Several of the literature teachers in my building use the forum feature on Moodle for students to respond to literature. I have not seen the lesson plans for this assignment, but I’ve heard a great deal about it from students and the teachers. Forum discussions force students to form opinions about their reading and defend them. They also allow students to have a discussion using a format in which they are comfortable. I would really like to try using forums with my students.
The teachers assigns students to forum groups based on the book they are reading (this assignment is usually used for their required outside reading book). There is usually some time spent in class showing the students how to use the forum feature on Moodle. Some teachers assign certain discussion topics, some allow a mixture of assigned topics and student choice, and some teachers allow students to choose all discussion topics. The students are required to post to the forum a certain number of times for each section of the book. They are also required to respond to other threads. These posts are usually done as homework.
Teachers only hear about work other teachers assign if it is awesome or it is loathed. I have heard both about the forums. Several students have told me about the debates they are having over the literature and even checked with me about historical information relating to the story. Some students express shock at how insightful or combative a normally quiet student in class is on the forum. Other students do not like having to make nightly or weekly posts. Several others don’t like trying to respond to posts that are not of high quality in order to earn the grade they desire.
Many students think more insightfully about the literature because they are starting threads and thoughtfully responding to threads created by their peers. Some of these students may not have read the book but are inspired by the conversation. Other students flip through the book or Spark Notes to find something to write about. They do not engage in the book and the discussions do not interest them.
The students are given a grade for their participation on the forums. There is a rubric, but I have not seen it. From what I can gather, students are graded on the quality of their comments which include reference to the literature. They must complete a certain number of original posts and respond thoughtfully to a certain number of posts.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Topic 7. Ed Teach Journal 1
The technology that I integrate the most is student response systems and the active board. I find them a useful tool for formative assessment. The students like them because they receive immediate feedback. An active board, a set of student response systems, LCD projector, and a computer are required.
The most recent lesson using the student response system was practicing with multiple choice questions and thesis statements. A few days before the first test, I could tell the students needed more practice with multiple choice strategies and writing thesis statements for change over time essays.
I gave the students a 5 question multiple choice quiz at the beginning of class. They completed the quiz on paper. Once all students were finished, I had the students text in their response to the first question. I then displayed the results. We noted which answers were most popular and then minimized the results. The question was already typed on the screen. I then modeled how to eliminate distractors to arrive at the correct answer. As we eliminated distractors, students were given feedback about why their answer was incorrect.
Since I know which voter each student is using, I can tell which students are consistently answering incorrectly. After class that day or the next day, I asked them what was happening during the practice quiz. Some said they simply didn’t know the information and realized they needed to study more. Other students struggled with the multiple choice questions, but said they felt more confident after the explanations I gave.
After we finished with the multiple choice quiz, I divided the students into groups and had them write thesis statements about political changes in India. The students had already been working on outlining this essay topic the day before. Each group was instructed to write a thesis statement. Each group then texted the thesis statement using the voter. I copied and pasted each statement onto a flipchart page. The groups then used the voters to rank the statements: 1. no credit, 2. partial credit, 3. full credit. After reviewing the results, students came to the board to suggest improvements to statements that did not score a 3.
Most of the statements ended up being 2s and a few were 3s. Students who scored 2s were able to see where they were making mistakes. Most of the students had a correct thesis or at least a correctly formatted thesis on their change over time essay later that week.
While this lesson took longer than going over the quiz and statements verbally, most students got more out of the lesson. Some of the students who are good at multiple choice were bored during that part of the lesson. However, the students seemed more engaged in the writing lesson than they normally are.
The most recent lesson using the student response system was practicing with multiple choice questions and thesis statements. A few days before the first test, I could tell the students needed more practice with multiple choice strategies and writing thesis statements for change over time essays.
I gave the students a 5 question multiple choice quiz at the beginning of class. They completed the quiz on paper. Once all students were finished, I had the students text in their response to the first question. I then displayed the results. We noted which answers were most popular and then minimized the results. The question was already typed on the screen. I then modeled how to eliminate distractors to arrive at the correct answer. As we eliminated distractors, students were given feedback about why their answer was incorrect.
