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| March 15, 2006 | |
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| Info Update
ABC's of Facilitation Chatterbox
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Dr. Z-Coe's Corner
Dear FOR-PD Facilitator: Happy Spring to all of you! I hope that you are taking some time off to enjoy your Spring Break. How can we say thank you for all you do for the state of Florida? You indeed have been "making history" in online large scale professional development in reading. You are among the very few online literacy facilitators in the nation. As you know, FOR-PD has been recognized nationally as a model project for quality teacher professional development. Thank you for all you have been doing to lead, encourage, and support the teachers in your sections. Last week we started our 12-week sections and on March 20, we will be starting our 10-week sections. June 30th is around the corner! Let's all do whatever we can to help our fellow educators successfully complete the reading endorsement. We love working with you! Thank you for participating in the professional development program we have developed for you. This month I wanted to share with you a few thoughts about time management and online facilitation. Below are some core tips for mid-semester discussion management. The activity level at this point is usually high as teachers are familiar with content, structure, context, and format.
Thank you for your time, efforts, and leadership with the FOR-PD course. I wish you continued success. Remember that we are here to support you and help you in your facilitation. Please feel free to contact me in case you have any comments or questions at vzygouri@mail.ucf.edu or (407) 207-7296. Regards,
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| Open Registration Begins | May 8, 2006 |
| Open Registration Ends | June 26, 2006 |
| Summer Classes Begin | July 10, 2006 |
| Summer Classes End | October 9, 2006 |
Fall 2006
| Open Registration Begins | July 10, 2006 |
| Open Registration Ends | August 7, 2006 |
| Summer Classes Begin | August 21, 2006 |
| Summer Classes End | December 4, 2006 |
To address the absence of information about women in America's schools, the National Women's History Project led a movement to have Congress designate a celebration to recognize women's historic achievements. The goal was to ensure that information about the myriad ways women have changed America would be part of our children's education.
In 1980, President Carter issued the first Presidential Proclamation calling on the American people to remember the contributions of women. By 1987, fourteen governors had declared March as Women's History Month, and that same year, Congress and the President followed by declaring March as National Women's History Month.
This year's theme, Women: Builders of Communities and Dreams, honors the spirit of possibility and hope set in motion by generations of women in their creation of communities and their encouragement of dreams.
Community comes in many forms, and dreams change, expand, and are sometimes fulfilled. Women: Builders of Communities and Dreams honors women for bringing communities together and restoring hope in the face of impossible odds.
The purpose of women's history is not to idealize women. On the contrary, the stories of women's achievements present an expanded view of the complexity and contradiction of living a full and purposeful life.
Learning about the extraordinary achievements of women helps diminish the tendency to dismiss and trivialize who women are and what they accomplish. In celebrating women's historic achievements, we present an authentic view of history. The knowledge of women's history provides a more expansive vision of what a woman can do. This perspective can encourage girls and women to think larger and bolder and can give boys and men a fuller understanding of the female experience.
How are our children --girls and boys alike --going to understand the importance of women to American culture and history if their education includes little or nothing about the significance of women's contributions?
We know from research and from anecdotal studies that learning the stories of women's success, talent, and accomplishments expands a sense of what is possible for girls and women. Information about women and their successes gives males and females alike a perspective that challenges some of our cultures' most unconscious and archaic assumptions about women.
Thus, women's history becomes a story of inspiration and hope; a story of courage and tenacity; and a story of promise, possibility and purpose.
Women's history is our nation's story. It is the story of how women built communities and inspired and nurtured dreams and how they will continue to do so. To find out more about Women's History Month visit http://www.nwhp.org/events/events.html.
Sharing Great Books on Women
In honor of National Women's History Month, a discussion thread has been started on the Facilitator Discussion Board under "Book Sharing: Who Knows A Good Book?" This book thread is for you to share your favorite books about women or your favorite books with strong female characters. These books can either be for adults or for students.
Have you checked out the new and improved Facilitator Tutorials section of the For Facilitators Only course? The tech team at FOR-PD has included some helpful tutorials to show you how to find your way around the
course and how to effectively use those important Web CT tools. These tutorials will walk you step-by-step through the course tools you will be using to manage your section. 
Come join us for a day of learning how to engage readers, motivate students, and connect children with books! This is a free professional day for all elementary and secondary educators, including literacy coaches, library media specialists, reading specialists, and administrators. The Symposium will take place in the College of Education Gymnasium April 7, 2006 from 8:30 AM to 3:30 PM. 
