tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86219035643469384412024-03-05T22:20:25.142-06:00AllofE SolutionsAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01133612706894557142noreply@blogger.comBlogger170125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8621903564346938441.post-16047988305187991162014-04-10T14:55:00.000-05:002014-04-10T14:55:02.111-05:00Beyond Standardized Tests: Student Survey Data in MatrixWe spend a lot of time in Matrix working on standardized test data. There is, after all, quite a lot of it, and almost all of our Matrix clients have standardized test data in our systems. Even so, I always enjoy getting a chance to work on data the districts are generating themselves. One of our clients periodically takes surveys of their students' experiences and attitudes, and they approached us about bringing this data into Matrix, so it would be available alongside the rest of their data.<br />
<br />
There were different sets of questions for elementary, middle, and high school students at each survey administration, and though most of them were of the “Strongly Agree” to “Strongly Disagree” form, there were also questions asking about duration, frequency, or specific elements. We were able to teach Matrix how to distinguish the different answer scales and display the data as a grid or a chart, with all the filtering and drill down capabilities our Matrix clients are familiar with.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WCQBKesnmd0/Ux9VmF7gqMI/AAAAAAAAABA/83wcZHBMZ18/s1600/matrix-student-surveys.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WCQBKesnmd0/Ux9VmF7gqMI/AAAAAAAAABA/83wcZHBMZ18/s1600/matrix-student-surveys.png" height="189" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
It's amazing how displaying data in a more engaging way can change the way you experience it. None of the information in these surveys was new to the client, but the first time they saw it in Matrix as a chart, it prompted a real discussion on policy between the administrators. That's a big goal of any data-driven interface: help users see where there are interesting questions to ask, then help them answer those questions and make decisions.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8621903564346938441.post-76928835450991543052014-03-24T09:29:00.000-05:002014-03-24T09:29:54.882-05:00A Thousand Different Reports. Just Three Clicks.<b>Powerful, Fast, and Flexible</b><br />
One of the most iconic reports within Matrix is our lightning
fast Drilldown report, which allows school districts to dissect their
entire set of data in any way they can imagine using just a few
clicks. Our Drilldown report processes huge amounts of information,
tens of thousands of data points, in just seconds and groups the data
by school, grade, and student sub-groups like gender, race, IEP, and
ELL/LEP. Here is a list of typical questions which can be answered
using the Drilldown report in just a few movements of the mouse.<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>In which school did female Hispanic students score the lowest on
the state test? Two clicks.</li>
<li>Do my 3rd grade free and reduced lunch students score better on
the AIMSweb test or Acuity? Two clicks.</li>
<li>Between all of my elementary schools, which teacher has the
highest number of special education students? And how did they
perform? Three clicks.</li>
</ul>
<div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BAvIljbS1j0/Uyhi_gtmDQI/AAAAAAAAALY/6Pl5uBpyLHc/s1600/Drilldown+(zoomed).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BAvIljbS1j0/Uyhi_gtmDQI/AAAAAAAAALY/6Pl5uBpyLHc/s1600/Drilldown+(zoomed).png" height="267" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div>
<b>Details are Important</b><br />
<b> </b>All of the scores in the Drilldown report are color-coded
to highlight areas where the district is doing well and areas where
the district is struggling. District administrators love to check
into the Drilldown whenever new test data is uploaded, so they can
get an overall look at how their district performed on the latest
assessments. If they see any red-flags they can then instantly dive
into the data and determine which student subgroup, teachers, or even
classroom course section may have caused a drop in scores. Remember,
context is everything, so Matrix will always show the number of
students which make up each group and allow you to drilldown to the
individual student scores which make up an average.<br />
The Drilldown encompasses all of our main goals with Matrix:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Bring all types of data together in powerful, but easy to use
reports.</li>
<li>See top level data, but be able to get to the details in a
couple clicks.</li>
<li>Give districts the ability to make decisions by centralizing
key performance data.</li>
</ol>
<br /></div>
<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8621903564346938441.post-11633660338181469482014-03-13T09:37:00.000-05:002014-03-13T09:37:37.407-05:00AP Predictor: Using Data to Drive DecisionsThe AP Predictor report in Matrix is
designed to identify students who are likely to do well in AP
courses, so staff can be sure those students know about their AP
course options. The predictive element is taken from research
published by The College Board showing a strong correlation between
PLAN scores and scores on specific AP tests. They provide a list of
AP tests and their associated PLAN subscores and cut scores. For
example, according to The College Board, students whose PLAN Math and
Science scores average at least 26 have a 75% chance of scoring a 3
or better on the AP Microeconomics test.<br />
<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-81aBWOEXFSs/Ux9MBmyGIfI/AAAAAAAAAAw/Y_cOPSA67zU/s1600/ap-predictor.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-81aBWOEXFSs/Ux9MBmyGIfI/AAAAAAAAAAw/Y_cOPSA67zU/s320/ap-predictor.png" /></a></div>
<br />
Of course you could do this math by
hand or in a spreadsheet, but your PLAN scores are already in Matrix,
so why not let Matrix do the work for you? The AP Predictor report
knows which PLAN subscores go with each AP test, and automatically
calculates the relevant average when you select an AP test from the
menu. You can filter by student name and minimum AP success category
(e.g. only students with a 50% chance of scoring 3+ on the selected
AP test), and sort by any of the scores.<br />
<br />
Coming up with ways to display
historical data that make it easier to absorb is a cornerstone of
Matrix, but it's always exciting to build an interface that directly
helps educators make decisions about the future.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8621903564346938441.post-52751299201091494032014-03-11T12:29:00.000-05:002014-03-11T12:33:01.956-05:00Everyone has data. Our goal is to have everyone use it.You have the data. We've spent the last few weeks getting it all
from your piles of spreadsheets and student information system into
Matrix. Now what do you do?<br />
Luckily, Matrix isn't just a data warehouse. Yes, Matrix stores
all kinds of data ranging from Fountas and Pinnell to the ACT to
AIMSweb and even attendance, behavior, and assignment grades, but the
real power of Matrix is in the dashboarding and reporting tools which
allow districts to use all of their data to make <b><a href="http://allofe.com/matrix">game-changing</a></b>
decisions for their schools, teachers, and students.<br />
<br />
<b>Using Key Performance Indicators</b><br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
</div>
An Index Measure is a numeric value assigned to a student based
on various key performance indicators (KPIs) like attendance
percentage or test proficiency. This allows us to normalize different
academic areas which could never have been viewed on the same scale
before. We can then use these student Index Measures to determine
school, grade, teacher, and district performance.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2QaSfmbJ8dg/Ux9GmQpP93I/AAAAAAAAALA/x_0EXC3weeY/s1600/Index+Measures+District+Overview.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2QaSfmbJ8dg/Ux9GmQpP93I/AAAAAAAAALA/x_0EXC3weeY/s1600/Index+Measures+District+Overview.png" height="248" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b>Using Index Measures for College Readiness</b><br />
An increasingly important and popular Index Measure is college/career readiness. Because every district does college
readiness slightly differently, the Index Measure can be customized
to include any set of KPIs and performance levels. For this example
we will look at a college readiness measure which has two performance
levels: “college ready” and “not college ready.”<br />
Just showing up is a huge part of college and career success, so the first
thing we are going to include is a student's attendance percentage.
Let's say if a student has 90% attendance or better we will give them
a point. These points will come into play when we determine how
college ready a student is.<br />
Next let's look at classroom and assessment performance. In the
classroom, we can expect a student to have earned a C or better in
their Algebra class to be at the level they need for college
mathematics. We also expect the student to have scored at least a 21
on the ACT exam. Now combining all of these KPIs we can come up with
the college/career readiness percentage for a student and aggregate it for a teacher or school.<br />
<br />
<b>Making it Easy</b><br />
Index Measures are adaptive and completely customizable. Add new
tests or academic indicators to any Index Measure at any time with no manual calculations. Matrix
makes it easy: just pick the students and key performance indicators
and let the system do the rest. <u>Spend your time <i><b>using</b></i> data not finding it.</u>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8621903564346938441.post-54871101219829013062014-03-06T16:02:00.001-06:002014-03-06T16:03:12.691-06:00Behavior Documentation and Tracking for K-12<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFkH8IOq-Px67nPKYXB1HW2_nf5g6njLmYnnM-4j_jJVu2fsgqgQEoU10XleziiT-yO3EHo0txiXtdhoBDSS_XrQm_Sv6k9625eI_tUwwRqQk2d2sonmzN5EvNjsShiTIO5AcIRwf944A/s1600/behavior.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFkH8IOq-Px67nPKYXB1HW2_nf5g6njLmYnnM-4j_jJVu2fsgqgQEoU10XleziiT-yO3EHo0txiXtdhoBDSS_XrQm_Sv6k9625eI_tUwwRqQk2d2sonmzN5EvNjsShiTIO5AcIRwf944A/s1600/behavior.jpg" height="204" width="320" /></a><b><i>Helping districts use data to take more proactive steps towards behavior incidents. </i></b><br />
<br />
To effectively analyze and improve a student’s performance, teachers often need access to data beyond a student’s test scores. One example of such data is behavior. As with other types of data analysis, the more detailed and more rich the data is, the better we are at noticing trends and making decisions using it.<br />
<br />
The Matrix Behavior Documentation module facilitates this process by providing a quick and easy way for teachers to track behavior incidents at a detailed level.<br />
<br />
It gives administrators a comprehensive view of behavior across the entire district, at a building level, and at an individual student level. The district can look at this data in a number of different ways including yearly data, monthly data, referral type (proactive or reactive measure), physical location of the incident, time of day the incident occurred, and more.<br />
<br />
Behavior data is then aggregated at a student level for analysis with the student’s attendance, assessment or test scores, and demographics to give teachers and administrators a comprehensive picture of student progress and performance. This also allows the administration to make policy decisions like having additional adults at lunch or bus time to reduce the number of behavior incidents.
