Directions:
Review and compare the two sample individualized student plans provided below. Both sample plans are written for the same student. Keeping in mind the best practices discussed in this lesson, consider the strengths and weaknesses of each plan and decide which you find to be the preferred option for the online environment.

Plan A has many strengths:

• Extended time on timed assessments
• Extended time on assignments and classwork
• Reduce coursework
• Provide a copy of notes or presentations if not already embedded in the course.
• Assist Sally with the download and application of text-to-speech software that is compatible with course content and resources.
• Ensure Sally knows how to use the zoom function of her browser and/or the computer operating system.
• Preferential seating 

Each of these accommodations are valuable to the student, but many of them are very vague.  In example, reduce coursework could be a number of things.  This leave the teacher with a lot of discretion.  Discretion is not always considered a bad thing, however when it comes to the best for each student it may leave unanswered questions. 

Plan B is much more detailed than Plan A.  Plan A has the following  accommodations: 

• Extended time on timed assessments - 100% extended time, or double the original amount of time
• Extended time on assignments – Sally may turn her work in the following school day from the original due date for full credit. If a longer extension is needed, Sally will arrange an alternate due date with the teacher.
• Reduce coursework – reduce the number of assignments or the length of assignments. Teacher will determine coursework to be reduced and Sally must be assessed on and demonstrate mastery of standards
• Provide a copy of notes or presentations if not already embedded in the course.
• Assist Sally with the download and application of text-to-speech software that is compatible with course content and resources.
• Ensure Sally knows how to use the zoom function of her browser and/or the computer operating system.
• Check in with Sally at least one time per week via email, phone, synchronous session or other mutually agreed upon communication method to initiate contact relating to her progress and understanding of the material.
• Provide Sally the opportunity to record oral responses when possible/appropriate to reduce strain to her eyes.
• Make Sally aware of additional resources, review opportunities/activities and study guides in the course sidebars.

It is clear that Plan B is focused more as an individual plan for Sally than Plan A. Plan A and B both have accommodations that are there to assist Sally be successful, but Plan B is detailed to her specific needs. For me the clear choice is Plan B.

Directions: Choose two of the student scenarios below. First, identify at least two difficulties each student may be experiencing in their online class. Then, discuss two best practices or specific strategies that might be helpful to each student.

Scenario 1
Dustin has an IEP with accommodations for a hearing impairment; he is completely deaf. He is not currently doing well in your class and you are unsure why. He has not asked for help or attended live sessions since the class began. When you leave assignment feedback for him, he does not respond, even if you specifically ask him to respond. What will you do to address this?

Difficulties:
While there are many issues that Dustin could be experiencing a few come to mind. The first is whether or not Dustin is using any add-on features to his computer to assist with the information.  This could be be something that would help him to read any audio that is presented within the classroom.
The second difficulty that is effecting the his outcome in the course is the lack of responding.  Having an open dialogue with students is essential to their success.  It is unclear if this is an issue with the email, Dustin being lost and not communicating, or  the lack of effort in the class.  If it is a lack of effort, it could be that Dustin is giving up from being lost. 

Best Practices/ Strategies:
When dealing with a student that has a disability it is important to communicate with all stakeholders early and often.  Having an open line of communication is going to allow any future problems to be dealt with swiftly.  
There are several ways to help a student within an online class.  The first is making sure that all Powerpoints that are delivered in the classroom are accessible and if recorded has closed caption included.  This will also help students that are not hearing impaired.  The second best practice is having the teacher use their webcam when possible.  Many hearing impaired students are  able to lipread.  This can help offset the closed caption with your Powerpoints.  
 
