Reflection: EDUC-6713I-2 Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas

This course has really expanded my thinking of how to incorporate technology in my classroom on an everyday basis. There are so many neat and useful tools out there that we just need to tap into. After implementing my GAME plan, I feel that the students enjoyed the real world applications that I brought into my classroom. On the days that I did project based and problem based instruction, the students were more engaged and focused over all. I overheard many students say that they could not believe the class was over already, that is a good thing… time flies when you are having fun, right?

I also made sure to incorporate citations for all my resources I used on my newly developed lessons. The students asked at first what was written next to the pictures or text on my handouts, and I quickly explained that I was giving credit to the people that developed the pictures and/or lessons that I was using. I was pleasantly surprised that they even noticed the citations and this made me feel like it was a worthwhile endeavor.

After this course, I am super excited to use ZooBurst in my classroom. I plan on implementing the story book lesson that I wrote for my Unit plan right after winter break and I really think that the students will enjoy this project very much. I shared this cite with some language arts colleagues and they loved it as well… it is something that I think will be used by many different subjects in our building to help include reading across the content area.

I really feel that this course supported many of my technology implementations that I had started previously. I was happy to see how to use digital storytelling as well. I had heard so much about this concept, but I was unsure of what it actually was. I am looking forward to using these tools and so are my students.

Monitoring Your GAME Plan Progress

For my first goal, include more real-life situations in the math classroom, I am finding some information, but running into the same problem that I have in the past. I have researched this topic before and find many resources, but not ones that I find useful. There are many sites that discuss the importance of bringing the real-world into the math classroom, but not many that give ideas and projects on how to do so. I have found a few new resources, but nothing that is catching my attention. I might need to use these sites that I am finding and use the ideas to begin to develop a unit or two on my own. I was hoping to find some project ideas on the internet that are developed and I can just tweak them to work in my classroom, but there are not many people that have posted about their successes thus far. I am wondering why there is so much research showing the importance of real-life activities in the classroom, but not many ideas out there of how to do it? It is aggravating when this is the case. It makes me wonder why this is the case… is it that many people get frustrated with this approach and revert back to the direct instruction methods?


My other goal is coming along nicely. I plan to improve my lessons so they include the correct citations that identify the resources I used. I do not see any problems with this goal as of now. I am noticing, however, that it does take more time to identify the old resources than expected. It is hard to find some of the same resources anymore, so I have been finding myself swapping out the old pictures and data with new information that is similar and I can easily site the resource.

Carrying Out My GAME Plan

After a week of working on my GAME plan, I am a little farther than I was a week ago. One of my goals involved incorporating more real-world applications in my math classroom and using the computer lab to complete these activities on a weekly basis. I have found some resources that have ideas on ways to incorporate real world activities, but I am still having trouble finding some really good ways of bringing the real-world into my classroom. Does anyone have some resources or ideas to find usable lessons in a middle school math classroom? I have spoken with my peer group and they all seem bogged down by testing and the pressures that come with the preparation to try anything new or develop new ideas to bring into the classroom. I will need to continue to do some more research to find some good resources… I would purchase some books that have developed lessons, but always hesitate because they seem better than they really are.


The other part of the GAME plan involved updating my lessons to include the citations for the resources that I used to develop them. I want to model writing citations for my students and I have begun to update the lessons that I have used this week. Each night before I leave my classroom, I bring up the smartbaord lesson and change the slides that I need to in order to show the sites and resources that I used to create the lesson. I do not need any additional resources to complete this part of my plan; I just need to constantly remind myself to do so. If I continue to make these changes, then it will become a habit and be second nature soon.

Developing My Personal GAME Plan

Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity: Engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources (NETS-T 1b)

I plan to improve the engagement of student involvement in solving real world issues by using digital resources on a regular basis. I plan to use one day a week to pose a real world problem that involves the math topics for the week in hopes to increase the engagement and understanding of the students. I will collect the problem and use the accuracy of the solution to gauge the successfulness of the lessons. I will look for students to receive an 85% or higher on the accuracy of their solution and I will ask the students to fill out a survey on a scale from 1-10 on how they enjoyed the task at hand. I will use these days to show the students how these math skills are used in the everyday lives of individuals and how digital resources are available to help solve these problems. We will spend the days in the computer lab during these lessons so they can have access to the internet and/or specific websites that I have found to aid in the solution of the problem presented. After each week, I will compile the scores of not only the accuracy to their solutions, but also their scale score on the activity. I will spend the next week searching for new online resources and ask colleagues for excellent resources that they have used in their classroom.

Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility: Advocate, model, and teach safe, legal and ethical use of digital information and technology including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources (NETS-T 4a)

I plan to promote documenting resources and teaching how to appropriately cite information through modeling. I plan to revamp my lessons with citations from the sites and books that I am retrieving pictures and problems from. I will plan on citing 80% of my information immediately through revising my smartboard lessons and worksheets and then I will cite 100% of my resources on handouts and lessons that I make from this point forward. I will monitor my progress by using a chart to keep track of what lessons I have revised and which lessons are new so I will know in the future which ones I need to continue to revamp in the future. I will use the methods of citation (APA style) that we use in our program at Walden and make a point to check for changes in APA citation at the beginning of each month.

Resources:
International Society for Technology in Education. (2008). National education standards for teachers (NETS-T). Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/Libraries/PDFs/NETS_for_Teachers_2008_EN.sflb.ashx

Reflection

At the completion of this course, I have learned a lot and am looking forward to implementing many new ideas in my classroom in the fall. In week one, I described that the learning theory which was closely aligned to my beliefs was the constructivist approach. I can say that I still believe this theory is the closest aligned to my beliefs, but I do feel that the other theories are sprinkled in as well. There is not one theory that I can say fulfills all my beliefs, but a combination of them all is more appropriate.

The cognitive theory of learning is definitely an addition to my personal learning theory. In learning about this theory, I can agree that all of our ideas and learning are linked together and learning new ideas will only “stick” if a connection can be made. In addition, I agree with the visual idea of this approach. Students can learn a lot by making a visual connection with something. If I am doing a presentation, my students will remember the pictures I included more than the text. I need to start taking my picture choice into greater consideration and be sure they support the learning that I am targeting.

This course has provided me with many new ideas and many new tools that I am looking forward to using in my classroom. The first tool that I will incorporate is Edmodo. I plan on exploring this site more over the summer and introduce it to my 8th graders in the fall. I have high hopes for using this in the classroom. I feel that the students will be intrigued by the site since it is very similar to Facebook (something they know all too well) and the minimal learning curve involved in using it. I foresee this being a place to hold out of classroom discussions, post interesting links and homework assignments. I am anxious to see how the students accept this addition and how I can incorporate it into my classroom.

The second tool that I will be using from the beginning of the year will be Voice Thread. This site is incredible; it is just what I have been looking for in the recent years. I truly enjoy how I can include videos (that would be blocked by our firewall, but still school appropriate) and the personal touches that I can make. I am also looking forward to the students using this program to make presentations and comments on Voice Threads of their own. I am going to be purchasing webcams and microphones for the computers in my room so the commenting and production of the Voice Threads will be easier and more seamless.

In the long term, I would like to plan more real-life projects that mirror situations that my students might experience as they get older. I plan to do this through virtual field trips and webquests, along with cooperative groups. I plan to complete a project each quarter so I can focus on 4 big projects a year and not get too overwhelmed by planning them. I will take this summer to identify 4 main topics that will be aligned with the topics for 8th grade math and hopefully identify some appropriate online sites and field trips using resources from this course.

In addition to more real-life projects, I also want to escape from the mundane smartboard lessons that I have been using the past couple of years. I need to focus on making my technology use more exciting and more relevant to the students. I will try to do this with making a change in the classroom activities and homework. I am going to do attempt to do more online work and escape from the paper and pencil that we are used to. The students will need to find some time to use computers on their own, but hopefully that is a hurdle we can overcome.

At the completion of this course, I feel revived with fresh ideas and am looking forward to the fall to implement them!

Voice Thread Application

The following Voice Thread and Xtranormal video are ones that I would use to introduce a mini-project to my 7th grade math class... the students will be applying the idea of surface area to find the amount of paint needed to paint the interior of a garage.





TOBY:

Social Learning Theory

The very basic idea behind cooperative learning is the backbone of social learning theory.  The idea that students work in groups to enhance their learning experience and to further their understanding correlates strongly to the general premise that supports social learning theory. 

Webquests are a way to incorporate social learning theory that might link together students that are not even in the same class, school, state, or even country.  I like the idea of how webquests can be conducted as partners and groups that are working together in cyberspace.  The students can be paired together, complete the project and not even meet face to face.  There is a lot of learning that can happen when the distractions of the classroom and peers are taken out of the equation.

Cooperative group projects have been in the classroom for eons, but incorporating the use of technology takes them to a new level.  Each student brings personal strength to the classroom and their understanding for technology is no different.  The programs that are available on the web are endless and I really feel that the students would learn a lot creating videos and presentations using programs like Xtranormal and Prezi.

The last strategy I want to touch base on is Keypals.  When I was reading this section, I was anxious to get to this portion because I had never heard of this before.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that this is the modern day pen pals.  A pen pal was a great experience growing up and I learned a lot from the person that I was assigned to.  The key idea of pen pals is social learning… one can learn a lot from another in just letters back and forth.

The strategies that were presented in our text this week exemplified the ideas of social learning theory to a tee.  Any of these activities got students working together in a rich experience which in turn supports learning from others.

Resources:

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD