Teaching with Technology Reflections

Week V in Review

This entire course has inspired me to incorporate more technology into my class.  I was too scared to jump in feet first, so I experimented with my Pre Advanced Placement class.  I started an Edmodo site and invited my students to join.  The idea is that we can use Edmodo (which is now being referred to as Nerd Facebook) as a medium to post and critique videos the students will be creating next 9 weeks demonstrating Newton's 3 Laws of Motion.  By using Edmodo I hope to avoid the long process of showing videos in class.  I will also follow the format used by Lamar, and I will have the students comment on their classmates videos on Edmodo.   I also plan on flipping my class for a unit on Physics calculations.  I will be creating a series of lectures using "Show Me" on the iPad  showing the students how I want them to solve certain problems.  They will be responsible for watching the lecture at home and then they come into class and do their "homework" using what they learned the previous evening.   I know that I have a long way to go to improve the technology in my class room, but I am taking baby steps in the right direction.  With the help of my students I do believe the options are limitless.  The main limits will be whether or not the students have access at home.  Fingers crossed.

Universal Design Lessons

After three weeks of discussing and now working on the creation of a Universal Designed Lesson I absolutely see the benefits of this type of design.  It does a great job of making the class student centered and it is easily integrated with technology.  I think that in order to catch and maintain today's student's attention different methods must be used and they and this design could make it easier for a teacher to do so.  I do think that if a student is able to see different methods of teaching they are able to make adjustments to the different techniques.  The major benefit for the student in seeing this and other teaching methods is that they can determine what works for them and really take the learning into their own hands.  I am concerned that students will begin to think that every teacher they encounter should be as entertaining as a teacher that uses this type of design.  There should be a balance in the classroom.  There should be a little bit of creativity. There should be a little of desk work.  There should be a little bit of lecture and there should be a little of desk work.  Finally in today's standardized testing era a student always needs practice taking multiple choice tests.  Maintaining the balance between these methods is in my opinion the best way to motivate and engage students.

Frank's The Outsiders Science Lesson Plan

As part of the unit lesson using the S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders I created a science lesson to have the students take a look at the effects of smoking.  All the major characters in the book are young smokers and we wanted to ensure the students understand the effects on the health of these characters.  Here is the lesson:

Frank's Lesson Plan

The Effects of Smoking on Teenagers Lesson Overview Title: The Effects of Smoking on Teenagers Author: Frank McDonald Subject: Science Grade Level(s): 6–8 Duration: 5 days Unit Description                This section would be part of a grade level study on the book The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton.  Students will be expected to create a presentation using PowerPoint or Prezi describing the long term effects and the short term effects of smoking on teenagers.           Lesson Description for Day Students will be divided into four groups.  Each group will be responsible for creating a presentation using PowerPoint or Prezi.  Each group will receive a topic in which to cover in their presentation; 1)Short Term Effects of smoking. 2)Long Term Effects of smoking. 3)Methods of quitting smoking. 4)Methods of prevention of smoking. Each group will create the presentation, present the presentation and provide an assignment that will allow students to practice their newly gained knowledge.  Each group will also be responsible for creating a 3 question quiz which will be given to the class as a formative assessment.             State Standards          TEKS 6th (5)  Health behaviors. The student engages in behaviors that reduce health risks throughout the life span. The student is expected to: (C)  Describe chemical dependency and addiction to tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs and substances. (D)  explain the relationship between tobacco, alcohol, drugs, and other substances and the role these items play in unsafe situations such as drinking and driving and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)/Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) transmission; (E)  identify ways to prevent the use of tobacco, alcohol, drugs, and other substances such as alternative activities; TEKS 7th & 8th(5)  Health behaviors. The student engages in behaviors that reduce health risks throughout the life span. The student is expected to: (J)  identify ways to prevent the use of tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs such as alternative activities;                  Goals Unit Goals: To read, comprehend, interpret, and analyze S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders using Universal Design Lessons.   Lesson Goals: To understand the short term effects of smoking on teenagers. To understand the long term effects of smoking on teenagers. To understand methods of prevention of smoking. To understand methods of quitting smoking. To create a presentation using PowerPoint or Prezi.   Methods Anticipatory Set: Students are to read S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders.  Student's will have had to have worked with PowerPoint or Prezi, along with technology basics such as saving work, accessing files, etc.                 Students are to read S.E. Hinton's <em>The Outsiders</em>.  Student's will have had to have worked with PowerPoint or Prezi, along with technology basics such as saving work, accessing files, etc.     Introduce and Model New Knowledge:   Student will be asked if anyone they know smokes and if they have ever been asked if they want to smoke.  Provide Independent Practice: Individual practice will be an assignment pertaining to the topic being covered by each group.  Each group will be responsible for including an assignment to go with their presentation.        Wrap-Up Review of long and short term effects. Review of methods of quitting and more importantly methods of prevention of smoking.                      Assessment Formative/Ongoing Assessment: Students will create a 3 question quiz as part of their presentation.                                                       Summative/End Of Lesson Assessment: Multiple choice test as created by Eduphoria.   When I give students assignments like this I like to tell them that I am tired of teaching and I want them to take over.  The amount of pride they take in their work is incredible and I normally have to be very clear on the amount of information that is included in the presentations.  I give them enough guidance to keep them from overwhelming their classmates with data.  I will normally have to edit the quizzes as well.  A lot of times the quiz questions are more specific than needed.  I will remind the students of their goals for the presentation.

Technology and self-esteem

"Significant gains in self-esteem were reported in a study conducted by Ryser (1990) in which computers were introduced into an experimental elementary school. A control group using traditional instruction methods in this same study reported no such gains."

 

It is my belief that once you have established confidence in a subject that a student will now be willing to invest the time to become better.  If technology can help increase that confidence, then it is well worth the effort of the educator to implement computer use in the classroom.

 

I do believe the programs that are used are very important to help build that confidence.  Programs that I have seen and used in my classroom follow a video game like format. The student acts as a character in the game and has to accomplish a set of tasks.  Progress is tracked as the student  navigates his or her way through some educational world.  Student is given information through video and that information is then used by the student to move through different levels.  Immediate feedback is provided given the student a chance to correct any mistakes or misconceptions. 

 

My 6 year old son's school subscribes him to IXL, a math website, and ReadingEggs, a reading website.  My son's class will go the compute lab and they will have an opportunity to work on these sites to improve their math and reading skills.  We can also use these sites to at home in order to build and reinforce lessons from school.  We used these sites this summer to help maintain concepts he learned during his Kindergarten year and to help prepare for his 1st grade year.  He could easily stay on these websites for hours, but we kept it to set time to insure boredom didn't become a factor.  He absolutely has a blast with the technology and he is learning at the same time.  Thus far he has shown that he loves the sites and he loves to learn and that should be the goal of any educational tool and educator.