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.  

Concept Mapping

This is a concept map that I would have my students create using our social studies curriculum.  In third grade we teach about Michigan and part of that is teaching students about government.  It can be difficult for them to grasp all of the different levels of government, who leads them, and what they do.  Therefore, creating a concept map like the one above would hopefully help them to organize all of the different information.  It might also help them to visualize the different levels and responsibilities.  We have a chapter in our social studies textbook that covers all of this information.  I used it to create this map, so I know this is something my students could create as well.

Screencast

This is a screencast to teach students how to create a PowerPoint presentation.  Recently, my third grade students created Biography PowerPoints.  I found myself running around to every student in order to show them how to create links from one slide to the next.  I know that links are not necessary, however, I thought my students would benefit from learning about the capabilities of PowerPoint.  They really enjoyed this project and LOVED their end result! 

Week 10 Reflection - ID and P12 Technology Integration

In reading the chapter for this week about Instructional Design and P-12 Technology Integration, I learned that there are three types of ID development – System ID, Product ID and Classroom Development. I always thought these fell under the umbrella term of instructional design/technology. These three terms are still a bit foggy as to how they are distinguished, but it makes sense to have several branches of ID. There are so many different parts to ID; of course it would need to be divided in order to accomplish the many goals of ID.

In addition to the three types of ID, I learned more about two integration models. The ASSURE model seems to be set up very much like other lessons. The NTeQ model gave me some questions. NTeQ is a model that likes to use authentic, real-world data, not simply simulation data. The goal of NTeQ is for students to learn the necessary objectives and as a tool for solving problems. It involves a 10 step lesson plan which has some great parts but when is there time to complete a lesson plan that extensive? Going along with that, and maybe I should have asked this first, are these lessons already prepared for the teacher?

The chapter went on to discuss Michigan’s Freedom to Learn initiative, which provided 20,000 laptops to middle school students and teachers. The short paragraph about this initiative left me with many more questions. Where in Michigan was this initiative implemented? When the district hired new teachers, were they given the same training as the previous teachers? Were they trained in how to effectively implement the use of these laptops?

Even with all of the initiatives to help teachers integrate technology into the classroom, researchers noticed that gains on state tests were inconsistent. One possible reason given for this was the use of low-level and high-level tasks on the computers. What do those high-level tasks look like? Am I using the lab effectively?

It was very interesting to read about the different types of ID and the different models used to try to help integrate technology into the classroom. However, even with all of this work, I was not surprised to read, “Education is ranked as the least technology-intensive enterprise among fifty-five U.S. industry sectors.” One reason given for this fact is the availability and access to computers and resources. That would have been the first reason I would have come up with. I don’t want this to sound like I am complaining because I know it could be worse, but I have 17 students and two computers. We go to the lab one day a week. We do have a laptop cart and are able to sign up for more lab time when it is available, but even there we have several computers that are not working properly. Plus, our software is outdated. Thus, availability is quite an issue. Furthermore, in thinking about the other technology available to us, I discovered that most of the technology available in my district is provided for teachers. Teachers are provided laptops, a document camera, projector, iPad2, DVD and VHS players. All of these are useful tools for the teacher to use when presenting information, however, it is not providing students an opportunity to USE the technology. They see us use it, but they don’t get the physical practice of using the tools.

