Saturday, September 28, 2013

EDLD 5364 Week 5 Personal Reflection

Week 5 project: Part 3

Our team worked together as a group to collaboratively create an action plan to solve the scenario. Each of us had different backgrounds and areas of expertise. Having this allowed us to share knowledge with each other and devise a plan that was technology driven and student centered. We used interactive sites, presentation tools, discussion boards, podcast and many other Web 2.0 tools. In Web 2.0 New Tools, New Schools; the authors discuss the use of digital storytelling and podcast to help teachers integrate technology into lessons. Our activities allowed student assessment with the creation of the learning activities. Our lessons were based on UDL’s. We researched the activities to make sure we included teacher professional development and to ensure that the activities would meet the needs of the diverse group of learners. We provided accommodations for student supports.

Our group’s project was over third grade grammar I provided information on for pronouns. I chose interactive sites, discussion boards, and power points. "Games and simulation, for example, allow teachers and students to get near-instantaneous feedback during the learning process, allowing for immediate redirection or correction of misconceptions (Pitler)."  By having discussion boards and Podcasts this allowed students to visually have a feel for what others were thinking. It also allowed others to communicate with each other by collaborating.

Our group worked with Google sites, Google docs to insert our project action plan and samples of student works. The sites are https://sites.google.com/site/edld5364groupproject7/technology-based-learning-activities and https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vprzDpj_1PTsDALmVobEW8Qoyc5Epd8b-fvz36Qj7xU/edit?pli=1  What I gained from the class was that it is possible to work as a group to complete one common goal. You do not have to physically be with your group for this to become possible. With the use of online tools you can work cooperatively and collaboratively to solve problems and come up with solutions. I also learned that using Google Docs and Sites as a group you can create, edit, share. I had a great experience working with my team members. We accomplished our goal and put forth much effort to be successful with our grammar lesson. I learned the value of sharing information with individuals through the use of web 2.0 tools.

I also learned how to create eBooks and UDL’s through the CAST ebsite http://bookbuilder.cast.org/ and http://lessonbuilder.cast.org/. These sites were very informative as they provided tutorials on how to create eBooks and develop lesson plans, as well as provide several examples for the educator to reference. The strategies I learned from these sites will help me develop future lessons that will work with diverse learners and possible individualize those lessons.
Through this class I have gained knowledge and experience of various technology tools used for working cooperatively and collaboratively as a group. I watched many videos on how to create student centered learning environments and seeing them in action. The discussion boards taught were a great resource tool. I was able to communicate and share with my colleagues on various topics. I was able to grow more knowledgably from the readings and videos to integrate technology within my classroom. I shared my learning experiences with my co-workers and let informed them of various tools we can share with our students. I learned about many free tools and resources available to educators to help them accomplish student engagement and achievement.

Working in the field of instructional technology I feel that I need to stay up to date with what's happening in education. I teach teachers the uses of technology and how to incorporate it into their daily lessons. I will continue to do research and learn more about the different technology Web 2.0 tools and social networking available for K-12 classrooms and beyond. I gained knowledge on blogs and e-portfolios which I have been using with Lamar University, and how it is a tool to help me determine my effort levels as well as an environment to store archives and get feedback from professors. In one of the readings there was a quote: “Technological tools make it easier for a teacher to provide every student with multiple options for expression.” I found this to be true for me as a student and as an educator. The more we allow students to use technology the easier it will be for students to express themselves in a learning environment. By integrating technology all students can benefit from the enhanced lessons.

