Standard 1: Promote, support and model creative and
innovative thinking and inventiveness
This
standard was achieved throughout the use of both of my lessons. My first lesson
was on finding out the area of different shapes. As a teacher I thought it would
be fun to figure out the area of shapes that are used to create the student’s
names. Each student was asked to use unit blocks to create their names using
Kidspiration. This allowed the students to use their creativity and innovative
thinking to come up with ways that cube blocks could produce their names. From
here, the students were asked to calculate the area of each letter of their
name which was later added up to get the total area of their names. For my
second lesson, the students were asked to recreate a day in the life of a
soldier that fought in the civil war as if they were the soldier themselves.
The only criteria was that they had to include a beginning, middle and end of
the day and the events had to be accurate to those that could have actually
happened for that time era. The students were directed towards various
resources that they could use and encouraged to be as creative as they wished
to be.
Standard 1: Engage students in exploring real-world
issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources.
My
students were able to engage in the exploration of real-world issues. During my
second lesson, the students were asked to examine letters written by soldiers
from the civil war. As a class, we had begun the lesson by examining the
lifestyle of soldiers from back then and comparing them to the soldiers we are
familiar with seeing. From there, the students were asked to use given
resources to complete their own investigation of what life was like through the
use of primary sources. Each student was asked to view at least three letters
in order to begin their own interpretation of that lifestyle. This allowed each
student to not only have a frame of reference for their own artifacts but it
also made them think about what life had been like back then and compare it to
what they take for granted in life today. If we had been given more time, I
would have liked to see the technology by used to see if these students could
figure out other ways that the war could have been handled or solved. I think
it would have been cool to see the students try to come up with alternatives
and then brainstorm other ways that countries can deal with conflict both
within their borders and out.
Standard 1: Promote student reflection using
collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students’ conceptual understanding
and thinking, planning and creative processes.
Although,
I did not get a chance to demonstrate this standard throughout this semester I
think that given different time constraints that I could have. In my future
classroom, I would like to be able to incorporate this piece within every
lesson because I think that it is important for students to be able to reflect
on their own learning and experiences. Throughout reflection, the lessons become
more individualized and meaningful. One thing that I liked about this class was
that I was asked to reflect on my own teaching styles which made me think about
things that I may not have thought about before being asked certain questions.
At the beginning of every lesson I was asked to reflect on my own lesson plan
as I made it then after it had been taught I was asked a different set of
questions which made me think about how effective it was. This made the
experiences I had meant so much more to me because I was challenged to
reevaluate every step rather than teach and be done.
Standard 1: Model collaborative knowledge
construction by engaging in learning with students, colleagues, and others in
face-to-face and virtual environments.
Throughout
the creation of my two lessons and the lessons about the smartboard that we
presented to the class and virtual field trips I have been given multiple
opportunities to engage in learning with my colleagues. This to me has been one
of the best parts because I believe that the best way to learn is to do it in a
way that makes the content meaningful and important to the student. Learning
alongside some of the greatest people I know has helped me to implement the two
lessons I did and they have helped me to better myself as a teacher. There are
multiple times when the girls at my table and I have discussed various elements
of our lessons when planning them because we value the input of each other and
our learning.
Standard 2: Design or adapt relevant learning experiences
that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and
creativity.
Both
of my lessons had to be adapted to incorporate technology into them. I started
out by coming up with lessons that I thought would be interesting and exciting
to teach. Once I came up with the plan of what I was going to teach, I began to
wonder how I was going to teach that specific content to my colleagues who at
the time were pretending to be the ages that my lessons were geared towards. My
professor would come over to me and we would begin to discuss the vision that I
had for the lessons that I wanted to teach. Together we would adapt my vision
to include various uses of technology that would enhance the content being
taught in a way that was engaging to my students.
Standard 2: Develop technology-enriched learning
environments that enable all students to pursue their individual curiosities
and become active participants in setting their own educational goals.
Within
my own classroom, I would like to be able to supply a checklist of things that
the children should have accomplished by the end of the week. This allows the
child to work in the order that they would like and allows them to implement
their own time management plans. Each week the students will be asked to
complete activities that are hands-on, technology centered, research centered
and some beneficial elements. Technology could be used to help the student’s
research something of interest in the class’ topic of study. It could help them
get better at math facts through various virtual games that are intriguing to
the students.
Standard 2: Customize and personalize learning
activities to address students’ diverse learning styles, working strategies,
and abilities using digital tools and resources.
Throughout
the creation of each lesson plan, I was asked to reflect on how I would change
my lessons to meet the needs of diverse populations. Every class in the real
world is full of students from diverse backgrounds. It is my job as a teacher
to use technology in my classroom to help give the students a successful path
towards their diverse futures. I have learned that I can use various technology
programs to differentiate the way I present content to my students and how I
ask them to prove their knowledge to me without having to compromise the
content itself.