Week 8 Reflection - How does ID apply to education

The second part of our assignment was to look at the world of Instructional Design/Technology in business and industry and see how some of those ideas could apply to our line of work.
Instructional Design/Technology has some ideas that are also useful in the education world. One idea that the two share is the benefit of interacting with other professionals formally and informally. As a student teacher, I remember being told “teachers steal”. I remember being told that a great way to find new ideas is by stealing ideas from others. Teachers can discuss ideas in person with co-workers as well as learn new ideas and resources on the Internet from the many useful teaching websites.
Another idea that the two professions share (ID and education), is the idea of being sensitive to different cultures and backgrounds. This is absolutely necessary in the classroom. As a teacher, you must know what you’re working with; you must understand your students. One way to do that is to understand their ethnicities, socio-economic backgrounds, family life, and life experiences. Our students come from all different backgrounds and just as it is for IDs, it’s important for teachers to be sensitive to those backgrounds. When teaching about different topics we need to be aware of our clientele. We need to make sure that we teach the truth without offending or insulting any of the backgrounds. Furthermore, teachers must understand their students’ culture in order to form better relationships with them. A good teacher-student relationship is arguably one of the most important parts of creating a well-managed and inviting classroom.
The last idea ID has that I think would be useful in the education world is the idea of Web-based training. I think if more training were provided virtually, many teachers would be willing to get involved. This type of training would open many opportunities for teachers. I know for myself, I will stay away from training if it means I will have to give up a day in my classroom or travel a long distance. Virtual PD would help both of these issues.

Using Google Maps in the Classroom

                  Part of our assignment this week was to come up with a lesson idea for our students using maps.  In thinking about my 3^rd grade curriculum and our school, I came up with a few different ideas.

1.  Every year, the 4^th grade students in our building take a trip to Mackinac Island in the spring.  I think one great activity would be for the students to create a map of the different places they will visit in Mackinac Island.  They can landmark the important points that they will visit and include links to websites that provide more information about each of the landmarks.  In doing so, the students would learn more about the places as well.  To begin this lesson, I would show them the different features of the Google Maps page and allow them some time to get familiar with the site and the different tools.  Next, I would provide the students with an itinerary for the trip (they would need to know the name of the different locations we would be visiting).  After seeing the itinerary, I would give my students time to find different websites that provide more information about the different locations that we would be visiting.  This way they can have websites prepared when it is time to go to create their Google Map.  Finally, students would be given several lab sessions to create their map along with links to the different locations.  I think this lesson would provide students a good technology lesson, good background knowledge for their trip to Mackinac, build anticipation, and provide motivation for those students who need to get more accomplished or improve their behavior in order to go on the trip.

2.  My next ideas all sort of go together.  Being a 3^rd grade teacher lends itself quite well to this assignment because we teach about Michigan.  Again, one of the first tasks would be to familiarize students with Google Maps and the possibilities that it provides.  I would show students several tools while they have it in front of them to try out themselves.  Then I would allow them time to simply explore on their own using the tools I discussed and other tools available.  Prior to exploring Google Maps and as a part of our Social Studies curriculum, we would have discussed several different things related to Michigan.  For example, we will have discussed Michigan’s natural resources (especially things like iron and copper that are important to Michigan) and where they can be found.  Thus, one idea would be to create a map of the natural resources in Michigan and where they can be found.  Another idea would be to create a map of Michigan’s attractions.  Last year, I had my students create brochures for the different cities that hold some of Michigan’s attractions, but creating a map that identifies the many different attractions we have in Michigan would be very useful.  Finally, in the 3^rd grade curriculum, we discuss different Michigan products and where they are produced.  To go along with this, the students could create a map that indicates the products made by Michigan and where those products are mainly produced. 

