Monday, November 29, 2010
Friday, November 26, 2010
Do You Moodle?
Below is my presentation. It is in the format of a PowerPoint presentation, but for the purposes of this blog, I saved it is a movie file. If I were to present this to my colleagues I would discuss each slide in more detail. Enjoy!
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Reflection on Differentiation Stations
The Differentiation Station social network project has been an eye opener for me on collaboration. I have found yet one more way to incorporate technology and collaboration with my peers that I can utilize in my classroom. Our group utilized Google Groups, which I found was a very simple application to use. It was very easy to sign on and see the new posts from the other group members. The resources my group members found and posted will come in handy when implementing the principles of Universal Design for Learning and Differentiated Instruction.
Resources such as www.prezi.com and www.mywebspiration.com will allow me to differentiate instruction for my students. These were posted by group member Amanda. Prezi is an online presentation generator and Webspiration is an online concept map application. The presentation generator will give students another option for presenting the material they learn. Webspiration can be used in DI, however, fits better with Universal Design for Learning. Concept mapping software such as this allows students to utilize words and pictures to illustrate content. This allows all students to present their information in the way that they feel most comfortable. Another group member posted www.surveymonkey.com. Utilizing surveys in the classroom fits well into DI and UDL because as an educator I can focus on the students' learning profiles, interest, and learning styles. In doing this I can separate students into learning groups and give them assignments that fit the criteria of their learning style and interests. Differentiating instruction in this manner is great because there is less focus on ability level and more focus on how the student learns. Instead of focusing on weaknesses, I would focus on strengths of each student.
Some immediate adjustments that I am making to my instructional practice regarding the use of technology integration to customize instruction as a result of learning from this course is allowing students options for assessment and assignment completion that includes technology in some way. I allow students to utilize word processing software, online websites, and presentation software when completing assignments. I have found alternative assessments such as STAR Reading and STAR Math in diagnosing students' ability levels. I also utilize my interactive whiteboard on a daily basis. Through this interactive whiteboard, students get a chance to interact with the content in a manner that is not possible with just a textbook and notebook. We can access the Internet if need be to look up more information on the subject we are studying. We can also manipulate shapes, numbers, words, and other concepts with ease. Teaching math and science with an interactive whiteboard lends a world of possibilities to the students, as well as myself! I am planning on doing an online collaboration project with my students and another classroom in the area. This is in the beginning stages, but my hopes are to complete this by the middle of the school year and have the students begin the project at that time.
The world of technology is constantly expanding. I want to make the most of the opportunities. I want my students to have options in completing tasks and assignments so that they get the most out of their learning. My goal is to continue on the path that I am going and continue to put the needs of my students first in my planning and instruction.
Resources such as www.prezi.com and www.mywebspiration.com will allow me to differentiate instruction for my students. These were posted by group member Amanda. Prezi is an online presentation generator and Webspiration is an online concept map application. The presentation generator will give students another option for presenting the material they learn. Webspiration can be used in DI, however, fits better with Universal Design for Learning. Concept mapping software such as this allows students to utilize words and pictures to illustrate content. This allows all students to present their information in the way that they feel most comfortable. Another group member posted www.surveymonkey.com. Utilizing surveys in the classroom fits well into DI and UDL because as an educator I can focus on the students' learning profiles, interest, and learning styles. In doing this I can separate students into learning groups and give them assignments that fit the criteria of their learning style and interests. Differentiating instruction in this manner is great because there is less focus on ability level and more focus on how the student learns. Instead of focusing on weaknesses, I would focus on strengths of each student.
Some immediate adjustments that I am making to my instructional practice regarding the use of technology integration to customize instruction as a result of learning from this course is allowing students options for assessment and assignment completion that includes technology in some way. I allow students to utilize word processing software, online websites, and presentation software when completing assignments. I have found alternative assessments such as STAR Reading and STAR Math in diagnosing students' ability levels. I also utilize my interactive whiteboard on a daily basis. Through this interactive whiteboard, students get a chance to interact with the content in a manner that is not possible with just a textbook and notebook. We can access the Internet if need be to look up more information on the subject we are studying. We can also manipulate shapes, numbers, words, and other concepts with ease. Teaching math and science with an interactive whiteboard lends a world of possibilities to the students, as well as myself! I am planning on doing an online collaboration project with my students and another classroom in the area. This is in the beginning stages, but my hopes are to complete this by the middle of the school year and have the students begin the project at that time.
The world of technology is constantly expanding. I want to make the most of the opportunities. I want my students to have options in completing tasks and assignments so that they get the most out of their learning. My goal is to continue on the path that I am going and continue to put the needs of my students first in my planning and instruction.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Reflecting on the GAME
During the GAME plan, one of the biggest things I learned was a great way to set goals, monitor progress, and evaluate learning. This is an easy template to utilize in the classroom. I have tried goal setting before, but never with much success. We either get too busy and never get around to it or we don’t monitor and evaluate as we should. This template affords to a lot of different ways to keep up with it, such as a GAME folder or blog postings, which are referred to at least once a week. By getting into a routine with this, we will be able to keep up with it in my classroom.
Another thing I learned was more on just how many resources are out there for teachings and students to utilize for free. I have found a couple different blogs throughout this process of which I am a subscriber to and they always are giving out ideas for free technologies that can be utilized in the classroom. I have rediscovered the importance of professional development and how important it is to keep up with my own learning.
One immediate adjustment to my teaching practices would be to implement a class blog to discuss both science and math content and mastery of goals. I have never utilized a blog in my classroom before and I have been hesitant only because a number of my students do not have computer or internet access at home. Now that our district has moved completely into our brand new school building and there are computers that students can access, I can give them opportunities at school to complete blog postings.
Another immediate adjustment I want to make is in the realm of collaborative learning. I want to find a classroom locally that we can work with to complete a collaborative project. I want to start small with this first one and eventually find something on a global scale. I think this experience will be something that the students will never forget!
