EDU 6945: Instruction (2)

Throughout my internship, I have been researching and implementing various strategies for establishing an effective classroom structure. As the teacher of record for my classroom, I have great need in finding strategies that not only worked, but that made my initial year of teaching less stressful.

Classroom organization was the first place I needed useful strategies. Having four periods of Language Arts, a period of Advisory, and a period of Introduction to Art created a need for specifically designated places for student’s daily materials, completed work, no-name work, absent work, etc. Pinterest was a first resource filled with many quick ideas. Coworkers were also sources for ideas. The first strategy I implemented was a completed work turn-in system. This came from a coworker by recommendation of my son who had had her the previous year. It is a simply labeled system of drawers by class period or subject. Having been in classrooms where teachers use baskets, I like this idea more. It provided a secure system in which papers could not be easily knocked out and possibly lost.

The next borrowed strategy came later in the year through a discussion with yet another coworker. I was expressing my frustration with students not having pencils. I had tried a previously read about strategy called pencil upgrades in which the teacher upgrades a worn-down pencil of a student with a new pencil, and the student without a pencil gets the old pencil. While this was not a bad system, it did interrupt the class learning to implement. My coworker shared her system of providing a cup with student labeled pencils for frequent no pencil students. Students collected their pencil upon entering the classroom and returned it at the end of the period. It was a quick, easy, effective system that did not interrupt the class, and students could collect their pencil when collecting their class folder.

Perhaps the best strategy I received was a piece of advice. A veteran teacher shared the fact that not all work needs to be graded. A teacher can save their time and sanity by being selective in what they grade. Many activities are best used as practice and should not be subject to grading or if graded, grade for participation. This was a powerful idea for a new teacher. Knowing that it was okay to not grade everything my students did. This advice was further added to by my ELA coach who related a good practice is to grade for specific areas the class is working on. For example, if you are working on writing maybe you only grade on word choice and organization because those are the areas the class is working on.  These are key strategies for teachers as time management is often an obstacle.

Overall, I know that finding strategies and systems that work for my classroom will be an evolving process, but creating a learning environment in which the classroom runs effectively will go a long way to reducing the stress of being a new teacher. 

EDU 6945: Content Knowledge (4.2) &

6 Assessment (6.2)

For a teacher to be effective, they need to create a pathway between the learning standard being taught and the lessons used to get students to the standard. This pathway is marked by learning targets and formative assessments. The learning targets break down the standard or learning segment into manageable chunks. Formative assessments then checks to see that the students are on the path and moving toward the learning target.

A learning target written in student-friendly language is a great first step in this process. For a recent learning segment using paired texts, I used a variety of learning targets and formative assessment techniques to check that students were gaining on their objective (to apply a range of strategies to comprehend, construct meaning from, and interpret complex texts verbally, in writing, and by connecting two different texts to construct meaning).  I started this unit with a simpler, student-friendly academic language learning target, that being “I can Explain the similarities and differences between two written works on the same topic.” With this learning target, I addressed and discussed with the class what it means to explain, what is involved in the explanation process, such as details and examples. A couple of lessons later, the learning target evolved into, “I can compare and contrast two texts and find text evidence for support.” Again the same essential tasks and skills but now with a higher level of academic language and more exact tasks. Students then explored and discussed what the words “compare” and “contrast” meant in regards to the language arts classroom and in the activities they were engaged.

There were many formative assessments used to check student understandings in this lesson segment. A few of these included partner turn-and-talks in which students were able to discuss ideas and hear others ideas before engaging in a larger group discussion. This gave students a chance to practice using the academic language and discussion techniques/wording in a less formidable situation with the teacher still able to hear and check for understandings. Another formative assessment was listening to small group discussions.The lesson plan states the, “Teacher will conference with each group. Teacher will have selected students summarize their passage verbally for the teacher. Teacher will listen for misinformation and clear up any misconceptions. Teacher will listen to group discussion in response to the text dependent questions. Teacher will be listening and checking answers for evidence from the text.” A third, and perhaps most important assessment, involved that of student voice. Daily exit tickets,such as this, provided students the opportunity to express areas of concern or remaining questions. They also provided a means for me to check for understanding. To know which students were advancing toward or were capable of meeting the learning target, I added a goal to the students learning target. This target stated that students should be able to provide two pieces of evidence from the text for support. This then added a measurable component to the learning target. Students,as well as, myself could then determine their level of success.