View Products made in Michigan in a larger map

Week 7 - Podcasts reflection

Chapter 14 in our textbook discussed Human Performance Improvement.  If provided definitions for the term and some discussion on how HPI has evolved over time.  They say that HPI was a likely next step in the growth and improvement of a company.  The mission of HPI according to our textbook is, “to achieve, through people, increasingly successful accomplishments directly tied to organizational goals, that are valued by all stakeholders, including those who perform, their managers, their peers, the organization as a whole, shareholders, customers, regulatory agencies and even society itself.”  In order to accomplish this mission, HPI calls for the “analysis of performance gaps, design and development of appropriate, economical, feasible, and organizationally acceptable interventions through to implementation and long-term monitoring and maintenance of these interventions…”  In my opinion, this sounds a lot like what is already done in schools with teacher evaluations and with the evaluation of students.  Teachers (especially new teachers) are evaluated based on their performance in four different areas (professionalism, organization/management, student growth and ).  A teacher’s evaluation is based on documentation provided by the teacher as well as observations by their authorities.  If a teacher does not meet the Highly Effective or Effective ratings, then he/she must be provided additional assistance in order to meet those ratings.  Similarly, with students, teachers identify their gaps and create interventions/modifications in order to meet their students’ needs and to help get them the training they need to be successful.  Another similarity to teaching that I found was when the chapter discussed apprenticeship as being an early performance improvement strategy.  They defined this as learning through observation, instruction, practice and feedback.  That is exactly what teachers go through in their student teaching.  Furthermore, the chapter discussed PIPs (Performance Improvement Plans).  These sound very similar to what my school calls and IDP (Individualized Development Plan).  We could use these tools to see what training is necessary just as Gilbert’s Behavior Engineering Model and the International Society for Performance Improvement were used for.  Overall, HPIs objective is to elicit the best from each individual employee by providing employers a means for rating them and a plan of action for those who do/do not meet the optimal requirements.  This sort of system is useful in any line of work and is also useful in a classroom.  Teachers must try to get the best from their students.  If students are not giving their best, there should be a behavior management plan/intervention plan in place to deal with that and if students are performing up to their potential, there should be some positive reinforcement as well.

Another part of our task this week was to find several Podcasts that we find interesting and/or useful.  I found the three below:

• Poem a Day – feed://www.sonibyte.com/rssfeed/poem/4.xml - This podcast is a compilation of different poems.  It would be a great way to quickly include poetry everyday.
• NPR Education – http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast.php?id=1013 - This podcast is created by NPR (National Public Radio).  It compiles the discussions on education that take place on the different NPR broadcasts.  It discusses all parts of education; bullying, government influence, education in prisons, etc.
• Teacher Created Materials – www.tcmpub.com/podcasts/ - In addition to the discussions on vocabulary, writing instruction, discussions on repeated reading, making words, etc.; this reading podcast contains handouts on different hot topics such as differentiation, repeated reading and fluency.

I see several possibilities for Podcasts in the classroom/school setting.  Creating a Podcast would allow teachers to put lessons online so that students can watch/listen to them at home.  This would be especially useful for students who were absent or for times when students may need extra support on a topic at home while they work on their homework.  Plus, this would be one more communication tool between teachers and parents.  We teach things differently today than they were taught in the past.  It is not uncommon for parents to feel confused and unprepared to help their child with homework at home.  Having the Podcast would provide parents with a quick explanation of how their child is being taught at school and the vocabulary teachers are using.  This way, parents and teachers can have a common language when teaching students.  Another use for Podcasts in the classroom would be a form of review.  I envision students broadcasting their understanding of different topics or questions throughout a unit (of any subject).  When a unit is over, students could then go back to those Podcasts to review for their upcoming test.  Finally, if you were to find a useful Podcast that fits the needs of your school’s students and teachers, I think Podcasts could be used for professional development opportunities.

Educational Podcasts

Poem a day – feed://www.sonibyte.com/rssfeed/poem/4.xml - This podcast is a compilation of different poems.  It would be a great way to quickly include poetry everyday.

NPR Education – http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast.php?id=1013 - This podcast is created by NPR (National Public Radio).  It compiles the discussions on education that take place on the different NPR broadcasts.  It discusses all parts of education; bullying, government influence, education in prisons, etc.

Teacher Created Materials – www.tcmpub.com/podcasts/ - In addition to the discussions on vocabulary, writing instruction, discussions on repeated reading, making words, etc.; this reading podcast contains handouts on different hot topics such as differentiation, repeated reading and fluency.

Week 6 - Theories and Models of Learning and Instruction

In our reading this week, we explored several different theories of learning.  Our task was to look at three of these theories and describe the nature of the instructional activities we would use if we were adhering to those theories.  The three theories I chose are Cognitive Information Processing, Gagne’s Theory of Instruction, and Constructivism.

