Learning Comes Alive!

Learning comes alive when kids are engaged and working collaboratively!  

This style of seating arrangement helps to grow a learning space that is filled with communicators, collaborators and global citizens.

Interested in Using Evernote?

I would like to follow up on our last post which highlights how one of our Administrators is using Evernote to collect  his observational data related to classroom walkthroughs.  For those of you that may be interested in the "how to", please read on... 

First off, you need to download Evernote onto your computer and devices.  Nice thing about this App is that it is Device Neutral.  It is compatible with Windows, Mac OS and various Mobile devices.  Go to the App store and download it now.

Once you have an Evernote account, the set up begins.  When using Evernote on your mobile device, you do not have access to all of the formatting features.  I discovered this through trial and error.  While providing assistance to Strathmillan with this process, I discovered that using the mobile device is not the way to set things up. 

I would recommend that when setting this up, use your computer.  All of the views and instructions in this post are reflective of a computer view.  Once you set things up from your computer, all of your files will be accessible on your mobile device for your real time collection of evidence. 

Step 1:  Create a New Notebook.  This will be the "master folder".  Name it: School Walkthroughs 2013-14.

Step 2:  Create a new notebook folder for each of your teachers/classrooms.

Step 3:  Open up the "look fors" criteria lists that were co-created with the Administrative team in 2012-13.  This can be found in our shared Google doc, here.

Step 4:  Click on your master notebook, created in step 1.

Step 5:  Click on add a note.  Do this 5 times so that you can set up an empty note for each of the 5 ELIVE categories within your master notebook.

Step 6:  Give each of your notes a title.  Use the word that describes the ELIVE category and tag it.

Step 7:  Go back to the Google Doc criteria list.  Starting with the Learning Environment, highlight the text and then right click to copy the bulleted list.

Step 8:  Go back to Evernote.   Click on the School Walkthroughs Notebook showing on the left hand side of your screen.  You should have 5 notes within that notebook.  The notes are empty, with only a title and some tags.  Click on the empty note that you titled - The Learning Environment.

Step 9:  Tap inside of the text box, right click and select paste.  The text from the criteria list should appear.

Step 10:  Highlight the text in the text box.  Click on the bulleted list icon to remove the bullets.

Step 11:  Move the cursor in front of each line of text (where the bullet used to be) and then click on the check box in the formatting ribbon.  This will  insert a check box in front of the line of text.  Repeat this step for each of the indicators in that same list.

Step 12:  Follow the same steps from 7-11 until you have filled in each of the 5 notes with the criteria list.  This process will load the Master Notebook with the criteria needed to copy into each of the individual teacher notebooks.  You now have criteria lists, formatted as checklists, ready to copy and paste multiple times into teacher notes.

Step 13:  In step 2 you created a notebook for each of your teachers/rooms.  Within each of your teacher notebooks, create  5 empty notes with titles matching the ELIVE categories. The same process as when creating the master notebook. 

Step 14:  Go back to your master folder, copy the text within by highlighting and right clicking on copy.

Step 15:  Now that you have copied a formatted checklist of criteria for one of the categories within the ELIVE framework you can open up each of your individual teacher notebooks and paste this list into each of your notes.  Once this has been completed for all five ELIVE categories, it will be accessible to you on your mobile device.  You will be able to collect, save and organize your observational data as you do your walks.  You will also be able to add other notes, capture images and videos as sources of evidence. 

This tool has amazing potential for collecting learning evidence from a teachers perspective.  It is a handy tool for collecting varied learning artifacts.  That will be a post for another day!

Walkthroughs with Evernote!

Andy Mead offered to share the way he is using Evernote to streamline his walkthroughs. 

He created a notebook in Evernote for all of his staff, including one for himself. 

In his notebook, he has the five areas of the ELIVE framework. 

He updated the "Environment  notebook from the information from the blog

In each of the staff folders, he has a note for each one of the 5 areas of the framework where he will keep a running record of what he sees as he does his walkthroughs

This is a great way to model using Evernote and could easily be used by teachers to record student observations as well!

Thanks for sharing Andy!

Environment: Learning space, environment, community

In our walkthrough brainstorming session, we came up with the following list of look fors:

• Tables, pods of desks vs. desks in rows,
• Flexible grouping (seating),
• purposeful groupings ( not always the same groups)
• fluid groupings,
• teacher talk vs student talk....
• teacher working the room.
• Quality of questioning what does the conversation look like?
• Respectful ...safe environment when students feel they can take risks.
• Celebrating learning and learning from mistakes
• Variety of places for students to work
• Flexible learning groups
• Student access to resources
• SmartBoard being used by students and not only the teacher
• Quiet learning times as well as noisy learning times
• Class meetings
• Some sort of organization system
• Students are expected to work collaboratively and cooperatively with their peers
• Classroom values and beliefs
• Classroom restitution practices
• Use of digital devices to support learning. (iPads, BYOD)

• Visual cues
• Differentiated equipment (seats, pens, bikes,)
• Augmentative Devices
• Diversity of learners represented in materials
• Universal Design for Learning (multiple intelligences)
• Learning environment beyond the classroom walls

We would love examples (photos) of these to share on the blog! 

If you are interested in posting to the blog, let us know and we will add you as an author. 

Welcome

Welcome to the SJASD Walkthrough blog. This will be a place to collaborate and communicate about our work over the next year related to instructional walkthroughs. Throughout the year we will focus on each of the five areas from our E.L.I.V.E framework.  

Engagement

Levels of learning

Instruction and assessment

Visible student work

Environment

Our first area of focus will be the learning Environment 

Engaging in this work will provide an opportunity to share and develop a deeper understanding of teaching and learning in action.  It will also stimulate the collection of ongoing formative feedback that supports instructional focus. 

What better way to learn? We're all in this together!