Scenario #2:Joyce has accommodations for an Emotional/Behavioral Disorder. Her mother informed you that Joyce's specific diagnosis is Anxiety and Depression, and she sometimes does not respond well to correction. She plagiarized a large section of her essay for your class this week. How will you handle this situation?Difficulties:
The first difficultly that Joyce could be dealing with is the anxiety of the her workload.  Due to the large amount of assignments that can place pressure on students, many students will feel anxiety.  If a student is already having issues with anxiety, the issue will become compounded.  It appears in the scenario that Joyce allowed the anxiety to affect her judgment. 
The second difficultly that Joyce may be dealing with is time management.  Many students are push work back until the deadlines catch up with them.  This would exaggerate the anxiety and would follow along with the lack of motivation that often follows depression.  
Best Practices/ Strategies:
The first best practice is always establishing clear and open communication with all stakeholders.  This will keep all invested parties in the loop.  This will help when issues such as plagiarism.  This will ensure that all parties are aware of the issues and kept informed with academic dishonesty. 
The second best practice when dealing with a student that has anxiety issues is creating a plan on how to deal with the course related task.  It helps to think of the old question, "How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time."  Break material down for small goals for this students.  
The third best practice is being supportive.  It is important to be supportive to all students, however it can be more important to establish a positive relationship with students that anxiety and depression. 

The purpose of this blog post is to describe what I learned in Jigsaw University 104.  This section was where everything came together to create a lesson.  I used a four pane Jigsaw Synchronous Classroom with the following setup.  The top left pane was used to display a picture of myself that is intended to create a connection with the person reviewing the recording or in attendance.  The top right pane was used to display the presentation on Digital Security.   This pane can be enlarged to make the viewing of the presentation easier. The bottom left pane was used to place a survey question regarding what digital security is and the importance of it.  The bottom right pane I used to display a picture illustrating digital security. 

After putting together a test run, I realized that I could utilize the whiteboard to make the lesson more iterative.  The difficulty with test runs is that you don't have any students in the classroom and there are time restraints in place. 

Overall this has been a great lesson that has allowed me to explore the tools that are necessary to be successful in creating a lesson in Jigsaw.  I am grateful for the experience and know that I will be able to continue to grow with this lesson as a foundation.  Please see the link below. 


​stream.jigsawinteractive.com/u/V4BlDy

Jigsaw University 103 focuses on the use of Pane 3 and Pane 4 of the Jigsaw Synchronous Classroom.  Pane 3 has some really interesting  features.  I personally like the feature of the map for students being able to see where I am located.  I would say that for a practical use the survey feature is my favorite.  The survey feature allows you to survey the classroom and gauge understanding or interest in a range of topics.  This would allow the instructor to gain immediate feedback from the class. Pane 4 allows the instructor to do a variety of presentations, write on the white board, post links and much more.  Pane 4 felt to me as I were in a face-to-face classroom and writing on the board for students.    Please view the link below.

stream.jigsawinteractive.com/u/7L2qI4

Jigsaw University 102 was designed to teach the learner how to use Pane 1 and Pane 2.  I have created and attached a link below this post that allows you to see how I used Pane 1 and Pane 2.  Pane was has my picture in place and you can hear my voice throughout this short demonstration.  Pane 2 was focused on giving a presentation.  For the purpose of this demonstration I used a power point on a book review for the Burden of Command.  The Burden of Command is one of my favorite books. Jigsaw has done a great job allowing the instructor to create assets in the format they are most comfortable with and providing an easy platform to upload. 

stream.jigsawinteractive.com/u/P4pvdf

This blog post is to identify and reflect on using blog post in Jigsaw.  I found the Jigsaw University 101 class to be very helpful in showing me how to use and create assets to improve the synchronous classroom. The first asset I created was just a picture of myself.

The second asset I used was just a fun picture to engage students and create a light mood.

I also included a practice syllabus to ensure that the document would load properly. 

The fourth asset I used for the asset section was a link to my web page that contains a video on Community Policing that was produced by TED Talks.  The fifth asset I created was a survey that I used in Jigsaw.  The survey may be my favorite option of all. The survey can be found in the bottom left quadrant. 

The last image I want to share is a picture of my asset library and the assets assigned to this session of Jigsaw. 

I really feel this was a valuable lesson that will better prepare me to serve my students with a well organized Jigsaw Classroom. 

