EDLD 5364 Week 5 Course Embedded Reflection

The readings and videos in this class were based around completing a group assignment that was to create a Universal Design Lesson (UDL). The scenario consisted of students with varying degrees of learning differences. It was very stressful in the beginning because I wasn’t sure how I was going to collaborate with my peer teachers through technology.  Web 2.0 tools made this process easier.  We asked each other’s advice and assessed each other’s steps frequently.  Collaboration allowed us to construct a much superior unit than one person ever could have.

Integrating technology into my classroom is something I have always wanted to do.  I have been afraid to due to my fear of change.  This class has pressed me to look into technology that I could incorporate into my lessons.  I now have a Mimio Connect, a Classroom Performance System, and a Facebook group.  I feel as though I am using these devices minimally but in the future through research and help of my fellow teachers I plan to incorporate them more. 

The readings from this class were very informative but they were outdated.  The dates ranged from 1996-2008.  Current articles and videos would benefit us more because technology is changing every day.

Because I have a variety of learners in my classroom I have always differentiated my instruction.  UDL was a new term for me, but I feel as though I have basically been following those steps.  On the Cast Lesson Builder web site it explains that every learner is unique so their learning styles are different.  “UDL provides a framework to create and implement lessons with flexible goals, methods, materials, and assessments that support learning for all students.”  (Learn about Universal Design for Learning, 2013).  It is essential that there are alternative methods for teaching.

Everything that I read and watched stressed that technology is our future. Allowing our students to learn through technology is going to help them create, explore and use more powerful tools than any other past student. I have learned that I cannot allow fear to hold myself back or my students from becoming successful learners.

 

 

Edutopia.org (nd). Welcome to the Digital Generation. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/digital-generation-project-overview-video

Lessonbuilder.cast.org (nd). The Brain Research. Retrieved from http://lessonbuilder.cast.org/window.php?src=videos

Lessonbuilder.cast.org (nd). Diversity of Learners. Retrieved from http://lessonbuilder.cast.org/window.php?src=videos

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

 

EDLD Week 5 Reflection

This week the videos that I watched were mainly about teaching the students today through gaming.  In the video, Big Thinkers: Sasha Barab on New-Media Engagement ,Sasha Barab discussed the fact that the schools of today are giving teachers old tools in order to teach the students.  He goes on to explain that students need to be given an opportunity to integrate the information that they are learning by actually solving problems.  Giving students the opportunity to use the information that they have learned is going to give them a connection, a sense of power, and a reason to learn the information put in front of them.  From a very young age children are sitting in front of a variety of gaming devices which allows them the control of the outcome.

One of the subjects that I teach is science.  I can only imagine the learning that would be taking part in my classroom if I had access to a program where my students watched, learned, and then took part in fixing, building, or living in the units that I teach.  I can teach about forces, life cycles, rock cycles, and the water cycle but if they were able to be a part of each one of these in a game type scenario they would be able to transform that information, see it in action, and convert the written text into an experience.  Experiences are going to make more of an impact on the student and the knowledge he takes away from the unit. 

Allowing our students to access this technology frequently brings us other important aspects that we need to be teaching our students.  Researcher Howard Gardner in the video called Big Thinkers: Howard Gardner on Digital Youth, discusses that we should be teaching our children digital ethics.  He conversed about what exactly it meant to be ethical on the internet.  They were a sense of identity, sense of honestly, sense of privacy, sense of ownership, and a sense of authorship.  There are many problems that arise from being in a technological world and he understands that you can learn a lot, find out whatever and with almost whomever,  but it is very important to know that these new forms of learning should not dictate to us they should just be opening up new avenues to our learning world.

Teachers are going to have their hands full.  They need to learn new ways to teach our students through technology but also learn, delegate, and model ethical behavior on the internet.  It has never been an easy job to teach the students that are coming into our classrooms but I am worried that we are not being given the tools that we need to ensure their success.  There is so much new information and new teaching strategies it will be vital that schools give their teachers updated tools, and direction in which to use these tools. 

 

Edutopia.org. (nd). Big Thinkers: Sasha Barab on New-Media Engagement. Retrieved from

     http://www.edutopia.org/digital-generation-sasha-barab-video

 

Edutopia.org (nd). Big Thinkers: Howard Gardner on Digital Youth. Retrieved from

     http://www.edutopia.org/digital-generation-howard-gardner-video

EDLD 5364 Week 4 Reflection

 

This week the readings and videos that I enjoyed and learned from were about cooperative learning groups and accurately assessing our student progress. 

