Final Synthesis Project

Final Synthesis Project

Target Audience: 

My audience are 3^rd grade students at a Title I school.  Our students come from low-income families in which some have technology access at home and others do not.  My particular class includes four learning disabled students.  All four qualify based on their reading and/or writing abilities.  All are at least a grade level below where they need to be in reading.  In addition, I have eight students who are average, at level students and five who read well above grade level.  My students have a variety of interests and learning styles.  It is also worth noting that I have 12 boys and seven girls, which tends to make my classroom a bit more active.  We try to get up and move several times throughout the day in order to get some energy out.

Context:

This lesson is designed for my 3^rd grade students who are in the transition of becoming 4^th graders.  As third graders, they are learning to “read to learn versus learn to read.” According to the GLCEs (Grade Level Content Expectations) and Common Core, 3^rd and 4^th grade students are required to discuss and respond to literature discussing character motivation, create their own point of view from that of a character or the author, make connections, ask questions and more.  In this lesson students will be expected to read deeply and respond to what they read.  Doing so will help prepare them for the MEAP which they will take the following October as well as their future career as a student. 

Learning Objectives:

Ø    Students will be able to ask and answer questions about a poem and will refer to the poem as a basis for their answer. (3.RL.1 – common core)

Ø    Students will be able to describe characters in the poetry and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events. (3.RL.3 – common core)

Ø    Students will be able to determine the meaning of words or phrases and distinguish literal from non-literal language. (3.RL.4 – common core)

Ø    Students will be able to refer to poetry using the term stanza and be able to describe how the stanzas build on each other or connect. (3.RL.5 – common core)

Ø    Students will be able to compare and contrast different themes, settings, plots in poems written by the same author and different authors. (3.RL.9 – common core)

Ø    Students will use digital communication tools and online resources for a group learning project. (3-5.CC.1 – GLCE)

Ø    Students will use a variety of media and formats to create and edit products to communicate information and ideas to various audiences. (3-5.CC.3 – GLCE)

Lesson Description:

We would begin this project in March because there is some preliminary teaching that would need to take place in order for 3^rd grade students to understand and use the technology properly as well as to respond to literature in a thoughtful and meaningful way.  As I mentioned before, in 3^rd grade students are making the transition from learning to read to reading to learn.  Therefore, reading a poem and responding thoughtfully about the overall theme, discussing character motivations, author’s purpose, writing their own point of view, or making meaningful connections are lessons that are necessary prior to a project such as this.  Even with this knowledge in place, it will still be necessary to model how to write to a prompt using references to the poem.

In order to prepare students for using the technology, it would be wise to have them visit the class wikispace multiple times throughout the fall to simply become familiar with how to find their group folder, how to post in their folder, and how to use the links on the homepage.  Then, in the spring (early March) after students are familiar with the technology and with ways to thoughtfully respond to literature, they will be expected to visit our class wikispace twice a week.  The homepage of the wikispace contains a few links for reading poetry and a few for writing poetry.  When visiting the site, students will go to the “Weekly Tasks” folder and click on their group’s page (they will be in one of three groups based on their reading level).  Each folder has a task for students to complete.  Some weeks they will be asked to go to one of the reading links on the homepage and other weeks they may be asked to complete a writing task.  If the task is a reading task, there will also be a prompt or question for the students to respond to in their group folder.  The second time students visit will be to read their groupmates’ responses or their poetry if the week’s task was to write a piece of poetry. 

Incorporated Web 2.0 Applications/Justification:

Wikispace – I included a class wikispace so that everything my students need will be at their fingertips.  Students are able to visit websites that share poetry, have poetry read to them, and use tools to aid them in creating different forms of poetry.  Furthermore, it allows the opportunity for students to respond to literature and to their classmates, both of which are MEAP type experiences.  On the MEAP, my students are expected to respond to literature, this is the perfect practice for that.  It has also been discussed to have students type their 4^th grade writing MEAP.  If this is to happen soon, having students respond to literature while practicing their typing skills will be the perfect preparation.