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06361914968456738208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8621903564346938441.post-36714318476610651422014-02-24T14:34:00.001-06:002014-02-24T14:48:03.014-06:00Are your students college ready?In secondary education, there’s perhaps no bigger buzzword than “college readiness” right now. School districts are under enormous pressure to produce graduates that are prepared for college-level course work or career-ready skills that will give them an effective transition into the work force.
It’s a constant battle every year, particularly after a <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/act-survey-finds-gap-on-college-readiness/2013/04/17/bdc8dd7c-a770-11e2-a8e2-5b98cb59187f_story.html" target="_blank">2013 ACT survey revealed that only 26 percent of college instructors believed high school graduates were ready for post-secondary classes</a>.<br />
<br />
<h2>
<span style="font-size: large;">
We've got the data...</span></h2>
<br />
We’ve spoken to a number of district administrators who have emphasized the importance of being able to use data to help address this challenge and to ensure their graduates are ready for college. The good news is most districts already have a plethora of data they are collecting – whether it’s state assessments, common assessments, EXPLORE, PLAN, ACT, PSAT, SAT, AP test data, demographics, behavior, attendance, etc.<br />
<br />
<h2>
<span style="font-size: large;">
But now what?</span></h2>
<br />
Well, it’s a matter of getting the data into a usable format for teachers and administrators to use on a daily basis to guide instruction and improve student performance. In order to effectively use data, districts need to be able to break it down and analyze trends, student growth, instruction effectiveness, etc. <br />
<br />
<h2>
<span style="font-size: large;">
Get it into the hands of teachers....</span></h2>
<br />
Better access to data that is in a usable format takes the guesswork (teachers' perceptions or anecdotal evidence) out of analyzing student performance. Teachers can spend less time trying to make sense of data and more time using it to drive instruction...<br />
<br />
<h2>
<span style="font-size: large;">
And improve performance.</span></h2>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06361914968456738208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8621903564346938441.post-53309143047491038292013-10-29T09:58:00.000-05:002014-04-16T16:09:42.659-05:00Getting Past the Eye-Candy Test with Elementary Assessment Data<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
You can call it the “eye-candy test” problem.<br />
<br />
It may not be as pronounced in education as it is in baseball. However, in almost every conversation I have with school district administrators we work with, they are focused on this core challenge: How can we make sure our data – not through some anecdotal perception or observation -- supports our decisions about how to improve student performance?<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--ytmYqlcEH4/Um_LwaPg-KI/AAAAAAAAAEM/ijqCVKSRRJ8/s1600/moneyball_23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img width=80% border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--ytmYqlcEH4/Um_LwaPg-KI/AAAAAAAAAEM/ijqCVKSRRJ8/s1600/moneyball_23.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brad Pitt played Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane in "Moneyball" a story about how the baseball team began using data to try to level the playing field with more profitable teams in the league.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
When the concept comes up, I picture the <a href="http://johntmarohn.com/blog/cultural-values/moneyball-a-review/" target="_blank">scene in the movie</a> “Moneyball” that depicts Brad Pitt – who plays general manager Billy Beane -- getting fed up with how his old-school baseball scouts are trying to identify the best players so their cash-strapped major league team can compete with the richer teams like the New York Yankees.<br />
<br />
“He passes the eye-candy test. He's got the looks. He's great at playing the part. He just needs to get some playing time,” one scout says, while another questions the same player’s confidence because of how good-looking his girlfriend is.<br />
<br />
Those more anecdotal observations could be important as a piece of the puzzle, but if you focus on that, decision-making becomes too arbitrary, which is the point of the book and the movie. Statistics and data add so much more.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
If you think about it, school districts, particularly at the elementary level, can easily find themselves in a similar place as those old-school baseball scouts. Most elementary assessment data is more qualitative where we’re testing certain skills that form the basis for a students’ education: like comprehension, word recognition, reading speed, etc., rather than a student’s knowledge level.<br />
<br />
An administrator for an Illinois district we work with says schools have no shortage of data available to them at the elementary level. The challenge is how to aggregate the data and present it to teachers in a meaningful way so that they can use it to accurately identify specific strengths and weaknesses for students.<br />
<br />
When the district is able to easily give teachers access to those multiple data points that comprise running record assessments, the district is getting past the “eye-candy test,” and identify the areas where students need more support or even students who are more advanced and need to be placed in a gifted program.<br />
<br />
“It really helped us find kids who we wouldn't have found without it just sitting there staring at us,” she said, noting that in the past a lot of those decisions were based on teacher perceptions.<br />
<br />
Another Wisconsin district we work with on a data project mentioned the amount of common assessments teachers use, especially at the elementary level. “We just have to be using the data to drive instruction,” he said.<br />
<br />
It’s a very powerful concept, and it’s exciting to work with districts who are at the point where this is a high priority.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8621903564346938441.post-3449845482545017702013-04-22T11:48:00.002-05:002013-04-22T11:51:34.717-05:00Timeliness is Key for Teachers When Analyzing Performance Data<br />
It's not difficult to find a quote about the importance of good timing. The dangers of procrastination are easily apparent today when the pace of information available to us comes at a break-neck speed via the Internet and social media.<br />
<br />
But my favorite quote on timing, which was uttered long ago, surprisingly applies nicely to our world right now, especially when thinking about data and education:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“It gets late early out there.”<br />
- Yogi Berra</blockquote>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KEwCaZ7L39Q/UXVpPLNfDnI/AAAAAAAAABY/bnMSRZ_fNJM/s1600/yogi_berra_080928r_1000628c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KEwCaZ7L39Q/UXVpPLNfDnI/AAAAAAAAABY/bnMSRZ_fNJM/s320/yogi_berra_080928r_1000628c.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
In our frequent conversations with school districts and how they use performance data, timing comes up often. One administrator mentioned it’s tough on their schools and teachers when it takes several weeks for the district to receive its NWEA Map results in a usable format. Because of the time lag, teachers often can’t use the last round of results to prepare for the next assessment, which can undermine their purpose of administering predictor assessments to help with student performance.<br />
<br />
Otherwise the data can become obsolete because the teachers are not able to analyze it as they prepare their students for the next assessment. Research has shown a huge value of interim assessments is that they are taken several times throughout the year, giving teachers benchmarks to address with the same <a href="http://www.lesn.appstate.edu/olson/RES5080/Components/Articles_used_in_5080/Pruthero%20Improving_teaching_and_learning_with_databased_decisions.pdf" target="_blank">group of students</a>:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
As with annual assessments, interim assessment results generally have the advantage of being comparable across classrooms, but the frequency of their administration means that teachers can use the data to evaluate their own instructional strategies and to track the progress of their current students in a single school year. For instance, data from a district-wide interim<br />
assessment could help illuminate whether the students who were struggling to convert fractions to decimals improved after receiving targeted small group instruction, or whether students’ expository essays improved after a unit spent reading and analyzing expository writing.</blockquote>
<br />
So for districts it’s not a question of if they have the data to help teachers analyze and improve student performance. It’s a matter of getting the data into a format teachers can use and obviously being able to place it in their hands in enough time before it gets too late to use it.<br />
<br />
This issue demonstrates where technology will play a huge role, especially the ability to aggregate different types of data quickly. Otherwise, with the Common Core State Standards shift for most states set to occur in 2014-15, as Yogi Berra said: “It will get late early out there” for districts that aren’t thinking about this.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8621903564346938441.post-59611966182984017802013-03-06T16:26:00.002-06:002014-02-26T16:56:00.522-06:00Teaching and Learning<span style="font-size: large;"><b>The Role of Curriculum Mapping and Assessment in Health Science Education</b></span><br />
<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pT-slEB3rR4/UTfA7BTSPpI/AAAAAAAAAAk/jhSSw_U2Zww/s1600/bud_blake_cartoon.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pT-slEB3rR4/UTfA7BTSPpI/AAAAAAAAAAk/jhSSw_U2Zww/s640/bud_blake_cartoon.JPG" width="100%" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>What is more important – Teaching OR Learning?
</b></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b></b></div>
<b>
</b>It would be nice to believe that when someone says they “taught” someone something one could reasonably infer that the other person “learned” that something. In today’s society however we know that this is often not the case. How many times do we leave class thinking “What on earth was the professor trying to convey today?” or, take a prerequisite class just to find that we still aren’t prepared for our capstone major course. These are everyday instances of when students are being “taught” but the learning piece has been lost in translation.<b> </b><br />
<br />
<b></b><br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>How do health science programs track learning? </b></span><br />
In some industries this failure to learn may be acceptable. Maybe what was on the board was less important than the story behind it, or the experience gained in the group project gave more insight than the pages in the text book. However there is one industry in particular where failure to learn the material cannot and will not be tolerated. I am speaking of the field of Health Science (Nursing, Pharmacy, Physician Assistant, Dental, etc). No one wants a doctor who eased their way through medical school. Health Science programs aren’t able to pass out A’s for effort! So how do we know that our health science professionals receive a quality education that teaches them to provide the treatments and procedures required in their field?
Fortunately schools dealing with Heath Science are held to a higher set of standards insuring that students gain the skills needed. These standards apply not only to the students going through the program but more specifically to the institutions in which they are enrolled. This helps ensure that what students need to learn is actually getting covered.
Accreditation simply refers to the process that holds these institutions accountable for covering what they say they will cover. This process is measured through a series of assessments and standards to ensure that the students actually know what they need to know. Each health science program comes with their own unique set of requirements and expectations. They need to meet the curriculum expectations of their accreditation review boards, pay attention to which students need extra help, and make sure that students are learning all that they need to know.