Another thing I learned was more on just how many resources are out there for teachings and students to utilize for free. I have found a couple different blogs throughout this process of which I am a subscriber to and they always are giving out ideas for free technologies that can be utilized in the classroom. I have rediscovered the importance of professional development and how important it is to keep up with my own learning.
One immediate adjustment to my teaching practices would be to implement a class blog to discuss both science and math content and mastery of goals. I have never utilized a blog in my classroom before and I have been hesitant only because a number of my students do not have computer or internet access at home. Now that our district has moved completely into our brand new school building and there are computers that students can access, I can give them opportunities at school to complete blog postings.
Another immediate adjustment I want to make is in the realm of collaborative learning. I want to find a classroom locally that we can work with to complete a collaborative project. I want to start small with this first one and eventually find something on a global scale. I think this experience will be something that the students will never forget!
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
GAME Plan and Students
I see a lot of commonality among the National Educational Technology Standards for Students and the NETS-T. While the standards for educators deal more with professional development, assessment, and items more on the teaching end, they share some in common with the students such as working collaboratively, communicating effectively through multiple technologies, doing research, information fluency, and digital citizenship. Students are called upon to be advocates of proper usage of technology as are educators.
With this in mind, I think I would utilize the GAME plan in the following manner:
G - Goals. I would have my students set goals for themselves after reviewing these standards. I would ask them which areas they feel confident in and which areas they feel needs some work. I would have students make 2-3 goals at a time, each time we would do this. These goals would be simple goals that students wish to work towards to becoming a more confident technology user. I would try to do this GAME plan at least twice during the year, once during the first semester and once during the second semester.
A - Action. I would have students write down the actions they were going to take next to each goal. These can be simple as well, maybe written in a few words. I would have my students utilize a wikispace in which they add their goals and actions on their own wikipage. This way, they will have the other students in the class to keep them accountable for meeting their goals. This would also allow them to work collaboratively. Maybe one student knows of a resource and wants to post it on their friend’s wikipage to aid them in meeting their goals. This would make it easier for the students to see right away.
M - Monitor. I will monitor their progress through the wikispace. They will monitor their progress and the progress of their classmates also through the wikispace. I will have them write down in reflective journals during certain points of the semester about how they feel they are doing and how maybe their goals or actions have changed. Maybe a new goal has appeared through some research the student has done.
E - Evaluate. At the end of each semester, I will have students write a reflective paragraph on the GAME plan process. This will be located on their wikipage. They will tell me how well they did at accomplishing their goal, if they need to carry this goal over to the next semester, or if they found new goals throughout this process. Maybe the goal they made at the beginning was easier than they thought and they met that goal right away. They also will evaluate the help their peers gave them throughout the process and whether it was beneficial to them to get help from their classmates. I also want to know how well this process worked for them.
This GAME plan sounds very similar to what we did during this class, but when I think back on the process, we are students ourselves. We are trying to learn these new strategies and this GAME plan really allows us to focus on our weaknesses and making them strengths. That is what we expect our students to do in our own classrooms.
With this in mind, I think I would utilize the GAME plan in the following manner:
G - Goals. I would have my students set goals for themselves after reviewing these standards. I would ask them which areas they feel confident in and which areas they feel needs some work. I would have students make 2-3 goals at a time, each time we would do this. These goals would be simple goals that students wish to work towards to becoming a more confident technology user. I would try to do this GAME plan at least twice during the year, once during the first semester and once during the second semester.
A - Action. I would have students write down the actions they were going to take next to each goal. These can be simple as well, maybe written in a few words. I would have my students utilize a wikispace in which they add their goals and actions on their own wikipage. This way, they will have the other students in the class to keep them accountable for meeting their goals. This would also allow them to work collaboratively. Maybe one student knows of a resource and wants to post it on their friend’s wikipage to aid them in meeting their goals. This would make it easier for the students to see right away.
M - Monitor. I will monitor their progress through the wikispace. They will monitor their progress and the progress of their classmates also through the wikispace. I will have them write down in reflective journals during certain points of the semester about how they feel they are doing and how maybe their goals or actions have changed. Maybe a new goal has appeared through some research the student has done.
E - Evaluate. At the end of each semester, I will have students write a reflective paragraph on the GAME plan process. This will be located on their wikipage. They will tell me how well they did at accomplishing their goal, if they need to carry this goal over to the next semester, or if they found new goals throughout this process. Maybe the goal they made at the beginning was easier than they thought and they met that goal right away. They also will evaluate the help their peers gave them throughout the process and whether it was beneficial to them to get help from their classmates. I also want to know how well this process worked for them.
This GAME plan sounds very similar to what we did during this class, but when I think back on the process, we are students ourselves. We are trying to learn these new strategies and this GAME plan really allows us to focus on our weaknesses and making them strengths. That is what we expect our students to do in our own classrooms.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Revision of GAME Plan
As part of the teaching process is reflection and revision, I now come to the part of my GAME plan where I must reflect and revise. I have learned that there are more resources out there to meet the needs of my students than I will ever have time to utilize in my career. The options that are out there for all types of students are extremely numerous to choose from. Finding the good ones, however, takes time and patiences. It is also a game of trial and error. Trying out some of these technology resources, seeing if they work, and if they do keep them. If they don’t discard them and find something else that may fit that need.
I am still working toward the digital citizenship goal. This is going to be a process of a couple years as I try to revamp my own presentations as well as stress to the students the need to respect copyrights and ownership. I also need to try to impress upon my colleagues the need for this type of instruction during each year of each grade level, even if it is just one assignment in which they instruct students how to cite. Why wait until their senior year when they write their research paper? By then it could be too late.