Solomon, G., Schrum, L. (2007) Web 2.0 New Tools, New Schools. International Society for Technology in Education

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E.R., Kuhn, M., Malenoski, K. (2007) Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development

David H. Rose & Anne Meyer (2002). Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age: Universal Design for Learning. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Retrieved on 3/15/11 from http://www.cast.org/teachingeverystudent/ideas/tes/

Thursday, September 26, 2013

EDLD 5364 Week 5 Reflection

Week 5 Discussion

This week quote that made me think about how data is collected, shared, and used among teachers and students is “A powerful way to convince students that effort is truly tied to achievement is to show them data” (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007, p 161). Last year we introduced student response system/clickers as a form of test taking. Teachers would then upload to Eduphoria/Aware to view data immediately after completing the assessment. Using paper and pencil, it sometimes more time consuming for a teacher to provide immediate feedback; however, “technology make it easier for students and teachers to track the effects of effort and facilitates more immediate feedback” (Pitler et al., 2007, p. 156). After viewing the results the teachers would then call up the students and provide assessment results.

Pitler, H., Hubbell E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Solomon, G., & Schrum, L. (2007). Web 2.0: New tools, new schools. Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education, 168­176.

Sunday, September 22, 2013

EDLD 5364 Week 4 Post Conference Reflection

So I attended to web conference on 9-22-13 at 6:00 PM. I was having difficulty hearing Dr. A. I think it was on my end because everyone else could hear her. I did however read all the posts that were stated. Nikki Looper posted this for the coming week: Week 5 is a lot of reflection: Discussion is a quote with reflection and citation and two comments both with citation.  Part 1 is a 2 paragraph reflection w 3 citations over the new learning for Week 5.   Part 2 is a 6 paragraph TEAM reflection over our group UDL and activities.  Part 3 is a 200-250 word reflection w 3 citations over writing a UDL and eBook. This really helped to sum up week 5. Even though I couldn't hear I still walked away with valuable information. Thanks

EDLD 5364 Week 4 Reflection

“Giving the same written test to all students is neither fair nor accurate. When a single, inflexible medium is used for testing, students' skills with that medium become hopelessly confused with the skills we intend to measure.” This holds true due to the fact that not all learners learn in the same way. If we are asked to differentiate to the student’s ability, then assessments should also be done in this manner. Teaching to the test causes confusion as to whether or not the student has learned the material or has just learned how to be a good test taker. Many of our students are bored out of their minds because of this linear approach to learning. Basically, they are missing one of the main points of higher education, which is learning to think critically about a variety of subjects in order to develop informed opinions and insight about important issues.
 
Rose, D., & Meyer, A. (2002). Teaching every student in the digital age: Universal design for learning. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Chapter 7. Available online at the Center for Applied Special Technology Web site. Retrieved from http://www.cast.org/teachingeverystudent/ideas/tes/

Sunday, September 15, 2013

EDLD 5364 Week 3 Post Conference Reflection

I attended the web conference at 6:00 PM on Sunday, September 15, 2013 with Dr. A. I learned how to embed my e-book on our group site. I was also able to talk with one of my group members. I was having trouble editing our site. The end result was that I needed to be signed in with a Gmail account. I learned valuable information in such a short amount of time. Thanks to everyone who was able to attend and lend helpful information.

Friday, September 13, 2013

EDLD 5364 Week 3 UDL Book Builder

I had never heard of bookbuilder.cast.org. I first looked at samples of books. I played around with this site unfortunately I didn't think it was user-friendly. I didn't like how you had to add pages to the book just to finish 1 page of the book. However once I got started and was able to maneuver around the site I thought this might be fun for others to create an e-book. I will be sharing this site with my teachers. I think a few of them might actually want to create a book and then share it with their students.  

Click on the link below to see what I created
http://bookbuilder.cast.org/view.php?op=share&book=8d31c1265dc4a94d5028bdc8124e11b9&sid=13748

EDLD 5364 Week 3 Reflection

"In a time of greater student diversity, increased emphasis on standards and accountability challenges teachers to help all students achieve.” I would have to say this quote stood out the most to me. It is so true; the accountability that teachers now hold is at a higher level than in the past.  The students that are in our rooms today, learn much differently than students of previous eras. They communicate using technology on a daily basis, whether it is through texting or some type of mobile device app. I feel if we teach students using what they are accustomed to, then they are more likely to adapt to our teaching style and thus retain more knowledge. When classrooms don't implement what has now become everyday technology, we’re doing students a disservice.