Since I know which voter each student is using, I can tell which students are consistently answering incorrectly. After class that day or the next day, I asked them what was happening during the practice quiz. Some said they simply didn’t know the information and realized they needed to study more. Other students struggled with the multiple choice questions, but said they felt more confident after the explanations I gave.
After we finished with the multiple choice quiz, I divided the students into groups and had them write thesis statements about political changes in India. The students had already been working on outlining this essay topic the day before. Each group was instructed to write a thesis statement. Each group then texted the thesis statement using the voter. I copied and pasted each statement onto a flipchart page. The groups then used the voters to rank the statements: 1. no credit, 2. partial credit, 3. full credit. After reviewing the results, students came to the board to suggest improvements to statements that did not score a 3.
Most of the statements ended up being 2s and a few were 3s. Students who scored 2s were able to see where they were making mistakes. Most of the students had a correct thesis or at least a correctly formatted thesis on their change over time essay later that week.
While this lesson took longer than going over the quiz and statements verbally, most students got more out of the lesson. Some of the students who are good at multiple choice were bored during that part of the lesson. However, the students seemed more engaged in the writing lesson than they normally are.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Topic 6. Tech Skills: Database
Databases organize information. They also allow users to search for information within the database. Of the basic three, this was the program I knew the least about. I did not know the difference between a database and a spreadsheet before reading this chapter. Databases organize information while spreadsheets organize numerical data.
Most of my students use databases for research. Our school library has several different subscriptions that they can access from home rather than using books in the library. The databases allow students greater access to materials. Many of the articles available online are not available in our school library or the local public library. Random idea: Is itunes a sort of database? It organizes music and you can search it.
While I see my students using databases that are already created, I don't think many of them would know how to create a database on their own. I also don't know of any teachers in my building who use databases in their instruction. Databases do have a place in my course. Students are required to know about pretty much every civilization from the beginning of time. One of the AP essay questions is about change over time. If my classes created databases with each civilization and the basic features of each theme, students could use searches to analyze change over time in each theme.
Teachers also use databases for research. After learning what a database is, I realize we have several that we use at school for student data. While I am as comfortable with database technology as I am with word processing or even spreadsheets, I do believe databases help teachers be more efficient. They also could be beneficial as a review tool for my students.
Most of my students use databases for research. Our school library has several different subscriptions that they can access from home rather than using books in the library. The databases allow students greater access to materials. Many of the articles available online are not available in our school library or the local public library. Random idea: Is itunes a sort of database? It organizes music and you can search it.
While I see my students using databases that are already created, I don't think many of them would know how to create a database on their own. I also don't know of any teachers in my building who use databases in their instruction. Databases do have a place in my course. Students are required to know about pretty much every civilization from the beginning of time. One of the AP essay questions is about change over time. If my classes created databases with each civilization and the basic features of each theme, students could use searches to analyze change over time in each theme.
Teachers also use databases for research. After learning what a database is, I realize we have several that we use at school for student data. While I am as comfortable with database technology as I am with word processing or even spreadsheets, I do believe databases help teachers be more efficient. They also could be beneficial as a review tool for my students.
Topic 5. Tech Skill: Spreadsheets
Spreadsheet programs are primarily used when working with numerical data. Spreadsheets will perform calculations and produce graphic representations of the data. To be honest, I've never really known much about spreadsheet programs. This summer I became a bit more interested as I worked on learning my ActiveExpressions software. Reading the chapter in the Roblyer book and doing some research on my own, made me aware of multiple ways I could use spreadsheets in the classroom that I had not considered. Up to this point, I didn't think programs such as Excel had any value in a World History classroom.
Looking into spreadsheets this summer, I found that students could use Excel to create all sorts of products. One idea was to create trading cards with graphics and information about a topic. Using Excel allows several cards per page and maintains a uniform size. Another idea was to make propaganda posters using Excel to divide the image. Students can then print parts of the image on several pages and paste the pages together to make a poster.
In reading the Roblyer text, it is clear spreadsheets would be quite useful in math or science. I know I would have benefitted from visual representations of numerical data. The book also mentions students can make timelines in spreadsheets. This is something I would like to learn how to do. My students find timelines tremendously helpful, but they are difficult to create. I've tried several methods in Word, but I haven't found a format I like.
