Jennifer+Shoaf

Final Course Project
 * I have decided to focus on created a learning environment that is **connected**. My Writing Center is very student-centered right now and the kids get along very, very well (almost too well). The students create lessons for workshops, help each other reflect on their tutoring process, and collaborate when they need help working with a writer. Sounds great, but there has always been a sense of disconnection in the classroom because, I think, of two things. First, they don't have a portal, or virtual spot for them to get resources. I always end up directing them to the spot in the classroom where a resource or assignment is located or printing a new one out. It sucks up a lot of time from conferences and the consultants have noted that it is frustrating to not know where things are. So, I need a portal where they can independently get a resource. I also feel like consultants create these great lessons, but that they could do so much more. So, again, a portal would help house these resources, but also make them available to the entire school.

I believe the element of connectedness will help my consultants not only focus on each other as good friends, but as serious consultants who are actually providing a service to the entire school (besides just one-on-one conferences). I want them to feel connected beyond Room 104.

I believe the students will feel more empowered, innovative and creative, and will be stronger communicators. Creating a virtual spot for them to connect to each other and having them create on-line resources for the public will, I believe, motivate them to create more. It'll be a catalyst for innovation that will spark new ideas on how to collaborate with each other and the school at large.

Artifact #1 - Writing Center Website. [] This website that I created this week will be a portal for the Writing Center but is also a public website that students, teachers, and parents can access from North. It includes the Writing Center Google calendar so student consultants can always see the schedule (they've complained sometimes that they don't know what's going on). It's also a spot where students and teachers can request appointments. It also contains a Resources list on the front page. I will be putting kids in charge of creating resources on wiki pages for these topics. There is downtime in the Writing Center and kids tend to get used to not working, so if there is downtime, I can ask kids to create resources. Additionally, this website will also now be a spot where kids can submit papers for feedback online from a consultant. This will allow kids who don't have time during their day to get help to still receive feedback from a trained consultant. Also on the website I've put a list of consultants so kids and teachers know who is in each period. Some kids like to pick specific consultants and some teachers like knowing what previous students can help their current students.

Artifact #2 - In addition to the Writing Center, I developed an Edmodo as a way for my Senior Creative Lit and Writing students to feel connected and to also have a portal for handouts. I will also use this site as a way for students to have discussions in small groups using a flipped classroom model. My first unit I have several resources available on the Edmodo for creating norms and for attempting to answer the first question of the year: What is creativity and why is America prioritizing this trait? I also plan to construct each unit in this class as a small group investigation, in which they create their own questions based on topic and figure out how to apply their answers to their writing assignments. So, for the first reading assignment, I will assign individuals an article or video. Those who have the same article will have a discussion in their small group centered around the questions the article prompts and their hypothesized answers. Then the individual will join another group with different articles/videos and as a group they will attempt to answer the question What is Creativity based on their various articles. We will then apply this understanding to creating classroom norms and a basis for ourselves as writers and readers of postmodern texts. I know that kids could do this without Edmodo, but I think Edmodo increases the functionality of discussions and allows kids to connect with more students in a virtual and traditional setting.

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