Podcast – I included poetry podcasts on our wiki and as a part of this project because I have several students who do not read at grade level.  Therefore, the podcast allows for the perfect balance in which my students can gain practice reading by looking at the words but have it read to them to eliminate frustration and misunderstanding of the poem.  Plus, 3^rd grade students are still learning how to read poetry with the proper intonation, phrasing and expression.  The podcast provides students with exposure to hearing it read properly beyond what is done in the classroom.

Concept Mapping – Students will use concept mapping as a tool to organize their ideas.  When writing poetry much thought and attention to wording is necessary, thus, using a tool like concept mapping will allow students to get their ideas out and to play with different words.  Plus, 3^rd graders tend to lose paper when they have put their ideas on it.  Saving their ideas on a concept-mapping site will help to eliminate this issue.

Teacher Created Materials and Student Outcomes:

I have created the wikispace for my students.  When my students get to the website, they will go to their page within the “Weekly Tasks” folder.  Each student is assigned to one of the three pages based on their reading ability.  I have updated each of the pages to indicate the students’ task for the week.  Each student is expected to visit the website twice a week, check their page and complete the task provided to them.  The tasks include reading poetry and responding to it and writing poetry.  In their second visit students will need to respond to a classmates response to the poetry or to their poetry.  I have provided links to several poetry websites on the class homepage that I will expect students to use and that will be useful to students.  Included in those links are two links to poetry podcasts.  Several of my students read below grade level, these podcasts are helpful in that they read the poetry to my students while they look at the words.  This helps me to eliminate issues of students not being able to read the poetry.  In addition, under the writing section, I have included a link to a concept mapping website.  Some tasks will ask students to write poetry and in order to organize their thoughts, I have included this concept-mapping tool. 

Artifact:

I created a wikispace page for my students to visit.  At this page, they can access different resources for reading and writing poetry.  In addition, the page has a folder on the side that says “Weekly Tasks”.  Students will click on that folder and then on their group page (cardinals, tigers, Spartans).  I have separated my students based on their reading ability.  The tasks I created reflect the students’ varying ability levels.  The tasks for this week include listening to a podcast and reflecting on the poetry, comparing/contrasting two poems using an interactive tool and writing their own diamante poem using an interactive tool. 

http://krachtclass.pbworks.com/w/page/52897090/Kracht%27s%20Class%20Wiki - I have created this wiki with different log-ins for each of my students.

Week 14 Reflection - Favorite Web 2.0 Applications

Bookmarking and Screencasts were two of my favorite Web 2.0 applications that we worked with this semester.  I think both tools are very applicable to teaching.  I have tons of bookmarks on my computer but when I’m not on my computer I can’t use them, thus, having the bookmarking website allows me much more access.  As for Screencasts, they allow me to share information in a more visual way.  Simply reading directions is not always helpful, but seeing it done on a Screencast makes it much easier to understand. 

In addition to my personal enthusiasm for the use of these tools, there are several more reasons that others find these Web 2.0 tools to be useful.  “…a common genre of Web 2.0 applications are tools that allow for creating collections of websites and resources.”  This is exactly what bookmarking is.  It allows you to compile a list websites that are useful to you.  Plus, bookmarks are available anytime, anywhere, which is another common theme of Web 2.0 applications.  Not only are bookmarks available anytime, anywhere, but so to are Screencasts.  Screencasts on many different topics can be found from anywhere.  Furthermore, they allow the “…opportunity and a need to develop in students and teachers a capacity and willingness to share their intellectual contributions.”  Providing this opportunity and opening this avenue also then “…opens learning beyond the closed doors of the classroom or walled gardens of registered student,…”  Schools can begin to work together and experts can share their expertise.  Hopefully this will provide more opportunities to all students everywhere.  Screencasts can also provide an opportunity for communication between parents and teachers, students and students, and teachers and students.  Parents can see how things are done in class to better aid their students at home.  Students can be reminded of how things are done from classmates or teachers as another form of assistance.  It’s almost like having a teacher at home.  Finally, I feel that “All of these applications resonate with constructivist learning philosophies and pedagogies that focus on authentic task and audience, multiple perspectives, collaboration, and the production of artifacts.”  I find the term “authentic task” to be very important here because especially with Screencasts, the task is authentic.  The Screencast demonstrates exactly what a student needs to do and how to carry out a task.

