Author: HES Marketing

eDoctrina in the Virtual Classroom

Written by HES Marketing on August 3, 2020. Posted in EdTech & Digital Literacy.

At eDoctrina, our team takes pride in having the opportunity to help both teachers and students succeed in the classroom. Given the changing times, we have also learned to adapt to the fact that “in the classroom” often refers to a virtual setting! Luckily, our incredible team has worked hard to find ways in which eDoctrina can support a remote classroom environment.

Online Assessments: Utilizing Tools to the Fullest

We understand that setting up students to succeed while testing online can sometimes seem like a challenge, especially with so many tools and modifications kiddos may need to properly complete an assignment. This is one of the reasons our team has spent so much time updating our online assessment platform to contain all of the tools teachers need to create a unique online testing environment for all of their students, both individually and as a whole. Our platform consists of a variety of modifications that can be utilized while students are testing online, many of which mirror exactly is expected to be seen on both the ELA and Math NYS Computer Based Tests. This includes grade specific equation editors, a text-to-speech screen reader, answer masking, math tools (calculator, ruler, protractor, etc.), a sketchpad (blank or pre-filled with an image of your choosing), and many more!

Relaying Content & Results To My Students

One challenge we have found many of our partners are faced with is keeping up daily communication with their students in a remote environment. Luckily when it comes to online assignments in eDoctrina, we have gone to great lengths to ensure teachers are able to send and receive necessary communication. When utilizing the assessment/assignment platforms, teachers have the ability to notify their students via email when they have assigned something new with the click of a button. Additionally, teachers can opt into receiving email notifications to let them know when each of their students have completed said assignment. Student also have complete access to their assignment summary within their eDoctrina Progress Student Dashboards. This allows them to login at any time and see which assignments they’ve received or completed, as well as any grades and reports their teacher has given them access to view.

Blended Learning Using Lesson Plans

In the wake of blended classroom learning, we not only realized the importance of teachers being able to assign and communicate with their students, but also being able to relay lesson content in any form of setting, virtually or in-person. The addition of our new Online Lesson Plan tool will allow teachers to deliver content to their students whether they are in a small group setting in the classroom or in the comfort of their own living room. This interactive tool not only allows for the delivery of content, but also gives the teacher the ability to live stream with their class, record and relay the lesson to their students, share attachments, prompt educational discussion among classmates, and even live chat back and forth to keep students engaged.

While trying to adjust to the “new normal”, we at eDoctrina understand the stressors that teachers are up against on a daily basis and are here to help! Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us for more information about how we can assist during the adaptation into blended learning.

How to Effectively Deliver a Virtual Test or Assignment with Castle Learning

Written by HES Marketing on July 1, 2020. Posted in Assessment & Data.

At Castle Learning, we are committed to improving education, including remote teaching. We provide an online tool that works anywhere with internet access, including homes or schools. While online tools help with in-person instruction, they are vital to the success of remote education. Please note that although this blog focuses on the ease of digital delivery, you can print, display, or digitally deliver any content you create.

For more information on creating tests and assignments for remote instruction, please refer to a previous blog – How Castle Helps Create Tests and Assignments when Teaching Virtually.

Integrations with Digital Platforms

Although you can use Castle Learning as a stand-alone application, many teachers prefer to integrate it with Google Classroom, Schoology, or Canvas. Integrations reduce the number of places students need to look to keep track of assignments and grades. On the platform, students see the assignment as a link. Clicking on the link takes students directly to the appropriate assignment in their student center.

Setting Up Your Classes

First, ensure that your students are entered into a class on your Castle teacher account. This process may happen via an automated district daily sync, or you can manually select students.

Next, consider making additional groups beyond official class rosters. These groupings will save you time and effort throughout the year because it increases the efficiency of differentiating instruction and making modifications. Creating each group only takes a few minutes, and editing them later is even quicker.

Then, you can modify the settings for specific students or groups. Setting changes are available from the class page and the assignment deployment stage. You might choose to enable features such as computer-generated translation and text-to-speech with highlighting. Changing student settings gives these students access to the appropriate accommodations for every test and assignment in every class. This feature makes complying with Individualized Learning Plans (IEPs) and best practices for English Language Learners (ELLs) easier.

With your classes set up, delivering the tests and assignments to the appropriate students takes only a few clicks.

Delivering Differentiated Versions to Various Groups

Students in various classes benefit from similar assignment modifications, such as a different pace or amount of questions. Creating separate “classes” for multiple groups has the added benefit of making assigning differentiated material quick. It takes mere seconds to assign “Ten Questions about Chapter 1” to Group A and assign “Twelve Questions about Chapter 1” to Group B.