Plenty of facilitators had comments about the article content. Many facilitators noted that Florida was taking a step in the right direction by placing a heavy influence upon the importance of hiring a literacy coach. Facilitators also reiterated the importance of exposing older struggling readers to strategic literacy skills. Most agreed that literacy coaches made a great addition to the classroom circuit and were very effective in terms of offering positive suggestions for dealing with readers, modeling instructional techniques, and keeping teachers in-the-know about current research trends. Literacy coaches were viewed as valuable assets who were able to come into the classroom, discuss strategy implementation, and then assess the impact on student learning.
Several aspects of literacy promotion in the schools were discussed by many of the facilitators. Modeling (via the literacy coach) instructional strategies and showing teachers how to implement them was indicated as an effective way for teachers to understand how to foster literacy growth in the classroom. Facilitators also mentioned the importance of reading programs that engage teachers and promote the use of beneficial instructional tools and techniques to develop literacy skills among older students. Key elements of an effective literacy plan from the article included strong leadership and extensive literacy education. Facilitators recognized the value of such programs and the impact that literacy education has on their students as well as their own professional development.
If you are interested in contributing to this discussion, it can can be found in the "Who Knows A Good Book" discussion area under Edutopia Article.
Spring Facilitator Professional Development Book Club
Over the past month, we have been focusing on fluency assessment and instruction. Those participating have shared many ideas and resources for addressing fluency in the classroom. Below are some comments from the book study:
| "I like the example the article uses - fluency serves as a bridge between word recognition and comprehension. I agree that fluent readers comprehend more - or at least have an easier time comprehending because they are automatically reading the words and thus have more time to think, make connections, and understand." -J. Snyder |
| "I am no longer in the classroom; however, I use to read aloud to my ninth graders each day to model fluent reading. One of their favorite books was "The Rest of the Story" by Paul Harvey." -D. Kirkpatrick |
| "Measuring a student's fluency level is very significant because teachers need to
implement strategies for remediation. When teachers assess using more than one
instrument, there is a degree of validity as opposed to using just one assessment." - N. Tondreault |
| "Text plays a very important part in fluency development because texts can be user
friendly or not so much. If students have time to read and reread a passage of interest
that they can read with success, they will want to read more which helps develop fluency.
Some texts just don't lend themselves to students being interested or motivated to read." - J. Salamon |
If you have not had the chance to join our discussion now is the time! Remember to check out the Book Review area of the discussion board. FOR-PD would like to thank those facilitators who have contributed to this month's focus on fluency.
March Professional Development Focus - Vocabulary
Dates: March 16, 2006 - April 13, 2006
Where: For Facilitators Only Course - Book Review discussion area
Resources:
In keeping with our past few articles on effective online facilitation, this month's resource continues to focus on the facilitator and facilitation skills. March's Facilitation Resource of the Month is a guide entitled Effective Online Facilitation. This guide is based on the knowledge generated from the Australian Flexible Learning Framework and selected external literature. The guide provides an introduction to key issues related to online facilitation.
As a facilitator you must call upon the following facilitation skills:
Lesson(s) |
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Week 1 |
Lesson 1 |
Week 2 |
Lesson 2 & 3 |
Week 3 |
Lesson 4 |
Week 4 |
Lesson 5 |
Week 5 |
Lesson 6 |
Week 6 |
Lesson 7 |
Week 7 |
Lesson 8 |
Week 8 |
Lesson 9 & 10 |
Week 9 |
Lesson 11 |
Week 10 |
Lesson 12 |
Week 11 |
Lesson 13 |
Week 12 |
Lesson 14 |
Lesson(s) |
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Week 1 |
Lesson 1 |
Week 2 |
Lesson 2 & 3 |
Week 3 |
Lesson 4 |
Week 4 |
Lesson 5 & 6 |
Week 5 |
Lesson 7 |
Week 6 |
Lesson 8 |
Week 7 |
Lesson 9 & 10 |
Week 8 |
Lesson 11 & 12 |
Week 9 |
Lesson 13 |
Week 10 |
Lesson 14 |
For those facilitators who are facilitating 14-week sections, you have more than likely established a routine for looking at your participants' literacy logs. Some of you are providing general feedback-a simple ok or good-while others may be providing more extensive feedback. Either is fine. Remember, you just need to let your participants know that you have looked at the log and that the log meets the rubric. If you're spending a great amount of time on just the literacy logs, you might reconsider the feedback you are giving. Likewise, facilitators who are starting 12- and 10-week courses, you might provide specific feedback on the first two literacy logs and then move to more general feedback.