Spreadsheet programs are also useful to the teacher in analyzing student data. I'm currently trying to learn more about exporting the date from my ActiveExpressions to Excel in order to analyze student performance. I also just received the breakdown of how my students scored in different areas on the AP exam. Creating a chart comparing our scores to the national average would be a great motivator for students when introducing essay writing.
Looking into spreadsheets this summer, I found that students could use Excel to create all sorts of products. One idea was to create trading cards with graphics and information about a topic. Using Excel allows several cards per page and maintains a uniform size. Another idea was to make propaganda posters using Excel to divide the image. Students can then print parts of the image on several pages and paste the pages together to make a poster.
In reading the Roblyer text, it is clear spreadsheets would be quite useful in math or science. I know I would have benefitted from visual representations of numerical data. The book also mentions students can make timelines in spreadsheets. This is something I would like to learn how to do. My students find timelines tremendously helpful, but they are difficult to create. I've tried several methods in Word, but I haven't found a format I like.
Spreadsheet programs are also useful to the teacher in analyzing student data. I'm currently trying to learn more about exporting the date from my ActiveExpressions to Excel in order to analyze student performance. I also just received the breakdown of how my students scored in different areas on the AP exam. Creating a chart comparing our scores to the national average would be a great motivator for students when introducing essay writing.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Topic 4. Tech Skill: Word Processor
"Mamma T, you made this one didn't you?" "Oh, no. You wrote the quiz?" "This font makes me happy."
There are four people on our AP World History team. We take turns creating assignments and quizzes. When I'm going through old files, I can tell who wrote the lesson or quiz based on the style of the document. Based on the comments above, so can our students. This is why I really love the word processing program Word. I like that I can put a fun font or picture on an assignment or quiz and make a kid smile. My colleague loves using footers to add corny jokes to the bottom of quizzes (Did you know Mesopotamia talked a lot? They would Babylon and on.) I can pick out a certain students' homework by the font they use or the lack of formatting and upper case letters.
Word processing programs such as Word are primarily used for communicating through typed text. Word makes anything teachers produce look more professional and interesting. It also allows us to make small changes to lessons, notes, or assessments without rewriting the entire assignment. Working as a team, we can easily e-mail documents for proofing or critique. I've noticed more and more teachers are having students submit their papers electronically so that they can use the editing function in Word to critique papers. Many teachers who would not give students handwritten critiques are giving students specific critiques. Charts and pictures can be inserted into Word documents. I often create graphic organizers and flow charts that incorporate pictures to help students with complex topics.
For students, Word allows their teachers to produce notes that are legible and neatly organized. Documents created in a word processing program can also be shared on websites for easy student access. Word processing also allows students to express themselves in writing. Many students do not like to write, but are happy to do anything on the computer. Word processors usually have spell check and grammar check which help the students feel more confident about the quality of the product they are creating. These programs also have functions which help them easily format different kinds of documents and citations. My students enjoy creating notes or homework in Word. They like to change the fonts and font colors for different topics. I'm not sure if it helps them remember the information better, but they are more motivated to do the homework.
The concerns I see regarding the use of word processing programs is that cheating is a lot easier. Students can easily cut and paste text into a Word document. Students who create assignments in a word processing program can print copies for their friends as well. Students also don't see the need to learn to spell or write legibly because word processing software is so widely available. It seems more teachers provide notes for students because they are easy to produce and share. I often wonder if providing notes is more helpful or harmful to students.
There are four people on our AP World History team. We take turns creating assignments and quizzes. When I'm going through old files, I can tell who wrote the lesson or quiz based on the style of the document. Based on the comments above, so can our students. This is why I really love the word processing program Word. I like that I can put a fun font or picture on an assignment or quiz and make a kid smile. My colleague loves using footers to add corny jokes to the bottom of quizzes (Did you know Mesopotamia talked a lot? They would Babylon and on.) I can pick out a certain students' homework by the font they use or the lack of formatting and upper case letters.
Word processing programs such as Word are primarily used for communicating through typed text. Word makes anything teachers produce look more professional and interesting. It also allows us to make small changes to lessons, notes, or assessments without rewriting the entire assignment. Working as a team, we can easily e-mail documents for proofing or critique. I've noticed more and more teachers are having students submit their papers electronically so that they can use the editing function in Word to critique papers. Many teachers who would not give students handwritten critiques are giving students specific critiques. Charts and pictures can be inserted into Word documents. I often create graphic organizers and flow charts that incorporate pictures to help students with complex topics.