I think a new learning goal I have set for myself based on the NETS-T would be that which I have stated above. I need to engage more in professional growth and leadership when it comes to incorporating technology into my classroom and into my school. I want to work to develop the technology skills of others. I want to work collaboratively on both a local and a global level with my students and with my colleagues. I want to bring awareness to my school about the benefits of technology but at the same time I want to learn all I can on a professional level. I want to remain a lifelong learner.
I don’t think I would change anything I did during this learning process. One thing that I wish was different was the timing. I wish that this class had taken place during the school year so I could try to implement some of the goals I had set for myself during this GAME plan. It would have been easier if I could see things changing in my classroom. So for now, I will set these ideas on the back burner until August 24th rolls around and we start back for another school year.
I am still working toward the digital citizenship goal. This is going to be a process of a couple years as I try to revamp my own presentations as well as stress to the students the need to respect copyrights and ownership. I also need to try to impress upon my colleagues the need for this type of instruction during each year of each grade level, even if it is just one assignment in which they instruct students how to cite. Why wait until their senior year when they write their research paper? By then it could be too late.
I think a new learning goal I have set for myself based on the NETS-T would be that which I have stated above. I need to engage more in professional growth and leadership when it comes to incorporating technology into my classroom and into my school. I want to work to develop the technology skills of others. I want to work collaboratively on both a local and a global level with my students and with my colleagues. I want to bring awareness to my school about the benefits of technology but at the same time I want to learn all I can on a professional level. I want to remain a lifelong learner.
I don’t think I would change anything I did during this learning process. One thing that I wish was different was the timing. I wish that this class had taken place during the school year so I could try to implement some of the goals I had set for myself during this GAME plan. It would have been easier if I could see things changing in my classroom. So for now, I will set these ideas on the back burner until August 24th rolls around and we start back for another school year.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Evaluating the GAME Plan
In evaluating my GAME plan, the actions I took were as effective as they can be during these summer months. Being out of school for the summer makes things a little more difficult because I don’t have easy access to our technology coordinator (not a teacher, just the person who troubleshoots everything). I also do not have students at the moment to try some of these techniques out. I am looking forward to the end of August when I can start implementing some of these lesson plans. But for the most part, I found what needed to be found when it comes to resources and feel ahead of the “game” when it comes to to start school!
I have learned the important of digital citizenship. This is not something that I had really thought about in the past but plan to apply it to my future. I need to be the model to my students when it comes to citing sources. I have also learned how technology can meet the needs of special needs students. I plan on utilizing as much technology as I can when it comes to my special needs students. However, our district isn’t equipped with the numerous technologies that would aid the special needs students. Lastly, I have learned some news ways of assessment through the means of technology, especially in problem-based learning. I plan on incorporating as much of this type of assessment as I can within my classroom throughout the coming school year.
I still have a lot to learn! There are so many technologies out there it is almost overwhelming! I also still need to work on putting together a collaborative project with one of my former colleagues that is now at a new school district. I would love to work with her through a wiki and have our students do some kind of project, but that is still on the back burners of my mind. Taking baby steps in technology can be beneficial. I have still been finding new things to utilize in my classroom, such as WISE (Web-based Inquiry Science Environment) and TELS (Technology Enhanced Learning in Science) put out by the National Science Foundation. These groups have a portal for problem-based learning activities. It is one of the great resources I have found during this course.
I will adjust my plan to fit my current needs by looking at the needs of my students first. Some of my students have not been exposed to technology and so some instruction on the technology itself may be required. This can take up valuable and precious time and so that needs to be considered. Not having a true technology teacher at our district has its pitfalls and that is one of them. I will just have to monitor as the school year gets started and progresses and add in what I can throughout the year.
I have learned the important of digital citizenship. This is not something that I had really thought about in the past but plan to apply it to my future. I need to be the model to my students when it comes to citing sources. I have also learned how technology can meet the needs of special needs students. I plan on utilizing as much technology as I can when it comes to my special needs students. However, our district isn’t equipped with the numerous technologies that would aid the special needs students. Lastly, I have learned some news ways of assessment through the means of technology, especially in problem-based learning. I plan on incorporating as much of this type of assessment as I can within my classroom throughout the coming school year.
I still have a lot to learn! There are so many technologies out there it is almost overwhelming! I also still need to work on putting together a collaborative project with one of my former colleagues that is now at a new school district. I would love to work with her through a wiki and have our students do some kind of project, but that is still on the back burners of my mind. Taking baby steps in technology can be beneficial. I have still been finding new things to utilize in my classroom, such as WISE (Web-based Inquiry Science Environment) and TELS (Technology Enhanced Learning in Science) put out by the National Science Foundation. These groups have a portal for problem-based learning activities. It is one of the great resources I have found during this course.
I will adjust my plan to fit my current needs by looking at the needs of my students first. Some of my students have not been exposed to technology and so some instruction on the technology itself may be required. This can take up valuable and precious time and so that needs to be considered. Not having a true technology teacher at our district has its pitfalls and that is one of them. I will just have to monitor as the school year gets started and progresses and add in what I can throughout the year.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Monitoring the GAME Plan
So far, I have been finding information that I need in order to carry out my GAME plan. I have found some instructional videos on how to do a wiki and what a wiki is that I can use in my classroom (found at www.commoncraft.com and called Wikis in Plain English). There are a lot of instructional videos at this particular website that can be used in the classroom to help a student’s understanding of the technology they are supposed to be using. A classmate, Samuel Thompson, also posted a great resource that deals with copyrights. This would be great to use for my students when dealing with digital citizenship and responsibility. I have spent the last few days going through my PowerPoints that I use in my classroom and putting citations in for videos and pictures. Most of my videos come from Discovery Education. This is not quite accomplished yet, but I still have about 5 weeks until I have to get back into the swing of school!!