Secondary school teachers appreciate how quickly they can create and deliver modified assignments to students in various class sections. Elementary school teachers often categorize students by level for each subject. Making suitable modifications follows best practices for assigning homework.

Practicing, Studying, Assessing and Reviewing

Any assignment can serve multiple purposes. When assigning content, decide if you want students to use it for practice, studying, assessing, or reviewing. Delivering it in “open” mode, “quiz” mode, or “review-only” mode changes how students see it.

Open mode is perfect for practice. It gives students two attempts for each question. It also offers students access to vocabulary, feedback, and reasoning after the first attempt. Click “Quiz mode” for assessments. It gives students only one chance to answer each question. They also do not have access to the other helpful resources of “open” mode. In either mode, additional features are available such as randomizing the questions.

“Review-only” mode is perfect for studying for a test or retake. Students see the questions, their responses, the correct answers, and the reasons for the correct answers, but it does not allow them to answer questions.

Providing Opportunity for Retakes

The retake option provides students multiple attempts to meet a set mastery level. You can choose to give that option automatically or manually. Most teachers prefer auto-retake because it reduces their task load. To select the automatic retake, simply set up the designated mastery level when you issue the original assignment. The data report from the retakes provides the teacher with progress monitoring and growth evaluation.

Adding Time Limits and Time Frames

It is important to note the flexibility differences between “quick assign” and “assign to students.” Generally, students should have limited access to assessments to promote academic integrity. Using “assign to students” gives you the ability to decide when students can start a test and the amount of time they can spend on a test. You may choose the window of time, the duration, and available accommodations. This feature is especially useful for asynchronous remote teaching.

“Quick assign” is easiest for non-assessments because you do not have to make as many decisions about time. The “quick assign” is also useful when the entire class or all classes take the same test with many of the same settings.

A Final Note

You can see that Castle Learning digital tools give you the power of flexibility and the ease of simplicity that are so important in virtual environments. Great teaching tools not only improve student learning outcomes, they also reduce teacher frustration and burnout. The next blog in this series will focus on how Castle Learning tools aid in grading tests and assignments and aggregating data to adjust instruction.

How Castle Learning Helps Create Tests and Assignments When Teaching Virtually

Written by HES Marketing on June 1, 2020. Posted in Instruction & Classroom Practice.

While school districts are still working on instructional plans for the fall, many leaders project that some virtual teaching will continue through the 2020-2021 school year. The ability to be flexible requires educators to evaluate educational tools for their utility and ease-of-use for remote teaching.

Many teachers say that assigning and grading work and tests has been one of the most challenging aspects of teaching virtually. Every digital assignment or test that teachers give to students requires the teacher to complete five steps before uploading it to the learning management system.

Create questions aligned to the curriculum.
Add relevant resources for students to use.
Ensure legal rights to use the content.
Provide accommodations and differentiation.
Preview the assignment from the students’ perspective.

Castle Learning’s cloud-based system makes all five steps simple. Its flexibility makes it a useful tool for in-person, remote, and hybrid learning environments. Giving teachers the tools they need to “work smarter, not harder,” improves instruction and prevents burnout.

How Castle Learning Helps Teachers Create Questions Aligned to the Curriculum

Castle Learning has a question bank of over 170,000 questions searchable by standard, level, topic, skill, keyword, and question type. The Castle Learning questions come in several formats including multiple-choice, drag and drop, matching, choose all that apply, extended reply/short essay, (constructed response), and fill in the blank. There is also a large selection of reading sets which are lexile leveled.

There will be times when teachers want to create unique questions based on a unit of study. That is easy to do, and the software walks the user through each step. The cloud-based system facilitates collaboration with team members to share the workload.

Once an assignment is created, teachers save it to use for multiple classes, year after year – just like they do with paper assignments.

How Castle Learning Helps Teachers Add Relevant Resources for Students

After creating the assignment or test, it is easy to add resources and notes for students to access. Uploading a PDF, video, or website link takes mere seconds.

How Castle Learning Helps Teachers Not Violate Copyright Laws

Many teachers new to teaching virtually feel insecure about their right to use some digital resources. Subscribers like the confidence that they have an extensive library of Castle Learning reading sets and questions that they can use legally. As always, any assignment teachers create themselves will not violate copyright laws. Many open resources are available on the internet. Please ask teachers to refrain from using material they do not have the license to use or are unsure of the origin.