For students, Word allows their teachers to produce notes that are legible and neatly organized. Documents created in a word processing program can also be shared on websites for easy student access. Word processing also allows students to express themselves in writing. Many students do not like to write, but are happy to do anything on the computer. Word processors usually have spell check and grammar check which help the students feel more confident about the quality of the product they are creating. These programs also have functions which help them easily format different kinds of documents and citations. My students enjoy creating notes or homework in Word. They like to change the fonts and font colors for different topics. I'm not sure if it helps them remember the information better, but they are more motivated to do the homework.
The concerns I see regarding the use of word processing programs is that cheating is a lot easier. Students can easily cut and paste text into a Word document. Students who create assignments in a word processing program can print copies for their friends as well. Students also don't see the need to learn to spell or write legibly because word processing software is so widely available. It seems more teachers provide notes for students because they are easy to produce and share. I often wonder if providing notes is more helpful or harmful to students.
Topic 3. Model Classroom Lessons
This week I viewed three lessons on the Technology Applications Network site. I only found five secondary social studies lessons and only two were for World History. The World History lessons were “What an Age!” addressing different aspects of the Renaissance and “The Holocaust: Their Story.” The other lesson was a U.S. History lesson on “Major Events of the 20th Century.” The Renaissance and U.S. History lessons were quality lessons while the Holocaust lesson seemed a bit weak. My overall concern with the lessons is that they are all projects which require a great deal of time to complete.
The “What an Age!” lesson seemed to be a lesson I could incorporate on a much smaller scale in my classroom. The teacher devoted 5-6 days of class to planning and presenting while I only have one day for the Renaissance. I liked that the teacher gave the students choice about their topic and that the students presented the topic of the Renaissance rather than the teacher. I also liked that the students were required to provide visuals—you can’t teach the Renaissance without pictures.
If I were to use this project, I would use the portable laptops at my school and have the students create the presentation during one class period and present the next class period. The students are only given the option of a power point in the sample lesson plan, but I would probably allow Animoto or Moviemaker to make the presentation more interesting. The closure activities in the lesson suggest asking the students questions such as, “why did you include this?” or “what impact did that have?” These seem to be topics that should be covered in the required presentation.
The “Major Events of the 20th Century “ assignment would also be a project I would assign to my students with some modifications. Since my class is World History rather than U.S. I would change the requirement to world events rather than U.S. events. The students would be allowed to choose the technology they used to create their presentation as they are in the lesson plan. I would also require each group to develop a quiz for their presentation. Requiring students to take a quiz ensures they will pay attention and also gives groups feedback on how effective their presentation was. Like the Renaissance activity, students are encouraged to teach their peers while the teacher acts as facilitator. The extension suggestions for this activity were also quite valuable.
The project’s author estimates it will take 3-4 weeks to complete this project. This would work for my curriculum because the students could create the projects after the AP exam. The biggest criticism I have of this project is the option for students not to use technology. The lesson plan says, “this is not the time for teaching new computer skills.” The teacher should probably have one technology, such as power point, that would serve as a backup technology.
The last lesson plan I looked at was on the Holocaust. While I liked that the students were able to research a topic on their own, the product seems a bit weak. The students were to create a newsletter describing different peoples’ accounts of the camps. This seems pretty easy to plagiarize from existing websites. The assignment does not integrate the potential of desktop publishing software or what newsletters really look like. Pictures, announcements, and advertisements were not required. This would demonstrate further technology skills and creatively incorporate knowledge of the Holocaust. The presentation portion of the lesson plan was also quite weak. The suggestion was to make a news show or simply read the newsletter to the class. A trial, judging the newsletters, or making a movie in moviemaker would be more engaging.
Looking through these lessons I was shocked that there were so few lessons for high school social studies. I wondered if people were afraid to share or if they weren’t creating lessons such as these. Then I began to wonder why they were all projects. At this point, I answered my first question. I was concerned about projects because there is not time in my course to spend several days or weeks on the same topic. If this is my situation, then it is the situation of others in social studies. Now that I’ve answered that question—How can lessons incorporate technology without becoming projects that take days or weeks to complete?