At this point, I do not have to modify my action plan. Most of this will be ready for the 2010-2011 school year, so I am glad to have this time in the summer to work on what I want to change for the coming year. I have learned that there are so many resources out there to utilize in the classroom, but not only that, there are resources to help you learn how to use the resources! These are great to bring into the classroom as well to aid the students along their path with technology. I have also learned that the hard part is not the planning but the implementing. I can’t imagine what it is going to be like with my students as most of them have used very little technology and we have no technology teacher to teach them the skills. That brings a new question into my mind: Am I going to be able to effectively do this without the support of a technology teacher? This is something that I will have to answer when the school year approaches.
At this point, I do not have to modify my action plan. Most of this will be ready for the 2010-2011 school year, so I am glad to have this time in the summer to work on what I want to change for the coming year. I have learned that there are so many resources out there to utilize in the classroom, but not only that, there are resources to help you learn how to use the resources! These are great to bring into the classroom as well to aid the students along their path with technology. I have also learned that the hard part is not the planning but the implementing. I can’t imagine what it is going to be like with my students as most of them have used very little technology and we have no technology teacher to teach them the skills. That brings a new question into my mind: Am I going to be able to effectively do this without the support of a technology teacher? This is something that I will have to answer when the school year approaches.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Carrying Out My GAME Plan
What resources will you need to carry out your plan (video, reading, experts or colleagues, etc)?
In reviewing my GAME plan, I see that I need a wide variety of resources to carry out my plan. When approaching the NETS-T standard that addresses assessments and digital age learning resources, I will require videos to incorporate into my lessons, online rubric builders such as Rubistar, and video conferencing equipment and capabilities. I may also try to incorporate Skype into these lessons and utilize that when working with colleagues from other school districts. The videos that I will acquire I will get from Discovery Education and United Streaming. There is a variety of resources at this site, even some presentations that have been made up to align with certain state standards. I want my students to be a part of the rubric building at times, so Rubistar is a great choice to allow students to help in the process of building a good rubric. I may eventually allow them to create a rubric for their own project that they would have another student grade them week. This would be more of a peer assessment strategy. I also would need the web resources when searching for alternative assessments. I want my students to have the abilities to utilize wikis, podcasting software, and the knowledge of how to upload things onto a wiki or website. These alternative assessments could serve as a portion of their cumulative grade for a chapter or unit.
When approaching the NETS-T standard that addresses modeling digital citizenship and responsibility, I will need mainly time. This time will be put to use by going through all of my PowerPoint presentations that I have already made up and including the citations of where I found the particular pictures. I may need to “refind” them in order to accomplish this. I also have found a website that I may incorporate with my students. This website (http://www.openc.k12.or.us/citeintro/citeintro.php?Grd=Elem) is a citation maker. Students will be able to put in the required information and it saves the citation and allows them to copy and past it into whatever document they are working on. This will help students learn what parts of a citation are necessary and how to put them together. It will also show them that I feel this is a vital step to completing their work by citing their resources.
What additional information do you need?
I may need additional information from experts as far as the video-conferencing equipment and capabilities are concerned. This is something I would have to learn how to work and implement into the classroom. I will be gleaning any information I can from our technology coordinators in this area of my GAME plan. I would also like to find more alternative assessments and do some more research on ways to incorporate more technology into my classroom from a lecture standpoint. I have an InterWrite board in my classroom that I want to utilize, especially in my math classes, but would like to attend a professional development session to learn how to properly use this item of technology and get the most of out it for both me and my students.
What steps have you been able to take so far?
As it is summer and school is no longer in session, I have only been able to do the research for different virtual field trips and alternative assessments. I have one virtual field trip ready to set up for the coming school year with the Grand Canyon’s educational programs. This is something I hope to get signed up for, as it is on a first come, first serve basis only. I will be speaking to my principal and technology coordinators about it this week so as soon as the time comes to sign up, I can be first in line! I will continue to do research in finding great resources to utilize in my PowerPoint presentations in the coming weeks.
In reviewing my GAME plan, I see that I need a wide variety of resources to carry out my plan. When approaching the NETS-T standard that addresses assessments and digital age learning resources, I will require videos to incorporate into my lessons, online rubric builders such as Rubistar, and video conferencing equipment and capabilities. I may also try to incorporate Skype into these lessons and utilize that when working with colleagues from other school districts. The videos that I will acquire I will get from Discovery Education and United Streaming. There is a variety of resources at this site, even some presentations that have been made up to align with certain state standards. I want my students to be a part of the rubric building at times, so Rubistar is a great choice to allow students to help in the process of building a good rubric. I may eventually allow them to create a rubric for their own project that they would have another student grade them week. This would be more of a peer assessment strategy. I also would need the web resources when searching for alternative assessments. I want my students to have the abilities to utilize wikis, podcasting software, and the knowledge of how to upload things onto a wiki or website. These alternative assessments could serve as a portion of their cumulative grade for a chapter or unit.
When approaching the NETS-T standard that addresses modeling digital citizenship and responsibility, I will need mainly time. This time will be put to use by going through all of my PowerPoint presentations that I have already made up and including the citations of where I found the particular pictures. I may need to “refind” them in order to accomplish this. I also have found a website that I may incorporate with my students. This website (http://www.openc.k12.or.us/citeintro/citeintro.php?Grd=Elem) is a citation maker. Students will be able to put in the required information and it saves the citation and allows them to copy and past it into whatever document they are working on. This will help students learn what parts of a citation are necessary and how to put them together. It will also show them that I feel this is a vital step to completing their work by citing their resources.
What additional information do you need?
I may need additional information from experts as far as the video-conferencing equipment and capabilities are concerned. This is something I would have to learn how to work and implement into the classroom. I will be gleaning any information I can from our technology coordinators in this area of my GAME plan. I would also like to find more alternative assessments and do some more research on ways to incorporate more technology into my classroom from a lecture standpoint. I have an InterWrite board in my classroom that I want to utilize, especially in my math classes, but would like to attend a professional development session to learn how to properly use this item of technology and get the most of out it for both me and my students.
