Rubric: Rubistar

Summary

            A rubric is a document that students receive before beginning a project that outlines what quality work will earn them the grade they are striving for. Rubrics are created in a chart format with anywhere from one to five columns and rows, generally. Columns are labeled with points or quality descriptors (excellent, acceptable, needs improvement, unsatisfactory, etc.) from lowest to highest or vice versa. Rows are labeled with the product characteristics the teacher will be looking for and grading on (organization, spelling, required elements, design, etc.). The grid is filled in with specific product descriptions that correspond with one quality descriptor and one product characteristic each. Students should be able to read the rubric to determine what work needs to be done to receive the mark. After a project is completed, the teacher highlights the product descriptions that match the level of work met by the student; this serves as feedback, giving the student an idea of their strengths and what they could do better next time.

            Rubrics do not need to be fancy, a title, a spot for the student’s name, and a small grid is all that is needed. There is a “fancy” website however, that allows teachers to choose a rubric type, based upon the type of assignment, create a rubric by simply filling in a grid, and sharing or saving the rubric. The website is called Rubistar and it makes it possible for teachers to create and store rubrics in minutes simply by registering. Once a rubric has been created, it can be downloaded as an Excel document, saved as an offline browser document, or printed.

What I Did

            I created a rubric for a fifth grade, end of unit brochure using Rubistar. I created my rubric for a specific project, but another teacher may find that the product descriptions I used are nondescript enough to be used for various other projects. Rubistar gives suggestions for product characteristics to look for in a project which gave me inspiration for my choices. I chose my quality descriptors based on an elementary grading system I am familiar with (O=Excellent, G=Good, S=Satisfactory, N=Needs Improvement). As the project would be an end of unit assessment, I decided to replace, “Needs Improvement” with “Unacceptable” as would expect my students to have the very basic tools necessary to meet expectations that would earn them a mark of “Satisfactory.” With Rubistar, I was given more grid boxes than I needed. I left them black and they were not included in my final product. Once I was finished, I downloaded my rubric, then uploaded it Google Drive so I could share it with you and embed it into my Google Site.

How I Would Use It

            I like to involve students in making their own decisions within the classroom when reasonable. I believe that including students in decision making regarding major projects and grades gives students added responsibility and motivates them set and strive to achieve educational goals. By creating rubrics with students, they are allowed to participate in this decision making role. Rubistar could be used with a projector or SmartBoard and would be a great resource to use in the classroom that will help guide student and teacher to create effective rubrics that all can agree upon and understand.

What I Learned

I am by no means an expert at creating rubrics. I am still in the learning process when it comes to developing assessment materials. I have taken courses in the past in which the Rubistar website was suggested for rubric creation. However, this is the first time that I have developed a rubric on my own and the first time I have used this resource. I have not been in a position where I needed to create my own rubric yet, as teachers often share rubrics online although, I do imagine that this resource will be a valuable resource in my student teaching placement and as a future teacher.

 

Standards Reflection

            Incorporating Rubistar in the classroom in the ways I’ve described, meets at least two components of the ISTE-NETS-T’s standards. Standard three “a” requires teachers to synthesize prior knowledge with knowledge (learning) of new technologies to demonstrate ability to use technological applications successfully. Every teacher should know how to create a rubric using paper and pencil. Some teachers will also know how to create rubrics in Excel or Word. Teachers who apply such knowledge to an unfamiliar, digital resource like Rubistar, meet this standard. Also, standard two “b” encourages teachers to bring technology into the classroom in ways that will motivate students to set their own educational goals and assess their progress. Students are able to accomplish both of these when they are provided with a rubric and/or opportunities to collaborate on the rubric creation process therefore, teachers who use Rubistar with their students met this standard as well.

Self Grading Form: Google Forms

Summary

            Since Google Form results are collected and stored in a Google Spreadsheet, answers can easily be converted to quantitative data and formulas can be applied to automatically grade answers and calculate student averages.

What I Did

            I created a brand new Google Form with quiz questions. For the questions, I went to the Virginia Department of Education’s website to access previous subject tests for Virginia’s Standards of Learning. I collected science questions based on standard 5.7 and presented them in the quiz as they appeared in the test, as multiple choice questions. After several people responded to the quiz, I accessed the spreadsheet from Google Drive. Across from the row of questions, I listed the correct answers. In the columns of answers, I wanted numerical data that would identify whether each student answered the question currently (received a score of 100 respectively) or incorrectly (received a score of zero respectively). At the end of each row, I wanted to calculate the average score earned by each student. Special formulas are used to obtain these scores.