1. Cognitive information processing changed the perception of feedback from previous ideas.  Cognitive information processing theory gave feedback two purposes.  First, feedback let students know if they were correct in their response or performance.  Second, feedback provided learners with corrective information so that they could change their response or performance.  Furthermore, cognitive information processing placed an increased emphasis on prior knowledge.  Some strategies that are said to be useful are drawing learners’ attention visually by using boldface type, italics, or graphical diagrams and imagery to help learners make meaningful connections between their prior knowledge and the new information.  Another suggested strategy is for teachers to provide different kinds of examples or problems in different contexts to help learners apply the knowledge.  If I were to teach a lesson on calculating and comparing unit costs, I think doing all of these things would be necessary.  Students would need to be given visual diagrams to help them analyze and compare different brands of the same products.  They would need to see different ways of organizing all of the information so that they can help to make sense of it for themselves.  It is the goal of all teachers, that after teaching a skill, students are able to apply that skill to different situations.  Thus, I would try to provide students with a variety of examples (using real-world products, prices, etc.) to help them apply their knowledge.
2. Gagne’s Theory of Instruction is based on five different categories of learning (verbal, intellectual, cognitive, attitudes, and motor skills).  He says that these different learning categories require different learning conditions.  That makes a lot of sense, depending on the outcome you are expecting, your teaching approach will differ.  What I really find useful in Gagne’s Theory are his nine events of instruction.  The steps are similar to the steps many teacher follow in their lessons.  The first step is the attention getter.  When introducing a new topic like calculating and comparing unit costs, the teacher needs to do something to catch the students’ attention.  I usually try to gain attention by showing students how this new knowledge will be useful in their life.  Next, the teacher tells students the teaching point.  The next step is sometimes a part of my attention getter because students find things easier to learn if they already have some prior knowledge, so getting their attention while also showing them that they have some related knowledge already helps students to feel less pressured.  In a lesson about calculating and comparing unit costs, I would show my students that they already have some of the skills to do this.  Gagne’s fourth step is also a part of my attention getter.  As I said, I like to include how this knowledge is useful in the real world as an introduction to a new skill.  Many students want to know why they have to learn something and I find it useful to tell them right off the bat so they can find meaning in what they are doing.  Modeling is an important part of any lesson and that is what I see Gagne’s next step as being.  Especially when something is new to students, they need to see the process of solving similar problems.  After modeling how to solve a problem in calculating and comparing unit prices, students need to try it themselves.  However, they should not be sent to do it individually, instead, they should do what’s called a guided practice.  The class solves it together but the students are doing the steps on their own paper.  Next, students can be presented with different problems for practice.  With each practice, students should be provided feedback so that they have a chance to correct any misunderstandings.  Eventually, after teachers feel students have had enough practice, students should be assessed on their knowledge.  It is then the teacher’s hope that the student can apply and this knowledge to more complex situations.  Some teachers may provide activities in which the students would be asked to use this knowledge in a real life application.
3. Constructivism is the last theory I chose to explore for this assignment.  What drew me to it is the use of “authentic activities,” collaboration, and student responsibility.  In the Constructivism approach, the idea is to design complex learning environments that include authentic activities, collaboration, students regulating their learning and goals, and students reflecting on their learning.  I see this as being somewhat of an inquiry-based learning environment.  The teacher provides situations for learning by presenting students with problems, in this case several brands of several products.  The students then are in charge of collaborating to determine the unit cost of each product.  In the end then, the students reflect on what they did and what they learned, expressing their new knowledge to the teacher.  I see the reflection as a way for the students to work out and finalize their understanding as well as a way for teachers to assess students’ knowledge.  The teacher will see if students had any misconceptions in their reflections.

So many great places to eat and enjoy your time!

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Some videos to use for teaching!

Preamble to the U.S. Constitution

3 Branches of Government

How a Bill Becomes a Law

We made it on TV!

MSU vs. IU (MSU did pull it out in the end even though the score says we're losing here)

Week 5 Reflection - Instructional Design and Technology Scenario

An experiment in which students and teachers were all given computers, curriculum materials, and wireless Internet access 24/7 would have little impact if the teachers were resistant, the equipment/media was poor, and the costs to maintain it were high. 

