Jigsaw 104 Internship

Another unit in AP Psychology that I am partial to is that of psychological disorders and therapies.  I get very protective of this unit as I want students to comprehend the truth about disorders and not believe fallacies perpetuated on television shows and movies.  I like to provide them as many real-life references as possible.  Additionally, I need them to practice diagnosing.  For the AP exam it is important that they comprehend the difference between disorders such as schizophrenia and dissociative identity disorder. This is a sample lesson similar to what I have already been doing in my classroom.  Of course I would be using the webcam function as the synchronous session runs.

1.  I would start with a survey about perceptions of psychological disorders.  In order for something to by diagnosed, the students need to apply the 3 Ds: deviant, distressful, and dysfunctional.  Polling them on their opinions of whether or not the short description exemplifies the 3Ds is a great conversation starter.  It helps the students understand that all 3 criteria need to be met, not just one.

2.  The next part of the lesson would move to case studies to diagnose.  I uploaded a document for us as a class to move through 11 descriptive case studies, each exemplifying a different disorder.  I also uploaded a presentation about psychological disorders to serve as notes in case I need to flip back to a notes slide for further discussion about diagnostic criteria of a particular disorder.  The students love case studies; they feel like they are on CSI even though real-life forensic psychologists are nothing like television makes them out to be, haha!

3.  I would utilize the next pane for support.  There is a super cool piece that Anderson Cooper did on schizophrenia.  When we get to the case study about schizophrenia, it would be a great time to show the students his piece.  This helps illustrate the reality of the situation.  In addition, there is an opportunity for them to participate in the same research he had the opportunity to do.  By connecting a visual representation to the material, the words on the case studies activity literally come to life.

  

In the future, I think I will be more comfortable with the survey and polling futures.  I think this has been super user friendly so far.  I would like to run music at the beginning of my sessions to welcome students and at the end upon dismissal.  I think students will enjoy the moving parts.  Adobe Connect was stagnant and it took forever to load.  This interface provides much for the students to see and follow along with the instructor. 

Video Explanation

Jigsaw 102 Going to Class

Pane 1: Webcam

In the past I have not been a huge fan of the webcam option.  Honestly I always feel a little silly and judge my voice.  But I do understand the benefits and will challenge myself to incorporate using it more.  It does allow for a more personal connection; class gets real when there is a face rather than a voice.  I think it also holds me accountable in a professional manner as well.  I am aware that I get animated when I teach and this helps clarify content for students.  Additionally teaching psychology gets personal.  I share numerous personal stories and applications to the content.  By delivering it personally when the students can see me, my stories become genuine in their minds.

Pane 2: Presentation

The presentation function for an AP level class is great for notes as well as a lecture guide.  I can easily post the presentation and then speak to the students via my webcam.  It provides a visual guide for my visual-spatial learners.  It also provides additional notes for the students where I can post examples to share.  I love to use interactive presentations with my images to help illustrate psychology concepts.  I like how I can fit the presentation in the pane and not have to enlarge.  I prefer this because it also me to incorporate items in other panes, such as my webcam and images, as the same time.  I can jump in my conversation to multiple panes without having to adjust.  I also like the option to modify the slide by being able to type or write directly on it.  I could easily share student projects on here as well.

Jigsaw 103 Making the Grade

Pane 3: Image

I am highlighting a particular lesson about development for my pan examples.  Personally it is one of my favorite because we all grow and develop but I get to dote on my children.  Since most of my students do not have children or younger brothers/sisters, much of the content about young children is difficult for them to apply.  Babysitting helps or working at a daycare but those students are limited.  I like to take the opportunity (while my kids are young, haha) to share examples via pictures or home videos that I have that demonstrate the concepts discussed.  Referring back to my paragraph for pane 1 in my previous post, my personal examples make the content a reality and subsequently more meaningful for the students.  This particular image to share is one of my daughter drawing.  We discuss schemas that kids have and how they are reflected in the drawing skills of young kids.  As you can see in this portrait my daughter is doing of yours truly, I am apparently all head and no body.  This is very common for her age because babies and young children are attune to facial expressions for survival so the rest of the body is unimportant to them until kindergarten. 