This blog post is to reflect upon what was learned in the Evaluate Module and the following standards:
Standard D: The online teacher promotes student success through clear expectations, prompt responses, and regular feedback.
Standard G: The online teacher demonstrates competencies in creating and implementing assessments in online learning environments in ways that ensure validity and reliability of the instruments and procedures.
Standard H: The online teacher develops and delivers assessments, projects, and assignments that meet standards-based learning goals and assesses learning progress by measuring student achievement of the learning goals.
Standard I: The online teacher demonstrates competency in using data from assessments and other data sources to modify content and to guide student learning.

Standard D was best met in the Quality Feedback post. This post focused on giving quality feedback that focused on encouraging student growth and mastery of standards.  The positive and corrective feedback to students will lead to greater learning and student achievement. 

Standard G and H were best addressed in Summative Assessment and Personalized Teaching and Learning. This post helped to ensure that the instructor is creating assessments that are reliable and valid.  By focusing on the on assessments that met standards, the instructor is able to create assessments that will lend data to the direction of the lesson.  I also found value in the lesson that focused on the security of test.

Standard I was also met in Personalized Teaching and Learning.  I really felt this lesson prepared me to better use data for assessments.  By focusing more using the data from formative and summative assessments, the teacher is able to use differentiation and remediation to assist the student in achieving mastery of the standard.

What strategies will you take away from the Evaluate module and apply to your teaching?  
This module had several lessons that had excellent points.  I think the best strategy I will take away is to continue using data to support assessments.  By planning assessments that align with standards and having assessment tools in place, such as rubrics, the student understand the objectives and the subjectivity of grading will disappear.  
What lessons were most beneficial for you?
The lesson I felt most beneficial was the lesson on Quality Feedback.  Too often teachers are overwhelmed with the amount of grading that has to be done, or the depth of the material that needs to be graded that we don't put enough value in feedback.  I will spend more time in the future focusing on feedback. 

Artifact: Submit evidence of reflection on your individual teaching abilities. Include a minimum of (2) two artifacts: evaluation feedback, your own reflections, e-portfolio links, professional growth plans, recommendation letters, stakeholder feedback and anything else that showcases introspection into strengths and weaknesses as an online educator and document all in your individual blog.      

At this time, I am not an online educator so I am providing artifacts from my classroom teaching experience. 

This document is from my self assessment portion of my yearly evaluation.  I feel that I excel in areas of professionalism and subject knowledge.  With a focus on communication, I felt that I could improve from where I was they year before.  It is easy to spend time communicating with students and parents when there is a negative issue, but we forget how important it is to communicate with the positive issues as well. 

The artifact is the section from my annual evaluation.  

What are your teaching strengths?
I feel that my best teaching strength is my content knowledge.   I teach public safety and have spent nearly 20 years as a police officer.  I have had valuable opportunities to learn and attend classes that takes years to acquire. 
What are your teaching weaknesses?
I feel that learning the online delivery is my biggest weakness.  Having not taught online before defiantly makes this the area that I can improve the most on. 
Provide a reflection on your teaching abilities, philosophy and how Evaluate has prepared you to teach online.
I have really enjoyed this lesson.  I have learned and relearned many things about the evaluation process and how evaluation is an integral part of the education system.  I have always been an advocate of using data to direct the lesson.  I feel this entire module has better prepared me to plan, deliver and conduct assessments. 

How could the data be referenced to identify the needs of each student?
By matching the questions with the standards for the lesson, the teacher is able to use the item analysis to determine which standards the student needs the most attention on. 
How could the settings of the LMS be used to create personalized learning paths?
The instructor can create assignments within the LMS that are standard matched.  By having instructional tools in place that meet standards and divided by standards, the teacher can apply those learning tools to individual students.  Not all LMS are instructor friendly allowing the instructor to set individual learning plans in place. 
How would this data change your teaching plan?
By effectively putting data to use the teaching plan will become more customized to the individual students.  This method is the most effective delivery method for each standard. 
How could it help with remediation or enrichment, etc.?
 I feel that remediation and enrichment is the area most often forgotten in the teaching environment.  If a student fails to show mastery of a standard the teacher is able to use the provided data from the summative assessment to return to the lesson and create new activities that will reinforce those standards.