While being given all of these materials sounds amazing, I can see a project like this being unsuccessful if teachers are not provided adequate training on how to use the materials effectively.  When new things are just thrown at teachers without support as to how to use it, many teachers become resistant because they feel it is “one more thing” they’re expected to do.  I witnessed similar resistance at my school, when all math teachers in the district were given iPads in a grant from PROMS/E.  Some teachers felt they were being given “one more thing” they HAD to use and do.

Another reason I see a project like this not being effective is if the instructional media is not up to par.  For example, if all it does is provide a book on a computer that students already have in hand, it is not providing anything more than what they already have.  It’s like when television programs were unsuccessful as educational tools because all they did was simply put a teacher on TV.

Furthermore, a project like this may be unsuccessful if the cost to maintain/repair the equipment is high and if money is not allotted for these tasks.  If something happens to a teacher or student’s computer and there are no means for maintenance, you can no longer make this the only form of instruction.  In addition, what if there are troubleshooting issues and someone is unable to access information while their computer is being fixed? 

A project like this has great potential for having a large effect on instructional practices.  However, it does have its limitations.

In order to limit the factors that make a project like the one mentioned above (teachers and students given 24/7 use of laptops, curriculum materials and Internet access) less effective, there needs to be proper training and discussions for teachers, designs for implementing the project need to be tested, and the design needs to accommodate the interactive capabilities.

         Teachers need to be provided proper training in a project like this so that they know what is expected of them.  In addition, they need to be provided examples of effective uses of the media and time to put these plans into action.  As this chapter stated, “…effective use of media for instructional purposes requires careful instructional planning.”  Furthermore, many teachers are looking for ways to make their lessons authentic.  Thus, they need to be shown how to create these real-world experiences using the technology.  Finally, to make to tool even more effective, teachers need to be shown how to use it as an interactive tool between student and teacher, teacher and teacher, student and student, and student and content.  It would also be helpful to discuss ideas for the project with teachers before throwing it at them.  Many teachers become resistant if they are told to do something rather than being a part of the implementation process.

         I think it would also be useful to test designs for the project before implementing it.  It can be a sort of formative evaluation.  Allowing people to try out first in order to work out the kinks, will help to make a huge transition like this go more smoothly. 

Finally, the last way to make a project like this effective is to make sure to use new instructional design models to accommodate the interactive capabilities.  One thing that makes technology so great today is how interactive it is.  Teachers and students need to be shown how to use it this way in order for a project like this to be successful.

Photo Sharing Site

My flickr page

Week 4 Reflection - Social Bookmarking

Having played with my social bookmark tool a small amount, I can see it impacting teachers and students in a few different ways.  First of all, it would be a wonderful way for teachers to connect and share their favorite sites.  As I began to play with my site, I thought to myself, “What sites to I use often?”  I realized that most of the sites I use on a consistent basis are teaching websites.  For that reason, my social bookmark has mostly school related websites.  I put links to the websites I use most and find the most useful. 

Additionally, using a social bookmarking website would be a wonderful communication tool for students, parents, and teachers.  On my school website, I have a space for useful websites.  However, linking students to my social bookmark would be much easier because it is so easy to add sites and find new sites.  I would be able to go to the same place to find useful sites and then link them for my students.  Plus, parents would then have access to websites that reiterate what we are teaching in school.  So many times, especially when discussing math, I have parents say, “That’s not the way I learned it.  I’ve been teaching them (their child) the old way I learned and it’s more confusing to them!”  Thus, using this social bookmarking tool, I could not only put links of activities for my students to use at home, but also links to places where parents can get explanations for the new teaching methods we use. 

The last way I see myself using this social bookmarking site is simply for me.  Whenever I use a different computer, I forget that it doesn’t have my bookmarks on it!  I am so accustomed to simply having what I need right there.  Therefore, when I use a different computer and don’t have the websites I want, and of course I don’t remember the URL, I get frustrated.  With this tool, I can eliminate that frustration because I can get to all of my favorite sites simply by remembering my social bookmarking site.