For individual questions, you need to use something that looks like “=if(B3=$J$1,100,0).” This specific formula is used, for example, when the first student answer is in B3 and the corresponding, correct answer is in J1. This formula can be dragged down the column to automatically grade all student answers. The formula for obtaining the average looks like “=average(J3:O4).” This specific formula is used, for example, when scores from the first student lies between J3 and O4. This formula can be dragged down the column to automatically grade all student answers.

Grading the form, while a fairly easy thing to do, is a very difficult thing to explain. I watched this helpful video before I attempted working with my result spreadsheet.

Take my quiz!

See my quiz results!

How I Would Use It

            As this application requires computer and internet access, I most likely would not ask elementary students to take Google Form quizzes to earn grades. This is not to say that I would not want to be able to obtain this data. Teachers should constantly analyze student data for information about student progress and teaching effectiveness. Alternatively, I may use this application to give student anticipatory quizzes before a new teaching unit. Grading this form would allow me to identify what information students already know and what information students may have misconceptions about. Finally, it would be possible for me to give students the same quiz at the beginning and end of a teaching unit to monitor overall student progress.

 

What I Learned

            I recently took a course through which I learned various formulas to use in Excel spreadsheets. I learned formulas that allow me to add a column of numbers, find the average, to find the standard deviation, and to find the correlation of two columns of data. Some of these formulas will be helpful in the classroom on a daily basis while others will be helpful mostly while conducting research. The formula and format for grading is new to me and one that I will certainly be able to use frequently in the classroom in order to work both work more efficiently and gather data for research.

 

Standards Reflection

Teachers who engage in action research may find Google Forms to be an asset to their work. Using this tool for such an endeavor would help them to meet standard 3 “d” ISTE-NETS-T’s standards. The standard calls for teachers to locate, analyze, and evaluate information resources using digital tools. Google forms allow teachers to locate, analyze, and evaluate authentic information. Overall, the outcome is the same, teachers are collecting research that allows them to use research for their personal development, to support research in their field, and to support learning in their classrooms.

Google Form: Google Drive

Summary

The user of Google Form creates this product with the intention to gather qualitative or quantitative data. While there are applications that allow users to gather such data through surveys, such as Survey Monkey, Google Forms can be used for an extra special purpose; a Google Form could be a survey or an online quiz.

Google Forms are best seen not described as they have two faces. Once a user has completed their form, it becomes available for public use as a website. However, the form’s creator continues to use the form through the use of a Google Spreadsheet. The individual taking the survey or quiz sees an arrangement of various question types on a themed background. They may be asked to go through one or more pages of questions. Once their answers are submitted, the creator can view responses in a spreadsheet without doing any of the work to organize the information. As Google Spreadsheet allows the user to employ formulas for easy analysis, Google Forms can be used as an efficient classroom resource.

How I Would Use It

Here is a list of simple ways I might use Google Forms in my classroom.

·         Attitude survey before starting a unit of study

·         Field trip survey (ask students about their learning and experiences to determine whether the trip was worthwhile)

·         Students create their own quiz at the end of a unit

·         Anonymous mid-term or end of year survey

·         Self-assessment form

·         Survey answers can give direction for class discussion

·         Survey students about a sensitive lesson topic (students do not need to be put on the spot; teacher can explain general student thoughts and feelings)

·         Grade student presentations in the moment

Google forms for professional development.

·         Departmental surveys

·         Survey answers can give direction to teacher or school wide meetings

·         Survey students for action research

I found a Google Presentation called “81 Interesting Ways to Use Google Forms in the Classroom” and like the following ideas.

·         Students survey other classes and graph results

·         Create a Woordle based on qualitative responses

·         Create a class story by collecting ideas for plot, character, setting, etc.

·         Entrance and exit tickets

·         Keep track of discipline referrals 

What I Did

            There are two ways to go about creating a Google Form. In Google Drive you can either create a form as with a document, presentation, etc. or you can open a Google Spreadsheet and choose “Form” from a drop down list from the tool bar. Either way, you will be served a simple page that gets you started by accomplishing three tasks. First, add a title. Next, add a description. Finally, create your first question. There are seven question types: text, paragraph text, multiple choice, checkboxes, choose from a list, scale, and grid. At first, I didn’t understand what some of these choices meant. I checked out a YouTube video of a Screencast which described each.

            I created my Google Form to be a getting to know you survey. I would put this or a similar form on my classroom website, hoping students would take the time to answer some questions about themselves, their family, and their favorite things. I found uses for each question type. I was pleasantly surprised to learn, while playing with the question types, that depending up the respondents answer to a multiple choice question, the user can set the respondent on a unique questioning track. For instance, for my survey, I am having students tell me which season is their favorite. If they respond that winter is their favorite season, they will be sent to a new page with questions specifically about winter. Therefore, I can ensure that respondents do not become confused or waste their time with unnecessary questions.