How Castle Learning Helps Teachers Provide Accommodations, Scaffolding, and Differentiation

Teaching virtually with outdated technology makes providing accommodations, scaffolding, and differentiation unnecessarily challenging. Luckily, our technology solves many of the most common problems. Students can use text to speech, and Google Translate with most questions. Teachers can allow some students extra time to take a test. Teachers can issue an auto retake of an assignment if the student doesn’t meet a set mastery level.

The software makes scaffolding intuitive by providing students instant feedback in the form of hints, related vocabulary and answer reasons. Modifying assignments is so quick that teachers can create several versions to differentiate for various levels and needs.

How Castle Learning Helps Teachers Preview the Assignment from a Student Perspective

Previewing assignments and tests as students will see them reduces errors and miscommunications common with remote instruction. Click the “assign to self” button, and the teacher can go through the assignment as a student. The layout and robust tools available aids student learning and feedback. If, after reviewing an assignment, the teacher decides to change any aspect of the assignment, it is easy to edit.

How Castle Learning Helps Teachers Troubleshoot

While robust virtual technology is key to successful remote teaching, any new tool requires that a teacher learn how to use it. Castle Learning guides the user to create the first class and assignments quickly. Written instructions, short video tutorials, and webinars are easily accessible so even a novice will quickly take advantage of the great features. If the content still doesn’t answer a question, customer support is a click away.

If you are trying to ease the burden of virtual teaching and improve instruction, providing teachers with appropriate technological tools will make a big impact.

Of course, creating assignments is only half of the equation. In the next blog, see how Castle Learning helps with delivering and grading assignments.

Ideas to Minimize the Pitfalls of Remote Teaching

Written by HES Marketing on May 13, 2020. Posted in Instruction & Classroom Practice.

Imagine … one Thursday, Little League announces that on the following Monday, cricket would replace baseball and softball; and that participation is mandatory. The players, fans, coaches, and suppliers would be scrambling to acquire different equipment and learn the rules, strategies, and skills. Even the vocabulary would be different. Expecting such a monumental task would cause an uproar! That scenario is similar to what happened when education switched from in-person teaching to remote teaching in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As you would expect, everyone in education is experiencing some pitfalls as they pivot their instruction. Teachers are proving their willingness to learn and flexibility to adapt to their new roles. At Castle Learning, we want to support you as you discover the best way to teach in this format. We spoke with several teachers to see what is helping them.

Pitfall: You Worry that Your Students are Not Getting Enough Guidance

Students and families participating in distance learning due to the virus outbreak did not choose remote learning as the best fit for their family. It was suddenly thrust upon them, which makes the situation completely different from selecting distance learning. Families who choose distance learning often do so because a parent has the skills, time, and patience to assist the children with their education. Many parents during the pandemic are working and cannot monitor their children’s schoolwork. Other parents do not know how to help their children. Many children resent the parents’ attempts to teach.

Ideas to Minimize the Impact:

If you teach young children, you might want to devote time to teaching parents how to help them practice reading. You can also direct families to free literacy resources to help.

It might relieve you that even though children are not getting the same academic rigor, they may still be learning essential skills. Children may learn practical skills such as cooking, sewing, and getting along with siblings. The abundance of unstructured time is allowing children to play, draw, sing, dance, and explore. These activities can be tremendously valuable for developing creativity and independence.

Pitfall: You Miss your Students, and They Miss You

The bond between students and teachers is powerful for engaging students and keeping them accountable for their learning. With only virtual contact, maintaining a relationship takes more effort.

Ideas to Minimize the Impact:

Try interacting with a few students individually or in small groups each day. Without other students around, you will be able to listen with undivided attention, which may feel more meaningful than you could do in-person.

Some students will need extra attention because of their home life, personality, or academic needs. Ensure that these students and their families get a phone call regularly. Request co-workers that know the child to pitch in with making phone calls. Ask the child’s parents, or grandparents, for ideas. They often come up with creative solutions because they know the children in a different capacity.

Pitfall: You Feel Overwhelmed with Emails

You are probably getting an abundance of emails from stressed parents or students. Responding thoughtfully to each email takes time and patience.

Ideas to Minimize the Impact:

Complex ideas and emotional topics can get lost in translation, creating more problems than they solve. In the article, Five Strategies that Will Inspire Your Students to Learn in a Virtual Classroom, Dr. Bruce A. Johnson suggests that you should have emotional or complicated conversations over the phone or in a virtual meeting, rather than by email.

