Friday, February 24, 2023

Observed

Honors Anatomy. Thursday. Fifth period.

It had been a pretty low-key day. The kiddos had work in their Google Classrooms. Many of them were actually doing it. 

"Why is Mr. M in my assignment?" 

"Wait. Where?"

"Now he's in mine."

That had been happening all day. On assignments in Google Classroom, the teacher can go into any student's doc and see what the student has done, whether it's turned in or not. It's a trick I was taught during distance learning. Then, teachers were using it to make sure the remote students were actually on task.

Me: "He's probably bored in his meeting. He's just checking in on you. Say 'hi'."

So, one student typed an emoji in his doc. But Mr. M had moved on. The student was disappointed.

It was funny how the students were so excited that Mr. M was virtually in their class. And for me, it told me that they were actually doing what they were supposed to be doing. (I mean, I had walked the room and checked to make sure their computers were on what they were supposed to be on.) 

If the students hadn't been working on the assignment, they never would have seen Mr. M observing. You can only see who's "editing" the documents when you are actively in the documents. 

A bit later, the student who hadn't gotten a response from Mr. M got a response. Mr. M went back and typed something. He was happy.

I think most of them got their work done so they didn't have any homework over the four-day weekend.

21 comments:

  1. This was nice to read. A class doing rheir work. I like the bit qith the emogi. Now I will backtrack to see what I have missed

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    1. It happens more often than is indicated on the blog. (There's not often an interesting story with the good classes.)

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  2. What a nice, calm story. So different from usual! ;)

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  3. After your last post, this was a relief. Oh, the adventures of teaching, that no college can prepare you for.

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    1. The college bound do not know the lives of those who will never attend college.

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  4. I wonder if he'd done that before, so the students knew they'd be checked on?

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    1. I wouldn't be surprised if he'd done that before, but they were so shocked when they saw him in their docs that I don't think they were expecting it.

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  5. Nice way to ensure motivation to work.

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    Replies
    1. If they know they'll be checked on. They weren't expecting it.

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  6. That's cute the kids were excited he was in their classroom. It seems odd to me they're doing homework in class. Back in the day, you did classwork in class and homework was in addition abut done outside of class. So, if it's done in class isn't it just classwork?

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    1. That wasn't homework. That was the day's assignment. (Did I call it homework?) They don't always have direct instruction. Sometimes they have things to work on individually.

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  7. Seeing their teacher interested by their work is great for the students, even if it's for checking if they are doing it ;)
    Are you ok with the unusual weather in LA and California?

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  8. Replies
    1. It was funny. They were so surprised he'd check in on them.

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  9. Reminds me of English class in 9th grade (taught by my homeroom teacher Mr. L, whom I also had in 7th grade English and homeroom). He would give us an assignment to write an essay in class, and then he'd walk around and look at our writing. Perhaps strange to you as a teacher, but I never realized until now that he was most probably checking to make sure we were on task. I never minded him peering at my work; it made me happy! Mr. L was also the teacher who encouraged me to keep writing when I graduated.

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    1. He was also making himself available if you needed help. Kiddos won't necessarily raise their hands, but if the teacher is standing right there, they're more likely to take the opportunity to ask.

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  10. Teachers that show excitement and show they really do care, makes a difference.

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