CEP 811 Synthesis of Class Themes

As I reflect over the past seven weeks of Maker Education I am excited to share what I have learned with my students this fall.  I found the Maker Movement pushed my thinking and creativity.  When I received my Squishy Circuit in the mail at the end of June and began to explore I knew I was in for a big surprise.

The squishy circuit came with LED lights, buzzers, and a battery pack.  There were also directions on how to make conductive play dough and insulator play dough.  I created a game out of a Stratego board, play dough, and LED lights.  The game would be wonderful for my students to play but I found that the play dough dried up fairly quickly.  When I read the blog from a young lady in Ireland she also made something out of the squishy circuits but she used copper tape to make her game.  I think when I remake the game board I will use the copper tape instead of the play dough.  If I want to give the students more of a challenge I would have them create their own boards and then play the game.  The game would be a perfect review and practice for my RTI students.  I will ask the para-professionals to keep track of engagement and formative assessments to see if the game seems to engage the students.  The game I created covers a portion of the Common Core Standards that are assessed at my school.

Over the last seven weeks I have been pushed outside my bubble to create, research, and implement new technologies.  The first couple of weeks were challenging with the Maker Kits but I was proud of my innovative game I created and I enjoyed adding to my lesson plan and revising so I can use it in my classroom.  One thing I learned is that I need to let my students be creative and create things.  I need to let them use the resources such as sketch up and popplet.  One area I think I fell a little flat was the MOOC lesson. I am hoping to revise my lesson so my staff can use it to set up their own Schoology page this fall.  I am excited to share all the new things I learned from this class.  I am thrilled to share the new resources I have learned with my students and see what they can create and learn!

CEP 811 Ed Camp Reflection

Last week I participated in a “un-conference” with fellow CEP 811 peers.  The purpose of the “un-conference” was to teach each other about some type of technology in the classroom.  Each presenter had their own presentation they shared via Google hangout.  The presenters were given fifteen minutes to present and insight discussion about their topic.

I learned a lot about my peer’s different schools and what they were doing in the classroom that really works well.  I especially appreciated the different examples and resources that were shared.  Being able to collaborate with my peers was extremely helpful and I learned a lot from them.  I found that I am very fortunate at my school to have a one-to-one technology environment, which will be helpful when the student have to test on the computers in the near future.

The “un-conference” would be a great way for teachers to have professional development.  Each staff member could present on his or her topic and then have a discussion with the rest of the staff.  A time limit would have to be in place so that the staff wouldn’t get side tracked.  The time limit on our conference made it a little difficult to get all the information out to my peers but I also understand why there needs to be a time limit.  

CEP 810 Reflection

Over the last seven weeks I have been challenged to learn new things and reflect on my teaching practices.  The Network Learning Project pushed me outside my bubble to learn something new.  There were times I was extremely frustrated giving me insight into how some of my students may feel when they don’t understand something.  I learned how to share on youtube and blog about my experiences on WordPress.  Not only was I pushed to learn something new I also was challenged to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich using a spoon, a plate, and a cup.  I learned that repurposing tools to create something is a great way for students to show their creativity.  My goal this year is to let my students create and not hold them back with tight restrictions.  I am lucky enough to have one-to-one Chromebooks next year.

 

https://flic.kr/p/bkj7hJ

I am still trying to wrap my head around how I am going to use all the information I learned with my students.  My goal is to implement something new each month so I don’t overwhelm my students or myself.  I also want to know what the best way is to implement all the new information I learned into my classroom.

 

References

Chromebooks Rollout – Shenkus, Jarret, Kevin, https://www.flickr.com/photos/kjarrett/6782114274/in/photolist-9VNt4a-dU7Lkz-nMUsEf-o1MvZS-abTY7w-9ZNXQM-bkj7hJ-bkj6QU-dDuz2Q-dWLgt1-e45L7f-9T6gK1-9ToMze-dTA79W-eicpwT-9T3kCv-ejHR9Y-ejsCda-ejykCq-acVYHq-9JpZ3j-dNyZhW-ae1ooF-9T3sU6-ehSbwB-bye1YP-bydZQV-bkj72q-bkj6DN-bkj6xW-bye1oR-bye1De-bkj6ib-bztcma-bztbc2-bztaXk-bztc6X-bmyk8m-bztbRF-bztaqR-fYXZfX-fBMKDx-9JmYGn-9T6gKC-nuTASz-kGtGug-9JpYZ9-mGm2YK-9XJv1w-dRqiuH

 

CEP 810 Network Learning Project (Side French Braid)

During the process of learning to side french braid I watched several youtube videos and read a few how to’s.  I found the youtube videos to be the most helpful because it was visual. I could pause, rewind, and fast forward through parts I needed more help on.  I also found that practice does in fact make “perfect”.  The more I practiced the better I got.  I truly believe that my students need to practice what they are learning to help them become experts (math facts).

