Friday, February 22, 2019

Prototype



Digital Homework Checklist for Teachers


Use this checklist before constructing and posting homework assignments.  Linked resources are available for additional teacher support. It might not be necessary to include all items within one homework assignment. Rather, this checklist serves as an opportunity to evaluate your homework assignment from multiple perspectives. 

Relevant Instruction

Is the assignment connected to the Massachusetts’ state standards?
  Is it UDL compliant?
  How well does it target the specific needs of each student? See below:

·         ELL
·         GT
·         Special Education
·         At-Risk Students
·         Underrepresented Minorities

  What 21st century skills are being practiced within the assignment?
  Where does the assignment fall on the SAMR model?
  Where does the assignment fall on Bloom’s Taxonomy?
  Does the assignment reflect the culture of your classroom responsibly?
Is the assignment too overwhelming? Too short? Just right?
What are the assumptions you made before creating this assignment? Are they valid?

Clearly Communicated

  Is education jargon minimized?
  Can students restate the listed assignment correctly?
  Is the assignment posted on time?
  Is the assignment posted in a reliable location?
  Does it make sense to post the assignment in multiple locations?
  When possible, are ideas bulleted, underlined, embolden, and or italicized?
  Is text to speech available?
  Is there time or a space for students to ask clarifying questions?
  Are due dates clearly identified?

Student Supported

  Do students know how to access content resources if they get stuck?
  Do students have the opportunity to practice academic self-regulation skills reviewed during class to monitor their own progress?
  Do students know which digital tools are available to support them?

Parent Supported

Do students have access to content resources to help their children succeed?
  Do parents understand the benefits of helping their children develop a growth mindset?
  Do parents have access to academic coaching techniques? See below:
·         Why homework?
·         Habits of Mind
·         When to help and when to let student’s problem solve themselves (FLOW)
·         Basic Study Skills
·         Overcoming Digital Distraction
·         SMART Goals

5 comments:

  1. Johanna,
    Your prototype is very thoughtful and thorough. You seem to have considered all angles and user experiences. I like that you organized the checklist and integrated tools and resources for teachers to use on the fly, which is important, because teachers as we know are pretty short on extra time! It does offer a lot but may feel overwhelming for some teachers. I appreciate how you are giving consideration to parents and I think this is the most challenging issue, given that not all students will have access to proper supports at home; but you are raising awareness and giving teachers a place to start.
    Terri

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    1. I agree Terri, it will be overwhelming in its current form. Any suggestions on how to pair down?

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  2. Johanna,
    Your prototype is a very good idea! I really think using this sort of checklist will make assignments more meaningful and thought out. I do agree with Terri that it may be a little overwhelming for a teacher. Maybe you could separate it into required elements vs. elements teachers should strive for. You could also work with teacher's supervisors to make the checklist more personalized to the goals for that teacher.
    -Christy Chen

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    1. I love both suggestions... a tierd approach to the developmental level of a teacher and as well as personalized approach. I'm debating which path to choose. On the one hand adults should be selecting their own pathways, on the other hand a mentor would have a better sense of the developmental skills each one of these bullets take. Maybe I can marry the two ideas.

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  3. Hi Johanna,

    Sorry I'm so late posting! I love the idea of your checklist and as Christy and Terri have mentioned, it does appear to be a little overwhelming, especially for a new teacher. On the other hand, I think this would be appreciated from new teachers to have a checklist to follow, making sure they stay on track and making assignments more meaningful.

    Will this be in digital or paper format? If in digital format, would you create it as a google form (capture results in google sheets with an extra column for teacher feedback of how the lesson went with their choices). I ask this because if teachers do this per lesson, they can go back and reference the google sheet to see what they did for a specific lesson and know what worked and did not work. Now, I may be off of how this works. I'm just thinking off the top of my head of how teachers can use this checklist and also reference results, or share results with others, at a later point.

    Annmarie

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