Sometimes the sheer volume of emails makes it hard to respond individually. For non-private and non-urgent emails, combine your responses into a single email. Save all your emails on your computer so you can copy and paste the same words when appropriate.

Everyone makes mistakes when they write, especially when they are tired, stressed, or emotional. After writing an email, wait an hour or more before you send it, and then proofread the email for clarity, tone, and typos. Take advantage of wait features in the email settings that allow you to quickly “un-send” an email.

Pitfall: Finding the Right Lessons is Laborious

Many of your favorite lessons probably required physical materials. Now you must teach using mainly digital materials. Suddenly, not only are you choosing lessons, you are converting documents, evaluating educational apps, creating videos, and learning about software compatibility and copyright laws.

Ideas to Minimize the Impact:

No single teacher can evaluate and create all the digital resources needed. Collaborate with teammates to share the load. Some staff may love creating instructional videos, while others might be great at finding the perfect lesson.

Consider trying our digital resources. You can choose from hundreds of pre-made lessons and assessments. Our software makes it easy to create original digital learning content. You can integrate everything with other platforms and learning management systems such as Google Classroom, Canvas, or Schoology.

A Final Note on Distance Learning

Technology has advanced considerably since the Boston Gazette advertised one of the first correspondence courses in 1728. Lesson delivery and feedback shortened from weeks to almost instantaneous. The technology is immensely helpful, but be patient with yourself as you learn to use it effectively.

We hope you will return to in-person teaching in the fall. However, if schools remain closed, you will be more prepared and have more tools than before. Thank you for the work you continue to do to support student learning.

Unique Ways to Bond with Your Students Remotely

Written by HES Marketing on April 14, 2020. Posted in Professional Development & School Culture.

Many educators are searching for new strategies to connect with their students because their in-person techniques don’t transfer to distance learning. Students of all ages feel more motivated and willing to take risks with teachers that intentionally support their social and emotional needs. Students who don’t feel a connection with their teachers may disengage during distance learning.

Luckily, with some creativity, collaboration, communication, technology and planning, you can still build rapport and a strong learning community from a distance. Here are 18 ideas for supporting students’ social and emotional needs from your home.

Incorporate Community Building into Class Meetings

Ask students how they are doing and request feedback on how the work is going. This simple gesture opens up honest communication.
Invite a counselor to join a class meeting.
Allow a few students to show something personal to the class, like a pet, a collection, or a picture. Join in on the fun! Seeing you share will help them feel safe to share.
Allow time for chatting and silliness. Some of your students may not be getting this opportunity in their homes, and laughter is a great emotional release.
Plan a meeting to show school pride. You might suggest everyone wears a crazy hairstyle or school colors. With everyone so isolated, this reminds students that you are still a safe and caring community.
Incorporate routines to give kids a sense of normalcy and familiarity. Try starting the meeting with a stretch or quick chant and closing it with a song. Maybe families can volunteer to lead the Pledge of Allegiance.
Celebrate what students are doing outside of remote learning. They may want to show you a craft project or tell you about a game they played. One student may inspire another student to try something new.
Go on an online field trip together. Many zoos and museums are creating ways to access their collections online.
Create optional meetings just for fun. You can eat breakfast, watch a movie, or read aloud to them. Even teens like participating in these fun events.
If you are allowed into your classroom, hold a meeting from there to remind students of a safer time.

Interact with Students

Communicate with students and parents about your expectations for this challenging time and ask them for feedback.
If allowed, coordinate a parade of teachers. All the teachers can drive through the neighborhood at a specific time while students stand outside their doors and wave.
Send a hand-written note to your students.
Call students.
Use messaging apps and social media to chat with teens. They may be more likely to open up and be natural on these informal communication channels.
Create a video compilation with teachers or students. They can be singing a song, posing with a pet, or just saying hi.
Assign work that encourages interaction and reflection.
Send video messages of encouragement or even something silly. One high school principal sent a video message of him talking about expectations. At the end of the video, he got up, turned around, and showed a funny note taped to his backside.

As you fine-tune your methods to connect, remember that parents and students are also adjusting. By now, some are settling into a workable learning routine, but others may still be struggling.

Now is not the time to be a stickler about due dates and grades. The pandemic has caused a monumental lifestyle change. Your students may not perform at their usual level. Cut yourself some slack too. No one expects you to become an expert in online teaching overnight.

While you cannot save the life of everyone in the world, you can make a world of difference in the lives of your students.