Synchronous Expectations by Jes O'Kelley

Synchronous Expectations by Jes O'Kelley https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii Use this space to reflect on successes in SY1617 and areas for growth in SY1718. en-us 2017-02-09 19:33:31 UTC 2025-09-30 08:09:56 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/icons/Folder.png jokelley https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/153438834 The expectation for live sessions needs to be that kids are getting only instruction and experiences that they absolutely can't get in the OHS. They need to be highly engaging and interactive. This is the only social part of the day.]]> 2017-02-13 14:52:14 UTC https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/153438834 https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/153525954 2017-02-13 18:38:27 UTC https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/153525954 Synchronous https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/153547543 Hours need to be reduced. 15 hours of live time has crippled the teachers this year.
By reducing the amount of time spent sitting in a classroom, the live time will then have more meaning to the student. Also, teachers will be able to create good sessions with good techniques to engage the students. Right now we are just playing a catch up game and don't get to utilize many new strategies.]]> 2017-02-13 19:34:33 UTC https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/153547543 https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/153553819 There is too much emphasis on CC sessions because students are not required to attend them. It's not the best use of teachers' time to spend there when the OHS so desperately needs that attention. Class times could be reduced to 30 minutes and supplemented with flipped recordings in the OHS that go over content.
Chambliss]]> 2017-02-13 19:51:16 UTC https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/153553819 I don't think we can set an "across the board" expectation for every CC session. A successful Math class will NOT look like a successful ELA class. https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/153554740 2017-02-13 19:54:09 UTC https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/153554740 As a math teacher they need more than just a flipped recording. They need to see problems worked. They need to be able to ask a question..."where did the 2 come from"... https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/153556752 2017-02-13 20:00:23 UTC https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/153556752 Going back to Halton's point made in the Asynch post, the CC sessions should be more task based- help sessions that align directly with what the students are working on in the OHS https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/153559508 2017-02-13 20:09:03 UTC https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/153559508 Across the board expectations aren't reasonable content to content rsiegel1 https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/153559660 2017-02-13 20:09:41 UTC https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/153559660 Individual learner conferences has really crippled the students. WIN sessions worked so well last year when we focused on standards mastery through assignments. Given teachers the opportunity to invite who actually needs the material, rather than some grouping mandated by K12 demonstrates that we KNOW our students and are trying to INDIVIDUALIZE their education. https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/153559751 2017-02-13 20:10:03 UTC https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/153559751 If we're being evaluated by our CC attendance, then I we should at least be inviting kids as required to classes. We all know they aren't actually required- but more kids attend and participate when they see the "required" by the session. https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/153559811 2017-02-13 20:10:12 UTC https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/153559811 Hours needs to be reduced. The kids CC schedules are CRAZY. They are making choices about which classes to attend, parents are super confused, and it's not always easy to help them understand where they should be. Teachers also don't follow the naming guidelines exactly- so it gets extra confusing. https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/153560178 2017-02-13 20:11:35 UTC https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/153560178 CC in math should involve teacher modeling how to work a problem and students practicing. They need to be there to see it. They should not, for the most part, get a learner conference when they haven't taken advantage of the 8 hours of CC/Hero time I already offer https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/153560197 2017-02-13 20:11:39 UTC https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/153560197 Too much focus on live ccs. We are focusing 80% of or time on less than 20% of the student population. rsiegel1 https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/153560535 2017-02-13 20:12:51 UTC https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/153560535 I agree with many of the statements here. CC classes should be about support and helping students to mastery. We all really want to teach like BAM teachers, but the reality is that we are virtual teachers and more focus should go to OHS (where we are reaching more kids!!!) https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/153560644 2017-02-13 20:13:16 UTC https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/153560644 I would prefer us going back to last year's CC schedule. Also, regarding the flipped format, this is better for some levels of students and some subjects more than others. For example, I don't feel flipped recordings in place of a teaching new content session is best for low level math students. They don't tend to watch the recordings and they need our lessons to interpret the OHS. :) https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/153560688 2017-02-13 20:13:27 UTC https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/153560688 Students need time to work. Part of the reason they don't come to CC is they have to finish OHS work and assignments. We really need to make sure teachers are trained on using breakout rooms and managing individual student needs during CC sessions instead of usually doing generic large group and generic work time. https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/153560823 2017-02-13 20:13:49 UTC https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/153560823 I am torn here. I agree they need time to work and that they HAVE to be super engaging. However, Spanish grammar can be a bear and sometimes they need to hear it live and practice it live with a teacher. msayama_gca https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/153756276 I guess we could flip some of that and then just have live practice in CC sessions. ]]> 2017-02-14 15:50:34 UTC https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/153756276 I think that moneal_gca https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/159097507 2017-03-09 19:12:03 UTC https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/159097507 To comment on what Jes says, while I agree somewhat, how do we have adequate time to create these fun and engaging sessions? How can it not be redundant with the amount of hours/days we are teaching? And I feel like saying this is their only social time of the day is a bit unfair considering 95% of their day is spent juggling which classes they are to attend. https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/159099212 2017-03-09 19:16:44 UTC https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/159099212 https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/159117834 I don't think whole group CC is nearly as effective as small group sessions. I think all our live time should be HERO or WIN or whatever we call them and Learner Confernces. I think having classes that focus on specific standards/assignments that need to be remediated AND fun times for the kids who just want to come to class a participate. I think Jes is right that CC should offer something they can't get from youtube. I think the expectation should be that kids come to class having watched the videos and practiced and in class we work on applying it to higher level and even project based activities. Not project based learning, but task to complete that aren't just practice test questions.]]> 2017-03-09 20:06:38 UTC https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/159117834 I think expectations will vary by content, but generally we should expect classes to be more work/help oriented than us re-hashing what they read in OHS. This takes a change in our mindset of how we teach, but also expressing to students their expectations. moneal_gca https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/159120110 I think a model where we give them time to do the day's assigned reading lesson and then practice/discuss what they've learned is far more effective. I also like the idea of having HEROs/WINs for graded work at least once a week. I also honestly feel that Learner Conferences should be something students volunteer for. Targeting one failing student is not as effective as targeting several failing students in a HERO/WIN session.