The “What an Age!” lesson seemed to be a lesson I could incorporate on a much smaller scale in my classroom. The teacher devoted 5-6 days of class to planning and presenting while I only have one day for the Renaissance. I liked that the teacher gave the students choice about their topic and that the students presented the topic of the Renaissance rather than the teacher. I also liked that the students were required to provide visuals—you can’t teach the Renaissance without pictures.
If I were to use this project, I would use the portable laptops at my school and have the students create the presentation during one class period and present the next class period. The students are only given the option of a power point in the sample lesson plan, but I would probably allow Animoto or Moviemaker to make the presentation more interesting. The closure activities in the lesson suggest asking the students questions such as, “why did you include this?” or “what impact did that have?” These seem to be topics that should be covered in the required presentation.
The “Major Events of the 20th Century “ assignment would also be a project I would assign to my students with some modifications. Since my class is World History rather than U.S. I would change the requirement to world events rather than U.S. events. The students would be allowed to choose the technology they used to create their presentation as they are in the lesson plan. I would also require each group to develop a quiz for their presentation. Requiring students to take a quiz ensures they will pay attention and also gives groups feedback on how effective their presentation was. Like the Renaissance activity, students are encouraged to teach their peers while the teacher acts as facilitator. The extension suggestions for this activity were also quite valuable.
The project’s author estimates it will take 3-4 weeks to complete this project. This would work for my curriculum because the students could create the projects after the AP exam. The biggest criticism I have of this project is the option for students not to use technology. The lesson plan says, “this is not the time for teaching new computer skills.” The teacher should probably have one technology, such as power point, that would serve as a backup technology.
The last lesson plan I looked at was on the Holocaust. While I liked that the students were able to research a topic on their own, the product seems a bit weak. The students were to create a newsletter describing different peoples’ accounts of the camps. This seems pretty easy to plagiarize from existing websites. The assignment does not integrate the potential of desktop publishing software or what newsletters really look like. Pictures, announcements, and advertisements were not required. This would demonstrate further technology skills and creatively incorporate knowledge of the Holocaust. The presentation portion of the lesson plan was also quite weak. The suggestion was to make a news show or simply read the newsletter to the class. A trial, judging the newsletters, or making a movie in moviemaker would be more engaging.
Looking through these lessons I was shocked that there were so few lessons for high school social studies. I wondered if people were afraid to share or if they weren’t creating lessons such as these. Then I began to wonder why they were all projects. At this point, I answered my first question. I was concerned about projects because there is not time in my course to spend several days or weeks on the same topic. If this is my situation, then it is the situation of others in social studies. Now that I’ve answered that question—How can lessons incorporate technology without becoming projects that take days or weeks to complete?
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Topic 2: Technology Skills Individual Progress Plan
1. Excel: I'm familiar with its amazingness, but I've never been able to make amazingness happen.
- Plan of attack: tutorials on atomic learning, bug everyone who has ever told me of Excel's amazingness
- Products: Convert data from ActiveExpressions to Excel and analyze responses, create a home budget
2. Audio Files: I can download to itunes like its my job, challenged with doing anything else
- Plan of attack: tutorials on atomic learning, Promethean Planet or help to figure out how to add an audio file
- Product: add audio file to flipchart (I tried this today, but I think there is an easier way. My goals got ahead of my blogging)
3. Video #1: this was my weakest area. I don't know how to embed videos and I don't incorporate short clips.
- Plan of attack: tutorials on atomic learning, Promethean Planet, united streaming
- Product: embed a video in a flipchart to enhance a lesson
4. Video #2: clueless about how to use video editing software, kind of know how to use Animoto
- Plan of attack: tutorials on atomic learning, Animoto tutorials and set up account, iDVD tutorials
- Product: have students make an Animoto video, edit a home movie in iDVD
5. Communicate text, numbers, video, sound, images, etc: okay with this, but could be better
- Plan of attack: atomic learning tutorials, moodle help, figure out why PDF converter is not working, research google pages and google docs
- Product: provide several options for downloading a document on my moodle page, find a backup website or document storage site that is independent of the district server (it likes to crash)
Topic 1: Standards
NETS
The NETS establish technology standards for teachers rather than students. The NETS clearly establish the teacher as a facilitator rather than a giver of knowledge. The focus seems to be on creating deeper learning experiences through the use of technology. There also seems to be a strong emphasis on the teacher as a model. The standards encourage teachers to model ethical use of technology as well as model life long learning through continued professional development. By creating valuable learning experiences that meet the needs of each student and modeling life long learning, students are encouraged to become life long learners.