In addition to creating a social bookmark this week, we read the first chapter of Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology the 3^rd Edition by Robert Reiser and John Dempsey.  This chapter discussed the various definitions the field of Instructional Technology has had over the years.  After reading the chapter, I found that my understanding of the profession was still connected to the first definitions of the field.  When I think of Instructional Technology, I often think of the different pieces of “media”.  I think my understanding of the field fell right along with the definition from the 1970s.  The first part of that definition says, “In its more familiar sense, it [instructional technology] means the media born of the communications revolution which can be used for instructional purposes alongside the teacher, textbook, and blackboard…”  I guess that’s how I viewed Instructional Technology, as the media a teacher can use to help reinforce the lessons.  Many of the definitions included that the technology should be used to improve learning.  All of that made sense to me, that is how I saw the field. 

As time went on, the definition placed more focus on a “systematic design process”.  The 1977 definition discusses using technology to analyze problems.  It says, “Educational Technology is a complex, integrated process involving people, procedures, ideas, device, organization for analyzing problems and devising, implementing, evaluating, and managing solutions to those problems involved in all aspects of human learning.”  This definition brought about a lot of questioning as to whether I use technology properly in my classroom.  Am I using it as a way for my students to analyze problems?  I would like to do that, but how?  For me to better understand how to do that I need to see or hear an example of what that looks like. 

As time went on there were several more definitions, one in 1994, one in 2008, and one created for the textbook.  The definition created for the textbook made sense to me.  It said, “…the management of instructional and non-instructional processes and resources intended to improve learning and performance in a variety of settings, particularly educational institutions…” I love that it includes, “intended to improve learning”.  As teachers, why would we do anything unless it is intended to help improve our students’ learning?  That’s why I think that line makes a lot of sense in the definition.  The definition continues to say, “Professionals in the field instructional design and technology often use systematic instructional design procedures and employ instructional media to accomplish their goals.”  This line hit home too because I think it reverts back to the definition from 1970 where it discusses using media to accompany lessons.  It seems more like my vision of Instructional Technology.

There were some things that surprised me in this chapter and in reading the definitions.  The first surprise being that I have had an incomplete understanding of what exactly Instructional Technology is.  I have always thought of it as what this book calls Instructional Media.  The other major surprise to me was that the newer definitions of Instructional Technology seem to be more differentiated and student based.  The 2008 definition is where this really stood out to me.  The definition reads, “Educational technology is the study and ethical practice of facilitating learning and improving performance by creating, using, and managing appropriate technological processes and resources.”  The term “facilitating” stood out.  To me, that means that my students would be using technology to create a more inquiry based learning experience and my job would be to simply facilitate that learning.  The book states, “The new perspective [definition] recognizes the important role that learners play in determining what they will learn, regardless of the instructional intervention they are exposed to.”  This surprises me most because I’m not sure that’s how it is used in the classroom.  I think for the most part it is used as a supplement to other learning.  Furthermore, this definition alludes to a deeper goal of technology to get students past simply gaining knowledge to a place where they can apply the knowledge.  That is such an important goal, a goal I know all teachers have in teaching, but also such a difficult task.  How do we get these kids to see how what we are teaching applies in different situations?  Hearing this definition brought back all of those questions again, how am I using technology?  How can I use it more efficiently?   And most importantly, how can I use technology to help my students start to apply knowledge rather than just gain knowledge?  This is what I would like to learn in order to improve as a teacher and to better prepare my students for their future in a world filled with technology.

Link to my Social Bookmarking tool

http://www.delicious.com/karikracht4

Week 3 Reflection - Wikis

Having some experience with the Wiki, I can see it being used several ways.  As far as class projects go, I see it used to create picture dictionaries, newspapers, brochures, research projects, and to tell our understanding of different math skills. 