A more concrete measure of student capability came at the end of the paired text packet, when the work was turned in for teacher evaluation and feedback. Evaluation and feedback were for these specific areas: 1.) Answers written as complete sentences, 2.) Answer conveys correct information/ideas, 3.) Answer gives evidence from text(s) for support, and 4.) Answer cites text. With this feedback students could better see patterns or areas that they were consistently missing and need to further work on, as well as, feedback on areas they were mastering.

EDTC 6431 Learning with Technology: Course Reflection

EDTC 6431 Learning with Technology course has been extremely beneficial in illustrating the 21st century skills students need for future academic and workplace success. A provided article by Huggins, Ritzhaupt, and Dawson related that the importance of teaching 21st century skills is the “ability [of students] to use technologies to support problem solving, critical thinking, communication, collaboration and decision-making” and it is the teacher's job to “support lifelong learning and for providing authentic learning opportunities that prepare students to succeed in a globally competitive workforce”(2014). Throughout this course we explored just what providing such experiences and learning opportunities entailed by focusing on each ISTE standard.  

These standards directly relate to the idea of planning and integrating technology with pedagogical methods to enhance student engagement and therefore student learning. I would say that technological awareness is the area in which I have grown most professionally. In creating my own personal trigger questions and subsequently searching for answers to that question, I have been exposed to the many ways technology can function as a learning tool. From flipped classrooms where students work more independently through the use of technology and the teacher acting as a facilitator to projects that can span the globe and have students of differing cultures collaborating to solve a problem, technology as a tool is powerful.

A fun project I embarked upon, as a result of my exposure to the many new tools in this course, was a presentation for another course EDU 6136. The course assignment was to create a handout, presentation, or video aimed at familiarizing new teachers with a learning topic from the course. I did not want to create the same old boring handout or video, so the presentation idea caught my eye and it made me think of the digital storytelling platforms I had read about in the assigned article, The power of digital story (2014). So, I created my presentation using Powtoon, a platform I had heard of through this course. It was a great exploration of the tool and I have since shared Powtoon with several co-workers.  This was a real example of how I could use this in my own classroom and because I have used it, I will be more comfortable incorporating it into my curriculum.

The world has become digitally based and as such students need to learn, practice, and engage in this way. Learning to become good digital citizens and collaborators is at the heart of 21st century student skills. Overall, the benefit of this course has been that I now see technology as a tool, and because I am now more aware of the vast array of digital platform out there I am more likely to go in search of one to incorporate into a unit to create heightened student engagement, collaboration, and creativity.

References

Dillion, B. (2014). The power of digital story. Edutopia. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/the-power-of-digital-story-bob-dillon

Huggins, A.C., Ritzhaupt, A.D., & Dawson, K. (2014). Measuring information and communication technology literacy using a performance assessment: Validation of the Student Tool for Technology Literacy (ST2L). Computers & Education, 77(C), 1-12.

EDTC 6431 Individual Project and Reflection

Phase 5 of this assignment asks for a reflection upon the lesson, the lesson objectives, instructional strategy, materials, and the assessment because only through the reflective and revising process does a great activity form. My project was a Choose Your Own Adventure writing project with the objective of: Middle school language arts students (audience) will demonstrate at or above standard mastery in creativity and innovation (degree) on all rubric criteria (behavior) by collaboratively and individually analyzing and creating their own adventure stories using digital tools (condition). This lesson works as a performance task assessment following a narrative writing unit. In this way students are able to put to work their knowledge of various literary elements and writing skills. The project provides multiple ways to assess students, such as, collaborative skills, organizational skills, peer feedback, technology citizenship, technology usage skills, writing conventions, and creativity.

