Sunday, November 20, 2011

Lesson Reflection: Land Forms



Describe what happened:
This lesson was part of a week of topic development activities leading up to our class beginning a unit on landforms where they will be reading a Science A-Z book and doing some independent projects relating to the topic.  Prior to my lesson, the class had watched some videos from the Planet Earth series.  This lesson was a whole class lesson where I had students use a web browser to navigate to the web site, http://www.kineticcity.com/mindgames/warper/, and play the game on the site which had them look at different landforms and choose an earth shaping force and time frame for the process to happen.  Then I had students write about their experiences and what they observed from the model.  I also related the game to how scientists often use computer models and talked about how it is sometimes much easier to run a computer model because it can make an experiment that would take 100 years to complete in the real world possible to do in only a few minutes.  
In general, the whole class was very excited to do this lesson.  The graphics in the game are very nice and it is completely intuitive and user friendly.  Even our lowest readers and writers were able to participate in the game and take notes.  By having the observation sheet as a guide, students were self-directed for the majority of the time they were on the computer. There were about 5 students that finished significantly earlier than the rest of the class, so I had them do an Internet search of the different forces at work on the land in Alaska which worked well because the students that finished the earliest are the ones most capable of doing a self-directed, less structured activity on the computer.
Differentiation:
            The nature of this web site made it accessible for students with a wide variety of abilities to use and have a positive experience with.  By giving out a graphic organizer with open ended instructions, all students were able to write to the best of their ability.  One area that some students had trouble with was typing the web address into the browser; even though I created a portal ahead of time with a simpler address than the actual web site's web address, some students still took several minutes to actually make it to the web site.  Considering the fact that we were using a class set of lap tops which is often an invitation for technical difficulties, this was a relatively minor problem, and I am happy to say that we had no major tech. problems during the rest of the lesson.
            The students that required the most differentiation during this activity were actually the higher students who enjoyed the activity and participated in it fully but finished much quicker than the rest of the class.  The web site had a section where students could read about the different forces, but even that was something they breezed through, so I had them do an extra activity which they seemed to enjoy, and one student even found another web site that we may use later on in this unit.
Outcomes:
            One of the most exciting outcomes occurred when I took up the observation papers and saw that every single student had completed the majority of the paper, and one student in particular made me very happy with his writing.  This particular student is a low reader and almost never writes a single word in class, but he wrote quite a lot himself then sought help from Nancy to finish writing the last few sentences which is a great step for him in becoming self-advocating in his learning.
            By looking at their notes and listening to the group discussion after the activity, I think that the lesson helped students begin to form ideas about exactly how different forces shape the land, and it prompted many students to make connections between the Planet Earth videos they had been watching.  I think that by the time students actually start reading about land forms they will have sufficient background knowledge to be able to make deep connections and understandings.
Communicating Expectations/Critical Thinking
            At the beginning of the lesson, I explicitly wrote my objectives out on the white board and talked about my objectives for the lesson with the students.  I told them that I wanted them to investigate the idea of how different forces shape the land and practice taking notes.  As I mentioned above, I also talked about how important computer modeling is to science.  I also had all of the instructions for the activity printed on their observation sheet so that students could easily reference what to do next when they finished a task.
            Students used critical thinking while actually playing the game where they had to use their prior knowledge to make reasonable guesses.  They also synthesized the information as they took notes on what they had learned, and evaluated the lesson and their own learning during the closing discussion.
Improvements for Next Time:
            Over all, I was very pleased with how this lesson went.  It was a huge relief to have the lesson go off with relatively few glitches in the technology, and I was very pleased by the overall positive reaction to the web site from the class.  The one area of my lesson that could have used some improvement was my final discussion.  The class seemed a little squirmy from the activity, and some students were starting to check out instead of participating in the discussion.  In the future, I think I would pre-write my review questions instead of trying to think them up on the spot because I could have done a better job of questioning for deep reflection.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Using Podcasts in the Elementary Classroom

Portable radio in a straw hat, made by an American inventor. 1931
There are a variety of applications for podcasts in the classroom both as a resource made by other people and as something teachers and students can create themselves.  From communicating with students to parents to other teachers, podcasting can be a medium for teachers to enhance the way they present information with a few resources that all teachers in the Juneau School District already have access to (Kenuam, 2010).

There is also a wealth of free podcasts available for teachers to use that already exists.  With the click of a mouse, teachers can bring experts into their classrooms, have stories read to their students, or give students a peak into the lives of the authors whose works they are reading.

Scientific American publishes a series of podcasts called 60 Second Science which are short news-clip style audio-only podcasts on a variety of science topics.  While some of the podcasts are too advanced for most elementary school classrooms, some of the podcasts are on such high interest topics that they would be great for a brain break or mini lesson.  For example, this episode on piranhas would capture the attention of my 4th and 5th grade class while communicating to them some interesting facts and exposing them to the scientific process in action.

