Middle School Madness

Whenever I get the privilege to tell someone that I am a teacher, the next question that is sure to follow is: "Oh! What grade?" which is followed by a bright smile that lights their eyes.  As soon as the reply leaves my lips, "6th grade," their smile freezes and slowly droops to a concerned frown, and the twinkle in their eyes transforms into a look of pity and sympathy as if I had just said I have a terminal disease. Then their struggle to think of what to say next gives way to somethg like-

You are braver than me, I couldn't do that, or

oh my. . ., or

well bless your heart.

I must admit that anyone who chooses to spend so much time with middle schoolers has to be a little . . . um, special. I guess that I am a lot special because I have been in 6th grade for almost 15 years now, and I have to say working with those guys can be quite unique to say the least. These 11 to 14 year olds are now referred to as "tweens" which sounds slightly alien to me. This alien-ness is rightly so because these humans are in a sort of twilight zone part of life, not yet teens but desperate to not be children either.

I have learned so much about tween-agers during my time in middle school, some of it amazing, some frightening, and some absolutely puzzling.  With my oldest child on the brink of middle school and showing some definite signs of morphing into a middle school alien, I have been reflecting on what I know about these quasi humans.

In short, when kids reach this age, it truly seems as if another being has taken over their body and mind. What once was a sweet, little boy, who loved to snuggle with mom, turns into an odd smelling stranger who speaks another language and becomes physically attached to a set of ear buds and a game controller. The cute little girl, who you dressed in cutesy outfits with matching bows, now communicates primarily through grunts, sighs, eye rolling and exasperated expressions, and is happy only when she is texting a friend. It seems almost as if all logical brain function ceases and gives way to bizarre thought processes and ideas.

I realize there is a scientific/medical explanation for all of this – HORMONES – but that doesn’t change the fact that tweens are consistently inconsistent, and can drive their parents and care givers to the brink of insanity.  Whoever you think you know your child is, he/she will become strange and different at this age.  Their peers become key players in their lives, and they themselves are the center of the universe.  This is the age to try on different identities, so you may see your child dressed as a glitzy pop star one day, and in cowboy boots and flannel the next. Life as a tween is an emotional roller coaster, going from the highest high one moment, to the lowest low the next with seemingly meaningless instigation for the change. 

Tween-agers say and do things that make their parents speechless because they never thought their child would do something like that. They push their parents to want to hug them tight and protect them one moment, and then squeeze the breath out of them the next. They can force a parent who has ALWAYS stuck to “We don’t say those words in our house,” to want to scream profanity at the top of their lungs (and sometimes follow through).   It is all or nothing, feast or famine with this age group. They can have loved something yesterday, but hate it today.  The never ending contradictions can be maddening.  I have often thought that the idea of a boarding school somewhere far away from me would be the ideal fix for this age, but then they do or say something so genuinely thoughtful that gives you brief glimpse of the person they will become.  That’s all it takes to string along a parent’s (or teacher’s) hope that just maybe something they are doing is making a difference.   This is why I endure the madness of middle school; it’s like working with a diamond in the rough, dreaming about the beautiful gem it will be one day.  And well, to be honest, I probably do it because I’m a little crazy too.

Winter Technology Camp

With school budgets so tight, many schools are finding that dollars for professional development for their faculty is nonexistent.  Every excellent educator knows that it is vital to keep learning in spite of funding for several reasons.  First we are lifelong learners and know that the way to keep things fresh and engaging is to learn and employ new strategies.  Besides that, we are required to have a certain number of professional development credits to renew teaching licenses. (NC has recently made some changes to these requirements - see http://sbepolicy.dpi.state.nc.us/ for more info.)

With all that said, my principal and I are looking for ways to utilize the expertise of our faculty to provide high quality professional development for each other.  From this was born our idea to have a Winter Technology Camp for our teachers.  At this point all the planning is done. Let me share what this will look like.

Winter Technology Camp will be held during 2 full teacher workdays in January 2012.  All teaching faculty and other staff have been invited to participate.  Certified staff can earn up to 1 CEU toward license renewal by completing 10 camp sessions.

Technology training sessions will be presented by faculty members from our school. During the planning stages, I polled the faculty to determine who had technology expertise they could teach, and what technology topics were of interest to learn about.  From those responses, I set up a conference type schedule of topics which camp participants could choose to attend.

