Sunday, March 29, 2015

Mastery Learning Research & Case Studies

Starting next fall, our social studies department is rolling out a true mastery (competency-based) learning system across all core subjects and grade levels.  As I've mentioned in prior posts, our pilot this spring has led us to realize how much planning and preparation is needed to effectively implement this approach.  Before nailing down all of the logistical details for 2015-2016, we have decided to revisit the research on mastery learning and standards-based grading. We will also find and evaluate several case studies of effective implementation throughout the country.   

Since many of you may be considering a shift towards mastery learning and/or standards-based grading in the future, I am sharing out our Google Drive folder containing research and resources.  We will be adding more that we find pertinent and useful over the next several months.

Click here to view the "Mastery Learning / SBG Resource Folder"

*** If you come across any other research and resources that you think would be helpful, please share and it will be added to the collection!

Friday, March 20, 2015

Student Progress Monitoring With Google Doc Portfolios

Through my research and classroom experience, I've realized how critical progress monitoring is for students, particularly when they are engaged in mastery learning.  When I first attempted to tackle progress monitoring, it was focused more on the daily routine and classroom management.  This year I have realized that students need a more robust and consistent form of progress monitoring if they are to effectively gauge their skill level and track their progression through the course.

I have actually chosen a rather simple way to have students do this: a Google doc.

Yes, there are digital portfolio platforms and standards-based grading software, but for our purposes, a simple Google Doc helps students set goals, organize their evidence, track progress and reflect upon their learning experiences.

Here is the format for the students' portfolios:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Standard # __ :   [Insert standard description here...]

Evidence:  [Link / describe evidence of proficiency here...]

Reflection:  [What was difficult?  What was easy?  What learning strategies did you use?  What goals will you set moving forward? What feedback do you have for Mr. Driscoll?] 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Below you can see a screenshot from one student's portfolio: 



Another advantage of this is that I can easily access each student's portfolio document through a spreadsheet (via form submission - see screenshot to the right) and provide them with commentary and feedback throughout the semester. This has particularly helped when students start to fall behind.  For example, we just had parent-teacher conferences and I was able to go through each student's portfolio with parents to discuss progress (or lack thereof) and discuss strategies to help get them back on track.

Although this has been a very helpful way for students to organize their evidence and track their progress, I need to rethink how we should approach each unit reflection.  Results on this front have been less than stellar,  more on that next week...

Friday, March 13, 2015

Flipped Mastery Presentation from #HIBLC15

Last Saturday marked the Highlander Institute's 4th Annual Blended Learning Conference in Providence, RI.  At the conference, I had the opportunity to lead a session on "Flipped Mastery."  Embedded below (and linked here) is the slide deck from my presentation. 

I also curated a list of resources for participants about Mastery and Flipped Learning which can be accessed below or at bit.ly/masteryresources.  Feel free to share these resources with anyone you think may be interested. And as always, contact me with any questions you may have about flipping or mastery (competency-based) learning!



FLIPPED MASTERY RESOURCES

VIDEOS
Flipped-Mastery Classroom
Quick Guide to Flipping Your Class
6 Inspiring Videos About Flipped Learning
Student Perspectives on Mastery Learning
Mastery Learning in Action (BETTER LESSON)
Flipped Mastery in Social Studies

ARTICLES
In Flipped Classrooms, a Method for Mastery (New York Times 10/2013)
New Hampshire’s Journey Towards Competency-Based Education
Making Mastery Work: Executive Summary (Nellie Mae Education Foundation)
Advice for School Principals on Implementing Competency Education
5 Myths About Mastery-Based Learning (Newton)
Blending Toward Competency (Christensen Institute)
Our Transition to Standards-based Grading (Essex Middle School, NH)
What is Flipped Learning? (Flipped Learning Network)

FLIPPED & MASTERY LEARNING BOOKS
Flip Your Class: Reach Every Student in Every Class Every Day
Flipping 2.0: Practical Strategies for Flipping Your Class
Flipped Learning: Gateway to Student Engagement
Formative Assessment & Standards Based Grading

CREATING INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEOS
Creating Instructional Videos Guide
Video Samples From Various Grade-Levels / Disciplines
Flipped History Videos (Tom’s YouTube Channel)
How to Watch Instructional Videos (Tutorial for Students by PHS Social Studies Dept.)
Screencast-O-Matic Tutorial: Screenshot Version (Doc) / Video Version
Snagit Chrome App Tutorial: Snagit Chrome App Walk-Through

Go-To Screencasting Options By Device
PC / MAC
iPAD
Chrome / Chromebook
302526_254938864548025_2055962132_a.jpg