Although I have yet to teach this lesson, there are some areas of concern, revision, and consideration that I can foresee will be needed. The first being group collaboration. 6th grade students still have a hard time focusing and staying on task. Collaboration will need to be an area added to the assessment rubric. Also, peer revision and feedback are areas students are still developing in. I will need to provide a written guide/checklist on areas for peer editing. As for digital tools, I do foresee having to provide further modeling and help for the Inklewriter platform. I will also need to check with our IT guys to ensure Inklewriter is a website that is not blocked from student access.  Also, I will need to have my students get permission from parents to set up Inklewriter accounts because they are under the age of 13. According to Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), children  under the age of 13 should not be asked to set up accounts without parent permission. (Miller, 2016). In the future, I would like to explore other formats for the final project. Hopefully, finding a user friendly platform that allows students to incorporate images, graphic, and music into their final presentation.

As for the instructional process, I feel the process will need to be taught to reveal any true problem areas. I like that students can have an option between digital graphic organizers and printed ones. This gives not only the student options, but the teacher as well in dealing with students who are not using technology responsibly or being positive group members.

Overall, I think the incorporation of tech into the lesson will greatly engage students. While allowing a wide array of subject and collaborative freedom will provide greater student buy in. I think students will enjoy this process of creating and sharing stories with their classmates.

Reference

Miller, B. (2016). Can I Use This App or Website for My Class? What to Know about Instructing Teachers and Students on Digital Citizenship, Digital Footprints, and Cybersafety. Knowledge Quest, 44(4), 22-29.

ISTE Standard 5:

Digital Citizenship

ISTE Standard 5 revolves around the safety factor educators must consider and incorporate when dealing with today’s digital based society and curriculum. Educators have been tasked with teaching students to “practice safe, legal, and responsible use of information and technology” (Wicks, 2017). This teaching of digital citizenship is the result of the rapid rise in technology use both personally and in education. One such factor I learned was called the “Passback Effect”. A new term for me but it is based on how modern parents “pass” children, even small children, a digital device to occupy them instead of more traditional methods of books, crayons,etc. This gives eventual rise to educational considerations, “teachers will have to realize that many young children will enter Kindergarten and pre-school with so much exposure to digital content and tools, there are many aspects of technology use that will have to be taken into consideration.” (BYOT, 2016). This listing of contributing factors was also presented in the article by Ribble and Miller, page 138, “parents ‘are not taking the time and effort to educate themselves, as a result they have made it the responsibility of the schools. But the schools didn’t give the kids their cell phones”. But no matter the contributing factors the need has arisen and schools and teachers are the main solution.

So, this need for lessons on digital citizenship and safety provided my personal trigger question, “What are some digital citizenship lessons and resources appropriate for the middle school classroom?” One article I found was for a curriculum schools could purchase.  The curriculum was geared specifically toward the middle school age set and gave a great explanation of the need for digital safety education in the middle school setting,

“Middle school includes grades 6 through 8, with kids ranging from ages 11 to 14. It is absolutely critical to develop middle school digital citizenship skills at this time in their lives. Why? Because they are beginning to take more control of their lives. Their minds are thinking “Me” most of the time, and they are becoming more independent. They are beginning to expand socially both in the physical world and in the digital world, if they have not been doing so already.” (Crockett, 2016).

The article I found that really provided an answer to my trigger question was titled, 5-Minute Film Festival: Teaching Digital Citizenship by Amy Erin Borovoy(aka VideoAmy) on Edutopia. This article covered the scope of what digital citizenship means. Relating that “"Digital citizenship" is an umbrella term that covers a whole host of important issues. Broadly, it's the guidelines for responsible, appropriate behavior when one is using technology. But specifically, it can cover anything from "netiquette" to cyber bullying; technology access and the digital divide; online safety and privacy; copyright, plagiarism, and digital law, and more.” (VideoAmy, 2012). The article then gives a list of video clips teachers could use as a launchpad for lessons in the various areas.

In combination with this blog post, 4 RESOURCES IN TEACHING DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP AND CYBER SAFETY, which was written in 2016, I have a strong base from which to work and create engaging lessons on digital citizenship and the vast elements it entails.