Each session will be 1 hour in length.  We will have 2 sessions running simultaneously in different locations to allow for a choice of topics.  On the first camp day, there will be 4 session times available, and on the second camp day there will be 6 session times available.

The session topics which will be included are:

 Intro to Geo Caching­- Learn the basics of geocaching (using a GPS device to locate hidden items) and how this might be incorporated into classroom lessons.
Airliner Tablets- Learn how to connect and use the Airliner tablet in your classroom, a cool tool which will help engage students in your lessons.
CPS- Learn how to connect and use the “clickers,” as well as ideas for how to use them in your lessons.
Edmodo- Learn about how Edmodo provides safe and easy way for  educators to harness the power of social media to customize the classroom for each and every learner.
Links to Real World Problem Solving- Learn how to embed links to a variety of online resources which will send students on a quest to learn about and solve a problem.
LiveBinders- Learn about an amazing, free, online tool that allows you collect documents, video’s, webpages, and other files all in easily accessible online binders.
Movie Maker- Learn how to create and edit a professional looking video with music, titles, and credits using a FREE program!
Promethian Interactive Board-Review  the basics of working with your Promethean Board, and learn about some more advanced interactive features which really get students engaged.
Smart Board- Review  the basics of working with your SMART Board, and learn about some more advanced interactive features which really get students engaged.
SMART Response System- Learn how to use the “other clickers” which connect with SMART software, including how to use them with the Study Island program.
Study Island and Common Core- Take a look at how the Study Island software is reflecting changes to Common Core and Essential Standards, new features available, and  ways you can use it as an assessment tool.
Teacher Web Page- Refresher on the basics of working on your teacher web page, and learn about some more advanced features.
Twitter as a Personal Learning Network- Think Twitter is just a silly social media tool for teens? Wrong!  Learn how Twitter can connect you to education experts all over the US, and keep you up to date on trends and new ideas in education. Twitter can help you create an online PLC where you can learn great ideas for your classroom.
Using Destiny to Support Common Core and Essential Standards- Learn where the resource lists for our library Common Core text exemplars are, how to use "One Search," and how to make your own resource lists in Destiny.
Voice Thread- Learn about this neat interactive online tool which can get students collaborating, discussing, and evaluating in your classroom.
Word/Excel Mail Merge- Learn how to use mail merge to make administrative tasks easier.
Writing in the Content Areas Using Blogs- Learn what a blog is, how to set one up, and how to incorporate it's use into writing activities in the classroom.



School staff were given a Technology Camp Brochure which included the session schedule and a description of each topic so they can choose which sessions to attend.

Twitter as PLN Training Presentation

AS I began collecting materials for this session, I decided to put it together on a website so that any of my teachers who couldn't attend the session could have a place to learn the material on their own.  This is what I ended up with.http://tinyurl.com/twit-pln    Hoping it will go well with my teachers on Jan3!

Twitter as PLN

I am continually learning how valuable Twitter can be as an online Professional Learning Network.  I am working on a presentation to share with teachers at my school about how Twitter can be an amazing teacher tool. Once I get my presentation plans together I will post details here.

Instructional Coaching

I attended an excellent training today titled Introduction to Instructional Coaching provided by PTEC and presented by Michael Price.  This was a very informative and timely professional development for me.

By this point in the school year, I have settled in to my position as Lead Teacher at BCS. I feel good about some positive effects I believe I have had, and am ready to reflect and improve from here.  Looking back at the goals I had as I began this position, I feel like I have had some successes.  I think that I have gone a long way in transforming the role of Lead Teacher at my school to that of a colleague who is there to collaborate and assist, who can be trusted and seen as a colleague rather than another administrator.  I feel like I have continued to encourage my staff toward collaboration in order to work smarter and share the load.  I also am happy with my efforts to keep parents more informed through our weekly email newsletter, and more detailed web page. I have also encouraged teams to build identities and team spirit which is a valuable part of a positive school climate. I have most definitely been very busy with many projects that also come as a part of my role, and have done fairly well in keeping up with these.

My biggest downfall at this point is that I have not been in classrooms as much as I hoped, and although I have assisted in rooms some, I haven't had the opportunity to do any co-teaching or modeling.  I also have been able to assist teachers in finding  resources, however  I haven't done any coaching, or assisting in instructional planning.  I also haven't collaborated as much with my principal as I would like because we are both in the midst of so many projects and duties, that we at times are just able to catch each other quickly in passing to discuss what we need to. I don't see any of these things as failures, though, just as things I would like to work on improving to be as effective as possible.