I am always amazed that there are teachers that do not buy into the Cooperative Learning theory.  When I Read Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works (2012) I completely agreed with the statement that said

 “Cooperative learning can also increase motivation for learning by establishing a strong kinship and a sense of obligation to one another among students, which can lead to greater buy-in and increased achievement.”(p. 73)

Cooperative learning groups work because teachers are allowing the students to talk as well as listen amongst themselves.  They are permitted to learn and deepen their understanding through their social interactions.  Pittler, Hubbell and Kuhn (2012) recommends three things that we should incorporate into the cooperative learning groups.  The three things include small group size, both positive interdependence and individual accountability, and to use cooperative groups consistently. (p. 74)

Reading about the UDL framework in Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age: Universal Design for Learning, Chapter 7 I learned that assessing my students progress should not be completed by the same written test.  Rose & Meyer (2002), stated that “when teachers give the same written test to all students it is neither fair not accurate”.  All students have different learning styles and we differentiate instruction so we should also be differentiating assessments.  Technology is one possible way to track differing individual assessments. 

 

 Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom

     instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum     

     Development, 139-154.

 

Rose, D., & Meyer, A. (2002). Teaching every student in the digital age: Universal design for

    learning.  Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Chapter

   7. Available online at the Center for Applied Special Technology Web site. Retrieved from

    http://www.cast.org/teachingeverystudent/ideas/tes/       

The Life Cycle of a Butterfly Link

Please click on the link below to see the eBook that I made titled The Life Cycle of a Butterfly.

http://bookbuilder.cast.org/view.php?op=share&book=08d09ece188fd0a4dc5eea1d0118c94a&sid=13778

I hope  you enjoy it!

CAST’s UDL LESSON BUILDER

Kelly Rodriguez

Jodie Allex

Carrie Allen

Lesson Overview

Title:	Comparing Complete and Incomplete Life Cycles
Author:	Carrie Allen, Jodie Allex, Kelly Rodriguez
Subject:	Life Cycles of Insects
Grade Level(s):	2nd
Duration:	1 week
Subject Area:	Science
Unit Description:	The students will learn about complete and incomplete life cycles of insects. They will also compare the different life cycles. Students will engage in several different activities to support their learning and they will have multiple opportunities throughout the unit to share their knowledge.
Lesson Description:	Lesson 3 of 3 The students will compare and contrast the complete and incomplete life cycles of insects. They will have multiple opportunities to share this knowledge.
State Standards:                 ISTE NETS C	112.13. Science, Grade 2, Beginning with School Year 2010-2011. (b)knowledge and skills. (10) Organisms and environments. The student knows that organisms resemble their parents and have structures and processes that help them survive within their environments. The student is expected to: (c) investigate and record some of the unique stages that insects undergo during their life cycle.

Goals

Unit Goals:

1. Students will identify and describe a complete life cycle. (butterfly) 2. Students will identify and describe an incomplete life cycle. (ladybug) 3. Students will demonstrate their understanding that at the beginning of an animal's life cycle, some young animals represent the adult while others do not. 4. Students will identify, compare and contrast the differences between a complete and incomplete life cycle. 5. The student will use the correct vocabulary to show that organisms undergo similar processes.

Lesson Goals:

Students will demonstrate their understanding that at the beginning of an animal's life cycle, some young animals represent the adult while others do not. Students will identify, compare and contrast the differences between a complete and incomplete life cycle. The student will use the correct vocabulary to show that organisms undergo similar processes.