Forward thinking programs align what is being taught in the classroom to the standards defined by the institution’s accrediting body and the content that will be covered on the end of program or board exams. They do this by mapping their curriculum, administering assessments and analyzing the scores to seek out problem areas. This process curriculum mapping and performance review allows them to target certain aspects of the curriculum that students are not picking up on, and either change what they are doing or add to their current curriculum plan.<b><b><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></b></b><br />
<br />
<b><b><span style="font-size: large;">They are responsive and accountable</span>.</b><br />
</b> They implement a living curriculum that is mapped to their standards and respond to student performance results through assessments that are also mapped to the same standards<b><br />
</b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JunRhUf_TFc/UTfAyvm0YRI/AAAAAAAAAAc/VpCMNNVcQ5E/s1600/clip_image002.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JunRhUf_TFc/UTfAyvm0YRI/AAAAAAAAAAc/VpCMNNVcQ5E/s640/clip_image002.gif" height="374" width="640" /></a></b></div>
<b>
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<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8621903564346938441.post-22828615904640337172013-03-06T14:43:00.000-06:002013-03-06T14:43:21.963-06:00In Complex Teaching Environment, Access to Data is Key<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11px;">I read author and English teacher Jim Burke’s excellent list of “<a href="http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/classroom_qa_with_larry_ferlazzo/2013/03/response_ten_elements_of_effective_instruction.html?cmp=SOC-SHR-TW" target="_blank">10 Elements of Effective Instruction</a>” he developed, and two things struck me.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11px;">First, he notes with the complexity of the classroom, managing time is critical for teachers.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11px;">“Every year it seems we are asked to do more, though never, of course, given more time in which to accomplish the goals,” he wrote.</span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11px;">In the work we do with districts, we’re constantly finding ways so that technology can help teachers do their jobs the best way possible. I often go back to something an administrator told me once:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11px;"> “Put yourself in that mindset, hurried, low frustration level, interrupted continually…” </span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11px;">I thought of that description again in reading Burke’s list that he modeled after a surgeon’s checklist.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11px;">The second part that struck me was No. 5 on his list: “Integrate assessment throughout the instructional process, using the data to establish initial understanding, measure progress, provide feedback, refine instruction, and prepare students for future performances; this includes students reflecting on and assessing their own performance and progress.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11px;">In the work we do with districts, it’s common to discover most schools have more data than they know what to do with it, and often it’s not presented in a format that can useful to them. Burke is right on that integrating assessment and using data to help students improve is critical. The context of his list related to the lack of time that teachers have is even more significant. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 11px;">To be able to use data effectively for instruction, it needs to be in format that’s accessible and easy to use for teachers with their busy and complex schedules. It’s also important for data to be timely or in the hands of the teachers as quickly as possible. That’s where technology, if applied correctly, can make a huge difference. Otherwise, “using data” is something that sounds good in a checklist, but it can easily be either scrapped or not used to its fullest potential because, like Burke noted, teachers are never given more time, only more to do.</span></span></div>
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8621903564346938441.post-46193747605532686102012-12-03T09:20:00.000-06:002012-12-03T17:44:44.426-06:00Daunting task, but great potential for schools in Common Core switch<br />
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Remember the line from the 2004 Disney movie “Miracle” when
Kurt Russell, playing 1980 <st1:country-region w:st="on">U.S.</st1:country-region>
Olympic hockey coach Herb Brooks, gave a pre-game speech before the historic
upset of the Soviet team? </div>
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<br /></div>
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“Great moments, are born from great opportunity.”</div>
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Here’s a video that makes me laugh all the time based on that scene.</div>
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<o:p> </o:p><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/2CdJTfGiRCI?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<br /></div>
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I thought of that quote when I read this <a href="http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2012/11/02/11standards.h32.html?tkn=QXTFgSgrUZ5U1bik811D%2BXAxFP%2FVYsuzYKJx&cmp=clp-edweek" target="_blank">article </a>about the recent <st1:state w:st="on">Kentucky</st1:state>
assessment test scores where proficiency levels dropped by a third or more for
elementary and middle school students. The results are significant because this
is the first set of scores tied to the Common Core Standards. Most states will
start taking assessments linked to the new standards by 2014.</div>
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<br /></div>
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This is a one-state sample, but experts expect this to play
out similarly in other states. It will be discouraging for districts, educators
and students because the bottom line will show a drop in proficiency levels as
they apparently move to more rigorous standards. </div>
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<br /></div>
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But if you think about it, this does present a huge
opportunity. As districts and states are already preparing for the change, they
should be motivated to get the most out of students, especially if the Common
Core Standards are tougher than what they are doing right now. Think of it as
an “achievement wake-up” call. It’s a major challenge for schools and teachers.
</div>
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<br /></div>
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Even if proficiency levels lag or drop initially, if
districts are pushing themselves and their students to measure up to tougher
standards, the students will benefit in the long run. </div>
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<br /></div>
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In our daily conversations with districts in a number of
states, the switch to the Common Core is in the forefront of their minds. It’s
one aspect that makes it critical that districts are using as much data as they
can on how students are performing to prepare not only for the change in
standards but to give teachers the most effective tools for daily instruction. </div>
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<br /></div>
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It’s a huge challenge. It will be difficult. But it is such
a great opportunity that can result in so much more than one “great moment.” It
will drastically improve schools in nearly every state and ensure that students
are better prepared than they ever have been for college and entering the work
force.</div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8621903564346938441.post-50566967269673760832012-11-14T08:30:00.000-06:002012-11-14T09:11:51.865-06:00Do we have a College Readiness Gap?I was a little taken aback when I came across this detailed info-graphic recently at <a href="http://thebestcolleges.org/">thebestcolleges.org</a>.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
There is a lot of good information from National Association for College Admission Counseling and American Youth Policy Forum to digest here, but one statistic jumped out to me about whether our high schools are adequately preparing students for college. The fact that 40 percent of admitted and enrolled college students take a remedial course should set off alarm bells itself. </div>
<br />
The graphic also lays out why that creates such an uphill battle. It cites a survey as well that only 17 percent of students who must take a remedial reading course in college earn a bachelor's degree or higher.<br />
<br />
This lists some good factors that contribute to the problem, especially with what areas are valued in the admissions process. It also suggests some strategies for high schools and students in preparation for college.<br />
<br />
"College Readiness" and "<a href="http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2012/11/09/kasich-linking-careers-education.html" target="_blank">Career Readiness</a>" are huge buzzwords in both education and politics these days. Because a significant portion of American students are legitimately unprepared for college, it's obvious we need fundamental change. This topic also highlights the importance of intervening with students much earlier than the point when they get to college. According to the conversations we have daily with school districts and universities across the country, this is obviously a big focus. And teachers and administrators have made progress in the last decade or so.<br />
<br />
However, based on this, we still have a long way to go. So, take a look at this graphic. What advice would you give to either a high school freshman or an educator? What do you think would be most helpful to chip into the number of students taking remedial courses and to make sure more students are ready once they get to college?<br />
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<img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hNABfcqs8qE/UJxGzHDHcyI/AAAAAAAAAAg/S34Gi92CJy8/s1600/Redefining-College-Readiness-800.jpg" /></div>
<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8621903564346938441.post-68120775118580350132012-10-15T09:09:00.000-05:002012-10-15T09:09:23.084-05:00No shortage of school data; it’s just critical how schools can dissect it<br />
In the conversations I’ve had in recent weeks with school districts across the country about using data to improve classroom performance, I keep coming back to something an administrator in Missouri said to me.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“There’s no point in collecting data if you don’t have it available for teachers to use,” said Michelle Kratofil, director of curriculum, assessment and staff development for the <a href="http://www.smithvilleschooldistrict.net/" target="_blank">Smithville R-2 District</a> outside Kansas City. “We’ve had some great data in the past, but to get it out to teachers has required me to bring it to them and explain it to them or show them how they can filter through a spread sheet.”</blockquote>
<br />
Last month’s announcement that statewide Kansas assessment scores dropped for the first time in more than 11 years set off <a href="http://cjonline.com/news/2012-09-18/school-scores-drop-first-time-11-years#.UFj-E3fpmPc.twitter" target="_blank">alarm bells in many directions</a>, and state education officials said they are analyzing data now to look for trends.<br />
<br />
There’s never any shortage of data available for school districts, but the key, as Michelle said, will be what strategies and adjustments will come from that analysis to make the biggest impact in the classroom for each individual student.<br />
<br />
I was also talking recently with Stephanie True, the curriculum, assessment and professional development coordinator of the <a href="http://www.affton.k12.mo.us/" target="_blank">Affton School District</a> in Missouri. She gave me a great example of one way teachers can use data in the classroom. District administrators noticed a trend -- a dip in assessment scores from fifth to sixth grade. So at the beginning of the year they had teachers look closely at how students scored in past years.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"The kids come in and say 'I didn't learn that. I didn't know that,'" Stephanie said. "And (the teachers) have proof right there at their fingertips. 'No look, look how well you did last year. We can hold you to higher expectations.'"</blockquote>
<br />
School performance in every state is a huge topic, and it’s a fascinating area to work in. After several years of boosts in scores, it’s going to get tougher and tougher for schools to show improvement. That's why it's more critical for schools to get their vast amounts of data into formats they can easily work with.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8621903564346938441.post-59101116745910027452012-09-13T13:41:00.000-05:002012-09-13T13:41:06.982-05:00Breaking through the skepticism to find ways to elevate student achievement<br />
It’s been an eye-opening first week for me at <a href="http://www.allofe.com/corphome" target="_blank">AllofE</a>. I was excited step into this role working with school districts. “I am passionate about helping improve our education system,” I kept telling myself. So let’s do this.<br />
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The more I thought about it, that was just a blanket statement. It was too generic. Go deeper, George. Most people would say that. Who isn’t passionate about education?<br />
<br />