With that said, I am putting together a list of goals for the rest of the school year:

1- Learn more about and practice instructional coaching. Steps:

• Read the book by Jim McKnight.
• Put together a presentation to share with the staff the 3 roles I will work with them in (resource finder, coach, evaluator) and how the coaching process will work.
• Prepare or locate forms/documents to use in the coaching process.
• Model for teachers the coaching process by having them observe, record, and coach me.
• Invite teachers to engage in the coaching process with me, and set aside time for the full coaching cycle.
• Share copies of the walk through forms I complete when visiting classes, and encourage teachers to use this to identify areas we might address through coaching.

2- Schedule a time to meet with my administrator regularly to discuss needs and goals.

3- Be in classrooms more frequently. Walk through each teacher's classroom at least ____ (twice?) per week, and aim to do a longer observation (30 min or more) once a month.

4- Continue to be a support assisting teachers to become familiar with the Common Core and Essential Standards, as well as planning units to use with them.

5- Continue to keep parents informed through the email newsletter and webpage, and explore the options of using Edmodo or a texting tool.

6- Continue to support team identities and team spirit to boost morale of students and teachers.

I realize these are many goals to consider in combination with all the other projects that I frequently must work on.  I don't necessarily expect to complete all of these goals 100% by the end of the school year, but I plan to make a diligent effort to work on each.  

21st Century Skills Walkthrough

Today I was able to take the time to walkthrough almost all of the classrooms at my school.  I was particularly looking for evidence of 21st Century skills being taught.  I saw some impressive things going on.  Here are a few . . .

In Mrs. J's math classroom, two things stood out.  First was the math word wall - its so important to bring that focus on literacy into every class!  On a bulletin board I also noticed posters sharing the different responsibilities for student roles when working in cooperative groups.  It is vital that our students learn to work in collaborative groups in order for them to be college and carreer ready, unfortunately this is a skill that doesn't come naturally and can be quite challanging.  Setting up guidelines for the roles can help students begin to learn how in a collaborative group, every member has an important job and responsibility to the other members!

Mrs.T had some students working on their argument for a court case the class was working on.  She discussed with a student how she would be the judge and they would have to convince her of their opinion.  Such a powerful real life us of writing and speaking skills!

Mrs.S's Social Studies students were working in the Media Center on a project which Mrs.S had collaborated on with the Media Specialist.  Students in her class got to see their teacher working cooperatively with other faculty, and at the same worked in groups with their peers to research and create a project focused on an aspect of life in Ancient Greece or Rome. The project allowed students to practice skills of finding information from multiple sources, and then creatively design a product to reflect their learning. It was so exciting to walk in the media center and see all the project materials out and in use! The learning environment was a polar opposite of the traditional read and be silent atmosphere of a library. Students were engaged and active in their learning which resulted in noise and mess, but most importatnly powerful learning for students!

Something I noticed was that our teachers have gotten very adept and comfortable at using our technology such as computers and Interactive White Boards to present instruction, which is great.  To up the level of impact on student learning, now teachers need to get students engaged with the interactiveness of the technology -- a good goal for me to help the faculty to work on.

Bottom of the First Hill

A school year is very much like a super awesome thrill ride at an amusement park. We anticipate it all summer as if we are listening to the chink, chink, chink of the chain pulling us to the top of that breathtaking hill. Then the year begins and we are off at a blinding speed with lesson planning, staff meetings, parent nights, and staff development. It is a thrilling experience to say the least, but as we near the bottom of this first hill, teachers begin to tire, we are overwhelmed by all the meetings, paperwork, and the Hurculean effort to keep it all under control and still be the top notch 21st century educator that our students need.

By this point in the year many teachers feel exhausted by the effort to hang in there, knuckles white from holding on to the lap bar to be sure they stay safely in the coaster seat. We love the ride way too much to want off, but need some relief so we can hang in until the end. There's just so much thrill anyone can handle in a thrill ride. So what's an educator to do? How do we get some relief in order to take care of ourselves, and continue to be our best in the classroom?

I'd love to hear from other educators about your ideas of how to get this relief, how to take care of ourselves, and keep the roller coaster car on the track so to speak.