Are your participants spending a vast amount of time completing the literacy logs? You might suggest to them that they just complete the online portion of the log. In Lesson 1, we give the suggestion that they use the downloadable log as a tool for gathering their thoughts. Your participants have completed several logs to this point. They are familiar with how the log works. Encourage them to try the online log without filling out the graphic organizer. This might save them some time. Facilitators who are starting 12- and 10-week courses, you might encourage your participants to use the downloadable literacy log for Lessons 2 and 3 then encourage them to try the log without using the handwritten version.
All of the first Quality Assurance Checks have been completed! As many of you know, the second Quality Assurance Check will be done between the ninth and tenth week of the course. You might be wondering why I am already talking about the second Quality Assurance Check. Well, the facilitator's job is extremely important during the weeks between the Quality Assurance Checks. The facilitator manual mentions that facilitators must be both the motivational coach and the course manager throughout the middle of the course. It is imperative to frequently communicate with your participant to maintain and enhance their motivation to complete the course. The middle of the course is about the time that participants get tired and overwhelmed with the many obligations that they have in their every day lives. Therefore, continue to give the participants feedback and grade in a timely manner. Feedback and getting participants involved in the discussion really helps the participants synthesize the material that is being taught in the course. Also, don't forget to give the participants praise for their efforts! As mentioned previously, the facilitators also have the role of being the course manager. Since Quality Assurance Checks do not occur during this time it is very important that you keep track of the student's participation. Please be aware of students who are lagging behind in the course. It is important that you contact these participants! Also, please do not forget to contact the FOR-PD office if a student has chosen to drop the course so that we are all on the same page.
Speaking of students that are lagging behind, it can be very frustrating for facilitators when participants are lagging behind or are not responding to the facilitator's attempts to contact them. I have received a few emails from facilitators concerning this matter. It seems that some facilitators are somewhat unclear about what FOR-PD expects from facilitators. FOR-PD asks that you attempt to contact participants who are lagging behind by email. Also, we suggest that you try to contact participants by telephone if you have not received any response via email. FOR-PD realizes that many facilitators have already made these attempts and these efforts are greatly appreciated. The Facilitator Manual mentions, "If you've made repeated efforts to contact someone who has not participated in class and s/he are not responding, you have fulfilled your responsibilities as the facilitator. It is important to keep copies of ALL emails you have sent to participants (especially those you send from outside the WebCT course). If someone contacts you and wants to join the class late, you need prior approval from the FOR-PD Office." Please remember that the FOR-PD staff is here to assist you and please let us know if you have tried to contact individuals and gotten no response so that we can help you through this process.
Many of our courses are currently in the seventh week of the course. Just a reminder, if a student is behind by seven lessons, then you, as the facilitator, have the option to tell the participant that they will have to retake the course. The facilitator is not required to grade their late work if you have done both of the following:
These are just a few reminders that may be helpful to you during this time of the course. If you have any questions, feel free to contact the FOR-PD office. Many facilitators have been putting much effort into corresponding with their participants and we applaud your hard work!
-Sarah Johannssen
Quality Assurance Specialist
sarah@orion.itrc.ucf.edu
Dear Felicity,
I would like to know how FOR-PD evaluates facilitators. Are facilitators solely evaluated by their completion rates? If not, how else am I being evaluated as a facilitator?
-Concerned Facilitator
Dear Concerned Facilitator,
Thank you for the great question, I don't think FOR-PD has fully explained how we evaluate facilitators on a semester by semester basis. Your question is a great opportunity for us to explain this process. You mentioned completion rates in your question. While we have spent a great deal talking about completion rates and examining ways to improve our completion rate, it is only one part of the total picture we develop on each facilitator. FOR-PD maintains the following records on its facilitators: completion rates, Quality Assurance data, and data on participation in discussions, book reviews, and chats.