References

4 RESOURCES IN TEACHING DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP AND CYBER SAFETY [Web log post]. (2016, August 18). Retrieved March 3, 2017, from http://www.classroomtestedresources.com/2016/08/4-resources-in-teaching-digital.html

Crockett, L. (2016, December 08). Middle School Digital Citizenship: What Students Need to Know and Why. Retrieved March 03, 2017, from https://globaldigitalcitizen.org/middle-school-digital-citizenship

Posts about Digital Citizenship on BYOT Network. (2016, April 6). Retrieved March 03, 2017, from https://byotnetwork.com/category/digital-citizenship/

Wicks, D. (2017). ISTE Standard 5: Digital Citizenship. Google Docs.

VideoAmy), A. E. (2012, September 14). 5-Minute Film Festival: Teaching Digital Citizenship. Retrieved March 03, 2017, from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/film-festival-digital-citizenship

EDU 6136 Content Methods Course Reflection

EDU 6136 Content Methods was an invaluable course. It was a course that not only provided a lot of information on many areas of teaching, such as, differentiation, questioning, and prior knowledge to name a few, but also required self-reflection in these areas. What do I know about my students? What do they know academically and personally? What activities and questions can I provide that will best engage them? What feedback can I then provide that guides them toward the learning target?  

While all the topics were of value, there were two that really resonated with me. The first being Module 2, with the guiding question: “How is the teaching you purpose informed by your knowledge of students?” I had thought that I had done a fairy good job in getting to know my students. I knew which ones played soccer, and had even attended some games. I knew which ones were new this year and tried to seat or partner them with a more outgoing peer. And I knew a lot of the parents or older siblings and could therefore converse with them about their home life to some extent. After reading Funds of Knowledge for Teaching: Using a Quantitative Approach to Connect Homes and Classroom, I realized there is so much more to be done. Yes, I had a good start but to really discover my students “funds of knowledge” I needed to do more. I needed to create some ways to bring in their outside worlds. For example, I have a student who is fluent at Sign Language because her father is deaf. How could I bring this into a class learning experience? I have a student whose family runs a large farm, how could I incorporate this? My only ELL student’s family runs our local Mexican restaurant, how can I use this? So, I can see I have more work and considerations to explore in teaching/incorporating my student’s funds of knowledge.

The other topic that I found interesting was Module 6 on deepening student learning. The overarching question was “How will you thoughtfully elicit and build on student responses in ways to develop and deepen content understanding? This unit was good for me because it brought in some overlap from other sources. One being my current technology course EDTC 6431 and the subject of creating engaging experiences for students. The article by Caram and Davis stated that, “Youth of today expect, actually demand, experiences that are action-packed, flashy, entertaining, and propel them into sensory overload. How can teachers capture students’ attention when they must compete with the drama of real life…?” (2005). In EDTC 6431, I am working to explore and create lessons that are technologically based to not only engage students but to further their learning using 21st century skills. This same Caram and Davis article introduced “What Successful Teachers Do” and that is to engage students intrinsically using purposeful questioning. “Effective use of questioning arouses curiosity, stimulates interest, and motivates students to seek new information.” (2005). The level of questioning I am engaging my students in was an area I was able to learn about earlier in the year. A follow colleague, who is working on her administrative certification, sat in on a few of my classes with the exact purpose of recording and analyzing the level of questioning taking place. I was then fortunate enough to be given this feedback and have a discussion with her.   I learned that while I did have pre-planned questions and I did allow students to build on each other’s thinking, I still was not reaching the higher levels of questioning that being analyzing and synthesizing. The value of deepening student learning through questioning was an area I discussed in Module 6 discussion post stating, “In the secondary ELA classroom, discussions are a large part of learning. Discussions help relate the real world and today’s society to a “boring” classic novel. Well-crafted questions can help students see a possible parallel between themselves and a character or situation in a novel.” Overall, deepening student learning calls on the teacher to engage the student whether it be through technology, questioning, or something else. The result has to be that the student is motivated to learn.

So, in sum this course has really provided me with a wealth of usable knowledge, and perhaps more importantly caused me to think deeply about my own funds of knowledge.  