Another application of podcasts in the classroom is as a read aloud.  Sites such as Storynory, The Story Home, and Activated Stories allow students to listen to a variety of stories for free.  I could see this being of use at a listening center particularly in a primary classroom although many of these stories would be interesting to students of any age.  What is nice about some of these sites is that the text for the stories is either provided or easily accessible as most of the stories are in the public domain, so students could read along as they listen.

Finally, Reading Rocket's Meet the Author podcast is a video podcast of interviews with famous authors of children's books.  This podcast would be a great way to introduce a new book for a read aloud or literature study and would also be a way to get kids thinking about why people write.

The podcasts I have named are just a few of the many free podcasts available for teachers to use in their class.


Resources
Activated Stories. (2007). Activated Stories. Retrieved November 8, 2011, from http://activated.libsyn.com/

Education Videos & Podcasts | Reading Rockets. (2011). Reading Comprehension & Language Arts Teaching Strategies for Kids | Reading Rockets. Retrieved November 9, 2011, from http://www.readingrockets.org/podcasts/ 

Gostwick, N., & Hugh, F. (2005). Latest Stories. Storynory, Free Audio Stories for Kids. Retrieved November 8, 2011, from http://storynory.com/

Kenuam, A. (2010). Podcasts in Education Made Simple. Slide Share. Retrieved November 8, 2011, from http://www.slideshare.net/akenuam/podcasts-in-education-made-simple

Scientific American: 60-Second Science. (2011). Scientific American. Retrieved November 8, 2011, from http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/podcasts.cfm?type=60-second-science

Purple Button Media LLC. (2007). The Story Home™ Children's Audio Stories . The Story Home™ Children's Audio Stories. Retrieved November 8, 2011, from http://thestoryhome.com/ 

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Technology in Contemporary Elementary Schools

Contemporary elementary schools are using a variety of new and older technologies in their schools to enhance student learning. From desktop computers to iPads, there are an almost infinite number of ways contemporary elementary schools can find to bring technology into education. One of the most important tools that elementary schools can use is the internet which brings whole new dimensions to the capabilities of the hardware students use (Byrne, 2011).

Many schools are finding ways to get technology into the hands of students by having class sets of computing devices. IPads, iPod Touches, lap top computers, and netbooks are some of the devices schools are purchasing for entire classes or even entire schools. When every student has access to the software at the same time, there is a wide range of uses for these devices in the classroom (Byrne, 2011).

There are many different types of software for students to use when they are on personal devices. Apps, computer programs, podcasts, and web 2.0 sites all provide ways for students to participate in interactive programs that not only seek to teach but also often provide ways for students to publish their work to the world (Pilter, 2007). For example, a class blog can be a great way for students to share what they are doing in class with their family and friends outside of school. What is more, these new ways of storing information allow students' work to be preserved indefinitely and universally accessible to any teacher. Digital cameras and video cameras can also open up new ways for students to publish their works to the world (Pilter, 2007).

Other pieces of technology in the classroom are larger pieces that can be used by students and teachers during whole group instructions. For example, interactive whiteboards, document cameras,sound systems, microphones, televisions can all be technologies that enhance classroom instruction. Not only do these technologies gain student attention and increase motivation, they also provide students with exposure to the types of technologies they will be expected to use later in school and beyond (Byrne, 2011).

Resources


Byrne, Richard . "Free Technology for Teachers." Free Technology for Teachers. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Nov. 2011. <http://www.freetech4teachers.com/>


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

Lesson Reflection

Lesson Description                                                                                                                                                                                                       During this small group lesson, I worked with some of my fifth grade students to plan a presentation they have been researching for several weeks.  To start off the lesson, I showed them a PowerPoint I used to use when I was teaching environmental education about insects.  The presentation uses several different effects which I wanted them to see so that they would have an idea of what their presentation would look like in PowerPoint.  I also showed them a presentation from prezi.com as an alternative.  The students were instantly taken with the prezi presentation, so we decided that they would use that as their platform.  Next, I had the students do the tutorial and play around with a blank presentation for a while so that they could get a feel for how the software works.  After about ten minutes I had the students talk with me about their plans and answered any questions they had come up with.  They needed help importing pictures, so I showed them how to use the navigation buttons, and they got to work building their presentation.  While they were working, I realized that they could both work on the same presentation at different computers if they were working under different user names, so I quickly registered Nancy as a user and sent the link to the presentation to her account.  The students were delighted to both be working on the presentation at the same time and quickly began dividing up the tasks so that they were both working on different parts of the presentation at the same time.  I was impressed by how quickly they picked up the new program, and how user friendly Prezi was for our purposes.  The students will continue to build their presentations for the next several work sessions, and will present their topic to the class at a later date.