            When I was finished creating my form, I was able to share it as a website, I was able to embed it in my blog, I could embed it in a website, or I could email it.

Take my survey!

 
This is what my survey results look like.

What I Learned

            I had absolutely no idea that Google offered such a useful feature. What’s more, if I had noticed the option to create a form, I don’t think I would have understood its purpose or ventured to use it. I’m glad to know about it now, as I’m sure it will come in handy in the very near future.

Standards Reflection

Teachers who ask their students, their students’ parents, and their colleagues to respond to a Google form, there are meeting standard 3 “b” of the  ISTE-NETS-T’s standards. The teacher and respondents are collaborating to poll data using an online resource. Of course, data is ineffective unless something is done with it. The teacher who collects and analyzes the data is ensuring that the data will be used to inform classroom practices that will ultimately support students’ success.

Teachers who engage in action research may find Google Forms to be an asset to their work. Using this tool for such an endeavor would help them to meet standard 3 “d” ISTE-NETS-T’s standards. The standard calls for teachers to locate, analyze, and evaluate information resources using digital tools. Google forms allow teachers to locate, analyze, and evaluate authentic information. Overall, the outcome is the same, teachers are collecting research that allows them to use research for their personal development, to support research in their field, and to support learning in their classrooms.

Google Forms Part 1

Google Drive has an option for creating forms. Forms make it easy for surveying or quizzing students. I just made a Google Form survey to give students before they join me in our classroom for the new school year. If I could get students to fill out and submit this form, I would be able to learn about them as individuals and about their backgrounds so as to make them more comfortable during the first weeks of school and to better differentiate my lessons and other class experiences. To view my Google Form, click on the link above or check out the new page I created specifically to hold the awesomeness that is my Google Form.

Batchgeo Part 1: Google Docs

Summary

            Google maps are not just for finding directions! Batchgeo  allows users to create a web based Google map that indicates essential information about a location once the location information is plugged into a spreadsheet and copy and pasted onto the website. The application works by identifying addresses, intersections, cities, states, and postal codes. A Google map is served with tags that identify places around the world. Viewers can zoom in and out and click on the tags for additional information just as if using Google Maps.

To view my blog post about Google Docs, click here.

What I Did

When creating a Batchgeo map, first and foremost, it is necessary to create a spreadsheet. This can be done either using Microsoft Excel or Google Docs Spreadsheet. For this assignment, my colleagues and I are collaborating to synchronously (in real time) create a Google Doc Spreadsheet within which we are sharing our home addresses (including house numbers, street names, towns, states, and zip codes) and our email addresses. As we each input our data, Google Docs will automatically save the document, storing all necessary information for later retrieval. Once all data are input into the spreadsheet, we will be able to independently engage in Part 2—accessing Batchgeo, creating a personalized map, sharing it publicly online, creating a hyperlink to the map’s Batchgeo URL, and embedding our maps in our blogs.

For privacy reasons, I will not be including a link to the class spreadsheet.

What I Learned

            I have used Google Maps for two main purposes, 1) to get directions and 2) to identify places of interest in a location I am planning to visit. Once I zoom into a city or town, symbols for theaters, restaurants, schools, etc. appear. If I am trying to identify a place to meet a friend for dinner in a location I’m not familiar with, for instance, I will scroll my mouse overtop of the restaurant symbols to access information about the street address and I may even be able to see pictures, reviews, and restaurants’ URLs. I had no idea that an individual or company could create a customized map with similar options. Since I am already familiar with using such features on Google Maps, using a map created with Batchgeo should be easy.

How I Would Use It

In the elementary classroom, Google Docs may be used for such things as sign-up sheets (computer use during indoor recess, group projects, etc.). Additionally, teaching productivity may be enhanced in elementary schools using Google Docs when applications are used to collaboratively create and share lesson plans, notes about student performance for team teachers, presentations for shared unit plans and lessons, administrative sign-up sheets (bus duty, kitchen duty, etc.), parent sign-up sheets (parent volunteers, supply list, etc.)

 

Standards Reflection

The use of Google Docs as a teaching professional best corresponds with the ISTE-NETS-T standard three and its components. I believe that Google Docs can most thoroughly be used to enhance a teacher’s professional abilities. Working with colleagues and parents in the school community through Google Docs allows for the sharing of resources and knowledge, a demonstration of collaboration and the ability to communicate ideas. Any teacher who is able to make use of Google Docs and does so proficiently, proves themselves to be engaged in professional advancement in the field of digital technology and able to contribute productivity to a large community and so, successfully meets aspects of standard three.

