while it does make my IRL classroom go more smooth, I still have to do the updates.
In addition to reading lists, extra credit assignments (like webquests that utilize Google Forms), and useful links, I'm beginning to learn how to use the technology in my classroom directly. My observation for the second part of the year was supposed to be the Thursday after my dad passed away. Tuesday night before I got the news, I finished filming a video (much like a vlog) for my students that contained my "lecture" on the introduction to our Persuasive Essay. The idea was to assign the video to my students on Wednesday and then on Thursday during the observation I was going to have my students go to the lab and actual work on their "homework." This new strategy in education is called "Flip": where the lecture takes place at home via video presentations so the "homework" can be done in class with the teacher present to answer questions and guide progress. Of course, it didn't turn out this way (this time around), but I'm still so proud of how it did turn out. I did say "folks" too much and my lecture was pretty much piss poor — but as an intro to the flip classroom, it worked for me and I'm glad I had the guts to try it out.
Anyway, I wanted to share with any educators out there what I'm doing for my students with an online presence. What are you doing for yours?