What steps have you been able to take so far?
As it is summer and school is no longer in session, I have only been able to do the research for different virtual field trips and alternative assessments. I have one virtual field trip ready to set up for the coming school year with the Grand Canyon’s educational programs. This is something I hope to get signed up for, as it is on a first come, first serve basis only. I will be speaking to my principal and technology coordinators about it this week so as soon as the time comes to sign up, I can be first in line! I will continue to do research in finding great resources to utilize in my PowerPoint presentations in the coming weeks.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
GAME Plan
- Goals for confidence and proficiency in at least two indicators in the NETS-T.
- The two indicators that I want to work toward confidence and proficiency in would be Indicator Two: Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments and Indicator Four: Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility. I do not necessarily lack the knowledge in these areas but I definitely could build my confidence levels, especially with Indicator Two. I struggle when it comes to effective assessment. I find it difficult to know what to assess, how much to assess, and how to change my assessments to fit the needs of my students at times. I am the kind of person that always puts in too much rather than too little. I want to be able to hone my ability of choosing what to assess as well as how to assess it. I also want to look into the technologies available to me for assessment as well as learning experiences. I also feel that I need to become more proficient in modeling digital citizenship. I need to take more time to cite where I find pictures for my presentations. Modeling is a good way to show our students the correct way to do things. When they see the teacher modeling what is appropriate, they are more apt to take it upon themselves and do the same with their resources.
- Actions I will take to achieve those goals.
- I want to spend more time finding authentic assessments on the web as well as researching ideas on assessment. I want to explore the realm of technology when it comes to implementing different ways of bringing the outside world into the classroom. One action I would like to achieve for the coming year is a digital field trip. I want my students to experience something in the science realm that they would not normally experience and I want to do it through technology. I would also like to work on a collaborative project with another classroom in the local area. I have a few friends that are teachers at different districts and I would like to link up with one of them through a wiki and do a collaborative project. I feel that these digital age learning experiences and assessments will help me achieve confidence in Indicator Two. With regards to Indicator Four, my actions would be to start citing all pictures, video, and information I gather from other sources in my PowerPoint presentations. It is not enough to cite them, however. I want to bring attention to my students where I gathered this information and how important it is to cite something.
- How I will monitor my progress.
- One way that I can monitor my progress is to keep a small journal and write down what things worked and what didn’t work in the classroom. If an experience with technology did not work the way that I expected then I need to write that down so I remember for the next time. I can then tweak the experience to fit the needs of my students. Teaching is a trial and error kind of profession. If we do not keep track of what works and what doesn’t, however, it makes it hard to adjust our lessons. I also will pay attention to if my students start citing websites on their own. Even if they write down the name of the book, author, and page number or just list the website where they found their information, I will know that they are taking what I am modeling into consideration.
- How I will evaluate and extend my learning.
- I will have the journal to look back on with what worked and what didn’t work. I will also have my students write down what they enjoyed and what could have been done better. I do this at the end of each school year with my students as a rule because as a beginning teacher I want to know what is working and what isn’t working. One has to be objective in reading the responses because sometimes students just don’t like school and very little you do will get them to change their mind. I know that my PowerPoint notes need adjusted and that is the first thing that I am going to work on. I can also evaluate my learning by how much the students are retaining and if they are enjoying the process of learning. I can go to my peers for help or even offer some advice when they have issues with technology in their classroom. I can also keep researching on the latest technologies that can be utilized in the classroom. Keeping up with the times is a good way to extend my learning.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Reflection: Application 8
When I started this course, I wasn’t quite sure what new literacy skills were, let alone how to incorporate them into my lesson planning. The most striking revelation that I had about teaching new literacy skills is how prevalent they are in my students’ everyday lives. This combined with the fact that most of us do not teach new literacy skills in the general classroom setting amazed me. Our students are using these skills everyday either via social networking, cell phone communications, reading articles online, searching the Internet for various items, and programs such as instant messaging. It occurred to me that our students may know more about new literacy skills than we do and we are the ones that are to be teaching them these skills. If we don’t begin to assimilate these skills into our everyday teaching, we will not be reaching out students and teaching them that there is a right and wrong way to use these skills. It is our job not only to bring the content to our students but to teach them the correct way to utilize new literacy skills to respect both the information infrastructure and others when utilizing these kinds of skills.
The knowledge and experience that I gained from this course will help me to incorporate new literacy skills into my everyday teaching style. I have already begun to utilize some of these skills during the summer school session that I have been teaching the past few weeks. I thought I would try out a few things with my students that I took out of this class. The great thing has been how open they are to the new learning of not only content but new literacy skills. I have talked about how to search for items in the proper manner, what to do and not to do when you are communicating via the Internet or other messaging service, and a little about social networking sites and how they can be utilized in the proper manner. I hope that they take a little out of this summer school session and apply it next school year when it comes to their own individual research and communication. I am also looking forward to being able to apply these new literacy skills to my regular classroom for the coming school year. I want to make it a point to cite everything I use, whether it be from the text book or a website. I want to stress the fact that students need to cite anything they take out of a resource. I am planning on starting out projects with an in-depth discussion on the new literacy skills that the students will be utilizing along with giving them a checklist to monitor their own progress. These are all goals I have made for myself in dealing with that I took out of this class.
Dr. Warlick stated in his video segment that technology increases the ability for students to connect with each other, connect to experts, connect to other classes, and connect to content (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009). A professional development goal that I have for myself is to find workshops that deal with this “connected connectivism.” I want to take the opportunity to perhaps attend a short workshop on videoconferencing and collaborative projects over the Internet. I would love to connect with a classroom in the coming months and work collaboratively with their classroom to complete a project. I think that it would be a wonderful opportunity for the students to utilize not only their new literacy skills but for myself to apply what I have learned in a professional setting. I also want to start bringing these ideas to my colleagues in a productive way and perhaps do a professional development session at our next in-service day that deals with new literacy skills. I want share the knowledge I have gained with my colleagues and really make a push for more technology professional development in our school district.