Technology is a tool not a solution, however, it helps level the playing field in diversifying learning. Tablets, for example, have the ability to increase font size with the pinch of your fingers for students who have special needs. The higher level learners could use apps designed to reach their potential as well, while grade level students can use other apps targeted to their needs.   


Citation: Rose, D., & Meyer, A. (2002). Teaching every student in the digital age: Universal design for learning. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Available online at the Center for Applied Special Technology Web site. Chapter 6. Retrieved from http://www.cast.org/teachingeverystudent/ideas/tes/

EDLD 5364 Week 3 Cast UDL Lesson Builder~Pronouns

Creating the UDL lesson was something I never had to do before. After reading about Universal Design for Learning (UDL); I thought wow this is very thorough when it comes to creating lessons.  UDL uses a set of principles for instruction development that give all students in your classroom an equal opportunity to learn. Our group decided to do third grade grammar; we each choose a different objective and ran with it. I liked how it addressed all types of learners. I think it is so important that we target all abilities that we work with each day to ensure success is made by all. 

CAST’s UDL LESSON BUILDER


Pronouns

Lesson Overview


Title:
Pronouns
Author:
Robin Jacobson
Subject:
Reading/Language Arts
Grade Level(s):
3rd
Duration:
45 min. lesson w/ centers
Subject Area:
Parts of Speech
Unit Description:
Parts of speech
Lesson Description for Day:
A pronoun is often defined as a word which can be used instead of a noun.
State Standards:
 Students understand the function of and use the conventions of academic language when speaking and writing. Students continue to apply earlier standards with greater complexity. Students are expected to:
(A)     use and understand the function of the following parts of speech in the context of reading, writing, and speaking:xas State Standards for English Language Arts
(ii)  nouns (singular/plural, common/proper);
(vi)  possessive pronouns (e.g., his, hers, theirs

Goals


Unit Goals:

To provide students with the understanding of the parts of speech.

Lesson Goals:
He, she, they, them... We use pronouns so often, we hardly even notice them. This lesson is designed to call attention to the words that are often overlooked while reading everyday materials. Students will understand the parts of speech and how they function on everyday conversations.


Methods


Anticipatory Set:

To introduce students to the parts of speech as well as build upon their previous knowledge. Students will visit these websites:

http://www.softschools.com/language_arts/grammar/pronoun/balloon_game/  Move the mouse so the cursor hovers over a balloon.  A sentence will appear at the top of the page to give you a clue. Click every balloon that has a pronoun in it.

http://www.gotkidsgames.com/hom/pronounAgree.html

Pick the correct pronoun to match antecedent in sentence.
Accomodations: Blind students will be paired with another student when playing the interactive games. The other student will ask the questions that come across the screen, that way both students are receiving instruction. The deaf student will read the activity and then click on the correct answer.

Introduce and Model New Knowledge:

Students will use the website:

they will become familiar with pronouns and using internet resources. Teacher will go over the parts of speech and give examples of how they are to be used. The student will use the website above to practice their skills. After each lesson students will discuss what they learned or had trouble with. Teacher will then decide is reteach is necessary. Accomadations: Blind students will be paired with a student when using the educational websites. The student will read what is being presented. If a Braille computer is available the blind student would have opportunity to use it. The deaf student would use a translator to communicate their questions or concerns.
Students will learn to definitions for:
Nouns-A noun is a word used to name a person, animal, place, thing, and abstract idea.
 Pronouns-A pronoun that takes the place of one or more nouns in the subject of a sentence.

 

Provide Guided Practice:

Students will follow along in their textbooks. When directed students will point out all pronouns they come across while reading each sentence. Students will then visit the website: http://havefunteaching.com/worksheets/english-worksheets/parts-of-speech-worksheets/

from here students will select Pronoun Worksheet, print it out and complete. Student will then be directed to go to this webstie:
This activity requires you to have a smart exchange account. If you have a smartboard you should be using this site for all the resources. Teacher will click on each slide and students will complete each lesson.