BC Walkabout

One of my very favorite parts about my new position as Lead Teacher is being able to go into different classrooms on a regular basis to check out what is going on across our school.  I wil say I had the opportunity to do this as a classroom teacher, and did so once in a while, but as a classroom teacher there are just so mnay responsibilities that fill up your time making walkthroughs hard to fit into your day.  Now, that is part of my responsibilities and I am so glad!  I am even more convinced now that BCS is the best school around! Let me share a few things I have seen through the first month of school.

One activity I observed was a writing activity in Mrs. M's classroom.  When I walked in the room the kids were working in a super focused manner in small groups.  They had Lego pieces and parts spread all over their tables and were discussing which part could go where and for what purpose. Problem solving and collaboration skills were evident in each table's discussions.  But wait!  I said it was a writing lesson, right?  Legos?  The task given to the students by Mrs.M was to create a machine that would perform an action of some sort, and once sgroups were done building, they had to write a paper explaing the use of and reasoning behind the machine they created.  Talk about rigor, relevance, and student engagement!  This was awesome!

Another activity I saw in multiple Sci/SS classes was the use of Interactive Notebooks and Cornell notes.  Not only were the teachers instructing students on the curriculum, the were teaching them organization and study skills at the same time. In another classroom, I saw students taking a multiple choice test. What's so special about that?  Students were directed by Mrs. T to bubble in the correct answer (have to practice those testing skills), and beside each response they were required to write their reasoning for selecting that answer.  This is a great way to ensure that students really think things through rather than just randomly choose answers!

In a different Language Arts class, I saw a unique approach on reading a class novel. Mrs.N's class was reading A Long Way from Chicago which she says has chapters which are almost short stories in themselves.  To get the whole class through the book in a limited amount of time, small groups were each assigned a chapter to read and study. Then the groups had to create presentations for the class about the chapter which included key story elements and vocabulary from their section. This seemed to be a great way to get kids hooked on a book that they would later read all of on their own!

I was most impressed on several occasions when I visited PE classes at my school.  Due to some teaching allotment changes, and an increase in student population, our 2 PE teachers have classes of 40-50 students. It frightens me to think of trying to manage, much less teach, such large groups in an active course like PE!  Mr.M and Ms.S have things totally under control though.  They have set up such great organization and procedures for the students that things have been going great in their very challenging situation.  Today I observed one of the classes as they learned to play volleyball.  The class was split in two.  One group was practicing bumping and setting on one side of the gym, while the other group was practicing the procss of serving and rotating in a volleyball court set up. These teachers are a super example of doing whatever it takes for our students.  Luckily they won't have the challenge of such large classes for much longer, as we have just been alloted a new position which will be used to hire another PE teacher.

I can't wait to see what other treasures our BCS teachers have going on in their classrooms as I continue my Walkabouts this year!

Graduation Week

Yes you heard me right, this week was graduation week at BC Middle School. Seems a little out of place since it's the beginning of the school year, and 6th graders aren't normally graduating. Did you know that early middle school is a great time to start talking to kids about graduation and college. many of their actions and choices in middle school can have a major impact on a student's path and success in high school any beyond. So this week BCS had some fun and got studnents thinking about college.

The events of this week were prompted and sponsored by the Connect Initiative which RCS is participating in. Holly Grissom, with the help of a few others, planned some great activities. All week students participated in a guess the college mascot contest, and viewed commercials from several universities and community colleges during daily announcements. To end the week, Friday was wear your favorite college colors or shirt day, and I was thrilled by how many of our 460 sixth graders participated!

We also had one last contest to finish the week going during lunch time today. I had the best time helping with this because I got to see and talk to every class in the school. We had our teachers bring in cap and gown pictures of themselves from college or high school, and then the kids had to guess which teacher was which. What a great experience! Our students really got into trying to figure this out -- and it was so neat for them to see their teachers as real people (younger and much skinnier in many cases). Even the teachers got in on the fun of guessing who was who!

Graduation week ended up being a great community building activity and was a big success in getting our students thinking about college. To pull our parents into the fun, we are having a guest speaker from College Foundation at our interim report parent night to talk about getting middle school students on the path for college.

So ended a great week at BCS -- I have to say, I'm proud to be a Bulldog!