Methods

Anticipatory Set:	Share lesson goals and objectives: Brainstorm in science journal what you know about insect life cycles (Recognition) Fill in a KWL chart (Recognition) Use Socrative App to gauge pre-knowledge of topic (Recognition)
Introduce and Model New Knowledge: Recognition	Present students with new information appropriate to the lesson: Show Complete vs. Incomplete metamorphosis YouTube video (Recognition) Read eBook Complete and Incomplete Metamorphosis Let's Compare (Recognition) Use images to illustrate insect life cycles (see materials) (Recognition)
Provide Guided Practice:	Divide the class into 3 groups and have them rotate through each center: Read eBooks Dragonfly Lifecycle and The Lifecycle of a Butterfly (Recognition) Students will sequence complete and incomplete life cycle cards with a partner (Strategic) Watch Harcourt video Incomplete and Complete Metamorphosis (Recognition) Bring students back together to view interactive whiteboard lesson Insects (Smart Notebook Lesson by K. Edlinski) (Strategic)
Provide Independent Practice: Strategic and Affective	Create a Venn Diagram comparing complete and incomplete life cycles (Kidspiration) Draw a complete and an incomplete insect life cycle Create an eBook comparing complete and incomplete life cycles Create an Animoto video acting out both life cycles Create a rap about insect life cycles

Assessment

Formative/Ongoing Assessment: Strategic	Sequence life cycle cards are accurate Socrative App Quiz Vocabulary is used correctly in the Rap, Animoto, and eBook Rubric for Independent practice projects Graphic organizers are correct
Summative/End Of Lesson Assessment: Strategic	Rubric for Independent Projects End of Unit Exam

Materials

Modifications: GT - During guided practice the GT students will visit http://outdoornebraska.ne.gov/wildlife/programs/projectwild/pdf/PPT_pdfs/Life%20Cycles.pdf to learn about types of life cycles. Hearing Impaired - Harcourt video has closed captioning Blind - Harcourt video has picture descriptions, eBooks read the text, YouTube videos, peer coaching Online Users - eBooks, YouTube videos, Harcourt video, Interactive Whiteboard Lesson, Socrative App Multiple Achievement Levels - rubrics will be adjusted for multiple achievement levels

Images for New Knowledge

EDLD 5364 Week 3 Reflection on the UDL Project

There are many obstacles in today’s classrooms. Having a combination of regular education, gifted and talented, and special education students brings a level of difficulty to planning lessons so all students are taught, motivated, and enriched. This week I have been researching on http://www.cast.org/ how to make a UDL. UDL stands for Universal Design for Learning. . A UDL helps teachers to set goals, materials, and assessments for different types of learners.

The basic premise of a UDL is that each student learns in their best learning style. In other words, there has to be multiple activities for each assignment. In my classroom that would mean that my students would not all be working on the same task. The students would be working on the same skill and would be expected mastery at the end of the lesson but the path traveled to mastery would be different.

Teachers need to focus on all three networks of learning when they are constructing their UDL. The first one is the recognition network which is “the what” of learning. It is here where we identify and categorize what we see, hear, and read. The second one is the strategic network which is “the how” of learning. It is here where a person plans and performs math problems and writes an essay. The third is the affective network which is “the why” of learning. This is where a student would be challenged, excited and interested.

It has been a rough road constructing this UDL. There has to be a lot of planning, materials, and time involved in order to put together a UDL for your classroom. Collaborating with my team members has helped me tremendously not only to understand the steps involved but coming up with ideas to fit into each category.

"CAST." : Center for Applied Special Technology. Center for Applied Special Technology, n.d. Web.      

     15 Sept. 2013. <http://www.cast.org/>.

EDLD 5364 Knowledge Learned From Week 3

There are numerous reasons why technology is adding to the level of success in classrooms all around the world.  The video, Welcome to the Digital Generation, explained that technology is already an essential part of our students’ day.  Teachers need to be able to use that to their advantage.   The video explained that teachers will give our students empowerment when we demonstrate that there are ways to be engaged when you partake in directed learning through technology.  We need to teach our students that there are endless possibilities with technology.     Liz Perle, Editor in Chief of Common Sense said, “This technology is a good thing.  It is going help your kids create, meet people, explore, pose, and express themselves in more powerful tools than they have had in any other generation.

I wrote down all ten tips from the video Top 10 Tips For Using Technology in the Classroom.  Looking back and studying them showed me that I am on my way to incorporating technology into my classroom but there are more ways to integrate it.  My goal this year is going to be to use more music, streaming video, and to use my white board more effectively.  Incorporating more technology into my classroom will help me to address the different interests and learning styles in my classroom.

Creating a book on Book Builder at http://bookbuilder.cast.org, was one of the assignments this week.   The website itself was very easy to navigate through.   There were several template options to choose from which made creating your pages easy.   Adding and deleting text and pictures were stress-free because the buttons were clearly marked.

