Workflows

I had a neat conversation about things that we can do. One example that I shared was when I had overheard a teacher state “This week is going to be tough. I’ve got to read the test all week”. I asked “Why is that?” (I knew the answer, but I really wanted the teacher to process this.).
“Well, lots of kids have an IEP or accommodation where they have the test read to them.”
So, I asked, “Why not read the test once?”
The teacher, “That would be awesome.”
Me: “In Moodle, you can read it once, record it and be done.”
Teacher: “Tell me more.”
So I showed the teacher how it would work. The teacher went and recorded everything (the test was already in Moodle, so it was even more streamlined).
The teacher, who was a Special Education teacher by the way, then showed the cooperating teacher. The cooperating teacher was a bit hesitant. “Would all the students be able to listen to the test?”
Me: “Yep”
Teacher 2: “Hm. I’m not sure about that.”
Me: “How come? What is your concern? Look, honestly, the students who don’t need the test read aren’t going to listen. Also, do you have students who could use the test to be read, but don’t have anything officially documented?”
Teacher 2: “Yea. I’ve got quite a few. Let me think about it and get back to you.”
The teacher got back to me and stated that we were good to go. See, this was just a change. This leveled the playing field. The students who needed the test read didn’t have to be pulled out of class. All the students were told that they could listen to the test.
End result: All of the students were treated with grace. Those that needed the test read, could listen. They didn’t have to be pulled aside, they could stay with their peers. Those that really didn’t need the test read, didn’t have to listen. Plus, we reduced the unconscious bias in reading the test out loud. The Special Education teacher could do work that was more in line with their skills and talents rather than reading a test over and over for a week. The cooperating teacher ended up wanting to read the test. We set him up with the very little bit of training needed and now he reads all the tests for the kids.

There was some interest in this process in my new position. I’m not sure that everyone is ready for the yet, but once they are….

Moose

I’m still working on the MOOSE project. I have a few things that need to get done, but we are still working through the background parts of the project.

House of Cards

I was a fan of House of Cards on Netflix. Who knew just how accurate the show really was. It is now apparent that we have lots of legislators who only care about staying in power. They don’t care about the citizens, what is right, democracy, or justice. They just want to stay in power.

Flow charts

So, this week I learned that you can do flowcharts in markdown. Well, technically, not markdown, but markdown like. Even better, flowcharts are built-in to Joplin through Mermaid integration. I was able to create a quick flowchart, but I need to learn how to style them a bit.


This chart is created with the following code:

” ““`mermaid
graph TD
A[Flowchart] –>|Learn| B(Types)
B –> C{Graphs}
C –>|Possibility| D[Gantt]
C –>|Possibility| E[Flowchart]
C –>|Possibility| F[Left to Right]

Mermaid actually does quite a few different diagrams. You can play around with a live online editor

## Photo Group

I got to attend this weeks photo group. This week was sharing member photos. I’m enjoying listening to the rating and thoughts of others about pictures. I need to develop my eye.