Common Core Quick Reference Chart ELA Gr6

With the transition to Common Core State Standards coming up in the near future, I have been doing some serious study of the standards for my grade level and subject area. As I read over the English Language Arts Grade 6 Standards, I decided to reformat the standards as a chart.  I just like charts because they help me to comprehend information.  I think I ended up with what will be a helpful tool as a result.  In case you are interested, click on the link here for the pdf: Common Core State Standards English Language Arts Grade 6 Quick Reference Chart 

Digital Art Portfolio

Ever since my first child began preschool, I have Loved it when my kids brought home school work and all those cute art projects! The hand print art, strings of colored macaroni, and multitude of drawings. These are treasures to a mom and dad, but unfortunately as time passes these treasures look worse for the wear. Besides that, there are SO many of them I want to keep them all. How could I throw our something my sweet babies made? At some point a problemem arises. What do you do with all this stuff?? Add to the fact that I am hesitant to throw things out, my daughter is showing frightening signs of wanting to be a hoarder (kidding . . . A little). How can I save all these great memories without being buried by all the paper?
Technology to the rescue! This afternoon, my daughter (10 yrs old) photographed each of her artistic masterpieces she had created so far this summer, and then I taught her how to upload the pics to a cloud storage tool. Finally I helped her set up a LiveBinder (www.live binders.com) where she could organize, name and save all her creations. She was so excited that she could then share the binder with Grandparents and friends, or even do a formal presentation from our computer screen! Great way to save her creations AND clear out the paper clutter!
We still have lots of art my son created in preschool this past year. Tomorrow I think we will try photographing with my smartphone so we can upload straight to Dropbox with one less step. I will share a link to my LiveBinder once we get it in presentation condition.

(As a side note in respect to my quest to find an ePortfolio tool to use in my classroom this year . . . I think this may be it!)

The Scenic Route

I have gotten VERY sidetracked in my journey to find a way to implement ePortfolios in my classroom.  I have to say, although I haven't made it to my destination yet, the scenic route has been quite a treat.  I have found all sorts of great new tech tools to use in my classroom and in my personal professional learning.  I have grown to absolutely LOVE LiveBinders.  I have been working on binders for 3 topic which I am studying in preparation for the upcoming school year.  Feel free to check these out, and share resources/tools I could add to them.  Check them out if you are interested!


ePortfolios 

ePortfolio Resources

Common Core State Standards

Common Core for 6th Grade

Data Walls

Data Walls

ePortfolios Episode 3

So I have to say that I'm feeling frustrated with finding the perfect solution for this right now. There are obviously tons of web 2.0 tools I could use for ePortfolios. I have to have something that allows kids under 13 to register. I want something that students can use to work on assignments and collaborate with others AND showcase completed assignments. I also want something that would not be overly difficult for students to use on their own. Google Apps for Education seems to be the perfect solution, but I need district approval, etc to get that going and I have yet to hear back from my tech department in response to this.

I am playing around with Wiki Spaces and LiveBinders to see if that would work, but I am unsure if either will offer all the functionality which I want.

I know the solution is out there - I've just got to find it!

Feel free to comment with any suggestions!

ePortfolios LiveBinder

I am collecitong information and resources about ePortfolios in a LiveBinder.  You can check out my binder here:  http://livebinders.com/play/play_or_edit?id=127946

ePortfolios Eposide 2

My first instinct in trying out ePortfolios with my students is to use Google Docs.  I am familiar with it, it is easy to use, it is free, and accessible from any computer/device with internet access. The major issue I need to overcome if I decide to use Google Docs is creating student accounts.  I have to adhere to county guidelins related to having students sign up for online accounts, and want to be sure of student safety.  Google Aducation Apps seems to be the best way to deal with that issue, but again, I must get approval form administration and our tech departments.  So . . . I sent an email making the request . . . I feel a bit as if I threw a message in a bottle out into the Atlantic . . . we'll see what resonse I get.

In the meantime, I am exploring other options for using ePortfolios with my students.  I realize I could just do digital portfolios using PowerPoint or Word, but I really want the collaborative ability that a web portfolio makes possible, and the acessibility as well.