I mulled it over, and I figured my excitement was coming from past experiences. I’ve been a reporter for eight years, and I’ve sat through dozens of school board meetings, both in Liberal, where I grew up, and here in Lawrence.<br />
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At times, those meetings aren’t the most exciting things to cover. (No offense, board members, but you know it can be true.) However, the ones that do stand out were the most controversial, like about <a href="http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2010/mar/09/school-board-president-introduces-plan-close-budge/" target="_blank">budget cuts and school closings</a>. <br />
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In the news, it was my job to highlight conflict, but that also led me to a mindset focusing on problems instead of solutions. Refreshingly, in my first few days here, I was able see how our products are making a real impact for districts across the country, especially with achievement the classroom.<br />
<br />
A superintendent of a northern Ohio school district during a meeting last week about our assessment data analysis and warehousing software, Matrix, told us how huge it would be for a teacher to instantly have access to every single one of her students’ assessment scores from previous years by making just a few clicks. Later that same day, at a Matrix presentation for a Missouri district in the Kansas City area I heard several administrators rave about being able to quickly see the performance of a certain cohort of students over several years within a either specific school or the entire district.<br />
<br />
So there we go. I felt like I was no longer swimming in generic thoughts about being “passionate about improving our education system” or focusing only on the problems that school board members, administrators and teachers face every day. I felt elated to find a real and tangible path that can result in helping schools improve teacher and student performance in the classroom.<br />
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Now I know why I was so excited, and I can’t forget that.<br />
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Because there is a lot of work to do.<br />
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8621903564346938441.post-9934261747026095932012-07-18T15:09:00.002-05:002012-07-18T15:09:50.162-05:00Why a CMS won't work for your Online Course CatalogThrough our extensive experience working with schools to help them convert their print catalog to a more online-friendly format, we've seen it all. The PDF links, the re-purposing of the university's CMS to try to support a course catalog, to using the school's SIS to generate an index of courses, forgoing the catalog part altogether. <br /><br />Obviously some of these strategies work better than others, but none live up to what you can do with a course catalog when using a catalog management system. A catalog management system, like <a href="http://catalogm.allofe.com/">CatalogM</a>, was designed for the unique needs of university courses catalogs, and ours was built specifically to give universities the flexibility to create their OWN menu structures instead of having to re-write and re-structure their course catalog to fit a specific hierarchy.<br /><ol>
<li> <b>It was built to manage a website, not a 300 page document.</b> <br />It really is that simple. When you try to use literally ANYTHING for a purpose that it was NOT designed for, you're going to to have problems. Those problems take up a ton of time and resources that could be spent elsewhere. There's a fact: catalog management systems wouldn't exist if it were that easy to use a content management system to support a course catalog.<br /></li>
<li><b>Just try to set up a logical menu without having to rewrite/restructure your catalog content.</b><br />When you have a document of this size that you're trying to convert for the web, and with the nuances in terms of structure that are necessaary for a document like this, setting up a menu that works logically with the flow of a book is the hardest part when you're using a CMS. They just aren't configured to the flow of a document which can have 6-8 levels of hierarchy, or more, so you end up re-purposing the functionality to try to make it work. However, that's just a patch, and it requires a LOT of technical knowledge to do so, making it essentially impossible for the non-technical user.<br /></li>
<li><b>Registrar v. Web Office technical skill level.</b> <br />Typically, the catalog is management by the Registrar's Office, and with no offense meant, they are not usually the most technical people when it comes to websites. That being said, it's probably not best to give them a tool to manage the catalog content that wasn't meant to do so. It will probably take up a lot more internal time and resources to get them up to speed than it would to invest in a system that was built for that purpose. <br /></li>
<li><b>Global Updates</b>. <br />Sure, some CMS's do have a find and replace feature, but catalog management systems are database driven, so anytime you make a change to English 101, which is mentioned countless times throughout the catalog, each instance of that course will be automatically updated. Why force people to take the extra step to find and replace, which a lot of times causes more harm than good anyway, if you don't have to? <br /></li>
<li><b>Imports/Exports. </b><br />It's not exactly the easiest thing to export web content in a way that makes sense for print. However, with CatalogM, we're able to produce a fully functional print-based catalog, which exports completely formatted into a one or two column format, ellipses separating course names and the number of hours, heading styles and page numbers, to name a few. We can even control the font styles and everything, so when we say that you can manage both your online and print catalog from one central place, we mean it. And it's not going to take you extra time to produce the second one.</li>
</ol>
Find out more about our work with university course catalog management at <a href="http://catalogm.allofe.com/">http://catalogm.allofe.com</a> or contact Katie at <a href="mailto:kbrosious@allofe.com">kbrosious@allofe.com</a>.Katie Brosioushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02513318360952380142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8621903564346938441.post-10574453077829475672012-06-02T11:27:00.001-05:002012-06-02T11:30:05.519-05:006 Things We've Learned from Social Media MashupsWe've been doing a lot of work in this area with a number of universities at this point, and we've learned a lot. The funny part is that none of what we've learned has to do with how a mashup is managed, designed or created. It all has to do with how it provides VALUE to the university. These 6 things are the biggest factors that affect the success of your mashup.<br />
<br />
<b>1. You have to promote them.</b> Like any other page on your university website, if you don't help people get there, they won't. A SMASHUP is no different. You can't create this wonderful interactive page, and not promote it in your website. It just doesn't work that way. You have to TELL people how to get there. Create a cool image like YSU did, and put it in your university website footer. You'll easily promote it from EVERY page!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcwlkf90cyou6fxpy64fpFmDY8x8tgsP6BuSIZbQuN5bALuB1xXw2m7g5I8LEyxK1M-F96l7QxeZw8JHKZZlfgSax7scVOUDlvv4UlNO05sC8L0YksDiBGMYMvUqPcfhLaIidx5UtDvvMl/s1600/YSUSMASHUP.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="54" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcwlkf90cyou6fxpy64fpFmDY8x8tgsP6BuSIZbQuN5bALuB1xXw2m7g5I8LEyxK1M-F96l7QxeZw8JHKZZlfgSax7scVOUDlvv4UlNO05sC8L0YksDiBGMYMvUqPcfhLaIidx5UtDvvMl/s200/YSUSMASHUP.png" width="200" /></a></div>
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<b>2. You have to have quality content.</b> Do you care about content that isn't relevant to you? You can't expect students to care either. This kind of goes without saying, so I'll move on to the next one.<br />
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3. You have to have a lot of content.</b> It's ok to start small. Maybe you just have a couple official university-wide accounts that are done really well. That's great. But, it can't and won't last forever. Showing that you have a lot of active accounts that provide a lot of content shows that your university is dedicated to social media in a big way. People want and like to see that.<br />
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<a href="http://social.kent.edu/"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK-zQGekOzpWGhZsV1aV5qmMLmw_IcCqiV2iyP_v06CdttLtCNYtISunPgJX7fFoDX8iGUZ-gAUZMa6tHZyLRvW33Uo99hVBGcN6JEQ1SuCG84a2hyJPy5Gw9-Hs1Y-xnE2fMxHPfV8-eh/s1600/KSUPhotos.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK-zQGekOzpWGhZsV1aV5qmMLmw_IcCqiV2iyP_v06CdttLtCNYtISunPgJX7fFoDX8iGUZ-gAUZMa6tHZyLRvW33Uo99hVBGcN6JEQ1SuCG84a2hyJPy5Gw9-Hs1Y-xnE2fMxHPfV8-eh/s200/KSUPhotos.png" width="200" /></a></div>
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<b>4. You have to have frequent updates. </b>Don't you love Twitter accounts that have a last update of 265 days ago? Me neither. If you're going to do it, do it right and keep those suckers updated. Show how you interact with students. Give away a t-shirt from the department every now and then. Keep people engaged, otherwise, you're doing it wrong.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbTQPH0HfVS8dAYYpDHKMZmuhwcoUGENNLj6i_RK-4T94PX67syjZIvhL7hUW8uzTNixqUUQj6-VW-mB4KT9nB9igADYeMD78hVb7cJW5wG6oMaSfkhrHTauxs-dY5PhR2MU2nfWVqm6h6/s1600/UNHTwitter.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbTQPH0HfVS8dAYYpDHKMZmuhwcoUGENNLj6i_RK-4T94PX67syjZIvhL7hUW8uzTNixqUUQj6-VW-mB4KT9nB9igADYeMD78hVb7cJW5wG6oMaSfkhrHTauxs-dY5PhR2MU2nfWVqm6h6/s200/UNHTwitter.png" width="200" /></a></div>
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<b>5. You have to have a plan. </b>Are you going to incorporate more location based social media and have students check in on campus? Are you going to have a Twitter contest? Have an idea of what content works where. For example, maybe for all student organization events, you're going to create the event on Facebook, then use Facebook and Twitter to promote it. But all content does not work in all media. Save the long editorials for blogs. Use photos on Facebook. Use Twitter for quick updates, alerts and reminders. The worst is when schools connect all accounts together, then none are original. Imagine a mashup with a Facebook feed and a Twitter feed on the same page, and all the recent updates are the exact same content. If this is you, you're doing it wrong. <br />
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<b>6. You have to have standards.</b> Ever heard of a social media policy? You should have one, especially if your university is one of those that is constantly discovering new rogue accounts from different departments and entities across campus. Some of the schools we work with require all accounts to follow a set of standards before they can be featured on the social media mashup. It's a good way to just set a baseline for acceptable conduct and make sure everyone is on the same page.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigp7gpK1BWv2a4RToXuB714LVY2uJX1gboGoXVKMNcVcWKEAQOeiDnPY4Jt6hs1xWsULKPWRJjmjxdKFwjqXXiUz9HH3ywLyWIFXmsMjgnPgw-2cngel4mpHXKrKHsx2S6ExN-OF6x74d-/s1600/DePaulGuidelines.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="137" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigp7gpK1BWv2a4RToXuB714LVY2uJX1gboGoXVKMNcVcWKEAQOeiDnPY4Jt6hs1xWsULKPWRJjmjxdKFwjqXXiUz9HH3ywLyWIFXmsMjgnPgw-2cngel4mpHXKrKHsx2S6ExN-OF6x74d-/s200/DePaulGuidelines.png" width="200" /></a></div>
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<i><b>What are some of the things you've learned through your social media mashup or just working with social media at the university level in general? </b></i>Katie Brosioushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02513318360952380142noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8621903564346938441.post-37977028520835241022012-01-30T09:20:00.002-06:002012-01-30T09:25:30.820-06:00K-12 Challenges Related to Data Mining and Reporting<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal">It is no secret that school districts are facing challenges from every which direction these days. It is also no secret that before a problem can be solved, one must know exactly what the problem is. So in this blog I want to focus on what exactly the problems are that school districts are having with data mining and reporting. These are important areas to focus on because schools look at data in order to make informed decisions on how to best educate their students. If school districts are having trouble accessing and understanding data, then how can they begin to improve their teaching methods and curricula? </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The problems that most school districts are struggling with can be classified into three categories: Data Aggregation, Usefulness, and Resources.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="glossary-definition"><br /><b style="">Data Aggregation</b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">No matter the size of the school district, data that schools collect can be overwhelming, especially if the data isn’t uniform in nature.<span style=""> </span>Being able to see aggregated data allows the user to catch possible errors and better understand how the figure was produced.</p> <ul><li>It is very difficult for school districts to aggregate data from multiple sources, including state assessments, MAP, EOC, Acuity, AIMSweb, ACT, Plan, Explore, and more. </li></ul> <ul><li>Data that is derived from multiple sources comes in different formats and structures, which means it can take hours to get the data from just one assessment into a format that is actually usable.