Standard 2:
Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments
Teachers design, develop, and evaluate authentic learning experiences and assessments incorporating contemporary tools and resources to maximize content learning in context and to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes identified in the Standards•S.
a. Design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity
As described in this assignment from my Technology and Assessment course, I adapted an activity provided in my district curriculum to better meet the needs of my students. While the original Human Body Project was certainly adequate and all of my colleagues enjoyed implementing in with their students, I was eager to more effectively incorporate technology to enhance the experience. I am very pleased with the outcome of my revised lesson plan and performance event and look forward to implementing it next year with my class.
In the midst of a unit on Forces and Motion, I had my student experimenting on this online Truck Investigation, I asked my students to pay attention to effect of slope and friction on the motion of objects. Pairs of students then reflected on their discoveries, a sample of which can be seen here. This other example is a prime, albeit very rudimentary, example of how inquiry led the student to draw conclusions about the motion of her object.
b. Develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress
After attending the Midwest Educational Technology Conference this year and learning about the use of Google Sheets to create digital data notebooks, I was eager to implement them with my students. Since individual goal setting is both an effective instructional strategy and a district expectation for me, I was intrigued by how technology could improve the efficiency and communication with parents when it came to these otherwise cumbersome beasts. While I admit that I've already learned a few lessons the hard way, you can view a sample from this year here. By next year, I hope to have my students' goals embedded in the appropriate data tab and allow them to periodically reflect upon their progress. Additionally, I've already contacted each parent of my next year's students and encouraged them to create and/or share their Google Drive account information so their child can "share" their notebook with them for commenting and monitoring. Additionally, putting the graph on the same tab as the data will allow for more interactivity and less numerous tabs to deal with. I hope the changes will lead to a successful project for my students as they strive to improve their own selected academic areas next year!
This young lady's Blizzard Blast narrative (please scroll to the fourth slide in the VoiceThread; Kopal's is the first comment) was the culminating project after we studied climates around the world. Upon exploring several different extreme weather situations (of which the kids themselves eliminated volcanoes and tsunamis since they're "disasters, but not weather, Mrs. Liscombe!") she chose to learn more about blizzards. She worked in a cooperative group with other students who chose to research the same topic, then independently applied what we'd learned about writing effective narratives to her own unique story. Her evaluation of her own learning as well as her goals for the future can be read in her reflective blog comment (scroll below the narrative.)
c.Customize and personalize learning activities to address students’ diverse learning styles, working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resources
While I've not yet had the opportunity to implement it, I've assembled this compilation of interventions to be used next year during my unit on Forces and Motion. After seeing many students struggle with the abstract concept of balanced and unbalanced forces, I felt this topic was one that would certainly need some solutions for before next year.
My second example is a mix of tools I used to assist two struggling students who were having difficulty using an expository paragraph structure in their writing. Because we were in the midst of a unit on climates around the world, I invited them to partake in a special case study about U.S. regions and their climates. After enjoying some online books on several regions from the TrueFlix service my school subscribes to, the boys chose to compare the West and Northeastern climates of our country. I allowed them to choose a graphic organizer on which to take notes, and they decided on a Venn Diagram in LucidChart over Popplet because, they explained, Popplet is "more for little kids." After they created this organizer, I assisted them as they drafted this basic paragraph. We worked together to identify the topic and closing sentences and differentiate them from the supporting details with the Google Docs highlighting feature. The boys were able to refer back to this as an anchor paper as they worked on later, multi-paragraph reports. I'd always question them, "If I highlighted your sentences, would it look like our climate paragraph?" Eventually they got much better a replicating the structure I expected.
d. 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
One project that my students thoroughly enjoyed was this geometry at-home project. It was an optional enrichment activity this year, but next year I plan on implementing it as an assessment to be done at school. Utilizing the technology my students bring as a part of my BYOD program, and supplementing with the donated WiFi connected phones we have at our disposal, I will allow them to use their vocabulary journals and prove to me their ability to apply the definitions of various geometric concepts in a similar multimedia presentation made during class time. Students demonstrating mastery will be given enrichment activities while I provide interventions to those who still struggle.