When teachers share Google Docs with their students, for the purposes of collecting, organizing, or synthesizing information, they are working within virtual environment to construct collective knowledge on a subject, corresponding with standard two, “a.” This is unique to the traditional school learning experience in which students are expected to absorb the information they are given for synthesis into their own understanding of the world, taking critical thinking and team collaboration to a whole new level.

Résumé: Google Docs

Creating New Documents: Examples

I began using Google Docs for the first time last year (my senior year of college). Over the past year, I have been led to discover the versatility of this tool. At first, I used this feature with classmates to create papers for group assignments. Recently, I have used Google Docs with friends to organize potlucks and with professors to sign-up for presentation times and topics. Additionally, while working closely with an English for International Students teacher at a private high school, I saw her using Google Docs to monitor students’ work and provide editing suggestions during in-progress assignments. So far, this tool has proven useful to me in school, in my personal life, and in my professional field and I’m sure there are many more ways it could be used that I haven’t even thought of yet!

Potential uses for Google Docs

            In the elementary classroom, Google Docs may be used for such things as sign-up sheets (computer use during indoor recess, group projects, etc.). Additionally, teaching productivity may be enhanced in elementary schools using Google Docs when applications are used to collaboratively create and share lesson plans, notes about student performance for team teachers, presentations for shared unit plans and lessons, administrative sign-up sheets (bus duty, kitchen duty, etc.), parent sign-up sheets (parent volunteers, supply list, etc.)

 

How I Uploaded my Résumé

I am most familiar with the ability Google Docs provides to create a word document and work collaboratively on the document with one or more people at the same time. However, just a few weeks ago, I discovered that documents could also be uploaded to Google Docs to allow for collaboration on previously developed documents, spreadsheets, etc. In completing the Google Docs Résumé assignment, I uploaded a PDF for the first time. I originally created my résumé in a Word document. To protect my privacy, I covered my addresses and phone numbers. In addition, to protect the file from being altered, I converted it to a PDF. While uploading the file I was prompted as to whether I wanted to change the file format; I simply made sure to uncheck the boxes in the prompted to keep the original format.

Before publishing the document, I was nervous about making it public. I was relieved to learn that Google provides options regarding who you want to share your document with. I was able to limit the viewing of my résumé to people at SU, allowing them to find and access the document. However, I could have refined the options further to say that I wanted only people at SU with a link to be able to view it. Therefore, while working in my school’s Gmail account, I will be able to limit my viewers to individuals in my network. If you are in the SU network, click here to view my résumé.

Learning Outcome

            To answer the question, “What advantages and disadvantages does cloud computing with Google have over traditional desktop applications?” it was necessary for me to learn what cloud computing is. Through some quick glances at various websites, I have found out that cloud computing enables people to make use of various applications through the use of the internet, without accessing the applications on their personal computers. That is, applications are hosted by cloud computing resources using networks of remote servers. In theory, I would not need to have Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, etc. installed on my computer in order to make use of these application’s features as Google provides Google Docs were these files can be created, stored, and managed. For instance, cloud computing seems are very practical for businesses and institutions. A school administrator may choose to have teachers and students use a cloud computing resource instead of spending money to furnish each individual computer with a software package.

Question

Question: “What advantages and disadvantages does cloud computing with Google have over traditional desktop applications?”

Advantages: 1) Google applications are free, 2) projects sharing either publicly or with select people without the use of email or flash drives, 3) collaborative and simultaneous creation of projects, and 4) projects are safe in case of computer crash

Disadvantages: 1) projects not accessible without internet access, 2) publishing online is never entirely private, and 3) projects can be altered by colleagues our yourself in undesirable ways (no previous versions available)

Standards Reflection

I believe that this activity and the use of Google Docs as a professional best corresponds with the ISTE-NETS-T Standard three and its components. I believe that Google Docs can most thoroughly be used to enhance a teacher’s professional abilities. I believe that if one used Google Docs in their school community in the ways I suggested above, in regards to teaching productivity, they would be engaging in processes that would meet each of the components of this standard. Cloud computing is an emerging technology. By using a cloud computing resource such as Google Docs, teachers demonstrate an ability to adapt with the times and learn the newest technologies before and alongside their technology savvy students. Working with teachers and parents in the school community through Google docs allows for the sharing of resources and knowledge, a demonstration of collaboration and the ability to communicate ideas. Any teacher who is able to make use of Google Docs and does so proficiently, proves themselves to be engaged in professional advancement in the field of digital technology and able to contribute productivity to a large community and so, successfully meets aspects of standard three.