The goals set forth in the NETS are quite relevant in my classroom. My ultimate goal each year is to spark a little bit of curiosity in my students about something outside the United States. However, I don't think I do enough to encourage further research. I also doubt the students use the historical skills we use in class to evaluate modern sources or opinions. The repeated focus on creating a richer learning experience really resonates. I want to encourage my students to dig deeper into topics they are interested in, but the time constraints of the curriculum don't seem to allow it. There has got to be a way to do both, but I haven't found the answers yet.
The other NETS goals, such as modeling ethical behavior and professional development are also quite relevant. While teachers can't prevent all cheating, most of the internet cheating can be eliminated by creating assignments such as those called for in the NETS standards. Teachers must seek out quality professional development in technology. Districts tend to focus on the basic software training, but teachers really need ideas about effective implementation.
MTT
The MTT standards are standards set forth for teachers and are pretty similar to the NETS.
TEKS
The technology TEKS for high school are the standards for the technology courses offered at the high school level. The standards are written for the students, not the teachers. All of the TEKS and courses seem appropriate and relevant for high school students. All high school teachers probably don't need to be experts in animation or binary code, but it probably wouldn't hurt for all high school teachers to be able to pass the final exam for the basic computing course offered at their school. Teachers should know what kind of technology is available to students in the building in order to help students with projects. While it might seem that familiarity with the TEKS would help teachers gauge the technological abilities of their students, this is not the case. Students take technology courses at different grade levels and some have skills beyond the courses offered at school. Although my course does not require me to teach technology skills, I can reinforce skills taught at the lower grades and introduce relevant technology to my subject area.
The NETS establish technology standards for teachers rather than students. The NETS clearly establish the teacher as a facilitator rather than a giver of knowledge. The focus seems to be on creating deeper learning experiences through the use of technology. There also seems to be a strong emphasis on the teacher as a model. The standards encourage teachers to model ethical use of technology as well as model life long learning through continued professional development. By creating valuable learning experiences that meet the needs of each student and modeling life long learning, students are encouraged to become life long learners.
The goals set forth in the NETS are quite relevant in my classroom. My ultimate goal each year is to spark a little bit of curiosity in my students about something outside the United States. However, I don't think I do enough to encourage further research. I also doubt the students use the historical skills we use in class to evaluate modern sources or opinions. The repeated focus on creating a richer learning experience really resonates. I want to encourage my students to dig deeper into topics they are interested in, but the time constraints of the curriculum don't seem to allow it. There has got to be a way to do both, but I haven't found the answers yet.
The other NETS goals, such as modeling ethical behavior and professional development are also quite relevant. While teachers can't prevent all cheating, most of the internet cheating can be eliminated by creating assignments such as those called for in the NETS standards. Teachers must seek out quality professional development in technology. Districts tend to focus on the basic software training, but teachers really need ideas about effective implementation.
MTT
The MTT standards are standards set forth for teachers and are pretty similar to the NETS.
TEKS
The technology TEKS for high school are the standards for the technology courses offered at the high school level. The standards are written for the students, not the teachers. All of the TEKS and courses seem appropriate and relevant for high school students. All high school teachers probably don't need to be experts in animation or binary code, but it probably wouldn't hurt for all high school teachers to be able to pass the final exam for the basic computing course offered at their school. Teachers should know what kind of technology is available to students in the building in order to help students with projects. While it might seem that familiarity with the TEKS would help teachers gauge the technological abilities of their students, this is not the case. Students take technology courses at different grade levels and some have skills beyond the courses offered at school. Although my course does not require me to teach technology skills, I can reinforce skills taught at the lower grades and introduce relevant technology to my subject area.
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