Integrated Lessons

I have found that technology creates a way to tie in different subjects in a way that can help students find meaning in what they are learning. For example, in my Language and Literacy class this semester, my partner for one assignment was an English Education major. We had the task of creating a short lesson that incorporated language and literacy. We were able to create a lesson that contained both Math and English, something we could not do without technology.

We began the lesson by showing a brief clip of Wheel of Fortune on YouTube. Then we took a specific section of The Giver, and typed it into a word document. After the class read the section and analyzed it, the class then had the task of counting each letter and finding the percentages of each letter occurring. We had the class relate these percentages to the clip we showed at the beginning and the “winning” letters in the clip all had high percentages from The Giver. After this, we asked the class how different our language would be without popular letters. We removed the highest percentage letter from the section of The Giver and had the students try to read it. The students then had to reflect and think about how important each letter can be to our language.

By using these technologies, we were able to incorporate a lesson that served both Math and English. In addition, students were able to relate the lesson outside of the classroom by thinking about each letter in the alphabet.

Glogster

In most school districts, teachers are required to have some sort of webpage. I recently came across the site Glogster and I feel that it would be a useful technology for classroom teachers. During my fieldwork and student teaching experience, I could use this site as a means of creating a website for my class. This site provides various backgrounds, colors, and animations that make for a visually striking page. In the past, I have had teachers create a site that was very plain and boring and disorganized. This website is specifically designed for educators and has the necessary features for an effective classroom resource.

This site would provide me a central location to post information relevant to my classes. During the first few weeks of school I could post information about myself so my students and their parents can get to know me. In addition, I could continuously use this website to post homework and other assignments. In doing so, any student that is absent or misses my class will be able to access any missed work. This also provides parents access to what is being covered in class so that they can assist their child at home.

This website could also be updated for each new unit. The site allows you to upload videos and photos. I could post introductory videos to a topic, fun facts, and tutorial videos to provide students extra help and assistance if they are struggling. This allows them to be able to receive help outside of school to further their work. Many students spend numerous hours on the computer each night. By using technologies such as Glogster it increases the chance students will access the material provided to them.

Skype

My friend is currently student teaching in a language arts classroom at Grover Cleveland Middle School. Recently, she implemented a lesson using Skype. Her students were completing a non-fiction unit and she wanted them to have an opportunity to speak about the novels they selected and share them with their peers. She was able to get in contact with another English teacher at a school in Michigan. Their students used Skype to discuss their independent reading books and learn about their different communities. She explained that students enjoyed the opportunity to speak with other learners outside of their school.

I feel that Skype can be a useful tool in a mathematics classroom as well. For instance at the start of a new unit, I could Skype in with an expert on the subject and they can present interesting background information to students. Often times students become disengaged because of the same routine, so this would be a way to introduce some variety into the daily classroom routines. This would also provide students an opportunity to learn more about how the material of that particular unit applies to the real world. Furthermore, students would be able to ask the individual any questions they may have about the subject or that person’s research. Students can also use Skype to review material in study groups in preparation for tests.

Regardless of content area, Skype is a resource that allows teachers and students alike to network with those outside their school or district. Teachers can use this resource as a means of professional development by interacting with other educators in their subject area across the nation. In doing so, they can learn techniques, projects, and assignments that have been particularly successful for other teachers. Likewise, students can benefit from this opportunity to speak with their peers in and outside their own district.

Interactivity #5

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ajj_oz2opyeldG1LbGtfa0FlN1ZpNlVrVzNEeDh3Znc#gid=0

Mrs. Tucker is a pseudonym for the teacher I interviewed about the National Educational Technology Standards. She is a 9^th and 10^th grade history teacher at Dover High School. When asked about the standards for students and teachers, Mrs. Tucker had heard of them before, but had not read them since the beginning of the school year. Therefore, she was not surprised when reading over the standards, but she was a little defensive about not remembering them without reading them.

When asked about the district’s enforcement of these standards, she said that although technology is encouraged when lesson planning, the standards are not enforced. She explained how there were SmartBoards in every classroom, but she rarely used it and heard many other teachers not even know how to operate it. Mrs. Tucker did express how every marking period her students have an assignment which they complete in the library in which they conduct research on a particular topic which ends with a presentation at the end of the unit of this topic. Most of these presentations use PowerPoint and other similar technologies.

