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If you’d like to get in the laid back spirit, play this video while reading this post. The video is 4 hours long, so read slowly.
https://youtu.be/FTgoJ–hBlQ
Engaging Teaching
Peer to Peer Assessment
Did you find yourself thinking this morning, “What is the deal with peer to peer assessment?” If so, read on. We want to pose an either/or question for you to ponder. There are no right or wrong answers, except that one of the choices will be right for you, and the other will be dead wrong. Here are two choices to think about when having students assess each other’s work:
- Do nothing. This way you may get to enjoy the hilarity of entertaining dynamic duos like Chandler & Joey, Walter & Jesse , or Jerry & George. These relationships are entertaining, usually because of miscommunication and lack of mastery-oriented feedback skills.
- Choose the boring option and teach your students a little bit about mastery-oriented feedback. This way students are able to functionally critique each other’s work, depriving the world of some joyful entertainment.
If you choose to go with boring option number two, try printing out this handy handout with tips for Mastery-Oriented Feedback for you and your students to use.
Learning Technology
This time of the school year is so busy, it almost paralyzes you. To get past the feeling of overwhelm, you need to distract yourself in order to get ALL of the work done. Believe us, we know. 🙂
So to procrastinate a little more, I found a 7 Ways to… article, but then quickly decided to check out games that you might like to try, instead.
The crackling fire at the top of the post reminded me of a childhood favourite story game, “in a dark room.” In this game, you build on the suspense of the story until it culminates in a lame ending, a funny ending, or a super scary ending!
The online version of this story is also called “in a dark room,” and you can check it out here.
Your reward for checking it out is another “7 ways… ” link, but this time it’s about how games engage the brain.
Policies & Procedures
This week’s very special procedure spans multiple systems and multiple departments. It is also in regard to something your students (hopefully) hold quite near and dear to their hearts: Spoiler alert, it’s FINAL GRADES!
Grades for courses ending December 16th must reach their final destination by high noon on Tuesday, December 20th. These final grades go through a process akin to a prisoner transfer. They need to be closely supervised on their trip from one system to another. Grades will travel from D2L, which is the Learning Design & Support Team’s jurisdiction, all the way over to Faculty Centre, which is in the Registrar’s wheelhouse. This is where grades become official.
On that note, please watch out for an important email on Monday, December 5th from Shelley Rowan with the subject Final Grade Collection for Fall 2016. This email will provide instructions on how to complete the transfer.
**Another important note, and don’t ask