Standard 2: Provide students with multiple and
varied formative and summative assessments aligned with content and technology
standards and use resulting data to inform learning and teaching.
This
is a standard that I did not achieve very well. Most of my assessments were
informal and formal. I used a lot of observation throughout my lessons to
assess the students on what they were able to understand versus what they were
not able to understand. For formal assessments on the lessons that I taught I
used rubrics and creative assignments. Based on the timing available for this
class, I was unable to use the data in summative assessments because we only
had time to do two short lessons rather than one continuous lesson twice. In
the real world, I would be using assessments to rethink lessons and in the
creation of new lessons.
Standard 3: Demonstrate fluency in technology
systems and the transfer of current knowledge to new technologies and situations.
In
today’s society it is uncommon to find a lot of people without different
technology systems in their possession. I think that it would be interesting to
let the students do what my class did this semester. Every student will get in
a group and choose a piece of technology to research and present to the class.
This will give every student a chance to learn how to use multiple technology
systems in ways that can enhance their learning of content in and out of the
classroom.
Standard 3: Collaborate with students, peers,
parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support
student success and innovation.
In
my future classroom, I would like to have a class website that is updated at
least once a week. This will help the students, parents and community members
stay involved within what is taking place in my classroom. I would like to be
able to create a website that will include things like things that are being
taught that week, homework assignments, upcoming events, themes for certain
projects, pictures of the students work, and what parents/ members from the
community can do to help out within my classroom. Resources like glogster could
help with this later on.
Standard 3: Communicate relevant information and
ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of
digital-age media and formats.
This
standard relates very closely to the previous one. I think that I would love to
use technology as a way to communicate with my parents and students as best as
possible. This may not always work and sometimes technology will have to be
used through the use of me creating something to stick in folders for hard
copies to those parents who may not have technology readily available.
Standard 3: Model and facilitate effective use of
current and emerging digital tools to locate, analyze, evaluate, and use
information resources to support research and learning.
This
is another standard that was not necessarily present during this semester’s
class but I have been given some ideas on how to demonstrate this standard out
in my own classroom. Currently, in the classroom that I have spent my semester
doing practicum in has allowed me the opportunity to watch technology improve
the lives of things like keeping track of grades, holding teacher parent
conferences and the learning the teachers are doing. There is a system that
will create charts and graphs to show a student’s progress over time and how
their success compares to that of the rest of the class. Things like student
surveys and blogs help the teacher to analyze and evaluate their lessons
performance.
Standard 4: 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.
In
a previous blog post, I had written about this topic. I want my students to be
able to feel free to use the technology as a resource into past lives and
future ones without having to worry about all of the wrong that could take
place on the technology. My students will know that it is okay to use someone’s
research but that I want to know what they are taking away from that research.
If I wanted that author’s take on the subject I would have looked it up on my
own instead of making them do twice the necessary work. My students should feel
safe when they google something for a project and not have to worry about what
could pop up during that search. Technology is an amazing gift that our society
often takes for granted but it is also a place where a lot of horrible things
could be found and that is not something that children should be exposed to.
Standard 4: Address the diverse needs of all
learners by using learner-centered strategies providing equitable access to
appropriate digital tools and resources.
Technology
allows for children to learn at a pace that meets their developmental growth.
Too often, schools try to force 25 students to learn the same material, the
same way at the same time. Any great teacher would know that this method does
not work. No single content can be taught one way and reach every child on that
same day. Children need to be allowed to have the flexibility to work alongside
their developmental stages so that they can advance instead of fall behind.
Technology is a great way to meet the needs of all students while addressing
the standards that are set in place for that grade level during that year.
Students can explore various modes of representation and find different ways to
express their understanding in a way that makes them excited to learn.
Standard 4: Promote and model digital etiquette and
responsible social interactions related to the use of technology and
information.
Technology
is a right not a guarantee in life which means that if it is used incorrectly
that there will be consequences. Students in my class will learn from day one
that bullying is not an acceptable way to handle difficult feelings. Whether
this bullying is in person or online there will be consequences as a result to
bullying. Students need to remember that the things that are posted online can
be seen by everyone and there is no way to permanently erase the words that
have been written. This can seem like a hard concept to understand especially
at a young age, as it is even difficult for adults to comprehend. It is
important that children understand the repercussions of the actions that they
do while using technology.
Standard 4: Develop and model cultural understanding
and global awareness by engaging with colleagues and students of other cultures
using digital-age communication and collaboration tools.
A
blog post written earlier this semester describes the importance of using
technology to communicate throughout the globe. The world is becoming a place
that relies on global communications to keep it running smoothly (or in war’s
case not so smoothly). Students should learn that the education that they
receive in school is something that will transfer to their futures. Technology
allows people to communicate with one another from throughout the world. Since
the evolution of technology, people have been able to translate between
languages and communicate with a world outside of the one that they can experience
in their everyday lives. This is why it is important to let students explore
other cultures through the use of technology.