]]> 2017-03-09 20:12:56 UTC https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/159120110 Love all the ideas of LESS new content in LIVE CC times and more focus on hero/raise your grade sessions. I would rather spend time working through the OHS lessons with the students then spending so much time trying to recreate the OHS lesson in a ppt. Very few students come to the new content sessions, so I think our energy could be spent elsewhere. This could be an issue with math classes, but I think students need to learn to do the OHS lessons. There is no way we can teach all new content in the CC sessions so students need to do the OHS lessons. https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/159126102 2017-03-09 20:32:30 UTC https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/159126102 If all students utilized the OHS as it is designed, and had successful results, there would be little need for sessions other than "help (open office)". The reality is that too many students struggle with content [math] and need more than just "help" on quizzes (too often they really want & expect answers) but rather opportunity to engage with a live teacher. https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/159145461 2017-03-09 22:11:07 UTC https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/159145461 The pressure is to still teach like we're in brick & mortar...engaging students in synchronous activities. The big difference is that there are pre-set assignments in the OHS. If a student is coming to class regularly & not working most of that time, it means a lot more hours for them than a traditional school day. I think it's unfortunate that all of our time is now devoted to preparing for & hosting live sessions, instead of focusing on the other 90% of our kids. We're left with very little time to focus on asynchronous learning, or communication. kergle_gca https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/159154228 2017-03-09 23:25:40 UTC https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/159154228 https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/159283842 "If all students utilized the OHS as it is designed, and had successful results, there would be little need for sessions other than help (open office." AGREE!!! Students need the live sessions to come in and work with their teachers and get the help they need. They don't necessarily need to hear the teachers present the material again. The material is presented in the OHS and if we focus the majority of our time on what the majority of our students use most then we could spend the time really making the OHS incredibly engaging and useful to our students. But instead, we are required to spend most of our time on live CC classes that very few of our students even attend. It's inefficient.