</li></ul> <ul><li>Once data is aggregated, it is often hard to read and understand. Districts generally have to have a data administrator who can make sense of it all.</li></ul><ul><li>Data is often not clean.</li></ul><ul><li><span style="font-family:Wingdings;"><span style=""><span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>If it is clean, administrators and teachers will often not even get to see it themselves. Generally reports only show what the final calculations have produced – perhaps a score, an average, or a graph – not the data that was used in the calculation. </li></ul> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="glossary-definition"><b style="">Usefulness</b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="glossary-definition">Data only has value if it can be turned into information and knowledge, then action.</span></p> <ul><li>Typically, districts end up with either very simplistic reports that don't meet their needs <i style="">or</i> the reports are so complex that it requires their staff to commit to months of training, and the reports still never get used.</li></ul> <ul><li>In a lot of cases districts end up with just one year’s worth of data that is tied to only a student. There is no correlation of that student’s score to the teacher, class, other students in the class, other assessments the student took, previous year’s assessment scores, demographics, grade level, etc. Looking at data in the context of several other related data sets can significantly affect the outcome of a decision.</li></ul><ul><li>It is difficult to relate performance back to the state learning standards. How do districts know which standards need more attention when the resulting reports do not make clear which questions were associated to which standards?</li></ul> <ul><li>Data is used to determine teacher and student performance levels, but districts often only have the resources to take into account state-wide assessment data.<span style=""> </span>The best way to indicate a student or teacher’s performance level is holistically and to do that many other data sets would need to come into play. </li></ul> <ul><li>Even when data and reports provide value, it is difficult to effectively share that information with each faculty member so that they know on a regular basis what their students’ performance levels are and where they need to improve.</li></ul> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="glossary-definition"><b style="">Resources</b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="glossary-definition">Implementing a system that creates a greater strain in other areas may not provide the greatest value in the end.</span></p> <ul><li>For districts that are able to make multiple correlations between data sets (i.e. student’s current score to their last test score, or the class’s average, gender’s average), it is an EXTREMELY time consuming process and requires someone that has a very good understanding of the data structure in their SIS as well as the technical ability to write queries to retrieve such data.<span class="glossary-definition"> </span></li></ul> <ul><li>Training staff and faculty to be able to use, read, and understand the resulting reports can take a long time and require constant support.</li></ul> <ul><li>Enterprise level systems typically come with an astronomical cost - making it very cost prohibitive, especially for smaller school districts, to take advantage.</li></ul> <ul><li>Deciding to integrate a data mining system into a school district can require a huge investment from everyone involved.</li></ul> <p class="MsoNormal">These challenges often result in district personnel spending a lot of internal resources (personnel, time, money) to just make sense of the basic data and then to try to use that data to build meaningful reports.<span style=""> </span>Correlating this data back to the classroom and curriculum is almost impossible.<br /><br />Yet, that is what is needed for the advancement of students.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">And isn’t that the overall goal of our education system?</p>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8621903564346938441.post-2206692097386861202011-12-30T09:34:00.002-06:002011-12-30T09:51:36.824-06:00Top 11 AllofE Events of 2011<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Calibri;font-size:100%;" >In honor of the last business day of the year, we would like to reflect on AllofE’s top 11 events of 2011. This year has been by far the most exciting yet and it looks like next year will be even better. Please take a look at some of our greatest highlights of the year!</span></p> <p style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Calibri;" >#11 – New Additions to AllofE’s Extended Family:</span></b><i style=""><span style=";font-family:Calibri;" > </span></i></span><span style=";font-family:Calibri;font-size:100%;" ><span style=""> </span>2011 blessed us with three weddings, one engagement, and one birth.<span style=""> </span>We welcome the new spouses, soon to be spouses, and the baby.</span></p> <p style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Calibri;" >#10 - Community Support: </span></b></span><span style=";font-family:Calibri;font-size:100%;" >AllofE Solutions became a sponsor to the Basehor-Linwood Education Foundation’s 8<sup>th</sup> Annual Golf Classic this year.<span style=""> </span>We also volunteered at the local Jubilee Café to feed those in need and adopted a family for Christmas through the Adopt-a-Family Program.</span></p> <p style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Calibri;" >#9 - ContentM and SMASHUP implementations</span></b></span><span style=";font-family:Calibri;font-size:100%;" >:<span style=""> </span>Massachusetts Secondary School Administrators Association (</span><span style="font-family:Calibri;font-size:100%;"><a href="http://www.mssaa.org/">www.MSSAA.org</a></span><span style=";font-family:Calibri;font-size:100%;" >), Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletics Association (</span><span style="font-family:Calibri;font-size:100%;"><a href="http://www.miaa.net/">www.MIAA.net</a></span><span style=";font-family:Calibri;font-size:100%;" >),<b style=""><span style=""> </span></b>University of New Haven (</span><span style="font-family:Calibri;font-size:100%;"><a href="http://social.newhaven.edu/">http://social.newhaven.edu</a></span><span style=";font-family:Calibri;font-size:100%;" >)</span><span style=";font-family:Calibri;font-size:100%;" >, Kent State University (</span><span style="font-family:Calibri;font-size:100%;"><a href="http://social.kentstate.edu/">http://social.kentstate.edu</a></span><span style=";font-family:Calibri;font-size:100%;" >), House of Apparel (</span><span style="font-family:Calibri;font-size:100%;"><a href="http://www.houseofapparel.com/">www.houseofapparel.com</a></span><span style=";font-family:Calibri;font-size:100%;" >), and Derrick Thomas Academy (</span><span style="font-family:Calibri;font-size:100%;"><a href="http://www.derrickthomasacademy.org/">www.derrickthomasacademy.org</a></span><span style=";font-family:Calibri;font-size:100%;" >) – <i style="">just to name a few… all using our new panel and social media apps.</i></span></p> <p style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Calibri;" >#8 - UMKC Charter Schools Organization partnership to implement eCurriculum for member schools:</span></b></span><span style=";font-family:Calibri;font-size:100%;" ><span style=""> </span>AllofE is working very closely with Kansas City area charter schools to integrate technology into their curriculum management processes.<span style=""> </span>The system is configured on a per school basis and allows the school to manage the what, when, and how of classroom instruction as well as map the curriculum to Missouri GLE’s, Show-Me Standards, and Common Core Standards.</span></p> <p style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Calibri;" >#7 - Released version 2.0 and 2.1 of Interactive Campus Mapping System for nuCloud</span></b></span><span style=";font-family:Calibri;font-size:100%;" >: AllofE Solutions is pleased to announce a new strategic partnership with nuCloud, LLC for the development of the second version of the nuCloud Interactive Campus Tour mapping platform, which was released in early Q1. The new version features a completely redesigned back-end that leverages AllofE’s robust development framework. It moves away from the previous Flash environment and takes advantage of the latest Google Maps API to provide customers with an unparalleled ability to easily create unique, content rich, affordable virtual tours and maps in a familiar interface. </span></p> <p style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Calibri;" >#6 –Members Only System for Massachusetts Secondary School Associations</span></b></span><span style=";font-family:Calibri;font-size:100%;" >: We are working closely with MIAA and MSSAA to build a new Members Only system, which allows schools to manage facilities scheduling, forms, rosters, schedules and athletic events. This project is slated to go live in spring 2012 and will be used in almost every secondary school in Massachusetts.</span></p> <p style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Calibri;" >#5 – Blew bubblesheets out of the water with new version of ExamN:<span style=""> </span></span></b></span><span style=";font-family:Calibri;font-size:100%;" >ExamN now supports scanner-independent bubblesheet processing, common assessment management, and alignment to the Common Core and ACT College Readiness Standards.<span style=""> </span><i style="">Some of us now eat, sleep, and dream about better ways to process bubblesheets.<span style=""> </span>Yes, we are nerds at heart.</i></span></p> <p style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Calibri;" >#4 - eCurriculum for Higher Education: </span></b></span><span style=";font-family:Calibri;font-size:100%;" >As part of the eCurriculum HE product launch, we partnered with 5 Health Science programs at the University of Bridgeport and the Physician Assistant Program at the University of Colorado, Denver.<span style=""> </span>The system is geared towards accredited programs in the Health Science area to help them map curriculum to the standards and competencies required for the accreditation process.<span style=""> </span></span></p> <p style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Calibri;" >#3 - CatalogM</span></b></span><span style=";font-family:Calibri;font-size:100%;" >: This year, we launched an online catalog management system that allows universities to easily update and structure an online course catalog, without compromising the print catalog. Pittsburg State University launched their catalog this year, and we have recently started projects with a few universities whose catalogs are slated to go live for the next academic year.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Calibri;" >#2 - Brandbase goes International:</span></b></span><span style=";font-family:Calibri;font-size:100%;" > With the acquisition of Image Impact in early 2011, Repucom America consolidated two of the sports industry’s leading media and brand valuation measurement companies. Brandbase, the system that had been envisioned, designed and developed by AllofE, was a key part of Image Impact's success and dominance of the U.S. market. It was selected to become the world-wide delivery platform for sponsorship data and intelligence. Brandbase International was launched in a matter of months and is currently used by practically all of the world's major networks, sports leagues and sponsors. This includes organizations such as MLB, NBA, NHL, NFL, NASCAR, UFC, PGA Tour, LPGA, Bristish Premier League, NBC, CBS, ESPN, Univision, and more. </span></p> <p style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Calibri;" ># 1 - Matrix: </span></b></span><span style=";font-family:Calibri;font-size:100%;" >This year, we launched Matrix, the premier data warehousing and dashboard system for K-12 school districts<b style="">. </b>With the product launch, we have implemented the system for the Affton, Blue Springs, Independence, and Parkhill school districts in Missouri; Basehor-Linwood in Kansas; and Waukegan in Illinois.<span style=""> </span><i style="">Yes, data is exciting to us and sometimes people just don’t get data so we wanted to invent something that will truly revolutionize the level of data intelligence and decision making abilities for K-12 districts.<br /><br /></i></span></p> <p><span style=";font-family:Calibri;font-size:100%;" >Thanks for the great year everyone! A</span><span style=";font-family:Calibri;font-size:100%;" >s they say in German, “</span><span style=";font-family:Calibri;font-size:100%;" >Einen guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr!” which is me wishing you “a good slide into the new year!” I hope that everyone celebrates my birthday…er…New Years Eve, safely and happily! </span><span style=";font-family:Calibri;font-size:11pt;" ></span></p>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8621903564346938441.post-64525520730287434882011-12-23T16:49:00.004-06:002011-12-23T16:56:12.958-06:00Happy Holidays!I still can’t believe Christmas is this weekend!<p class="MsoNormal">Please enjoy some photos from our office holiday party. From the delicious food and drinks to Pictionary and Just Dance, I’d definitely say it was a success! I wish everyone a safe and happy holiday weekend!</p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pBBDZmvG2lM/TvUGoBEL1yI/AAAAAAAAAEE/cj2M78BjPk0/s1600/019.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pBBDZmvG2lM/TvUGoBEL1yI/AAAAAAAAAEE/cj2M78BjPk0/s320/019.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5689460988803012386" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MOL9yG7FEt0/TvUGNTPRK0I/AAAAAAAAADs/Xp-xbeMMhjc/s1600/011.