 

Boxoftricks.net (nd). Top 10 Tips for Using Technology in the Classroom [Video file].
     Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiisteObuhk

 Edutopia.org (nd). Welcome to the Digital Generation. Retrieved from

      http://www.edutopia.org/digital-generation-project-overview-video

 “Welcome to Book Builder!" UDL Book Builder. The Center for Applied Special
       Technology, n.d. Web. 15Sept. 2013. <http://bookbuilder.cast.org/>.

 

Book Builder Reflection

Kelly Rodriguez, Carrie Allen, & Jodie Allex -

Experimenting with UDL Book Builder

The purpose of part 3 was to investigate the planning process for developing student-centered learning activities with technology. Each of us created an eBook using a free website available to teachers, parents, and students at http://bookbuilder.cast.org/ . Before we began creating our own books, Kelly looked at several eBooks that already been created to give us the direction that would most effectively get the information across to our students. Through the use of coaches, media, and reader prompts we were able to make my book more engaging.

The website itself was very easy to navigate through. The directions were clearly marked and through trial and error we had made our title page and the first content page. There were several template options to choose from which made creating your pages easy. Once we had finished those two pages the process became easier and we were each able to continue with ease. Adding and deleting text and pictures were stress-free because the buttons were clearly marked. Using the Google search colorful pictures were added to increase the effectiveness of the book. Having the space to add the source of the pictures made citing sources even easier.

The coach feature was the last thing added to some of our books. The characters and voices were fun and will add to the usefulness of this tool. You could hide the coach as well so students would have to read on their own if prompted to. Carrie had the coaches giving extra information so the advanced students could add to the depth of their knowledge.

Jodie discovered after she had already finished her book she could have enabled the student response area on each page and readers can write right into the book. Once all the students have finished the teacher would be able to click on the button that says “view my responses”and it would open a document where all the responses were collected. This would be a great way to ensure that all readers were actively participating and understanding the purpose of the lesson.

We can see great benefit to using eBooks in our classroom. There are numerous ways that it could be implemented into any classroom but having the students make their own eBooks would be a great learning and assessment tool that we would like to try. Having the students create their own electronic book would cover several technology standards.

This reflection was created through collaboration during Facetime and converted to text by Kelly Rodriguez.

EDLD 5364 Week 2 Reflection

Being in a classroom that has a combination of regular education, gifted and talented, and special education students brings a level of difficulty to planning lessons to where all students are taught, motivated, and enriched.  This is something that a teacher does daily but I didn’t realize that there was an organization that was reachable through the internet for help.  “CAST is a nonprofit research and development organization that works to expand learning opportunities for all individuals through Universal Design for Learning” as explained on www.cast.org.  Its Universal Design for Learning (UDL) helps teachers to set goals, materials, and assessments for different types of learners.  In the video, Principals of Universal Design for Learning, it explains the UDL gives teachers various ways of acquiring information and knowledge, optional ways to demonstrate what they know, and multiple means of engagement. 

I do not understand the UDL completely but it seems to make perfect sense.  The video, Brain Research, explains why it is important to differentiate for the different types of learners in each classroom. In this video it starts out explaining that every individual has their own DNA and fingerprints.   There is no difference when you compare the learning styles of our students.   Every person learns differently and at different rates.  It goes on to explain the different three brain networks.  The first one is the recognition network which is the what of learning.  It is here where we identify and categorize what we see, hear, and read.  The second one is the strategic network which is the how of learning.  It is hear where a person plans and performs math problems and writes an essay.   The third is the affective network which is the why of learning.  This is where a student would be challenged, excited and interested.

 I am hoping that learning this information will help me in the classroom.  I have become a member of CAST which allows me to utilize their tools and search for sample assignments that are UDL.  I look forward to learning and applying the new information that I have learned.

 

Cast.org. Transforming Education through Universal Design for Learning. Retrieved September 8, 2013, from http://www.cast.org/index.html

Lessonbuilder.cast.org (nd). Principles of Universal Design for Learning. Retrieved from http://lessonbuilder.cast.org/window.php?src=videos

Lessonbuilder.cast.org (nd). The Brain Research. Retrieved from  http://lessonbuilder.cast.org/window.php?src=videos