Each and every day Jennifer Engbretson, a PEBC Lab Host in Denver, Colorado crafts math workshops that prioritize student thinking and understanding while also considering the importance of assessment and feedback. In this episode Jennifer and Michelle Morris Jones discuss ways to monitor and support progress while teaching remotely that can be applied to any grade level or content area. They specifically think through the Assessment strand of the PEBC Teaching Framework from Phenomenal Teaching by Wendy Ward Hoffer and discuss ways to encourage self-monitoring, design formative assessments, collect date in real time, utilize data to guide instruction, and provide timely feedback during remote teaching. Jennifer has found that many of the best practices that she implemented in her school-based classroom have transferred to remote teaching, although now she is finding that she has to be more intentional and reflective. Jennifer leverages an array of tech tools to allow students to “do the heavy lifting” while simultaneously being able to “see student thinking” even when she can’t look over their shoulders to see their papers. Some examples include:
- Multiple Screens to manage her LMS and additional tools
- Pear Deck & Desmos to “see” student thinking in real time
- Zoom to manage small group collaboration and for individual conferring
- Google extensions such as Sheets and Form Mule to sort data and communicate quickly
- Ed Puzzle to provide extra support
- Schoology as the Learning Management System to organize and distribute materials
Listen in for inspiration and information! Jennifer holds a BS in Mathematics and an MA in Curriculum and Instruction: Secondary Math from the University of Colorado at Denver. She teaches 9th and 10th grade mathematics and serves as her school’s data specialist. In addition to being a data guru she loves crafting and building furniture. Besides teaching high schoolers how to be great thinkers, the most interesting job she has ever had was working at a Glow in the Dark Putt Putt.
This episode is sponsored by Chalkbeat. Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news organization committed to covering one of America’s most important stories: the effort to improve schools for all children. Stay up to date on all of the current events in education at www.chalkbeat.org.