At the end of each semester, FOR-PD collects completion information from each course. This completion information is transformed into the completion rates we have all become familiar with. We adjust your completion rate to exclude participants who did not start the FOR-PD course and participants who started, but did not complete any lessons beyond Lesson 1. The first lesson of the FOR-PD course is an introduction to the tools participants will be using in FOR-PD. It does not contain "content" related to Competency II. We made this adjustment to the completion rate after comparing our completion data collection process with other projects across the nation who had similar courses. By calculating completion rates in this manner, we have seen an increase in our project completion rate and the completion rates of facilitators. Nationally, the completion rate for free online courses is 30 to 50-percent; FOR-PD's completion rate for Fall 05 was 72.4 percent. We also maintain a straight completion rate for our project records.
FOR-PD maintains a database for data collected through the Quality Assurance Checks (QACs). Included in this database is information from each participant check: how many participants are enrolled at the time of the check, how many participants have dropped the course, how many participants are lagging behind at the time of the check, how many participants have not started the course, the names of participants who are contacted as a result of the check, and any responses we receive from those participants. We also keep information from each facilitator check and any responses we receive from you. Additionally, any comments that are made about your particular section are also noted in this database. This information provides a detailed and clear picture of your course and allows us to make completion predictions. Because we keep such detailed information, we are also able to recall information that may have impacted your section's completion rate. If issues arise during or after the course, we are able to go back into our records to check on these issues. A recent example is a student who contacted our office to find out their completion status. The participant was told that they did not successfully complete the course. For this participant, this was the first time they had been told about their incomplete status. When we looked further into the issue, we found that the participant did complete each lesson, but their Lesson 9 grade was below the mastery level. In resolving this issue, we looked at the data documented in the QAC report. For this section, we found that the facilitator was behind in grading and wasn't actively participating in the discussion. We also found, that the participant was notified about updating this grade two days before the course closed. So based on the data we collected, we were able to offer the student a second chance to complete this one discussion. The QAC data we collect often helps us make decisions about these types of issues. Remember that the QAC checks are meant to be a means of communication between facilitators and FOR-PD. We try to maintain as accurate as possible information and encourage you to reply if you find a discrepancy.
The final pieces of data we collect on each facilitator are kept in a database called the Facilitator Matrix. In this database we collect information related to chats, discussions, meetings, and professional development. We keep records of each chat and meeting that facilitators attend. We keep anecdotal records on the quality of discussions posted on the Facilitator Discussion Board as well as where those postings frequently occur. Finally, we maintain data on your participation in Facilitator Book Reviews including numbers and quality of postings.
So how is all of this data used? We refer to this data when we:
"Not keeping abreast with research chains us to committing the same mistakes our teachers made with us. Fortunately, this course allows us to break the chains of ignorance and hopefully pass on greater knowledge and success to a future generation." Participant-Spring 2005
"I would like to give you a big HUG ( ) email style. Thank you for the wonderful book marks with the five finger rule. I have been able to get into many classrooms and distribute them with a lesson on the five finger rule." The five finger rule is a way of helping students select books. You can order the bookmark from our e-Store.
"A couple of weeks into this course I began feeling like a leader within my school, not just within my department." Participant - Fall 2005Do you have comments about the course? Have you received any comments from participants? We always look for feedback so send it our way. Email forpdfac@mail.ucf.edu with your stories!
Future Chats
Spring Tech Chats: The tech chats have become very popular and are extremely useful to our participants. During these chats participants are able to chat live with the technology experts at FOR-PD. Please share these chat dates and times with your participants and encourage them to follow the chat protocol.
WHEN: Wednesday, March 15, 2006
TIME: 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM EST
WHERE: General Chat for All Courses
WHO: participants & facilitators
TOPIC: Technology Chat
GUEST: Matt Renfroe, WebmasterWHEN: Tuesday, March 28, 2006
TIME: 7:30 PM - 8:30 PM EST
WHERE: General Chat for All Courses
WHO: participants & facilitators
TOPIC: Technology Chat
GUEST: Ed Baldwin, Helpdesk Supervisor
WHEN: Wednesday, April 19, 2006
TIME: 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM EST
WHERE: General Chat for All Courses
WHO: participants & facilitators
TOPIC: Technology Chat
GUEST: Matt Renfroe, WebmasterWHEN: Tuesday, May 16, 2006
TIME: 7:30 PM - 8:30 PM EST
WHERE: General Chat for All Courses
WHO: participants & facilitators
TOPIC: Technology Chat
GUEST: Ed Baldwin, Helpdesk Supervisor
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