Google Documents and Sumo Paint

This week we explored two different applications, one office and one image editing application.  Google Documents is the office application I explored.  I have used it myself several times.  It has some wonderful features.  First of all, it is free.  It is also good for group projects or for things in which more than one person are working on it.  I have two coworkers who job share.  I have mentioned Google Documents to them because I thought it may help them while working on lesson plans.  Other positive uses for it would be that it would be useful in sharing information with students and families and the documents can be saved and then accessed from any computer as long as there is an Internet connection.  Thus, if you are working on a project in multiple locations, you would always have access to it.

The image editing application I explored was Sumo Paint.  I found it to be really cool.  The possibilities with it seem endless.   You can edit an image or create an image.  You can change the shape of the paint brush, there are also many shapes you can make.  Plus, there are different fill options.  You can change and move things around on it, change colors on pictures, and much, much more.  It seems like you could create almost anything you wanted.

Week 13 - E-learning and Instructional Design

This week we read about E-learning and Instructional Design.  We were to read the chapter to find relationships between our own experiences and what we read.  This is my first online class toward my master’s degree, so I haven’t had that much experience with e-learning, but while I was reading this passage seemed to fit with the experience I have had thus far.  “Consider further the terms online learning, Web-based instruction, and distance learning, all of which are often used interchangeably. …Learners may interact with each other, with learning management system (LMS), or both, and may do so from the same or different geographic locations.”  This fits with my experience because I am learning from a distance and our instruction is web-based.  Every week we are provided instructions for whatever task we are to complete through web-based instruction.  Plus, every week we interact with our classmates through posting.  Another experience I’ve had is “The scenario of the solitary student working alone at her computer late into the night with little or no contact with her peers still exists, but many current and future learning systems will emphasize shared experience features.”  While we do interact with our classmates through posting and blogging, I am also a solitary student working late into the night. 

There was another passage that hit home to me more in my teaching experiences rather than in my online educational experiences.  “The bottom line is to consider the learning outcomes possible (intentional and informal) along with the affordances of various technology combinations and then create an instructional design that takes advantage of these factors in an artful, flexible, and theoretically appropriate fashion.”  The important part of this passage is the “consider learning outcomes”.  This is something we, as teachers, must do when planning our lessons.  We must consider what outcome, what lesson we want our students to learn.  We must know what our purpose is for teaching that particular lesson.  

Classroom Website

Miss Kracht's Buckaroos - Classroom Webpage

I created a classroom webpage because it is very important to communicate openly with parents and this is one quick and easy way to communicate.  The homepage of my website has a brief overview of what we are doing in the different subject areas in our classroom (I send this out in a newsletter too, but having it on my webpage as well allows parents to see what is going on even if their child does not bring home their newsletter).  I also included the major upcoming events so that parents can be aware of what is coming up for their child.  Finally, the last piece of the homepage is a newsfeed gadget.  I included that because it is important to stay informed on what is going on in the nation and world as well as simply our classroom.  Thus, I can encourage my students to visit our classroom site in order to stay up to date on current events.

Linked to the homepage are three other pages; homework assignments, contact information and useful links.  The homework assignments page keeps parents updated on what is due for the week.  It also has links to the students' spelling lists and spelling options list in case a student were to leave their work at school.  The contact information page provides my school address and phone number as well as a map to help parents to find and contact me.  Lastly, my useful links page includes links to four websites that we use consistently in class.  As the year progresses, I could add to this list to motivate students to practice learned skills at home.

Week 12 Reflection - Tips for Finding a Job

This chapter contains useful information for all of us at different points in our lives.  At some point we all need to look for a job or a new job.  The author provides very useful information that can be applied to any job.