 

                       

Week One                                                     Week Two

When I first began to braid I was extremely frustrated I am sure that my resource room and rti students feel this way when they are learning new challenging math problems.  The key is to take it step by step and practice.  It also helps to see multiple ways and examples.  I plan to use Schoology this year with my students and I will provide extra video tutorials to help students with their homework.

I also found that I could braid others hair a lot easier than my own.  So for my final video

I braided my sister’s hair.  She also helped me when I had questions or needed extra help.

CEP 810 21st Century Lesson Plan

In my 6th grade math class the routine was simple we began class with a 10 minute warm-up followed by 15-20 minutes of note-taking.  Then for the rest of the class period students would work on their math assignment and I would help struggling students or re-teach to a small group.  This way of teaching has been around for a long time lecturing…….  But are the students really thinking about what they are learning?????  In the last few weeks I was asked to push my students thinking by our technology director.  He asked me to have them create something with the ipads.  I was fortunate enough to have one to one ipads in my classroom.  So after reviewing our math topics I decided to have the students play a game called Algebra-lite.  This is an app that allows students to play with a pan and balance moving pawns and numbers to solve for the missing value (pawn).  I asked them to write down patterns they found and come up with rules on how to solve for the pawn.  They had learned how to solve one-step equations but had not solved two-step equations.  The algebra-lite application only has two-step equations.  Once they came up with their list of rules to solving the equations they had to get the rules checked by me.  Then the students had to make a video on Educreations teaching their fifth grade buddy how to solve two-step equations.  This 21st Century Lesson Plan pushes the students to use inquiry and critical thinking to come up with rules and then produce a video on Educreation showing what they learned.  The students also shared their Educreations video with the class and myself.  This lesson was by far the most rewarding lesson because students problem solved and created something to show what they learned.  I hope to use these type of lessons in the up coming school year.

 

Network Learning Project Blog Two CEP 810

Blog Post #2

Over the last few weeks I have been watching a lot of different youtube videos!

My sister in-law is a hair dresser so I asked her for some pointers.  She suggested I practice with wet hair and part my hair ahead of time.

Practice using my sister in-laws tips!

As you can see I need a lot of practice on myself.  I had my sister video tape herself braiding my hair and I watched that a lot.  I also asked her for helpful hints and tips. She prefers to braid the hair dry so I tried braiding my hair dry.

After trying both techniques I found that braiding my own hair when it is dry works best for me.

 When my hair was dry I was able to pull the strand tighter and make the braid a little more clean.  Opposed to when my hair was wet the braid was not tight.

 

I find that braiding someone else’s hair is way easier! I have also found that when I am braiding my hair I get frustrated very easily when the braid does not turn out the way I want it to the first time.  I have learned that I need to be patient with myself as I am learning a tricky braid.

The youtube videos have been the most helpful I try to match their step by step instructions and there are a lot of different tutorial videos.

MOOC Introduction to Schoology

This week in CEP 811 we learned about Massively Open Online Courses (MOOC) through P2PU and were challenged to create a mini MOOC.  In my introduction to Schoology course, my peers will master skill needed to set up a Schoology classroom page by creating a class and communicating with students and their parents through their Schoology page.

Schoology 

 

Audience: K-12 educators, parents, and students that would be interested in learning more about Schoology.  Schoology has become a popular learning management system in schools around the country.  It is user-friendly and even better it is free!  Educators can create classes, share resources, post videos, and even create assessments.

During this course learners will be able to set up a course on Schoology and share it with their students and parents.  Learns will also learn how to use the updates feature and manage student’s comments.  This course is set up in five different phases.  When the learn has completed the introductory class they will have created a course where their students and student’s parents have access and can communicate regularly. This course is a step by step instruction on how to setup a Schoology page.  Once a new course is created within Schoology there are many resources for teachers and students to use.

Creating a Schoology page will allow students and teachers to use technology to support and educate each other.  The learner will learn how to create a Schoology course by experimental learning.  Following the directions and trying new things within their Schoology page.  Once the learner has created their class and learned how to communicate with students and parents they can explore many more tools with in Schoology.

Lesson One: Signing up for Schoology

To begin learners need to sign up for a Schoology account it is free all you need is an email.  When signing up teachers, students, and parents sign up under different categories.  I am going to show how to use the instructor category.  

First, enter your school email then you will be prompted to enter your country, state, city, and school name. Once your information is entered Schoology will prompt you to take a tour.  I recommend taking the tour to familiarize yourself with what Schoology has to offer.

 

Lesson Two: Creating a Course

Create Courses: Create Courses to organize your academic content, grades, attendance, and invite students. (this is the first stop on your tour)

At the top of the page click on Courses.

 Then click on the + Create button.

Course Name: give your course a name that will be easy for you to keep organized.  For my example: I named my course CEP 811, subject technology, and grade level high education.

Lesson Three: Adding Students and Parents to your Course

Before you can add students and parents they must sign up for a free account on schoology.com.  I recommend having your students sign up with their school email and passwords.  This will help the students stay organized and not have a lot of different emails and passwords.

Once your course has been created there is a special access code that your students and parents need to access your Schoology course.