Pane 4: My Web Links

In the development unit, there are numerous stage theorists the students are expected to know.  Major names from Lawrence Kohlberg, Jean Piaget, Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, and of course Erik Erikson.  This can get overwhelming for the students.  Having quick access to various organized charts and relationship graphs makes for great compare and contrast discussion.  It is also a visual way to walk the students through stages based on age as to not overwhelm them.  I like this chart because of the content. It is clearly organized and provides me great discussion points.  It is also one that I can release to the students to bookmark for their studies.

Jigsaw 101 Setting Up for Success

Generally speaking, I love organization!  Honestly, LOVE.IT.  For me, the asset library is a must!  Jigsaw has many more functions than presented to us in the past to communicate content with students.  Even in my face-to-face classroom there are many things I want to get to but sometimes do not because I forget.  The asset library allows for one to prep before each synchronous session by loading everything preemptively. I can load everything I want to share with the students and open them in different panes to keep myself on track.  The filter function is great due to adding tags.  AP Psychology is cumulative.  There are many topics that resurface throughout the semester.  The use of tags allows me to quickly find an image or video that I may have shared at the beginning of the year to use later.  I also feel it could provide an easy search opportunity when sharing things with colleagues by using the groups function.

Most of the items I selected focused on Social Psychology.  In the sample I submitted I showed how I can upload a presentation as an asset as well as a link to a sample project to show the students.  As I mentioned before, using the panes helps keep everything organized for me and gives me the easy ability to switch without having to wait for items to upload to share.  Additionally in another pane I had included the instructions for the assignment.  So discussing norms could easily link to the assignment and then link to the sample to share.

 

E. Mitchell's Evaluate 2.1.2 – Rubrics and Competencies Quest

For this section, set up a competency structure for one unit of your sample course. Associate the assignments in that unit with the competency. Submit both a screenshot of the structure and a detailed explanation of why you created the structure that way. Include a discussion of the various pathways a student may go through to attain the competencies in the unit and document all in your blog.

This is a unit on Sensation and Perception.  I selected this particular unit because of the vast amount of information embedded that College Board expects students to be familiar with.  Though this unit it enjoyable for them, it contains a LOT of content.  The competency I set up aligns with the College Board standards established for the topic.  Each standard is matched with an assignment (i.e. sensation is paired with a dropbox ppt assignment and perception is paired with a discussion).   In order to ensure that students have met standards, each is associated with a scoring guide rubric.  These help is making sure students are meeting and/or exceeding standards.  In order to help make sure they are attaining the competencies, students can make revisions to work (as suggested in my feedback).  The final demonstration of mastery aligns with a unit exam.  

Rubric one
Rubric two

E. Mitchell's Evaluate 1.1.3 – The Summative Assessment Quest

Showcase an assessment created and include how the method was used to assess the validity, reliability, and security. Post the assessment in your blog.

This is an assessment I created for my f2f class which integrates an online component.  When we lost a day due to the weather, I needed to keep my students on track for the AP exam so they had an online exam to take about famous contributors to psychology.  

This exam is valid because all possible questions relate to the required assessment.  Students are to be familiar with famous names and each question requires them to key in a name that relates to the pun-form contribution listed.  To help with security, you will also see that the exam is randomized and only shows one question per page. When an exam is reliable it yields consistent results (we discuss this in psych referencing ways to check this like split test reliability).  Two things prove reliability here.  First, I did allow each student 2 attempts on the exam.  Each time their score was different within a narrow range.  Secondly, the class grades were clustered around an average and the range was not wide.

The dates of availability as well as the time limit help ensure security.

E. Mitchell's Evaluate 3.1.2 – Self-Reflection on Teaching Abilities Quest

Submit evidence of reflection on your individual teaching abilities. Include artifacts, evaluation feedback, your own reflections, e-portfolio links, professional growth plans and anything else that showcases introspection into strengths and weaknesses as an online educator and document all in your individual blog.

Each year with GaVS I learn new tricks of the trade that I believe help me continuously meet GaVS standards.  Opportunities like the PLS' as well as faculty meetings keep me plugged into GaVS happenings as well as school policy.  Additionally, getting the chance to present at PLS' helps me work collaboratively with fellow colleagues, forces me to do research as well as stay abreast of trends in online education.  Hopefully, I can keep this streak going!  

Click here to view my ePortfolio.