[bryan.bernacki]

in reply to: 4.4 Fostering Student Relationships #18256

I used to do this as well… find out if a student was in a sport, then try to make an appearance at a game. My all-time favorite student, whom I still keep in contact with 3 years after graduation, was the first student I tried this approach on. Unfortunately, I am now a coach, and because I spend so much time there, I only get to a few student games a year. However, at season’s end, one of the freshman players told the team after our last game that he turned from a C/D/F student to an A/B/C student because of me and my pestering him about grades. I smiled and said the only person to thank was himself, since without his willingness to change, none of that would have been possible.

[bryan.bernacki]

in reply to: 4.4 Fostering Student Relationships #18255

Some of the best relationships I have engaged in are those with students who “could go either way.” Maybe they were a smart and/or lazy student who was underperforming. Maybe they were a student with a lot to offer, but were afraid to speak up because of some fear. As mentioned, getting to know a student’s life and background is important, but of course, knowing the life stories of 100+ kids a year is extremely difficult. One student I bonded with for three years was as hard-headed a student as possible… making things difficult for everyone because of his personality and maybe to get attention. I convinced him to join the business club last year- over many objections- and he had a great time (would never “admit it” though), won some awards at Regionals, and had a great time at State.

Over time, my inroads with him caused his parent to contact me and say that I was one of the only people in his life he trusted enough to tell his life story. Unfortunately, he dropped out of school midway senior year, but I took him to dinner the other day and encouraged him to go back to PACE virtual academy and finish what he started to get his degree. Hopefully, he listens to me again.

[bryan.bernacki]

in reply to: 4.3 Remote Learning Matrix #18254

My remote learning matrix is here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pK1PZdP17OPnkM935teCuxib-CnmrqzjLa41TvD4-M8/edit?tab=t.0

The five values I chose are those of my college Fraternity, Phi Gamma Delta. I will definitely implement this in my classroom next year, modified for in-person.

[bryan.bernacki]

in reply to: 3.5 Your Hyperdoc #18253

My lesson is on Business Operations. The Hyperdoc is here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Op1BQW-JcAQurBTT2Epr583nOLEGGtSIry_lJYNTTfs/edit?tab=t.0.

The lesson engages students by interacting with Wegman’s Food Market, a very successful grocery store in the Eastern US. The success of the lesson comes when the students are asked to compare the grocery store they (or their family) shop at vs. Wegman’s to look for similarities and differences. Wegman’s background material on YouTube, their company website, and the Case Study are provided to students, who are then asked to compare these items vs. their grocery store.

The lesson serves as a warmup to their semester project of creating a business plan, where in their Operations Section, student teams must describe how their company operates (a day in the life of their store). Between their existing knowledge and the ability to compare and contrast, students should be able to determine and describe how their company will operate similarly in their business plan.

[bryan.bernacki]

in reply to: 2.9 Digital Lesson and Reflection #18124

From my time during the COVID-semester(s), I learned the following that I will take with me to my next virtual session:

What part of your live lesson went well? Why? I turned on the Closed Captioning. My voice is not easy to discern through a computer, so the CC helped students interpret what I was saying in real time by just reading. I saved all my lectures and posted them to Schoology so any absent student could see them, or students could rewatch them at their leisure.

What part of your live lesson could go better? Why? Student engagement. My lectures do not necessarily provide a format for student response, especially since I cannot watch to see if students still have their cameras on (or even if they do, are they really watching me).

Identify 1-2 areas where you think you can improve. What would you do differently next time? I might tell students that I will call on them randomly for points, since if I do not grade responses, students will be less likely to pay attention. Having an exit ticket at the end of the lecture might help also.

[bryan.bernacki]

in reply to: 2.6 Tech Tool Tic-Tac-Toe #18119

I see that many of the sites have the AI ability, but especially with Kahoot, it is a paid feature. Schools should consider finding funding for this so teachers do not have to pay out of pocket. Or just utilize ChatGPT or something similar to get the AI feature embedded into Kahoot or any other platform.

[bryan.bernacki]

in reply to: 2.6 Tech Tool Tic-Tac-Toe #18117

I agree that the ability to use others’ Kahoots is nice, but in a way, I feel bad because I feel it is “stealing” someone else’s time and effort by adapting their work to my needs. I try to break my students of habits like that. I do agree that the teacher comments pool is a helpful resource of information.

[bryan.bernacki]

in reply to: 2.6 Tech Tool Tic-Tac-Toe #18115

• This reply was modified 1 month, 3 weeks ago by bryan.bernacki.

[bryan.bernacki]

in reply to: 2.6 Tech Tool Tic-Tac-Toe #18113

• This reply was modified 1 month, 3 weeks ago by bryan.bernacki.

[bryan.bernacki]

in reply to: 2.6 Tech Tool Tic-Tac-Toe #18112

The students love Kahoot but they are time-consuming to make… which is the challenge for me. While I was making this, I thought of an interesting class/group activity: have the students create their own study guide by submitting Kahoot questions to me. This will require them to read (and read ahead of me) the textbook and guess what questions/answers I will put on my test. In a way, it will be similar to them taking Cornell Notes, where they are narrowing down their focus, and I may even begin having Cornell Notes sheets in my class for them to use anyway. I will then actually use some of the questions on my tests so they know their efforts are not being wasted… and we can play the Kahoot in class so they learn, have fun, and see the fruits of their labors.

Here is my draft link to a Kahoot about Accounting Chapter 11.
https://create.kahoot.it/share/accounting/cad5e5bf-8a25-43f6-90dc-11d6c12da339

[bryan.bernacki]

in reply to: 1.8 Challenges of Teaching Online #18106

The most challenging thing is student engagement. Giving students lengthy online assignments does not work, as they can easily become confused and frustrated without guidance. I try to provide simple assignments that still assess student knowledge of the content, but do not necessarily require a difficult description. I do make myself available online if they have questions.

[bryan.bernacki]

in reply to: 1.6 Streamlining Your Digital Workspace #18105

In a recent textbook assignment, I adapted it to a lengthier assignment by (a) printing the article to a PDF, (b) putting a link to the company website and supplementary materials as PDF’s- not prinouts which students can lose and wastes money/paper, (c) found a video to accent the assignment, and (d) created a “test” in Schoology where students were to answer questions that I developed . Grading was much simpler (typing) than having students write out answers and the ease of use for the students was discernible.

[Author]

Posts