References
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Supporting Information Literacy
and Online Inquiry in the Classroom. Baltimore: Author.
The knowledge and experience that I gained from this course will help me to incorporate new literacy skills into my everyday teaching style. I have already begun to utilize some of these skills during the summer school session that I have been teaching the past few weeks. I thought I would try out a few things with my students that I took out of this class. The great thing has been how open they are to the new learning of not only content but new literacy skills. I have talked about how to search for items in the proper manner, what to do and not to do when you are communicating via the Internet or other messaging service, and a little about social networking sites and how they can be utilized in the proper manner. I hope that they take a little out of this summer school session and apply it next school year when it comes to their own individual research and communication. I am also looking forward to being able to apply these new literacy skills to my regular classroom for the coming school year. I want to make it a point to cite everything I use, whether it be from the text book or a website. I want to stress the fact that students need to cite anything they take out of a resource. I am planning on starting out projects with an in-depth discussion on the new literacy skills that the students will be utilizing along with giving them a checklist to monitor their own progress. These are all goals I have made for myself in dealing with that I took out of this class.
Dr. Warlick stated in his video segment that technology increases the ability for students to connect with each other, connect to experts, connect to other classes, and connect to content (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009). A professional development goal that I have for myself is to find workshops that deal with this “connected connectivism.” I want to take the opportunity to perhaps attend a short workshop on videoconferencing and collaborative projects over the Internet. I would love to connect with a classroom in the coming months and work collaboratively with their classroom to complete a project. I think that it would be a wonderful opportunity for the students to utilize not only their new literacy skills but for myself to apply what I have learned in a professional setting. I also want to start bringing these ideas to my colleagues in a productive way and perhaps do a professional development session at our next in-service day that deals with new literacy skills. I want share the knowledge I have gained with my colleagues and really make a push for more technology professional development in our school district.
References
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Supporting Information Literacy
and Online Inquiry in the Classroom. Baltimore: Author.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Reflection
When I looked back on my personal theory of learning written during the first week of this class, I saw that my personal learning theory really has not changed over the course of this class. I still tend to take a constructivist's perspective when it comes to student learning of content and a behaviorist's perspective when it comes to student learning of correct behavior and manners. These I have incorporated into my classroom, however, I see evidence of perhaps incorporating more constructivist activities when it comes to certain areas of my teaching. I have also started to lean toward the social learning theories and have tried to modify my cooperative learning activities in such a way to promote effective social learning and communication.
There are some immediate adjustments that I have started to make in my instruction in regards to technology. In particular, I have added activities to my PowerPoint's in which I present Cloze notes to the students. These activities are hands-on and allow students to either work together to complete a task or complete one and share it with another student. They take the content we are learning in the notes and allow the students to apply that content to a physical activity. I hope to see results of these activities in the understanding of my students on quizzes and also in informal assessment. These activities are new to my students but the first reactions have been positive. I also plan on incorporating more cooperative learning activities with programs such as VoiceThread and even some of the concept mapping tools we have learned about. I have a project planned with my students using VoiceThread and I am working with our technology coordinator to add on some programs such as Inspiration to the computers on our mobile lab. These I hope to utilize in my classroom and also encourage my colleagues to try them out as well.
Two long-term goals I have for changing my instructional practice regarding technology would be to have at least one project a nine-weeks period assigned that utilizes technology, whether it be an out of class project or in class assignment and to take at least one day a week or every two weeks to teach my students how to use a new type of technology and complete a small assignment with that piece of technology. I want my students to feel comfortable using some of these tools so that down the road when they are able to choose their own way of doing a project they have a variety of things they could utilize on their own. I want my students to start thinking outside the box of posters and papers and start thinking of creative ways of doing the same thing. I have given an opportunity with my students this nine weeks to choose a PowerPoint presentation for their book report. Some of my students have chosen this route but most of them have chosen to do a poster. This is the attitude I want to start changing.
I will come up against some issues as a lot of my students have not used technology even in their homes. I do have a few students without computers and a few that do not have the Internet. This may pose a problem only because I do not currently have classroom computers to make up for those who do not have them at home. We are getting a mobile lab put together but it is not together yet and may not be for a few more weeks. As soon as this becomes available I am going to start utilizing it in my classroom. I will get some out of class assignments such as blog postings that the students will also be able to do in their computer class, which they have once a week. With all these ideas in place I hope to integrate technology in my classroom on a regular basis.
There are some immediate adjustments that I have started to make in my instruction in regards to technology. In particular, I have added activities to my PowerPoint's in which I present Cloze notes to the students. These activities are hands-on and allow students to either work together to complete a task or complete one and share it with another student. They take the content we are learning in the notes and allow the students to apply that content to a physical activity. I hope to see results of these activities in the understanding of my students on quizzes and also in informal assessment. These activities are new to my students but the first reactions have been positive. I also plan on incorporating more cooperative learning activities with programs such as VoiceThread and even some of the concept mapping tools we have learned about. I have a project planned with my students using VoiceThread and I am working with our technology coordinator to add on some programs such as Inspiration to the computers on our mobile lab. These I hope to utilize in my classroom and also encourage my colleagues to try them out as well.
Two long-term goals I have for changing my instructional practice regarding technology would be to have at least one project a nine-weeks period assigned that utilizes technology, whether it be an out of class project or in class assignment and to take at least one day a week or every two weeks to teach my students how to use a new type of technology and complete a small assignment with that piece of technology. I want my students to feel comfortable using some of these tools so that down the road when they are able to choose their own way of doing a project they have a variety of things they could utilize on their own. I want my students to start thinking outside the box of posters and papers and start thinking of creative ways of doing the same thing. I have given an opportunity with my students this nine weeks to choose a PowerPoint presentation for their book report. Some of my students have chosen this route but most of them have chosen to do a poster. This is the attitude I want to start changing.
