And it’s a Zoom online proctored by their smart phone exam!
In keeping with my theme of “Through the Lifespan,” (I’ve learned that considering giftedness alone isn’t as important for most of life’s experiences!), I am delighted to include an example of a seasoned educator’s approach to making her students’ final exam go well. For them and for her.
Pam became my friend in 5th grade and we’ve been friends ever since. After a career of teaching math in every grade level, or training teachers who teach math, she now teaches adult students math. In this case, it’s a group of students who needed to fill-in-some deficits before moving into higher level classes. This particular class is Pre-Algebra. In case readers here don’t know this, I first experienced this system myself when I was a student at Ohio Wesleyan in the late 1960s. I was mystified that many freshmen around me had to take such classes while I was moved to sophomore level classes I hadn’t asked for. Personally, I like transparency. And as you can see, so does Pam. My own summary comments follow her Directions to Students for Final Exam.
Email from Professor Pam to Her Students
Hi Debbie,
I sent this (attached) on Monday to my 2.5 hr. zoom class that I teach on Tuesdays 6–9:30, in anticipation of—and to head off—another exam night of putting out fires and students’ non-compliance with the rules.
I was amazed at the positive response: Only one student had their camera off at a short point of time, and she sent me a chat right away and fixed it before I could eject her from the exam. Well, well…they all came through. We started the exam at 6:35 and the last student finished before 8:00. Not a single tech issue. One man actually drove to the Newtown (near us) campus to take the exam on a school desktop because he still hasn’t been able to resolve his tech problems, and he thanked me for not letting him give up. Sweet.
Anyway, I had fun with this and wanted to share it with you.
Directions to Students for Final Exam
Hi everyone,
Please read carefully. Note that failure to read does not excuse anyone from the information/content
I. Prepare for Zoom Proctoring of Exam
1) Tomorrow about 5:00 PM: close out and shut down to restart your FULLY CHARGED laptop/desktop computer. DO NOT JOIN THE CLASS ZOOM ON YOUR COMPUTER! SEE #2
2) With your FULLY CHARGED SMART PHONE, you will join the class Zoom as follows: (a) go to Canvas to ZoomPro, and (b) click on the link there. I will admit you from the waiting room.
3) Position your SMART PHONE’S camera to show your profile, your laptop keyboard, and your workspace/table/desk space.
NOTE: Your smartphone must be propped up so the camera shows your keyboard, desk or table work area, and your work space. Showing the top of your head is not enough to meet that requirement. Practice to get it right.
1) Do this before 6:30 tomorrow.
2) Have blank notebook paper and a pencil or pen for writing out your work.
Exam Procedures
1) Your smartphone camera MUST BE ON AT ALL TIMES showing your profile and workspace: laptop, desk or table area. Practice to get it right. Don’t wait until Tuesday at 6 to set up your space.
2) If your camera is turned off at any time once we start, I will NOT send you a chat to turn it on. You will be removed immediately from the Zoom AND the final exam. You will not be able to re-enter the Zoom or to continue with your exam. I will close your exam. There are no recovery options for that. Don’t let that be you!
3) Do NOT send me a chat message that your “camera isn’t working” or “I’m eating dinner” or “I have to run to the bathroom” or “My cat or kids or guests keep bothering me so I turned off my camera” or “My internet is down” or “I can’t make it tonight.” That’s why you plan ahead for worst case: Starbucks, Barnes & Noble, a friend’s place, or the public library all have internet access.
4) You’ve had plenty of time to take care of your tech issues and have known since January that your final exam is May 12. (See Faculty Syllabus.) If you can’t access ALEKS you can’t take the exam. There is no time or rationale for do-overs due to your unresolved tech issues.
Last Point
Feeling ill is not an excuse; it’s likely an avoidance technique. Tough it out; you can do it. I’ve been there: have taught two classes and held office hours on Zoom throughout a prolonged bout with COVID, accompanied by extremely bad headaches, while feeling like pond scum. If you’re feeling poorly, tough it out for the 90+ minutes or so that the exam takes. You can do it and you’ll be glad you did.
Questions about content? Get them to me tonight or tomorrow. I’m opening class at 5:45 for questions. If you have any, please join at any time.
Do yourself proud tomorrow.
Pamela Professor Tice
Key Lessons from Professor Pam’s Approach
Aside from laughing every time I read this, there are important lessons here:
⦁ Experienced teachers learn how to be clear, helpful, compassionate, and flexible. At some point they “own” their mistakes by improving their systems.
“Only one student had their camera off at a short point of time, and she sent me a chat right away and fixed it before I could eject her from the exam.”
When I was teaching 6th grade in Alexandria, VA, in the 1970s, and in my fourth year of teaching, I spent an entire weekend setting up a three-week lesson plan for a science project. It was one of those lesson plans that was handed down by the higher-ups with their latest ideas for education. The materials were provided (batteries, bulbs, wires, etc.) and the teacher had to make it all work. Well, for this particular class, it wasn’t working. Classes and their students vary from year-to-year. A majority part of this group was clearly bored, didn’t “get it,” and got pretty squirmy pretty quickly. I wanted to yell and scold (because I felt like all my time had been wasted) but just like that particular lesson, a bulb went on in my head, I started to laugh and smile, and said, “This isn’t working for you, is it?” to the children on the classroom floor surrounded by materials they weren’t enjoying. Their faces lit up with relief. I told them I would rework this topic and for now, we’d all go outside and play for a while.
I now live in a dynamic senior living apartment building. Most of the residents are older than I am at this point. Many of them are from the pre-Women’s-Liberation generation. And they mostly lived and taught school in the Heartland that is Minnesota and the states around it. Through the years I realized that modernization started on the East Coast and slowly moved west. The ways that it impacted educational systems and educational opportunities is amazing. I moved to Fargo, ND, in the late 1970s and some incredibly bright and capable people here didn’t finish school beyond 8th grade because there wasn’t any school beyond 8th grade. In many cases, I discovered that their 8th grade educations were superior to the full high school experiences we have now.
Meeting Students Where They Are
What Professor Pam shows us is that no matter where our students live, they need teachers who meet them where they are in their readiness to learn. It doesn’t mean such students aren’t smart enough. It shows us that when we meet them where they are, they thrive. They step up.
Please feel free to share Pam’s PREPARE for Zoom Proctoring of Exam. Aside from being funny, it’s a lesson for us all. All that techie stuff she has to deal with is mind-boggling to me!