Week 5 Application--progress made

I made so progress this in my stated goal of, “provide with multiple and varied formative and summative assessments aligned with content and technology.”
We had presentations from our students to summarize the learning objectives of our social studies unit on Early European Colonies. Each student had a choice of presentation format that could include flip camera, Power Point, written essay, or poster board. I was very happy to see the varied and knowledge presentations, my students did a great job.

Progress so Far-Week 4 Application

Our new district website is up and running, and I my 5th grade colleague have added content to the 5th grade page. We included several ELA, history, and math links for students to support our classroom core content. I have more technology experience, but she has more experience teaching the content, so I am excited about present and future results of working on this as a grade level project. We began making Flip Videos of student presentations this week of the social studies project. I look forward to seeing the rest of the student presentations after Thanksgiving break.

Resources Needed to Reach My Goals

Goal 1: I plan to use technology tools to create scaffolds for my students as they explore their questions in inquiry based learning projects.
Hardware and software needs: Flip video camera, computers in computer lab, digital storybook programs.
Additional needs: Input from my technology and literacy committees on the integration of technology into our ELA curriculum. This group will also be a big help in designing assessment recommendations.
Additional steps: I have begun a project based social studies that connects with ELA goals. Students will have a choice in demonstrating learning by creating a Power Point, Flip video of a reader’s theater, written essay, or digital storybook.
Goal 2: To share student products with my grade level team as to tap into to their experience in the evaluation process.
This goal is aligned with district and building goals in an effort to create strong grade level teams that share ideas. We are focusing on creating a strong vertical and horizontal alignment in our curriculum, grading policies, and goal setting.
As my classmates are experiencing many of the same challenges as we implement technology lessons and share ideas with colleagues. I would like to hear some best practices in implementing and sharing these classroom experiences.

The Game Plan

As a teacher, and life long learner, I am constantly setting goals for my students and myself. I have found staying focused, taking action, monitoring my progress, and reflecting on my learning to be challenging. I have the type of personality that runs with every good idea I hear about as often as possible. This is always exciting for myself and my students, but is not always the most effective when it comes to using my time effectively to have the most impact possible on my lesson teaching and learning objectives. So as I read over the performance indicators, I value the focus they give to the self-directed learner that I am, and my instructional plans.
Standard 1:B states, “Engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources.” I believe it is vital to use real world issues to engage students in their learning. I would like to develop more ways to include technology in this process. Using tools like VoiceThread and Tweeter to engage students in discussions in which they ask the questions and find the answers together. I plan to use techology tools to create scaffolds for my students as they explore their questions in inquiry based learning projects. An example would be to set up a data base of important website links that they would find useful in class projects.
Standard 2:D states, “provide with multiple and varied formative and summative assessments aligned with content and technology”. The most important thing I do everyday in class is find out what my students need to learn, based on my informal and formal evaluation skills. Differential instruction is key to me being a successful teacher, but as teaching modalities vary, and student products vary with choice, I at times find it hard to assess learning. My plan is to share student products with my grade level team as to tap into to their experience in the evaluation process.

Reflecting on Technology Integration

With many diverse students learning styles represented in today’s classrooms, as teachers it is necessary to have a deep knowledge of all instructional strategies and learning theories. As I reflect on how I can incorporate technology into my current teaching style, I see support of several different instructional theories woven in my lesson plans as a result. I believe the most important aspect of each lesson is active learning, because it emphasizes high student engagement which is an essential aspect of not only achievement, but of creating a pro-social classroom environment.
Two technology tools that I can add easily to enhance my lesson objectives will use of Voice Thread technologies, and using Power Point to create a student artifact. It will be especially important to use these technology tools in a way that effectively reaches the desired learning outcome. I feel that as a result of taking this course, I have gained important knowledge that will help me in bridging learning theories with my classroom instruction, thus making my classroom even more stimulating for my students, which will in turn increase active participation and result in a higher level of student performance.
My long term goals will be to have students using technology I the first day of class so they we can become very comfortable incorporating them into are everyday class, and to build learning artifacts using a variety of technologies through out the school year. I can do the first few days’ procedures that involve getting to know you with voice thread, creating a power point slide of quick facts about yourself, or making a short video of yourself. As a result of that early school year prep, students will feel comfortable doing classroom project together all year.

Connectivism and Social Learning in Practice

I strongly believe in the assertions of social learning theories. The longer I teach the more I see the effectiveness of this important learning theory. In my recent experience I find that my school environment strongly supports these methods. I just sat last week in a meeting with several of my experienced colleagues and we discussed different strategies of engaging our students. Many of the ideas incorporated projects based on students learning together in a teacher created social learning environment. We are in an exciting time in our district, with many of us “tech heads” getting new technologies and brain storming ideas together to incorporate our technologies with our learning objectives. We are finding at times we are becoming consumed with technology use, and forgetting some of the basic science of teaching. Using technology to support our learning objectives, and create social learning model is important to our students learning 21st century skills.

Helping Students Be Successful With Homework

Click on the voice thread link below to view my video and submitt your comments.

Voice Thread