I will come up against some issues as a lot of my students have not used technology even in their homes. I do have a few students without computers and a few that do not have the Internet. This may pose a problem only because I do not currently have classroom computers to make up for those who do not have them at home. We are getting a mobile lab put together but it is not together yet and may not be for a few more weeks. As soon as this becomes available I am going to start utilizing it in my classroom. I will get some out of class assignments such as blog postings that the students will also be able to do in their computer class, which they have once a week. With all these ideas in place I hope to integrate technology in my classroom on a regular basis.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Social Learning Theory in Practice
When thinking about social learning theory, cooperative learning comes to the forefront of my mind. Cooperative learning allows students to work together in a group to accomplish a common task. Through this group work they usually have to use the skills that they already have to "learn" a new skill or present how they "learned" this new skill. These groups "focus[es] on having students interact with each other in groups in ways that enhance their learning" (Hubbell, Kuhn, Malenoski, & Pitler, 2007, p. 139).
The cooperative learning strategies that were a part of this week's resources correlate well with the principles of social learning theories. Multimedia presentations such as video, podcasting, and use of this week's resource VoiceThread can allow for students to collaborate together on an online project or something that can be presented to the class in video format. The students must plan together first what they are going to do. They then must experiment with the different programs allowed to them to figure out how they are going to put it all together. Finally, they must pay close attention to detail in their projects and complete the project together. The teacher can tell when a group of students hasn't worked well together as their project fails. Up-front preparation and communication skills play key roles in this type of cooperative learning strategy.
Something else that caught my attention in this week's resources was the web-enabled multiplayer simulation games. These games are becoming ever popular outside of the classroom with games such as Call of Duty (my husband and brothers play that together over an Internet connection) and even Mario Kart. It is amazing how in some of these games you can be on the same team and work on solving a problem together even though you are not in the same room. The same can be done with educational programs. The one that particularly caught my eye was Revolution in which students work together online to solve problems, debate, and communicate during the events that led up to the American Revolution. While I am not a social studies teacher I can see how this type of cooperative learning exercise would both enhance students' social and communication skills but also their content knowledge about a particular time period in American History. This was a pivotal moment in our nation's history and to be able to simulate what it might have been like for the students gives them a better understanding of what exactly was going on.
There are many other strategies in our resources that correlate with the principles of social learning theories. I do like what the author said, however, that cooperative learning should be used "consistently and systematically" yet should not be "overused" (Hubbell, Kuhn, Malenoski, & Pitler, 2007, 139). Overuse of anything can create bad situations and bad student-teacher experiences. However, cooperative learning is a great tool to use in the classroom and it benefits not just the students involved but the teacher as well.
The cooperative learning strategies that were a part of this week's resources correlate well with the principles of social learning theories. Multimedia presentations such as video, podcasting, and use of this week's resource VoiceThread can allow for students to collaborate together on an online project or something that can be presented to the class in video format. The students must plan together first what they are going to do. They then must experiment with the different programs allowed to them to figure out how they are going to put it all together. Finally, they must pay close attention to detail in their projects and complete the project together. The teacher can tell when a group of students hasn't worked well together as their project fails. Up-front preparation and communication skills play key roles in this type of cooperative learning strategy.
Something else that caught my attention in this week's resources was the web-enabled multiplayer simulation games. These games are becoming ever popular outside of the classroom with games such as Call of Duty (my husband and brothers play that together over an Internet connection) and even Mario Kart. It is amazing how in some of these games you can be on the same team and work on solving a problem together even though you are not in the same room. The same can be done with educational programs. The one that particularly caught my eye was Revolution in which students work together online to solve problems, debate, and communicate during the events that led up to the American Revolution. While I am not a social studies teacher I can see how this type of cooperative learning exercise would both enhance students' social and communication skills but also their content knowledge about a particular time period in American History. This was a pivotal moment in our nation's history and to be able to simulate what it might have been like for the students gives them a better understanding of what exactly was going on.
There are many other strategies in our resources that correlate with the principles of social learning theories. I do like what the author said, however, that cooperative learning should be used "consistently and systematically" yet should not be "overused" (Hubbell, Kuhn, Malenoski, & Pitler, 2007, 139). Overuse of anything can create bad situations and bad student-teacher experiences. However, cooperative learning is a great tool to use in the classroom and it benefits not just the students involved but the teacher as well.
Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., Malenoski, K., & Pitler, H. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Constructivist/Constructionist Learning and Technology
This week's resources were full of technology-based constructivist/constructionist strategies that can be incorporated into the classroom very easily. One resource that I found highly intriguing was actually from the website listing in chapter 11 of the book Using Technology with Classroom Instruction That Works (Hubbell, Kuhn, Malenoski, & Pitler, 2007, p. 215). This website, entitled "By Kids For Kids: How To Invent" had a number of projects listed such as producing your own television show, creating your own signature style fashion line, and recycling and reinvtening items from the trash. When I first saw these projects listed I was thinking that it was like a guided tutorial that allowed them to create a "prototype" online. I was wrong! I was pleasantly surprised, however, to find that it gave steps for physically creating these projects! Kids of all ages can go to this site and follow the steps listed to create these one of a kind projects. They have to construct their own project using their own materials. This is basic level constructivism. There is no prototype to look at to compare as to whether they are doing it correctly. Just directions for them to follow. They are making something and constructing knowledge along the way.
Another resources I found interesting was another website from the listing in our reading for the week entitled "Practicing with the Catapault" (Hubbell, Kuhn, Malenoski, & Pitler, 2007, p. 215). When I went to this site I noticed immediately that this would be for students at a much higher level of learning, say high school. What I liked is it gave directions for completing the activity but I was immediately drawn to just playing around with the starting height, launch speed, and the like. I was beginning to construct my own knowledge about this particular activity. I had to dig around in my brain to when I was in high school physics and remember what terminal velocity was, however, I was actually able to complete the activity by just trial and error. That is a lot of what constructivism and constructionism is - trial and error. Students are given a problem and a method for finding the solution but they have to do it on their own. It is their job to solve the problem and in the process begin to construct their own knowledge.
There are many other great resources in this book that bring constructivism and constructionism into the classroom that are easily accessible and create seamless instruction. Technology opens up a world to the classroom of opportunities that may have been unattainable in the past. Students are able to create more on their own without much help from the teacher and in the process participate in a learning experience that far outweighs that of any lecture.
Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., Malenoski, K., & Pitler, H. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Technology and Behaviorism - Is there a common ground?
When looking over the resources for this week in Using Technology With Classroom Instruction That Works I read about a lot of strategies that I have either used myself or assigned for my students to use. I did read about some I did not know existed, however. For example, I did not realize that Microsoft Word had a research tool. I can see how this would help students (and myself) greatly!!
As I read through some of these strategies I was thinking of how behaviorism fits into the grand scheme of it all. In particular, Ms. Powell's Effort Rubric deals with student effort and, in a sense, behavior (Hubbell, Kuhn, Malenoski, & Pitler, 2007). Students rate themselves on items such as how they feel they take class notes, how well they pay attention, participation, homework, and studying. That is then turned into a grade for the week. I like this because students are being reinforced in one way or another and they have the chance to change that behavior if they so choose. This is something I may implement in my classroom because I am curious to see exactly how my students feel about their effort. I need to be more proactive about student effort. Each student knows I believe they can do it but they have never really been pushed hard enough to improve on their own. I want them to WANT to improve!
Another strategy that I feel deals with behaviorism is giving students a choice for a multimedia project. Students receive reinforcement after they complete their project and receive a grade on it. It then allows the student a chance to either choose the same type of multimedia for the next project or choose something that maybe they will do better at. If a student received negative feedback on a particular project, they are less apt to choose that same venue again. I do like giving the students a choice and have done that in the past more because most of my students do not have these applications at home to complete the project. There are also no computers at school for them to access on a regular basis.
Another strategy I found dealt with behaviorism is that of web resources. Hubbell, Kuhn, Malenoski, & Pitler gave a list on pages196-199 in their book of web resources where students can go and play games that test and practice skills. These games give the students immediate feedback, either positive or negative, on their level of skills that they possess in certain areas. This immediate feedback allows the child to either feel intrinsically motivated when they receive positive feedback or allows them a chance to make a different choice if there is negative feedback. They will then change the way they go about completing the task or doing the skill. This is behaviorism at its finest! I have had the chance to use web resources with my intervention students, and while I do not think that doing this every week is a great idea, it is a nice change for the students (and for myself).
Lastly, I liked the communication strategy. This strategy gives a group of students the opportunity to work on a project at their own pace even if they cannot physically meet. They access programs such as Google Docs or Your Drafts to collaborate on a project. Each student provides feedback to the other members of the group and behaviors are changed as feedback is provided. If a student is upset at another student because they have not added their share of the information and mentions it to that student, then the student in question is more likely to add their share of the project. If a student is doing exceptionally well on their share of the project and the others praise that student for their efforts, then that student will more than likely continue to excel in that particular area.
All of these are examples of how some of the strategies we read about in this week's resources correlate with the principles of behaviorism.
As I read through some of these strategies I was thinking of how behaviorism fits into the grand scheme of it all. In particular, Ms. Powell's Effort Rubric deals with student effort and, in a sense, behavior (Hubbell, Kuhn, Malenoski, & Pitler, 2007). Students rate themselves on items such as how they feel they take class notes, how well they pay attention, participation, homework, and studying. That is then turned into a grade for the week. I like this because students are being reinforced in one way or another and they have the chance to change that behavior if they so choose. This is something I may implement in my classroom because I am curious to see exactly how my students feel about their effort. I need to be more proactive about student effort. Each student knows I believe they can do it but they have never really been pushed hard enough to improve on their own. I want them to WANT to improve!
Another strategy that I feel deals with behaviorism is giving students a choice for a multimedia project. Students receive reinforcement after they complete their project and receive a grade on it. It then allows the student a chance to either choose the same type of multimedia for the next project or choose something that maybe they will do better at. If a student received negative feedback on a particular project, they are less apt to choose that same venue again. I do like giving the students a choice and have done that in the past more because most of my students do not have these applications at home to complete the project. There are also no computers at school for them to access on a regular basis.
Another strategy I found dealt with behaviorism is that of web resources. Hubbell, Kuhn, Malenoski, & Pitler gave a list on pages196-199 in their book of web resources where students can go and play games that test and practice skills. These games give the students immediate feedback, either positive or negative, on their level of skills that they possess in certain areas. This immediate feedback allows the child to either feel intrinsically motivated when they receive positive feedback or allows them a chance to make a different choice if there is negative feedback. They will then change the way they go about completing the task or doing the skill. This is behaviorism at its finest! I have had the chance to use web resources with my intervention students, and while I do not think that doing this every week is a great idea, it is a nice change for the students (and for myself).
Lastly, I liked the communication strategy. This strategy gives a group of students the opportunity to work on a project at their own pace even if they cannot physically meet. They access programs such as Google Docs or Your Drafts to collaborate on a project. Each student provides feedback to the other members of the group and behaviors are changed as feedback is provided. If a student is upset at another student because they have not added their share of the information and mentions it to that student, then the student in question is more likely to add their share of the project. If a student is doing exceptionally well on their share of the project and the others praise that student for their efforts, then that student will more than likely continue to excel in that particular area.
All of these are examples of how some of the strategies we read about in this week's resources correlate with the principles of behaviorism.
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