In Lesson 6 from his article, he discusses the importance of having analysis skills.  I think this is a valuable skill for people in all jobs, but I, as a teacher, assess everyday.  It is not always formally, and it is not always assessment of my students.  I am constantly assessing how I taught my lesson, if I need to re-teach some of it, and then of course I am assessing whether or not my students understood the lesson.  This is usually informal, but it is important to constantly assess yourself in order to improve and avoid staying stagnant. 

In Lesson 8, the author stresses how critical communication and listening skills are.  Again, these are skills necessary in many careers.  As a teacher, I need to be able to clearly communicate with parents, students, other teachers, administration, etc. and I need to be able to communicate verbally as well as through writing.  I also need to make sure that I am listening to the concerns or questions of my students and their parents; I need to listen to advice from other teachers or administrators; and I need to listen to my students and what is happening in their lives.

Lesson 11 is an area I need to improve on.  This lesson says that it is important to become involved in professional organizations.  This is an area I have struggled with.  As a college student, I was a member of the SMEA but I did not get as involved as I wish I had.  Since college, I have not joined any professional organizations.  During the school year, I immerse myself so much in my work, that I don’t take time for things like this.  I guess I still struggle with this because I am not sure what organization to join. 

Finally, the last lesson that I know is important is the lesson on keeping up on literature about my areas of interest.  When I was interviewing the last time around, one question that I encountered was, “what are you reading right now and how will it help you in your career?”  At that time, I didn’t have an answer for them.  Here is another area I struggle with because again, I don’t allow myself time to read literature that relates to my interests.  I need to find a good journal that I enjoy that will help keep me up to date on new techniques and ideas for education.  I can say that this class has helped me to read a bit more and to get more up to date on technology (free even) available out there to use right now in my classroom.

Week 11 Reflection - ID in three settings

In reading these three chapters, I found several similarities among the three different settings (business and industry, P-12, and Higher Education).  I actually found it easier to find similarities than differences among them.  For example, all three settings found the lack of time and resources to be an issue.  In addition, it is noted several places in each of the three chapters that collaboration is key.  Collaboration in the business world is key especially between veterans and newbies; collaboration among teachers and businesses in P-12; and collaboration among professors in the same faculty and outside their college or university in higher education.  

However, the assignment was to find different themes or differences among the three, so this is what I have come up with.  I see the three settings working together.  I see businesses creating products and evaluations.  I then see higher education taking those products, researching, assessing and sharing uses for the products in different settings.  P-12 then takes the products and uses them in order to meet state and national standards and objectives, especially those mandated by NCLB. 

All three areas face constraints.  In the business world they listed several constraints, but one large constraint was lack of time and resources.  As for higher education, while they have a similar constraint of lack of time, they also face the constraint of faculty being trained more in content and not in pedagogy.  Therefore, they may not use best practices when sharing the great products they research and evaluate, and thus, may not express their true value (this is simply an opinion based on my reading).  Finally, along with lack of time and resources, P-12 faces the constraint of teacher resistance and availability and access.  Many teachers feel that things are thrown at them without proper discussions and then are less motivated to see the positive in the technology.  Being given an order versus a choice doesn’t always sit well with everyone.  Plus, in many cases schools do not have the money or means to make technology completely accessible to all students. 

Here is where I see a difference between P-12 and both higher education and business ID.  P-12 is mandated to use technology while the others are choices.  People choose to go into ID in business and higher education.  Another difference between P-12 and both higher education and business is in the make-up of the system.  It seems as if both higher education and business ID have teams of people that work together to make and end result.  In addition, they both have opportunities for advancement in their field.  In the P-12 world, yes, there are other teachers to talk to and work with but it seems a little different than the teams of business and higher education.  Plus, teachers do not have opportunities for advancement in their field.  Yes, they can advance in pay through more degrees, and yes, they can advance in the sense of moving to administration, but administration is not for everyone and that is a very different career than a teacher.  Whereas, advancement in higher education and business ID does not seem like such a drastic change.  However, I am not in the business or higher education field, so maybe my perception is off. 

Until now, I never realized how broad ID is.  It has so many different pieces and is involved in so many different places.