Provide Independent Practice:

Set up learning stations (centers) in your room, this will provide opportunity for students to work independently and in a group.

Station 1:

Provide students with newspaper article per pair of students

also provide highlighters

Activities:

Pass out the newspapers and have students pick an article to work with. It should be at least 5 or 6 paragraphs. Have the students work in teams to find and highlight all the pronouns. After they are finished, they should give the article to their parter so they can skim it and make sure nothinig is missing. If they are missing some, let them know and have them continue working. Once they have found all of them, they can then create a graph showing how many of each one there is. Have each group present their graph to the class. Talk about how difficult or easy it was to locate all the pronouns

Station 2:

Provide each student within the group with a copy of the same news story from a newspaper. Challenge students to circle all the pronouns in the article. How many pronouns did they find? Provide time for students to share the pronouns they circled. Students might identify each as a singular or plural pronoun.
Station 3:
Write a list of pronouns on the board or a sheet of chart paper. Then challenge students to write a paragraph about themselves (perhaps the paragraph might be about a favorite hobby, pet or food). But they must write this paragraph without using any of the pronouns you have listed. Invite some students to share their paragraphs and discuss the difficulty they had completing the assignment. As it turns out, pronouns are very useful parts of speech! 

 


Assessment


Formative/Ongoing Assessment:
Provide ongoing assessment throughout the lesson.
Observe and encourage student participation in class discussion, asking and answering questions, and volunteering comments and ideas.
Visit students throughout the center activities and provide direction, correct any errors, and affirm successes.
Did student's responses accurately answer the questions?
Summative/End Of Lesson Assessment:
Give each student a sticky note with a pronoun.  Have each student use Kidspiration to create a web of words with that pronoun.  Students will present their webs to the class. Use a rubric to grade each students web.


Materials


This list of materials represents several different media including text, graphics, and video.
Smartboard, Smart Exchange, Kidspiration, Newspapers, highlighters, post-it notes


Saturday, September 7, 2013

EDLD 5364 Week 2 Web Conference Reflection


I attended the web conference on Sat. Sept. 7, 2013 at 10 am with Dr. A. After listening and responding to questions I feel my group is off to a great start. We were all a little confused at first but I think as a group we figured most of it out. This morning there was some confusion on whether to post your reflections on the group site as well as your personal site. Dr. A says the more posts the better. I feel after attending the conference this morning much more prepared to begin week 3.   

EDLD 5364 Week 2 Reflection


The quote that really interested me was from the article, Technology-enriched classrooms: Effects on students of low socioeconomic status. “Computer technology, when integrated into the classroom for significant periods of time, may also have more significant effects among students classified as low socioeconomic status” (Page, 2002). I work in a school that is categorized as having a low socioeconomic status. I feel this statement to hold true. The more technology used by teachers the more student involvement with higher success rate. Last year we implemented ipads into the classroom as well as sending them home equipped with 3G. The students who received them were the low socioeconomic due to the fact that they had no internet service. This population of student’s made huge gains whether it was in the area of self-esteem or academics. I truly believe technology is key to reaching all students.

 Reference:

Page, M. S. (2002). Technology-enriched classrooms: Effects on students of low socioeconomic status. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 34(4), 389–409.

Sunday, September 1, 2013

EDLD 5364 Week 1 Web Conference Reflection

I attended the web conference on Sunday, Sept. 1 at 6 pm with Dr. Abernathy. There were only 4 students that attended probably due to the fact that it is Labor Day weekend. I had a couple of questions to ask and needed clarification regarding what was needed on our personal site. I knew we had to create a group Google site as well as a team Google doc. As usual Dr. Abernathy was able to help. I try to attend web conferences as much as possible. I feel they help with any additional questions that I might have or need clarification. 

EDLD 5364 Week 1 Group Link and Google Doc

https://sites.google.com/site/edld5364groupproject7/