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MOL9yG7FEt0/TvUGNTPRK0I/AAAAAAAAADs/Xp-xbeMMhjc/s320/011.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5689460529824869186" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CnvgS0qbVGA/TvUF-UAIdAI/AAAAAAAAADg/qGE_xAvfN5Q/s1600/006.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CnvgS0qbVGA/TvUF-UAIdAI/AAAAAAAAADg/qGE_xAvfN5Q/s320/006.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5689460272331781122" border="0" /></a><br /><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-F9RZFzFwem4/TvUGeggCULI/AAAAAAAAAD4/3ICxUN6M6y8/s1600/045.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-F9RZFzFwem4/TvUGeggCULI/AAAAAAAAAD4/3ICxUN6M6y8/s320/045.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5689460825442635954" border="0" /></a></p>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8621903564346938441.post-21701287259834644732011-12-16T12:34:00.005-06:002011-12-16T12:50:09.186-06:00Meet Brandy Groff!<span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >All week long the kitchen has been filling up with party supplies and the fridge has been getting stuffed full of food. Tomorrow it will all be gone though because tonight is our office holiday party! Tracy and Stacy arranged and rearranged the basement until they found just the perfect placing for all of the tables and decorations (and it looks awesome! - I'll share pictures later). There will be lots of yummy food, gift giving and games! It should be great fun! </span> <p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RJBXcHmYOaI/TuuQvaqDRQI/AAAAAAAAADU/2q-eTXgtAR4/s1600/Brandy%2BPic.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RJBXcHmYOaI/TuuQvaqDRQI/AAAAAAAAADU/2q-eTXgtAR4/s320/Brandy%2BPic.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5686798098769331458" border="0" /></a><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >So today I’m going to tell you a little bit about myself. As you probably know, my name is Brandy Groff and I’m from Iola, KS. I graduated from KU with a BA in German Language & Literature and also in Global & International Studies, plus a minor in Business. I am an Administrative Assistant, but my work extends far past secretarial duties. I work with social media, community outreach, website redesign and much more. I’m currently helping my manager do research related to getting our non-profit foundation started! What I like the most about AllofE is having so many different things to do, being able to learn new things and being able to work with such lovely people. In order to be fair on the next part, I randomly selected questions from each former employee highlight questionnaire and answered them myself. Continue reading if you are interested in seeing how I answered them!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" ><br /></span></p> <ul type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style=";font-family:";" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">What are some of your hobbies and interests?</span> Traveling! (meeting new people, trying new foods, learning new things - just everything that goes along with it!), reading, writing, scrapbooking, playing tennis, spending time with friends & family, and volunteering.</span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" ></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style=";font-family:";" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">Pepsi or Coke</span>: Neither, I pretty much only like Diet Dr. Pepper, but I need to stop drinking so much of it!</span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" ></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style=";font-family:";" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">Ninja or Pirate</span>: Pirate for sure.</span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" ></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style=";font-family:";" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">What is your favorite music genre? </span>I really like several different kinds of music. Depending on my mood, I can jam out to pop, country, rap, jazz, classic rock, etc but my favorites are probably alternative rock, indie rock and hip hop.</span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style=";font-family:";" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">Night Owl or Early Bird</span>: I can be both, but I prefer to be an early bird.</span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" ></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style=";font-family:";" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">Would you rather be on </span><i style="font-weight: bold;">Dancing with the Stars</i><span style="font-weight: bold;"> or </span><i style="font-weight: bold;">X-Factor</i><span style="font-weight: bold;"> ?</span> I absolutely hate singing because I know how awful I am at it and I wish I could dance, so <i>Dancing with the Stars</i>.</span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style=";font-family:";" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">If you had to trade lives with an animal for a day, which animal would you choose and why?</span> Well...the first thing that comes to mind is a squirrel. They can climb anywhere and do crazy acrobatic tricks lol. I once saw a squirrel lounging on a narrow horizontal rail with his whole tail, belly and head resting on the rail and his legs dangling off each side. He was just sleeping like that! It was the cutest thing ever. I ran to get my camera and when I came back he had scurried away.</span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" ></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style=";font-family:";" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">What are your top 3 favorite smells?</span> Fresh cut grass on a cool spring day, fresh air after it rains or in the mountains, and coffee in the morning. </span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" ></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style=";font-family:";" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">What was one food you hated as a child, but love now? </span>Oh I have three big ones...onions, mushrooms, and spinach! I eat them all so much now.</span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" ></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style=";font-family:";" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">Take a bath in a tub full of jelly fish or sun bath at a bee farm with a sweet scented tanning lotion?</span> Bee Farm for sure...I’m not sure I could survive in a tub full of jelly fish and if I did, I would not want to have to get peed on by all my friends and/or family. That would just be awful and awkward.</span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" ></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style=";font-family:";" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">Eat snails or eels?</span> I don’t think I could eat either and if I tried, I’d immediately throw them back up.</span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" ></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style=";font-family:";" >What do you think of this video: </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" ><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zljRWsJ6c2o"><span style=";font-family:";" >http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zljRWsJ6c2o</span></a></span><span style=";font-family:";" ><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span>?</span> “Ahhhhhhhhhh!” I hate how they support and encourage unhealthy eating by giving free meals to people over 350 lbs. I wish that the names of the burgers, like “Triple Bypass” would deter people from eating them instead of encourage them. Of course I understand how people have a craving for unhealthy fast food from time to time, but I don’t think it should be a regular meal choice or that people should think of their health as something they don’t need to care about because there are medicines and surgeries out there that may provide a “quick fix.”</span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:11.5pt;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:100%;">What is your favorite </span> <span style="font-size:100%;">restaurant in Lawrence and why? </span></span><span style="font-size:100%;">I have more than one! Rudy’s Pizzeria, India Palace, Zen Zero, Panera and Chipotle.</span></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;color:black;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-family:";" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">Mac or PC?</span> PC, but I could probably learn to like a Mac too if I had one.</span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" ></span></li></ul>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8621903564346938441.post-40433869296464670102011-12-09T12:39:00.013-06:002011-12-09T13:50:31.628-06:00Meet Katie Bradshaw!<span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" ><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4mcGmDlNnnI/TuJWsE-sVoI/AAAAAAAAACM/OxE8G2WwjhQ/s1600/273.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 172px; height: 230px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4mcGmDlNnnI/TuJWsE-sVoI/AAAAAAAAACM/OxE8G2WwjhQ/s320/273.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5684200994945914498" border="0" /></a></span><!--[if !mso]> <style> v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} .shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);} </style> <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:shapedefaults ext="edit" spidmax="1027"> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:shapelayout ext="edit"> <o:idmap ext="edit" data="1"> </o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--><span style=";font-family:";font-size:100%;" >Despite the cold weather, we haven’t seen our first real snow yet and that is fine by me! Last week we put up and decorated the company Christmas tree. It pretty much took fourteen people, a plastic pole and 50 branches. </span><span style=";font-family:";font-size:100%;" >Despite having only three strands of lights,</span><span style=";font-family:";font-size:100%;" > we had an overload of ornaments and ribbon to compensate; the beast turned into a beauty. </span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" ><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GPrSm7nLHr8/TuJhS_9kpaI/AAAAAAAAACk/rFZpPGdADCE/s1600/279.JPG"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 222px; height: 168px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GPrSm7nLHr8/TuJhS_9kpaI/AAAAAAAAACk/rFZpPGdADCE/s320/279.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5684212658730214818" border="0" /></a></span><span style=";font-family:";font-size:100%;" >Afterwards we headed to Buffalo Wild Wings to enjoy cheap wings and each other’s company.</span><span style=";font-family:";font-size:100%;" > It was also a dinner that concluded the end of our winter volleyball season, which – needless to say – we were the number one worst team. So we drank a beer to forget. Next season, we’ll aim for three wins; it is important to try to improve your score each season.</span> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PPNdKIXQdgc/TuJihIkj5xI/AAAAAAAAACw/snPghhrakK8/s1600/DSC00348.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PPNdKIXQdgc/TuJihIkj5xI/AAAAAAAAACw/snPghhrakK8/s200/DSC00348.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5684214001071023890" border="0" /></a></span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" >Then the next day, Bryce and Morgan treated us to a wonderful Indian-themed lunch as a part of the monthly Cooking with Culture event that we have recently brought into the office. We were all salivating at our desks while the aroma filled the office and hung enticingly in the air for hours…or so it seemed. It tasted as yummy as it smelled! I can’t wait to see which culture will be represented next.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6cLj90oEtM8/TuJjANdahvI/AAAAAAAAAC8/nRBQh2_xc-I/s1600/Katie%2BPic.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 282px; height: 348px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6cLj90oEtM8/TuJjANdahvI/AAAAAAAAAC8/nRBQh2_xc-I/s400/Katie%2BPic.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5684214534959171314" border="0" /></a></span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" >In true blogging tradition, I’d like you to get to know another coworker, but you probably already know a little bit about her if you’ve been reading our blogs for a while. Her name is Katie Bradshaw, formerly known as Katie Brosious. It was her recent marriage and not any obsession with Carrie Bradshaw that led to the name change. Katie is from Keller, Texas, but went to college at KU where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Journalism and Master of Business Administration. Katie is a Marketing Analyst and Social Media Director at AllofE. When asked what she likes most about working here, she says, “I have a lot of freedom to do different things and work in different areas – and I get to work on things where my strengths are put to good use.” Katie is currently working on marketing and implementing CatalogM, the MIAA/MSSAA Members Only project, SMASHUP and recruitment. Check out how Katie answered the following questions to get to know her better.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">What are some of your hobbies and interests?</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.75in;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">I like athletic things that don’t require any hand-eye coordination (since I have none), like swimming, running and biking. I ran my first triathlon in March and plan to do another one next year, and/or a half marathon.