As I have been browsing, I came across a web 2.0 tool which I had not encountered before: LiveBinders (http://livebinders.com/ ).  This looks very interesting and quite useful for me.  It is essentially a webspace to organize and save files, webpages, videos, etc.  The neat factor is that you organize your digital stuff into virtual binders with tabs much like the huge paper binders most teachers have lining their bookshelves.  This may or may not turn out to be the best tool for eportfolioing with students, but I have to say that the thought of having all of my binders of teacher resources and so on available wherever I am online, instead of lugging those heavy dusty binders around is VERY appealing!

Based on my first impression, LiveBinders would be a good place for students to store and organize their stuff, although may not allow the collaboration I was hoping for.  Additionally, signing up requires an email, and requires users to be at least 13.  I found an interesting work around for this by using my gmail address plus the students name to sign up. Ex- myemail+studentname@gmail.com    

I'm going to play with LiveBinder a bit more to see if it might work for me.  Maybe I will create a binder of resources useful for ePortfolios?

ePortfolios Episode 1

I am beginning this journey with a vague vision of what using ePortfolios in my classroom might look like, and with great anticipation of how this might promote spectacular learning growth with my students.  I know a little about ePortfolios, and a bit more about using portfolios in general.  I have lots of bits and pieces of ideas bouncing in my mind about tools I might could use. . . but essentially I am staring into an unknown land ready to explore.  I have LOTS of questions . . .

What software tools would be the easiest to use AND most effective?
What hardware will need to be available?
How often should students work on portfolios?
What formats might portfolio entries take?
Will the permissions regulated by my county allow the freedom needed to make this work?
Could I possibly integrate the use of student cell phones and/or other mobile devices?
Where in the world should I start?
Will my daughter be willing to be my guinea pig to help me learn about ePortfolioing?

Yikes!  I have to stop with all the questions. More and more keep tumbling out of my mind, and I'm getting a little nervous about it all.  Time to head to my favorite search engine and see what I can find . . .  

Summer Tech Adventure

With school out for the summer, I am enjoying some much needed time to relax and enjoy my own children.  This also allows me some time to reflect on the past school year, and think about improvements for the upcoming year. Two topics I am currently interested in exploring are using ePortfolios to enhance student learning, and using technology to differentiate instruction.

So I am getting ready to embark on an adventure to learn as much as I can about these subjects and come up with a blue print for how I can incorporate them into my classroom in the upcoming year.  I honestly have no planned route for how I will get there, and I am excited to see what I will discover along the way.  I plan to blog my journey so that my experiences might assist other explorers. 

Wish me luck!

Great Phone App For Teachers

I've got to share about this awesome phone app that I recently found. It is an Android app called document scanner. It allows you to use you phone's camera to scan a document, edit it for clarity, and make it into a PDF file. Even better than that, you can then upload the file directly to your Google Docs, Dropbox, ever note or export to your SD card.

Why am I so excited about it? If I want to scan a document to project onto my interactive whiteboard at school, I have to take the document down to the library, hope no one is on the computer with the scanner attached, log in, start up the scanner, scan and save, then go back to my classroom to project the document. Way too much trouble! With this app,I can scan, edit, and send to my Google Docs and have it up on my screen in about 5 minutes! Excellent timesaver, and great for those last minute changes to lesson plans!

E Learning for Middle Grades Students

Having just completed my masters degree in a totally online distance education program has inspired me to think about how I could adapt and use e learning in my 6th grade classroom to push students to reach higher levels of learning.  I began by checking out a variety of online learning management systems including Moodle, Udemy, and RCampus.  Each of these are great, free tools to host online courses.  Since I am working with sixth graders and facilitating an online course for the first time, I decided to try tools I am familiar with to start in the hopes of keeping it simple for myself and the students.

I ended up basically creating my own course management tool by using several other web 2.0 tools.  The basic course is hosted on a Google Site.  I used the site to post announcements and directions for students.  As they complete each of the 5 lesson parts, there are links to the learning materials they need.  I added to this, a discussion board where students are assigned to post comments on questions related to lesson topics.  The discussion board is actually a blog on Blogger.  I used ClassMarker to create an online graded quiz for each lesson. Finally I am trying out using Engrade to report scores to students.

The biggest dilemma in this adventure for me is making the online lessons easy to access and navigate through for students.  I really would love to spend some more time with the course management programs to make things a bit more fluid and easily accessible for students and myself.  So far things seem to be going well with how I have things set up.

You can check out my online learning site at: https://sites.google.com/site/rockstarsonline/
Once my students have finished the project, I will post my reflections and tips I learn through the process.