05_06_CamtasiaLogo.gif
educreations_logo_1.png


7021044_orig.png
Explain Everything
images


app-icon-snagit.png
Snagit

COMMUNITIES
Flipped Learning Network (Professional Learning Community)
Flipped Social Studies Community Doc

FLIPPED LEARNING RESEARCH
Flipped Learning Network Research Page
Flipped Learning Literature Review
Flipped Learning & Democratic Education (Columbia University MA Research 12/2012

FLIPPING SOCIAL STUDIES ARTICLES
Empowering Students Through Flipped Learning (SmartBlog on Education 1/2014)
Not Just Flipped (EdTech Digest (12/2013)
Flipping Social Studies (CUE Blog 10/2013)

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Bringing the World of ESPN to Our Students

The following is a guest post by Mat Barker, a social studies teacher, graduate tutor and intervention manager from Garfield Heights, Ohio.
Contributing Author Mat Barker
When I was in school, technology was just beginning to emerge to the forefront of the classroom. I remember the early days of teachers using technology, which usually consisted of PowerPoint presentations that were little more than duplicates of old 8mm slides. It was always one of two scenarios, A) the slides consisted of plain white backgrounds with monochromatic, Times New Roman type or B) It was a trip to the clipart jamboree with millions of cheesy PrintShop Deluxe images and more colors than a box of Lucky Charms. Thankfully, as teachers today, we have so many more options and design elements available to us.

During my time as a graduation tutor, I was often confronted with unmotivated, uninterested students. As a result, I am always looking for new and different ways to reach students, and that is what brought me to the flipped classroom model. After reviewing some of the videos and presentations by Tom Driscoll, I decided to begin to build a framework for my own flipped classroom.
Reaching Students on a Familiar Medium
I have always considered myself a visual learner and someone who cares as much about the presentation as I do the content. In college, I was even a graphic design major before switching to education. That being said, I decided to expand upon a presentation idea I saw on one of Tom’s videos. I was really attracted to the preview bar on the bottom of the screen and how it mimicked similar bars on sports networks like ESPN. As you can see in the images below, I expanded on Tom’s premise and mimicked the ‘Pardon the Interruption’ (PTI) graphics format.
http://sports-kings.com/passthepill/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/pti.jpg
ESPN's Pardon the Interruption
Mat's PTI-Style Presentation
The reason? I wanted to foster a greater connection with kids and develop a layout that would resonate with them. My students love ESPN and Sports Center. It is something that they watch every day. My hope is that I can attract students to the content through the presentation. The format is comfortable; it is something they are familiar with.
How Is It Done?
Believe it or not, you do not have to have super amazing Photoshop skills to create a similar presentation. The entire slideshow was designed in Google Slides and a few of the images were edited in Pixlr Editor which works as an add-on in Google Drive.  
If you are interested in creating a similar presentation you will need to play around with the shapes tool within Google Slides (Insert>Shape). After you create the desired shapes, you can then go to Pixlr Editor and use the Gradient Tool to create images that fade from one color to another. Once you do so, you have the choice of saving your image to your Google Drive or hard drive. Just insert the images into your presentation and resize as needed.
A few design notes:
  • I did create the blue box above the rundown as a space to insert a video, similar to Tom’s presentations.
  • If you are trying to truly mimic the PTI graphics, be sure to shadow the previously shown topics. You can easily do that through changing the shape and text color to a darker hue.
In closing, I would encourage you to have fun with your presentations. I often include humor in my slides to keep kids laughing and help ease the relationship between student and teacher. Also, don’t feel as though you have to take every presentation to this level. Sometimes just adding more thought into the graphic elements and not simply going with the same prefab template will really help kids to sit up and take notice.
Links to other presentations:
Big Ideas in Government – My take on the PTI presentation.
March World Madness – A concept design which is an expansion on the AP Euro Madness presentation.  
Barker's Sketch History – A link to some visual handouts I made during my time as a social studies tutor.


About the Contributing Author:



Twitter: @CoachBarker33
School: Garfield Heights High School, Garfield Heights, OH
Position: Intervention Manager – Graduation Tutor – Social Studies Teacher

Friday, March 6, 2015

Student Perspectives on Mastery Learning

Now that our "upgraded" mastery learning approach is in full swing, it's time to hear what the students think of the new system.  In the video embedded below (and linked here), PHS students share what they believe to be both the advantages and challenges to the system.  Several also offer suggestions for improving the system as we move forward.  Also check out the statistics below the video for a quick snapshot of their views regarding whether they learn more effectively in this mastery learning environment and which elements of the class are most beneficial.