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.75in;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">I love traveling and wish I had more time (and money) to do it – so I mostly road trip it up with my husband and Golden Retriever, Murphy, I love spending time with them and visiting our family which is completely scattered across the country from coast to coast, border to border.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">What is one thing you wish you had right now?</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.75in;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">I wish I had bring your dog to work day every day.<br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Do you like summer or winter better?</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.75in;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">I would say fall if it was an option, but I’ll pick summer over winter.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">If you were going to be a musician, what genre of music would you play?</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.75in;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Country (Specifically Texas country. Yeah, I said it.)</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">What is one of your biggest pet peeves?</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.75in;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">When people smack their mouths while chewing gum, or chewing anything for that matter.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aZcH2mMvR4E/TuJkpxw0oXI/AAAAAAAAADI/2PSSllfm1pY/s1600/spider.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aZcH2mMvR4E/TuJkpxw0oXI/AAAAAAAAADI/2PSSllfm1pY/s200/spider.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5684216348590514546" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:100%;">If you saw this spider in the corner of your bedroom, what would you do immediately upon seeing it, then how would you get rid of it?</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.75in;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">I would go into panic mode, then suck it up with a vacuum, or make my husband get it (more than likely the second option). <span style=""> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">What is your least favorite kind of food and why?</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.75in;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">I’m a bit of a foodie and like most different things…but maybe Russian or slavic? It’s the least appetizing to me.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Would you rather vacation in South Africa or Vietnam?</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.75in;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">South Africa</span><span style="font-size:100%;"></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Eat caramelized maggots or chocolate covered June bugs?</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.75in;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Chocolate Covered June Bugs</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">What are some of the top things you want to accomplish before you die?</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.75in;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Travel-related: I want to visit every state in the U.S., and go to Ireland, Italy, France, Germany, England, Switzerland, Brussels and Monaco.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.75in;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Other: I’d like to run a marathon (at least a half), and maybe do an Ironman triathlon someday if I work up the guts and discipline to train for it.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Would you rather live in space or in the ocean (provided that there are living facilities in both locations)?</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.75in;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Ocean, without a doubt.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">If you had to choose one restaurant to eat at for a year, which restaurant would you choose?</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.75in;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">715 Restaurant in Downtown Lawrence</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">What is your favorite thing about Lawrence?</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.75in;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">I love downtown and the dog park – Lawrence summers when all the students are gone and there’s stuff going on all the time downtown are the best. Also, KU basketball, duh.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Mac or PC?</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.75in;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">I prefer Macs at home, but PCs at work.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" face="arial"><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Thank you, Katie! For those AllofE employees and other locals that will be participating in the Lawrence Jingle Bell Run, good luck and stay warm! Have a great weekend everyone!</span></p>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8621903564346938441.post-35346338708490857782011-12-01T11:56:00.006-06:002011-12-02T08:44:00.916-06:00Kent State University Launches SMASHUP<div><div>Check it out here: <a href="http://social.kent.edu/">http://social.kent.edu/</a></div><div><br /></div><div> </div><div>KSU will be featuring a monthly account on the homepage - this month, they're featuring the Fashion school, which is one of the top in the U.S.! Also be sure to check out their social media directory - they have more than 100 social media accounts, and are constantly adding more. This is definitely a social media friendly school - and we have loved working on this project with them.</div><div><br /></div><div> </div><div align="left"><strong>What do you think?</strong></div><div align="left"><strong><br /></strong></div><div> </div><div>Leave us feedback in the comments - we love reading them!</div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8621903564346938441.post-70800130742665273682011-11-30T09:37:00.002-06:002011-11-30T10:01:47.865-06:00Meet Morgan Bojorquez!<span style="Arial Narrow"font-family:";" >And so it begins: frosty windshields, naked trees and breaths hanging in the air. The 28° and colder mornings are becoming a norm. Kansas winter sits in a crouching position just around the corner. Today is the last day of November in 2011. </span> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="Arial Narrow"font-family:";" >Here at the office, the shopping for our adopted family continues and the planning for our holiday party is underway. This Friday will be Day 2 of our Cooking with Culture event in which Morgan and Bryce will be preparing a lunch for us with India as their inspiration!</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-G3SBMBzF3Hs/TtZTMBHKGzI/AAAAAAAAACA/MrGRiHttPp8/s1600/Morgan.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 216px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-G3SBMBzF3Hs/TtZTMBHKGzI/AAAAAAAAACA/MrGRiHttPp8/s320/Morgan.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5680819445896452914" border="0" /></a><span style=";font-family:";" ><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="Arial Narrow"font-family:";" >Let’s get to know Morgan a little bit better, shall we? Morgan Bojorquez is 24 years old and from Manhattan, KS. She graduated from Kansas State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Public Relations. She has been at AllofE for 4 months and is currently helping out with different implementations for eCurriculum and ExamN as well as other general office maintenance. When asked what she likes most about AllofE, she says, “<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">I love the positive and fast-paced atmosphere of the company. I also enjoy getting to work with such intelligent and driven people, and being able to learn something new everyday, especially with technology.” Get to know Morgan even better by reading her answers to the following questions.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size:7.0pt;"> </span><span style=";font-family:";" ><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style=";font-family:";" ><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="Arial Narrow"font-family:";" >What are some of your hobbies and interests? <b>Music is probably my number one interest; I can't really do anything without having something playing in the background. I also love watching KSU football, painting, hiking and being outside in general. </b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-family:Wingdings;"></span><span style="font-size:7.0pt;"> </span><span style="Arial Narrow"font-family:";" >Do you believe in aliens? <b>Too many strange, unexplained things happen to not believe in them.</b> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-family:Wingdings;"></span><span style="Arial Narrow"font-family:";" >Are you superstitious? If so, give an example. <b>I am VERY superstitious! I try not to step on cracks, open umbrellas indoors, walk under ladders, etc. It's not normal...</b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-family:Wingdings;"></span><span style="font-size:7.0pt;"> </span><span style="Arial Narrow"font-family:";" >If you had to guest star on Vampire Diaries or Gossip Girl, which would you choose? <b>I don't really watch either of those shows, but I guess if I had to choose one I would pick Vampire Diaries. </b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-family:Wingdings;"></span><span style="Arial Narrow"font-family:";" ><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"></span>If you were a fruit or vegetable, which would you be and why? <b>Well, I guess I would be Broccoli, since I eat it all the time, and they say you are what you eat... </b></span></p><span style="Arial Narrow"font-family:";" >What do you think of this video: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zljRWsJ6c2o" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?<wbr>v=zljRWsJ6c2o</a> ?<b> How can anyone want to eat from there? I'm still in shock that it is still open for business.</b></span><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Wingdings;"></span><span style="font-size:7.0pt;"> </span><span style="Arial Narrow"font-family:";" >What is your least favorite kind of music and why? <b>Country Music, I can't really explain why I don't really like it... maybe the Twang factor?</b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-family:Wingdings;"></span><span style="font-size:7.0pt;"></span><span style="Arial Narrow"font-family:";" >What is something you did as a kid that was weird <b>or</b> share a childhood story? <b> I'm sure I did a lot of weird things as a kid, but the most adventurous thing I did was probably getting my friend and I "lost" in a wooded area near our houses for a few hours. We were fine and everything, and to this day I still maintain that I knew where we were, but she definitely never wanted to go exploring with me much after that. </b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-family:Wingdings;"></span><span style="font-size:7.0pt;"> </span><span style="Arial Narrow"font-family:";" >What was the funniest thing that you have ever experienced? <b>I spent my Freshman and Sophomore year of college in Upstate New York, when my best friend came to visit, she brought along a video of me lip syncing to various boy band songs and dancing around like a fool ( I swear it was a dare), next thing I know my entire dorm floor was in my room watching it and laughing (at me). I don't think I've ever laughed/cried that much in my life...</b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-family:Wingdings;"></span><span style="font-size:7.0pt;"></span><span style="Arial Narrow"font-family:";" >What is your favorite restaurant in Lawrence and why? <b>23rd St. Brewery-- It has a great atmosphere, pretty good food and it is a great place to go to watch a football game. </b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-family:Wingdings;"></span><span style="Arial Narrow"font-family:";" >Would you rather drink a smoothie made of only pureed bugs or eat a stew made of road kill remains? <b>Pureed Bugs</b>.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-family:Wingdings;"></span><span style="Arial Narrow"font-family:";" >Would you rather have to sing everything you wanted to say or mime it? <b>Mime, I always dreamed to live life as one big game of "Charades". </b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-family:Wingdings;"></span><span style="Arial Narrow"font-family:";" >Do you have a dance move or saying that you’re known for? <b>At Dance Camp during High School we would always do the "Peanut Butter/Jelly Time" dance, it is the most ridiculous dance ever, but I'm pretty darn good at it. I'm also pretty good at the "Running Man"...</b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-family:Wingdings;"></span><span style="Arial Narrow"font-family:";" >Mac or PC? <b>PC</b></span></p>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8621903564346938441.post-86314273919496116312011-11-28T09:25:00.004-06:002011-11-28T09:39:48.530-06:00Curriculum Mapping<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:donotoptimizeforbrowser/> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:donotoptimizeforbrowser/> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal">Do you understand curriculum mapping? Janet Hale does. In this blog we take a look at what curriculum mapping is and why it is important. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">So, you have a curriculum that aligns to standards set by the state, your program, or your faculty and now it is time to make sure that everything is getting covered in the best way possible, is being understood by the students and is being taught within the allotted amount of time, a.k.a. curriculum mapping.