Later, in an effort to evaluate my students' understanding of the components of an opinion writing piece, I challenged them to create a Prezi using the research they'd conducted about animals and their adaptations. Since most of the research was done together in class (it was very early in the school year) I was not assessing those skills or their conventions. Rather, I gave them the expectation to include:
a. Design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity
As described in this assignment from my Technology and Assessment course, I adapted an activity provided in my district curriculum to better meet the needs of my students. While the original Human Body Project was certainly adequate and all of my colleagues enjoyed implementing in with their students, I was eager to more effectively incorporate technology to enhance the experience. I am very pleased with the outcome of my revised lesson plan and performance event and look forward to implementing it next year with my class.
In the midst of a unit on Forces and Motion, I had my student experimenting on this online Truck Investigation, I asked my students to pay attention to effect of slope and friction on the motion of objects. Pairs of students then reflected on their discoveries, a sample of which can be seen here. This other example is a prime, albeit very rudimentary, example of how inquiry led the student to draw conclusions about the motion of her object.
b. Develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress
After attending the Midwest Educational Technology Conference this year and learning about the use of Google Sheets to create digital data notebooks, I was eager to implement them with my students. Since individual goal setting is both an effective instructional strategy and a district expectation for me, I was intrigued by how technology could improve the efficiency and communication with parents when it came to these otherwise cumbersome beasts. While I admit that I've already learned a few lessons the hard way, you can view a sample from this year here. By next year, I hope to have my students' goals embedded in the appropriate data tab and allow them to periodically reflect upon their progress. Additionally, I've already contacted each parent of my next year's students and encouraged them to create and/or share their Google Drive account information so their child can "share" their notebook with them for commenting and monitoring. Additionally, putting the graph on the same tab as the data will allow for more interactivity and less numerous tabs to deal with. I hope the changes will lead to a successful project for my students as they strive to improve their own selected academic areas next year!
This young lady's Blizzard Blast narrative (please scroll to the fourth slide in the VoiceThread; Kopal's is the first comment) was the culminating project after we studied climates around the world. Upon exploring several different extreme weather situations (of which the kids themselves eliminated volcanoes and tsunamis since they're "disasters, but not weather, Mrs. Liscombe!") she chose to learn more about blizzards. She worked in a cooperative group with other students who chose to research the same topic, then independently applied what we'd learned about writing effective narratives to her own unique story. Her evaluation of her own learning as well as her goals for the future can be read in her reflective blog comment (scroll below the narrative.)
c.Customize and personalize learning activities to address students’ diverse learning styles, working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resources
While I've not yet had the opportunity to implement it, I've assembled this compilation of interventions to be used next year during my unit on Forces and Motion. After seeing many students struggle with the abstract concept of balanced and unbalanced forces, I felt this topic was one that would certainly need some solutions for before next year.
My second example is a mix of tools I used to assist two struggling students who were having difficulty using an expository paragraph structure in their writing. Because we were in the midst of a unit on climates around the world, I invited them to partake in a special case study about U.S. regions and their climates. After enjoying some online books on several regions from the TrueFlix service my school subscribes to, the boys chose to compare the West and Northeastern climates of our country. I allowed them to choose a graphic organizer on which to take notes, and they decided on a Venn Diagram in LucidChart over Popplet because, they explained, Popplet is "more for little kids." After they created this organizer, I assisted them as they drafted this basic paragraph. We worked together to identify the topic and closing sentences and differentiate them from the supporting details with the Google Docs highlighting feature. The boys were able to refer back to this as an anchor paper as they worked on later, multi-paragraph reports. I'd always question them, "If I highlighted your sentences, would it look like our climate paragraph?" Eventually they got much better a replicating the structure I expected.
d. 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
One project that my students thoroughly enjoyed was this geometry at-home project. It was an optional enrichment activity this year, but next year I plan on implementing it as an assessment to be done at school. Utilizing the technology my students bring as a part of my BYOD program, and supplementing with the donated WiFi connected phones we have at our disposal, I will allow them to use their vocabulary journals and prove to me their ability to apply the definitions of various geometric concepts in a similar multimedia presentation made during class time. Students demonstrating mastery will be given enrichment activities while I provide interventions to those who still struggle.
Later, in an effort to evaluate my students' understanding of the components of an opinion writing piece, I challenged them to create a Prezi using the research they'd conducted about animals and their adaptations. Since most of the research was done together in class (it was very early in the school year) I was not assessing those skills or their conventions. Rather, I gave them the expectation to include:
- Thesis Statement
- Description of Land
- Four Supporting Details
- Closing Sentence