Differentiation
            This lesson was delivered within the context of a larger unit that is being highly differentiated for the students in our class.  The students I was working with were high achiving fifth grade students that were part of a group of students all doing independent research projects.  If I was to do this lesson with the entire class, I would have used more structure to allow students to be most effective.  These students had already done their research and taken notes on their subject; however, if I was working with students who were not as prepared, I would have used either a story board or some sort of other graphic organizer to have students pre-plan their presentations.  The program is intuitive enough that most students would be able to use the lessons after a quick introduction, so I think it would be most effective to trouble shoot any problems one on one after students have had a chance to explore the site.  If I was working with struggling writers, I could help the students by pre-typing a block of text for them and teaching them how to copy and paste the text into their presentation.  Because the software functions mostly with graphics instead of words, I think that most English language learners would be able to use the site with only a little extra scaffolding.

Communicating Expectations and Standards/Critical Thinking
            The expectations for this lesson, that students would choose and begin to create a presentation, was communicated to the students at the beginning of the lesson verbally. 
            While I was showing the students the different ways they might present their information, I asked critical thinking questions about the benefits and draw backs of PowerPoint and Prezi.  The students are also synthesizing the information they have gained through their research to create their presentations.

Improvement for the Future
            If I was to do this lesson again, I would have used a more structured graphic organizer for my students to create before they started their presentation.  Although the students that I was working with were able to easily translate their notes to their presentation, this might have caused problems for other students.  Another thing I would have changed if I was going to have students specifically working on presentations in Prezi, I would have shown the students an exemplar before they started researching because I think it would be a powerful motivator to do the research part of the project and get to the presentation building.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Boolean Search

Search Keys

Purpose of limiter

What did you find when you tried it? How many hits? Was this limiter effective?

AND

Narrows down your search by only showing things that contain both phrases on either side of the and

When searching Norwegian and knitting:

2,980,000 results were found on Google on a wide variety of topics.

OR

Broadens your search results by showing things that contain phrases on either side of the or

When searching Norwegian or knitting:

Same results as using and

NOT

Narrows down your search by eliminating things from your search that contain the phrase after not

When searching Norwegian knitting not patterns: 2,930,000 results were found although many still contained patterns

“ “

Tells the search engine what words constitute the phrase being acted on

When searching “Norwegian knitting” not pattern: however, adding the “” around Norwegian knitting reduced the results to 50,300 results which was significant

*

This is the wildcard. It is added to words in places where letters may vary but you want to search for all forms of the word

When searching “Norwegian knitting” not pattern*: Adding the * to the end of pattern actually increased the results to 194,000

- (minus)

The same as not

When searching "Norwegian knitting" -pattern*: the results were slightly different with 154,000 results

+ (plus)

The same as and

When searching Norwegian+knitting, the results were the same as using and

5 Others You’ve Found

Near

Similar to and but the words must be found within a certain space of each other

Using near also yielded the same results as using and

:.org

Put this after your search term to retrieve results that only come from .org websites

Using this filter left 1,240,000 sites.

Zip code

Type your 5 digit zip code in after the search phrase to get results limited to your location in Google

Searching knitting 99801 yielded 144,000 results for knitting in Juneau

~

Place this immediately in front of the word you are searching to find synonyms

Using the ~ before patterns in Norwegian knitting patterns caused the results to jump from 179,000 to1,180,000

:.gov

Narrows your search to only websites ending in .gov

Searching for Norway:.gov yielded a variety of government information on the country.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Reflection on VoiceThread

Using VoiceThread for our last assignment was a fun way to create a multimedia slideshow that could have many applications in the classroom.  Using this site to create a digital story was a challenge because you have to keep in mind the interactivity of the program.  When you design a digital story telling project, I think it is natural to imagine that the story will need a certain level of flow between scenes or slides. In VoiceThread, though, there is a good chance that your story will be punctuated with other people's comments.  While the ability to comment on individual slides is one of the great features of VoiceThread, it changes the way that you must think about your presentation.

I could see using VoiceThread in my class in a number of different ways.  In addition to telling stories, this site would be a great way to show off student work, present class photos of an event, or communicate with parents what is going on.  A teacher could also create a VoiceThread as a form of assessment.  In this VoiceThread, a teacher has posted math problems and the students have commented their responses along with their strategies for solving the problems.

Overall, this site offers a lot of great ways to bring technology into the classroom and give every student a voice on the web.  Whether they are creating their own story or commenting on one slide about themselves in a VoiceThread about the whole class, they can have ownership of the work.  Also, it allows students to publish their work to the outside world.  This could be a parent or grandparent or it could be a complete stranger.  Either way, students' motivation will be incredibly high to complete work that they are proud of.