Monday. My last day in the English class.
As is my habit, the first thing I did was to get out my computer(s) and log on. Very quickly I discovered that there was no internet. I soon learned that the internet was out for the entire district.
Not only was this a "transition day" where I was going to give the next sub access to the Google Classroom, lesson plans, and slideshows she would need to teach the class for the week, I also had grading to finish up from my tenure in the class (all done online along with the online gradebook).
Oh, and the classes had a quiz. That was online.
After I panicked, I began to contemplate how I was going to approach the day. Luckily, I had a prep period first, so I had some time to adjust. I thought about how I had seen the paper copy of the quiz in the digital file of quizzes for the class, and how I wished I had internet access to print out said paper. And that's about the time I remembered that Ms. A had a file cabinet, and wouldn't it be cool if there was a copy of that quiz somewhere in those files?
There was a copy on paper of that quiz in Ms. A's filing cabinet. It took me not all that long to locate it.
The copy machines are not dependent upon the internet.
I decided to make an answer sheet to go along with the quizzes. (I had time. That lovely prep period.) I was in process when the sub who was taking over for me arrived, so I got a little sidetracked explaining what she was going to need to continue teaching the class. But eventually I got the answer sheet completed, and we headed to the copy room to make the copies we would need for the day.
It was interesting to do the quizzes on paper. The kiddos were not used to this sort of thing. I had to explain how it worked. It wasn't all that long ago when no explanation would have been necessary. How quickly we adapt to new technologies.
The online quiz and the paper quiz were pretty much the same. The only difference was the format. And yet, the kiddos who took the paper quiz didn't do as well as the classes that took the online quiz the previous Friday. (There was a 20% difference in average scores.)
This makes me wonder. Was it the technology? Or were the kiddos who got to take the quiz online cheating somehow? (The quiz was "locked down", so the kiddos couldn't access another tab while taking the quiz. And I monitored them for cell phone use.)
This is not the first time we've had an internet outage. (There was this time and this time that happened fairly recently.) I'm sure it won't be the last.
That is so interesting, the paper quiz outcome. Hmmm. Good job going old school!
ReplyDeleteI know. I was astonished when I saw how much lower the paper quizzed scores were.
DeleteI’m old enough to remember “dittos” from a mimeograph machine, that would really throw your kiddos for a loop.
ReplyDeleteMe, as well.
DeleteI remember dittos...
DeleteThat's weird that the grades would be so different. I wonder why.
ReplyDeleteCan I imagine what one of my teachers (I started school in the late 1950's) would have thought if she (they were all women) was transported into your classrooms? Would she have been fascinated? Horrified? Also, I'm another reader wondering about the grade difference between the online and paper quizzes.
ReplyDeleteI have no clue. I mean, I watched them. I roamed the room while the quizzes were out. I did not see them doing any obvious cheating. (And, they're not subtle. You'd think they'd be sneaky, but they're really not.)
DeleteThat's quite curious. Were the kids cheating so much? I'd love to know.
ReplyDeleteNo idea. And, no obvious cheating. I watched them.
DeleteThis is Birgit…I think one should do the old school every once in a while to make the kids think more. I have a feeling that the kids were so jarred by having to write things rather than type, tht it threw them off.
ReplyDeleteA lot of teachers still use paper. It's probably half and half. For every teacher that's gone full digital, there's another who only does things on paper. So, it's just weird that this would have thrown them so badly.
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