Assure Lesson Plan Reflection

 Students today are so technologically advanced that sometimes a traditional classroom learning environment is not enough to engage them. They key to grabbing their attention is to appeal to something that intrigues them, usually anything they can do, touch, or interact with. Most of the time it is a daunting task for teachers. For effective instruction to take place, careful planning is required. The assure model will help effectively integrate media/technology into your lesson or presentation (Heinich, 2002) In the assure model, each step is detailed and there is a sense of accountability for the skills taught. It even includes a revision section where the teacher should go back and assess and ensure 100% participation and success.

When integrating technology into this assignment, I could easily see how a student would find this assignment interesting. Just being able to do an assignment on the computer breaks them away from the traditional and sometimes boring pen and paper routine. The NETS*T standards push to facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity (ISTE.org.,2011) and what better way to do it than with technology.
In this assignment, I was able to integrate several interactive ways to communicate and engage my students. First, was the use of the Google Document spread sheet. I uploaded it directly to the website and am able to email to them as a group or individually. Second, was the requirement in the assessment for students to post and respond to a class blog. They are free to express themselves and receive credit for participating.
And last but not least the contact page. Most times students do not have questions until they are actually doing the assignment and by that time they are usually home and can not communicate with the teacher.

Overall, I like the fact that the ASSSURE plan is very detailed. It minimizes the guessing to be done in the actual class setting. One of the down sides is that these plans may take a lot of time to compile, but I guess over time the collection will make the class and instructional time more efficient.



References: 

Heinich, R., Molenda, M., Russell, J.D., and Smaldino, J. (2002). Instructional media and technologies for learning. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.


NETST Standards (2012)  Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-teachers.aspx

Technology Assessment #1- Assistive Technology, Enabling Dreams

Enabling Dreams




When developing a lesson plan, the teacher needs to consider the fact that he or she may have a child with a disability in the class, at some point. It is important to ensure there is flexibility in the traditional plan so each child has the opportunity to participate and gain knowledge from the lesson. Some teachers may find it challenging working with a child with a disability, but they should know they are not alone in this conquest.
With all the programs and support groups available, parents and teachers can get the help they need to assist a disabled child in and out of the classroom.
One of the major movements is the availability and accessibility of assistive devices. Assistive technology devices help the student to be able to interact and participate more normally in a regular classroom setting, both academically and socially. "Considering the significant potential it has for facilitating personal independence and social inclusion, assistive technology (AT) has become an increasingly important tool for improving the quality of life for individuals with severe disabilities."( Reichle, 2011) Even with required modifications, students with physical disability may still struggle with logistics and other physical aspects. By introducing kids to technology, early in life, they can learn it faster and can focus more on curriculum later on in the future.(Edutopia, n.d.) This is the key ot helping a child become accustomed and adjust more efficiently to mainstream learning.
There is so much we can do for our students, in terms of modifications, but assistive technology will help both student and teacher. With all the new technological developments, there is always a way to help a disabled child succeed. We as teachers need to be open minded and proactive when approached with these new devices. In the past disabled students were left behind struggling either mentally or physically with limited options. Now with all the advances, they will not struggle as badly academically.



Resources:

How Assistive Technology Enables Dreams. (n.d.).Edutopia. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/assistive-technology-enabling-dreams-video

 

Reichle, J. (2011). Evaluating Assistive Technology in the Education of Persons with Severe Disabilities. Journal Of Behavioral Education, 20(1), 77-85. doi:10.1007/s10864-011-9121-1

Online Game Reflection and Rubric- Word Connect

In our search to find the ideal online game, we came across a game called Word Connect. WordConnect is a puzzle word game similar to the classic game Tetris. Some have called it a hybrid between Tetris and scrabble. You have to place the falling letters to form a word found in the list. For every word you complete from the list, a new image is displayed. You finish a level when you manage to find all the words found in the list of each level.(yougame.com, 2012) What I  really liked about this game was the the fact that the player, or student, would have to use a mix of speed, intelligence, and critical thinking to gain points.
In today's technology advances world, students must utilize higher order thinking to advance.
"Students are different today because of technology. Every educator knows this, of course, but this change is about much more than agile thumbs,shriveling attention spans, and OMG’d vocabularies". (Pirvine, 2011) In math, STEM education is rapidly growing. This movement is to promote higher order thinking skills in children to help the become better problem solvers. Although this game is not directly related to my content area, math, it can be very useful in developing those pertinent skills. Pattern identification is prominent in this game which is a crucial part of math. Ideally, I would like to find a game similar to this, but possibly using numbers instead of letters and word forms.
On a scale of 1-10 I would rate it overall a 7 for functionality, purpose, and ease of use.


References: http://www.yougame.com/game.php?id=3945

 Pirvine, 2011. http://www.stemeducation.com/

Technology Assessment #2

Looked at some student samples and found a way to make this assignment FUN!!! Enjoy! 

 

 

Technological professional

This class has made me a more aware and techno-savvy person. I have learned so much in such a short time and I now have new things to add to my list of accomplishments! It's been a pleasure working with all of you. A special thanks to Dr. Cyrus for exposing us to so many new things. I'll be sure to "Bookmark" you! Have a great summer all!

Digital Safety- Copyright and Fair Use

As teaching professionals, we utilize many different resources from various media. We teach by sharing information that we believe will be useful as supplemental material or a direct source of knowledge. Most of the time we do not take into consideration that much of the information out there is another individuals personal creation and may be subject to copyright law. What is copyright? Based on the definition by Dictionary.com copyright is "the exclusive right to produce copies and to control an original literary, musical, or artistic work, granted by law for a specified number of years (in Britain, usually 70 years from the death of the author, composer, etc, or from the date of publication if later)." This right protects the authors and their personal works from others making a profit off of their ideas or claiming credentials for something they, themselves, did not create. In the education field, copyright makes it somewhat difficult for teachers to distinguish what can or cannot be shared. They information shared in the classroom should not be for profit and is not intended to be publicized for popularity or fame. Because of this, educators should familiarize themselves with the practices of Fair Use. In the Fair Use Doctrine, there are exceptions to the law that allow individuals, such as teachers, a little leeway to share material for educational purposes, without fear of copyright infringement. As I worked with my group on our presentation , we joked about how much information in our presentation could have been copyrighted, without the use of proper citations. We used some graphics from the internet and information from various sources, all of which was cited in our references page. We did have some challenges trying to meet in person, but we were able to communicate using tools such as Skype and Wiggio. This project was very useful, not only for our personal information, but for our fellow teacher/ students as well. We provided them with more resources that they could access from our webpage that would help them in their classrooms. If I were to change anything about this lesson it would be to have more time studying digital safety in general. In this tech-world that we live in today, we can not have enough education about internet safety. Not only for ourselves, but for us to arm our students with this nknowledge, as well. Resources: www.dictionary.com http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org ncte.org/positions/statements/fairusemedialiteracy

Copyright and Fair Use- Group Project 2

Copyright and Fair Use on Prezi

My Live Binder- Math Stuff

7th Grade Math

Calling all MATH teachers! Here are some useful resources to add to your collection! Enjoy!