Kelly Ergle, YES 100% spot on.]]> 2017-03-10 14:57:33 UTC https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/159283842 hailey_hillsman https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/159308063 For starters, I agree with everything Kelley Ergle stated. Secondly, I don't like the idea of excluding students from invites unless it's a learner conference. I may have an advanced student who needs more help on a particular topic, and if that's the case, they need to be invited to the session. They shouldn't have to ask if they can come. That's where I think we could more strongly utilize the required/optional feature. Furthermore, I don't think it should be optional for advanced and proficient students to attend enrichment sessions. Just like a HERO session is specifically designed for my basic and below basic students, that enrichment session is specifically designed for them. And I will probably not be popular for saying this, but I wish I could give all of my students the option to attend enrichment if they want. Those sessions may be what a struggling student needs to get excited about the content. Regardless, I think teachers should have more autonomy with who they are inviting to CC sessions and what is required/optional. We know our kids, and we know what they need.
-Hailey Middlebrooks]]> 2017-03-10 16:03:33 UTC https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/159308063 My 2016/17 Reflection https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/159357857 I really enjoy interacting with students in the live CC sessions (whole group), but I admit that I spend too much time preparing for those sessions in order to make them more engaging (and increase attendance). I have more fun with a well-prepared lesson! However, since the live sessions are only reaching a small percentage of my students, I realize that some of the time I use to prepare the live sessions would be better spent focusing on the OHS. I'll need to readjust for next year!

]]> 2017-03-10 18:33:26 UTC https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/159357857 Four years ago I had 50-100 kids in the one class that was held per week. Now there are not anywhere close to that many. I think the overscheduling has caused many to just not do anything--like the meme that says something about "I have so much to do I'm just going to nap." It's one thing for us to feel as if our work is never done, but another for kids to never have the satisfaction of completion at the end of a day or week because they can't possibly attend all sessions. Yes, I am all for having engaging sessions even if there aren't that many students there, but the cold calling and having each child participate was a bit unfair to both teachers and introverted kids. https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/160297972 2017-03-15 16:04:01 UTC https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/160297972 Live Sessions need to change as we improve the OHS jledford_gca https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/160317025 As the OHS becomes more differentiated and personalized, the live CC sessions should move from just getting content (found in OHS) and move to exploratory search and application or simulations with our students. The low engaged that are not utilizing either the OHS or the live CC sessions, can be targeted strongly for those one on one learner conferences.

-jac]]> 2017-03-15 17:01:50 UTC https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/160317025 https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/160328216 I agree with Hailey about excluding students from live sessions. Why can’t all students have the option to attend whatever sessions they want? Maybe they need extra help with a certain topic that they just can’t grasp and will not be available to them in an enrichment session?

Also, many kids attend GCA because they can’t handle the pressure of being in a social situation so I agree with the post about cold calling and having kids participate unfair.

I do like my time with my students in live sessions. I enjoy hearing their opinions and feedback about what we a learning. Live sessions should focus on the main ideas and give students the opportunity to discuss what they are learning.

I agree with this, “I don't think we can set an "across the board" expectation for every CC session. A successful Math class will NOT look like a successful ELA class.”

]]> 2017-03-15 17:36:55 UTC https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/160328216 https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/160328755 This is another topic that can't be addressed in a "one size fits all" way. Certain subjects need more time in live sessions (Math, foreign language, AP); however, other subjects may benefit more from fewer CC's but have working sessions (raise your grade, complete an assignment, etc)

]]> 2017-03-15 17:38:24 UTC https://padlet.com/jokelley/n5epjho23kii/wish/160328755