 The student access code is in the green box on the bottom left hand corner of the screen (ZK2N-69SV7).  The students must type this code in exactly as reads this code is case-sensitive.

The parent access code is found under the members tab on the left.

 Having a separate parent code helps with organization. This code is also case-sensitive (JZK2N-69SV7).  I give the parent code out at open house in the beginning of the school year.

Lesson Four:  Communicating with Students and Parents

An easy way to communicate with students and parents is through the “update” tab.  Everyday under the update tab I post the “I can statement” and homework for that evening.  A major benefit to posting an update everyday is the students that are absent know exactly what they missed or what work they need to make up.

Once I have posted an update student can comment on the update.

Lesson Five: Managing Student’s Comments

Although it is nice for students to comment on posts I recommend setting up rules about what they can post. Here is an example of my expectations from one of my past classes.

Posting Expectations

1. Students may ask questions about the material they are learning.

2.  Students may answer other student’s questions.

3.  Schoology is NOT facebook we do not want to know what you are doing this weekend.

4.  Students may add resources they find helpful to the update.

If the expectations are not followed student will lose the privilege of posting to Schoology.

Example of an acceptable post!

 This student is asking for help and opens up the question to the whole class.

The teacher has the power to delete the students comments or keep them.  The teacher also gets email notifications every time a student posts to the course.

Managing Post 

In the top right hand corner by the teacher name there is a drop down menu in the menu select notifications.

On the notifications page there are several options to turn on or off student postings.

 

Learns that take this course will be able to create a Schoology account and course.  The learns should be able to add students, parents, and communicate with both using their Schoology page.  Using Schoology as a resource in the classroom helps teachers be more organized and gives them an easy outlet of communication.  Schoology has many other great resources to explore once teachers and students have mastered the basics.

 

Resources

Creative Commons Image

 https://www.flickr.com/photos/leesphotos/8696859446/in/photolist-gxrJfv-ju5K1W-gVeAzk-efvFjw-dG1ZEn-htn8ec-9f5dLD

CEP 811 Learning Theory

I have designed a game with my maker kit “Squishy Circuits”.  I made a coordinate grid out of a Stratego board using LED lights from my maker kit.  The game is designed so that students draw an index card with an order pair on it and then touch the “wand” to the correct light on the coordinate plane.  The light will light up a certain color and if the color matches the color on the back of the index card they are correct!

  Order Pair (2,2)

Research to support my game.

In Richard Culatta’s 2013 TED talk,  Richard talks about grades being too late for students.  Once the students receive their report card there is no room for improvement or for the student to learn what they didn’t master.  Richards says we need to re-imagine learning and personalize it using real-time feedback.  He provides a few examples of how teachers can provide feedback to students using technology.  One school had students take formative, three question test and used that data to provide the schedule of what they needed more help on.

In my game the students receive immediate feedback to whether they have picked the correct ordered pair.  If they confuse the coordinates they can reevaluate their choice and pick the correct order pair.

According to Margaret Heritage, feedback is a crucial competent of formative assessments (Heritage, M, 2011).  Feedback helps teachers adjust their instruction to help students that did not understand the material.  Formative assessments give teachers evidence of students learning.  Feedback also provides students with their current learning status so they are able to be accountable for their learning.

In my game students receive immediate feedback, they either matched the correct color or they did not.  They are able to fix their mistake and learn from their mistake.

Social cognitive theory of self-regulation, self-efficacy, and achievement goals play a role in my game.  Dale Schunk states, “Self-efficacy sustains motivation and leads learners to establish new goals when they master their present ones ( Schunk, D., 1996).”  Students set goals for themselves and work to achieve them.  In order to achieve their goals they need feedback.  In the coordinate plane game students may set a goal to master all light bulbs.  They would be responsible to keep track of their correct responses.

I need to make a few revisions to my game. I believe that I need to add enough lights to cover the whole board I only have eighteen lightbulbs.  Once I add more bulbs I will have to make more index cards too.  I may also make another version of the game using different rules.  Instead of losing your turn for not picking the correct ordered pair maybe assign points based on how many guesses it may take the student to get the correct order pair.

 

 

References

Culatta, R. (2014, July 14). Reimagining Learning: Richard Culatta at TEDxBeaconStreet. [Video File]TEDxTalks. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watchfeature=player_embedded&v=Z0uAuonMXrg

Heritage, M. (2011, April 1). Formative assessment: An enabler of learning. New Horizons. Retrieved from http://education.jhu.edu/PD/newhorizons/Better/articles/Spring2011.html

Schunk, D.H. (1996, October). Self-Evaluation and Self-Regulated Learning

CEP 810 Blog Post What is Learning?

The first week in TE 810 we were asked to read an article about learning and write an essay. After reading the article I thought about what really does is mean to learn something and how do you know that you or your students truly have learned something? In Chapters one through three of Bransford’s book “How people learn: brain, mind, experience, and school I learned about how people learn, the different types of learners, and how to support learners. In the my essay I touch on all three things I learned about.