References

Caram, C. A., & Davis, P. B. (2005). Inviting Student Engagement with Questioning. Kappa Delta Pi Record, 42(1), 19-23. doi:10.1080/00228958.2005.10532080

Moll, L. C.,Amanti, C., Neff, D., & Gonzalez, N. (Spring 1992). Funds of knowledge for teaching: Using a qualitative approach to connect homes and classrooms. Theory into Practice, 31(2), 132-141.

ISTE Standard 4

Critical Thinking, Problem Solving,
and Decision Making   

ISTE Standard 4 sets forth that students will: 1.) Use technology to help identify and define problems for investigation, 2.) Plan and manage projects with the help of digital graphic organizers, 3.) Utilize technology to collect and analyze data, identify possible solutions, and make informed decisions, and 4.) Explore and compare solutions with various technology tools. Standard 4 focuses on students ability to think critically, problem solve, and make decisions using technology as a tool. For a teacher this creates the question of how can technology function as a tool for students learning. This week’s reading provided some initial insight into just how technology (specifically gaming) can be used as a teaching tool, from students learning coding as a way to create digital 3D worlds as discussed in the Edutopia article, “3 Ways Coding and Gaming Can Enhance Learning”, to digital storytelling and game based learning from the Elsevier article, “Empowering students through digital game authorship: Enhancing concentration, critical thinking, and academic achievement.  Reading these articles on various game based teaching tools led to my Personal Trigger Question, “What is the role of gaming in an ELA classroom?”. In my quest for an answer, I read many applicable articles, but I found a combination of two articles best addressed my question and brought into perspective the feasibility of gaming as a technology tool.

The first was an Edutopia article, The Role of Video Games in the English Classroom ,by Terry Heick. I liked this article because it explained and gave examples of how diverse and expansive the subject matter can be in an ELA classroom. It then furthered this with examples of how various games could be used as technology tools.  In my summary for this article, I wrote, “For example, an introduction to a lesson on the element of tone could be presented/demonstrated by showing students a video game that is bright, colorful and has bubbly characters, then switch to a game that is black and white and macabre. “From here you can move on to speeches from Martin Luther King, where tone is overt, then short stories from Wendell Berry and Franz Kafka, where it may not be.” (Heick, 2012). The games are a foundation and source from which discussion can flow.” Games can be used much in the way books and movies have been used traditionally because they are filled with characters, quests, narratives, and role-playing, to name only a few subject specific content areas. A fellow ELA teacher,classmate also found value saying they go well together because they're both story based, but also pointed out that they can be used as a visual aide for students who are more visually inclined learners.This a great point that I had not considered.

The second article I liked because it worked as a newer supplement to the first article. Found on Edutopia the article is titled, “Using Games for Serious Learning in High School” by Matthew Farber. This article also paired ELA content with a game which could function as a learning tool. These articles in combination demonstrate the role gaming can have in an ELA classroom.

There are of course many other ways in which technology can function as tools in an ELA classroom. Standard 4 relates the need for students to plan and manage projects with the help of digital graphic organizers. Digital graphic organizers are readily available. They range from Venn diagrams, and character trait charts, to essay writing organizers. The Standards need to utilize technology to collect and analyze data, identify possible solutions, and make informed decisions can  be addressed with the use of  digital polling or survey tools. All of these factors together illustrate just how technology can be used as a teaching tool.

References

Farber, E. M. (2016, November 17). Using Games for Serious Learning in High School. Retrieved February 25, 2017, from https://www.edutopia.org/article/games-for-serious-learning-matt-farber

Heick, T. (2012, September 17). The Role of Video Games in the English Classroom. Retrieved February 25, 2017, from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/video-games-in-english-classroom-terrell-heick

Kiang, D. (2014, May 20). 3 Ways Coding and Gaming Can Enhance Learning. Retrieved February 25, 2017, from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/coding-and-gaming-enhance-learning-douglas-kiang

Yang, Y. C., & Chang, C. (2013). Empowering students through digital game authorship: Enhancing concentration, critical thinking, and academic achievement. Computers & Education,68, 334-344. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2013.05.023