Picture Dictionaries – Some of my students have made these already in our class.  Basically, they find pictures and words from a magazine or newspaper that match their word study skill for the week (i.e. short vowels, long vowels, digraphs, prefixes, suffixes, etc.).   In a Wiki, they could do something similar.  We could have different pages for different skills (my students do not all have the same skill at the same time).  Then students can add to the different pages, pasting a picture and writing a word below it so that we can have a nice compiled list of words for each skill. 

Newspapers – I am lucky enough to have the help of a literacy coach in my district.  She has been coming into my room two days a week during my literacy block.  During that time, she helps my lowest students.  While working with them, she helped them to create a newspaper.  It was a big hit.   I could see taking the same idea but expanding on it by using a wiki.  Each student, or pair of students, could be assigned a “story”, or subject, in school.  Then, on their subject’s Wiki page, they would update pictures and write stories and captions for what they are working on in that subject.  You could even include art, music, Spanish, PE, or whatever subjects your school has.  This would serve as practice writing, typing and inform parents of what they are doing.  I would say this would be a project that is done monthly or bi-weekly.

Book Reports – Every year we do a book report with our students.  This would be a creative way to do it.  Each student would have to create his/her own Wiki.  Each page would represent a different part of the book report.  In our reports now, the students discuss main character, setting, problem, one event, and the solution.  They could create different pages for each section and include pictures and explanations. 

Brochures – In social studies, we study Michigan.  Last year, I had my students create a brochure for one of Michigan’s major cities.  They were to include the location, major attractions, products from the city, etc.  A Wiki would be nice in that they could include a real map to show location.  Plus, they could include links to pictures from the city and to some of the major attractions.  It would be nice for some of my students who do not travel much to have a chance to “experience” a place they’ve never been, even if it is only virtually.

Research Projects – One of our science units includes an animal report.  Our students must create a poster and write an essay that includes the animal’s physical characteristics, habitat, and behavioral characteristics.  Again, this could be done with a Wiki.  They would have four pages on their wiki.  One page would be an introduction, and then one for each section; physical characteristics, habitat, and behavioral characteristics.  On each of those pages, the students could include links to pictures, which they could then use to explain the animal’s physical and behavioral characteristics as well as their habitat in their class presentation.

Math – I could see a class Wiki for math.  Students could help create pages for each new concept we learn.  Each page would contain a description of the concept using key terms (which would be links to definitions of the terms).  Images would be included if necessary to help with explanations.  Plus, we would put links to helpful websites that they can then refer to at home.

I also see it useful for parent-teacher communications.  I can put up calendars, newsletters, useful websites, etc.  We could use it to plan class parties.  As parents decide what they would like to send, they can update the list so that it can be a working document.  It can also be useful for teacher-teacher communication.  We all have different planning and lunch times, so we can’t always communicate when we want to.  At my school we are currently trying to plan a literacy night for March.  We have no more scheduled meeting times before then, so we tried to delegate roles at our last meeting.  However, I recently spoke with another member of the groups putting this night on and was informed we may not have assigned all of our duties.  A Wiki would come in quite useful here.  Like the camping trip example on the youtube video, we could list the tasks that still need to be done and teachers can claim them.  This way we can be sure to be prepared. 

In my own life, I love the idea of planning parties or trips with friends and family.  Whenever we go to my Grandma’s house, my mom and aunts have to send email after email about the menu and who will bring what.  Using a Wiki, they eliminate many emails and get meals planned.  A Wiki sort of reminds me of Google documents (although there is more to it I know).

Websites to check out!

I've recently been involved in the creation of two websites.

Check them out:

BC Spring into Action - It's a 5K, 10K, and 1 mile run/walk right here in Battle Creek!  Come get active!

My Wiki - Check out the educational websites and more!

ENJOY!