To be honest, I was not surprised to hear that the standards were not enforced. Even with society changing and younger people being more technologically advanced, schools have been a bit behind in their technology. The problem I found from interviewing Mrs. Tucker was that teachers did not know how to operate some of these more advanced technologies. As a future educator, I would try to have my district have classes to teach teachers how to use these systems. If teachers do not understand how to use something, there is no way they can implement them into lessons for their students. Furthermore, most technology today requires some type of internet access. Currently, the devices that use internet are rather expensive and there is not much available money in public education, especially in New Jersey. However, this cannot be used as an excuse. There are ways to take advantage of these specific technologies especially with the increasing regularity of these devices in the home or public places around the town.

Moreover, we are heading into a technology age. The National Educational Technology Standards are a great foundation for teachers to make sure their students have an opportunity to research, communicate, collaborate, and conduct various concepts while using technology. As a future educator, it is something that cannot be ignored, especially in the next decade. As technology advances, so do the students and teaching needs to be diverse and teachers need to teach to their students’ strengths to be the most effective in education.

Smartboards

Many districts across the state have begun incorporating Smartboards into their classrooms. These interactive white boards can be used for a variety of purposes with age groups ranging from kindergarten to college students. I recently observed a class at the middle school level that used these boards for an interactive lesson on geometry. I found this to be an effective way of engaging students and increasing their interests and desire to learn.

For the lesson, the teacher allowed different students to come to the board and draw various figures. Students were able to work through problems with the aid of their classmates. Other students in the class would instruct their peer as to what steps needed to be taken in order to find the missing side of a triangle. Students were able to color code their work and change the color of the pen as needed. This proved to be particularly useful when students were using the Pythagorean Theorem because students were able to differentiate the various values in the equation. For side “a” students used blue, for side “b” students used red, and for side “c” students programmed the marker to be bright purple. I found that this helped visual learners since it became easier to follow the steps for finding the missing side.

This technology is something I would like to use in my classroom for several reasons. One, I can save my students’ notes and refer back to them at any time to review a concept. In addition, it will save me time erasing because I observed that the student was able to select the whole area and erase it with one click instead of wasting time erasing a chalkboard. Furthermore, because students were engaged in the lesson, they understood more of the material being covered and this is important in any class.

Interactivity #4

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ajj_oz2opyeldG1LbGtfa0FlN1ZpNlVrVzNEeDh3Znc&usp=sharing

­­­I chose this lesson plan because a geometry lesson is most successful when using technology. This topic should be taught in all geometry classes and by using the correct resources, students will be able to fully understand the topic by interaction and visualization.

The lesson plan did allow students to demonstrate their understanding of certain shapes while actually measuring lengths. In addition, students construct arguments and critique others reasons. Moreover, this lesson allows students to use various tools, of technology especially, to complete the task. All of these are ways the lesson contributed to curriculum goals. However, there were some strategies that I thought were missing from the lesson. Each activity worksheet and the interactive website had the shapes already provided. It is possible a lesson that had students create these shapes was previously introduced, but I believe it should have been incorporated into this one. By using Geometer’s Sketchpad, the students would be able to create the shapes and create the story of placing a hut on a deserted island. This concentration allows the students to help understand why their solution solves the problem. Furthermore, this fulfills the curriculum goal of drawing geometric shapes; something that helps most students explain and unravel the problem. Additionally, instead of just having a class discussion that may be led by only several students, having the class discuss their findings using an online blog fulfills the curriculum goal of constructing arguments and critiquing their peers. Finally, using a SmartBoard, if available, allows the teacher to be more interactive while discussing the activity sheets. Marking the worksheet instead of using an overhead projector will help students visualize the topic.

Interactivity #3

My ten technologies were organized by physical tools in class (iPad, calculator), communication (blog, clickers), interactive sites (Calculus in Motion, BrainPOP, Interactive Math, Geometer’s Sketchpad), and evaluation tools (Scantron, Webassign).

I was hesitant at first to see we had to collaborate with a group for an online class. For regular classes, it is easy to set a time to meet while in class, or distribute work evenly. Since this is an online class, beginning this assignment was especially difficult since we were not entirely in contact. Luckily, the google document was started and we were able to submit our findings.

While I was doing my research, I found some really great interactive websites that can be easily integrated into a lesson plan. Unfortunately, in my own math classes none of these were used. With more accessibility to the internet at school and at home, these sites create ways for students to learn other than by lecturing. In addition, math is extremely visual and these sites produce the visualization for the students.

Last week in READ-411, we had a lesson on technology where I was introduced to BrainPOP. It is an interactive website that contains several content areas subjects and provides videos and other visuals. With this website, it becomes easy to create interdisciplinary lessons by coordinating with a teacher of a different content. By doing this, it will help motivate students and give them more meaning and understanding of a lesson.