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b>Curriculum mapping</b> is the process of constantly reviewing and updating a district’s curriculum in order to reduce gaps and repetition and to ensure that the required standards and competencies are being covered and understood. Curriculum mapping helps a collective group of teachers teach in a much more efficient manner, but it also requires some work on their part.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Janet Hale explains: “The term <i>mapping</i> is a verb. It constitutes <i>active engagement</i> and <i>collegial participation</i> in on-going curriculum work. Curriculum mapping does not perceive education as a static environment since learning, and learning about learning, is in continual motion.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">We have all heard the famous quote from Isaac Newton – “Every object in a state of uniform motion remains in that state of motion unless an external force is applied to it.”<span style=""> </span>This does not only have physical implications but also metaphysical implications.<span style=""> </span>Teachers do not want to be that external force that stops the progression of learning for their students.<span style=""> </span>In order to actively engage students, the curriculum must continuously evolve and build upon itself.<span style=""> </span>Curriculum mapping guides and helps teachers to do just this.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Hale states, “Maps are designed to provide <i>authentic evidence</i> of what has happened or is being planned to happen in a school or throughout a district. Encouraging frequent individual and collaborative revisiting, reviewing, and renewing of available data (e.g., curriculum maps, student assessments/evaluations, teacher-to-teacher instruction observations, formal testing results) through curricular dialogues and collaborative decision making is at the heart of mapping. This mindset is a necessity to reach sustainability and have curriculum mapping become a natural way for conducting curriculum work that continually improves student learning.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">She defines 3 main foci for curriculum mapping: “<i>Communication, Curricular Dialogue, and Coherency,</i>”<i> </i>and we agree. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><u>Communication </u>is the key to effectively evolving a district’s curriculum.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Nowadays the most efficient form of communication is electronic.<span style=""> </span>A lot of districts are embracing technology to centralize, share, and communicate their curriculum not only with teachers but also with parents and the community.<span style=""> </span>Web-based curriculum management systems allow curriculum to be updated in real-time and accessed by peers in the same field of study. Teachers do not need to wait for a monthly meeting in order to adjust their curriculum. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">It also facilitates collaboration.<span style=""> </span>Teachers can work together to build a common curriculum or complementary curriculum.<span style=""> </span>With curriculum mapping teachers must realize the significance of their course in combination with the courses of their peers and see their role from the perspective of the school and the district. By altering their focus to include other classes, they can increase communication, decrease redundancy and organize lectures in a meaningful and beneficial way for the student who is going through many of these classes at one time. This focus helps each school and ultimately each district graduate students with the right amount of knowledge and practice to take them to the next step in their lives.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Communication adds an element of transparency. Online curriculum mapping programs allow teachers to see the what, when, and how of the curriculum being taught by other teachers across the district. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">More data = Better <u>Curricular Dialogue</u> = Better decision making</p> <p class="MsoNormal">As Hale explains, an effective curriculum mapping process allows teachers to take ownership and get involved with the curriculum. Curriculum mapping puts the curriculum in front of them giving them the tools to “make data-based decisions about grade-level, cross-grade level, disciplinary, and cross-disciplinary curricula and instructional practices.” </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><u>Coherence</u> - Is incoherent curriculum a problem for some school districts?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">It most definitely is.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">It is a common complaint of teachers that they are expected to teach too much in too little time and while that may be true, it may also be true that there are too many redundancies or miscommunications is the curriculum mapping process that are not being resolved and that are causing teachers to do more work than is necessary. While the initial endeavor of mapping out everything that is being taught in a classroom and aligning it to the required standards may seem daunting; over time with practice and better communication amongst peers as well as using technology to do it, this will become second nature and the benefits will greatly exceed the time and energy spent on mapping.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The efficiency in communication and teaching caused by continuous curriculum mapping translates into two important things. 1) Teachers are more in sync with one another and better prepared to make necessary changes and adjustments in their curriculum based on the level of knowledge that each group of students requires, and 2) Students have enough time to grasp all that they need to in order to feel confident in taking the next step onto whatever path they choose.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Curriculum mapping is a “let me help you help them” sort of system and it works if everyone does their part.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">References</p> <p class="MsoNormal">www.curriculummapping101.com</p> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:donotoptimizeforbrowser/> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]-->Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8621903564346938441.post-67901987176163271812011-11-23T11:44:00.003-06:002011-11-23T12:08:28.339-06:00Meet Tyrian Phagan!<span style="font-family: times new roman;font-size:100%;" >Yipee! Thanksgiving is here at last and so is a mini-vacation! While there is a not-so-pleasant history and unhealthy gluttony associated with Thanksgiving, I choose to love the holiday regardless because it brings my family together and it is a perfect time to make them my guinea pigs for new vegan recipes ;) This year I’m making Sweet Potato Gratin and Green Bean Casserole, but I’m also bringing plenty of other vegan spreads, dips and munchies for them to try as well!</span> <p style="font-family: times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">Last Friday was quite eventful in the office. The majority of our company came together bright and early in the morning to volunteer at the Jubilee Café, a service provided by the First Methodist Church for local citizens in need. We were all surprised to see a lot of volunteers up at 5AM and to find out that not only would we be cooks and cleaners but also waiters and waitresses instead of just servers behind a buffet bar. I thought the experience was really cool and I think the Jubilee Café is a wonderful program to have in Lawrence. I’m really glad that so many people from the company decided to get up so early just to help out. After that, David and I whipped up a delectable French breakfast with crepes, croissants, yogurt, bananas and a large assortment of yummy toppings for Day 1 of the Cooking with Culture event that we have recently brought into the office.</span></p><p style="font-family: times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"> On top of all those events, we have all decided to come together to adopt a family for Christmas. This is the first time that I’ve ever adopted a whole family for the holidays, but I couldn’t be more excited. As we get into December, I’ll keep you updated on our charity mission. We’ve decided the best strategy at this point is to all pool in money, then let the girls go shopping <span style="mso-char-type:symbol;mso-symbol-font-family:Wingdings;" >J</span> Don’t you think that is probably the best idea too?</span></p><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> </span> <p style="font-family: times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3NtaYEBIvDs/Ts0yLxe_xHI/AAAAAAAAAB0/CufmZ6E8ugc/s1600/Tyrian%2Bpic.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3NtaYEBIvDs/Ts0yLxe_xHI/AAAAAAAAAB0/CufmZ6E8ugc/s320/Tyrian%2Bpic.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5678249883027358834" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:100%;">Enough chatter, time to meet AllofE Software Developer, Tyrian Phagan! Tyrian is 29 years old and from our very own Lawrence, KS. He graduated from KU with a Bachelors and Masters of Science in Computer Science. He has been here for just under half a year and says the thing he enjoys most about working at AllofE is being able to work on a lot of different things. He is currently working on ExamN bubblesheets. When asked what one of his hobbies was, Tyrian said reading books, mostly science fiction. Get to know more about Tyrian by reading how he answered the following questions:</span></p><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> </span> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in; line-height: 200%;font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in; line-height: 200%; font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Be a rice farmer or cotton picker?</span> Cotton picker</span></p><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in; line-height: 200%; font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Go zip lining or white water rafting? </span>Zip lining. I have already been white water rafting.</span></p><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in; line-height: 200%; font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="mso-list:Ignore"><span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal;font-size:7pt;" > </span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Own a python or an alligator?</span> Python</span></p><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in; line-height: 200%; font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="mso-list:Ignore"><span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal;font-size:7pt;" > </span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Eat snails or eels? </span>Eels</span></p><span style="font-family: times new roman;font-size:100%;" > </span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in; line-height: 200%; font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Complete Sushi Delight (#3) Challenge or the Jack-n-Grill Challenge (#13)?</span> Check them out at this website: <a href="http://blog.couponsherpa.com/place-your-bets-40-gut-busing-restaurant-challenges-for-free-food/%20">http://blog.couponsherpa.com/place-your-bets-40-gut-busing-restaurant-challenges-for-free-food/</a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in; line-height: 200%; font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;"> Jack-n-Grill<br /></span></p><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in; line-height: 200%; font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Be on Fear Factor or Survivor?</span> No</span></p><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in; line-height: 200%; font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="mso-list:Ignore"><span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal;font-size:7pt;" > </span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Take a bath in a tub full of jelly fish or sun bath at a bee farm with a sweet scented tanning lotion? </span>Bee farm</span></p><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in; line-height: 200%; font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">What is your all time favorite food? </span>Pizza</span></p><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in; line-height: 200%; font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">What do you usually do for Thanksgiving?</span> I go to my best friend's mom's house </span></p><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in; line-height: 200%; font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Do you have a dish you are looking forward to eating for Thanksgiving? </span>Pecan Pie</span></p><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in; line-height: 200%; font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">What is one of your proudest accomplishments?</span> Masters degree</span></p><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in; line-height: 200%; font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="mso-list:Ignore"><span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal;font-size:7pt;" > </span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">What type of music really gets you energized?</span> 80's rock</span></p><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in; line-height: 200%; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="mso-list:Ignore"><span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal;font-size:7pt;" ></span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Mac or PC?</span> PC</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Thanks Tyrian! I wish everyone safe travels over the holiday break and lots of good eating!</span></p>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0