Week 2 Reflection

          My feelings about my first blog were mixed.  I enjoyed picking the theme for the background and designing the page, but when it came to posting my reflection on the blog, I was a bit hesitant.  It’s so public and open.  I was putting my personal thoughts and writing out there for anyone to read.  I’ve never been a very public person, especially when it comes to my writing, so to put my writing out there for anyone to read was a little intimidating.   As for the RSS, it seemed too simple.  I just set it up and started adding feeds that interest me.  I thought, “there must be more to this…what am I forgetting to do?”  I’ve been checking in on it for the last couple of days and thinking about the question, “What does this solve and how is it “imaginative”?”  I’ve come to see how useful it can be because it is personalized.  I get to see what I want to see and keep up with news and information I’m interested in.  When you watch the news channel, you have to listen to all of their stories before you get to the one you really want to learn about.  With the RSS, I can check up on the news stories that interest me.  It is for that reason that I think it could be useful for my students.  They can learn about anything that interests them!  They can start to take an interest in things outside of our school and district. 

           

            How do the blog and RSS match up to Dale’s Cone?  When reading the article by Edgar Dale, I was struck by his quotes about how hands-on experience is the best experience anyone can have to truly learn a new concept.  I remember hearing the same things in college classes and workshops.  In addition to the hands-on experiences, he discusses “thought” and “symbolic experiences”.  Dale states, “Our experiences vary according to the degree in which they involve us physically or in thought. …And in our symbolic experiences, virtually all the manifest physical action has been removed; we deal with the experience through our thoughts, our general ideas.”  I like this quote because it reminded me that while physical, hands-on experiences are so important, it is also important to remember to stretch students’ minds and get them to problem solve for themselves.  Dale talks about how students learn to think critically and symbolically through their physical experiences.  This is where I think blogs and RSS feeds come in.  I think they are where students can become “creatively involved” and stimulate their minds to think critically, and symbolically.  When referring to video, radio, and other media forms, Dale says, “These materials provide experiences in which the student is an observer rather than a doer.  Preferably he is a thoughtful, critical witness to such experiences, but he has little direct responsibility for the way in which the learning event will develop.”  I see blogs and RSS feeds falling in with this quote as well with an exception.  In a blog, if writing your own blog, you do have responsibility for how it develops.  In addition, with RSS feeds, you choose which you subscribe to and which you want to explore.  Thus, you do have more control over the experience than you would in the case of a video or radio program.  For this reason, I see blogs and RSS feeds closer to the “Direct Purposeful Experiences” on the bottom of Dale’s Cone.  I see blogs and RSS feeds near demonstrations because students can manipulate what they want to see and read but they aren’t actually experiencing the learning first hand.  In addition, blogs allow for some communication about what is being learned and talking/communication is one way to manipulate and play with an idea.  There are so many times that simply talking about something aloud, helps to form deeper understanding of a concept or clear up misconceptions.  Furthermore, I think blogs and RSS feeds, like the Scenarios tool discussed in Siegel’s article will help students,  “grasp multiple perspectives, and develop judgment as well as strategic skill. Scenarios [and blogs and RSS feeds, I think] provide today’s learners with the power to become effective thinkers and doers.” 

As far as “computer imagination” and these two technologies go, I think they are quite imaginative.  According to Siegel’s article, in order for a website to be “imaginative” it must allow for, “Multiple people can access the same information and share ideas with no constraints on time or location.”  Furthermore, he says, “It can create a community of users: It can be easily updated: We can disseminate only the most up-to-date information.”  By these definitions, I find a blog to be incredibly “creative and imaginative”.  In addition to these abilities, a blog also allows for communication to a large audience quickly.  This too, makes a blog creative.  An RSS feed is creative in similar ways to the blog, but it has some added features. “It stores information in an ever-expanding, distributed, hyperlinked matrix: We can go wherever we want, following our interests. It can present information contingent on user input: We can control what we see and avoid having to wade through information we don't need.  It can create a community of users: Multiple people can access the same information and share ideas with no constraints on time or location.”  In conclusion, these two technologies are creative in my opinion, because they meet the definition of a creative website based on Seigel’s definition and they would be quite useful in the classroom.  While they don’t provide the hands-on experience that Dale says is the best form of learning, they do allow a somewhat interactive experience for students, which will allow them to think critically and build symbolic understandings of the topic at hand.