12/4 Tech Club Reflection
Our last day of Tech Club was a success. After 10 minutes of Dance Mat Typing (which the students just love and are always very eager for), we reviewed the material we had covered over the past 5 weeks. We reviewed the stories we read over the past couple weeks and prompted the students to discuss what they had learned about hurricanes and tornadoes. We also asked them what to do in the case of either natural disaster. After a long discussion, we passed out crayons and colored pencils along with the sheets of paper upon which students had typed sentences over the past few weeks and instructed the students to draw pictures of the sentences they had typed. We were hoping to have been able to use a computer drawing program, however it would have been too much of a hassle having to get a program or website approved by the computer teacher at Longfellow and then installed in every computer. So we decided to have the students draw by hand instead. At the end we collected all of the pictures and sentences and created a book: "All About Weather" by Longfellow students.
This time, our time management was better, but not great. There were a few students that were done drawing much earlier than others and we hadn't thought of anything productive for them to do. We had one girl make a cover page and a couple others practice writing and typing the words "tornado" and "hurricane". I've come to realize that issues time management and students finishing tasks at different times are almost constantly present. I think that a person can hone tactics to better address these challenges, but every day will require juggling and rearranging.
Overall, I have learned a lot from this Tech Club experience. I preferred my Tech Club experience to my Book Club experience because in Tech Club we had more guidance. We were required to submit lesson plans ahead of time and Liz, our "supervisor" was able to make tweaks and suggestions that helped us better prepare for the upcoming week. She was also there with us in the computer lab and offered a perfect amount of support -- she was there when we needed her, but in general let us run the show. I also appreciated Liz' presence because she had more insight into the lives of the children we were working with than we did. For example, when a student struggled in reading she let us know so that we knew what to expect from him. It was nice to debrief with her immediately afterwards to reflect upon what went well and what did not.
In general, my field placement experience has been incredibly beneficial to my understanding of differentiation. I feel like the after school environment is the perfect place to see the range of age, development, family situations and attendance that will exist in any one classroom.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Tech Club Reflection for 11/27
Tech Club Reflection for 11/27
I felt like things went really smoothly this week. We executed a similar lesson plan to last week. After 10 minutes of Dance Mat Typing, we read the students a real-life story about a tornado in southern Minnesota from the website we are using which is Web Weather for Kids: http://eo.ucar.edu/webweather/. I am from southern Minnesota, so it was fun for me to read this story to the students and share with them some of my scary tornado moments and ask if they had any. Growing up in Bozeman, most kids did not have tornado stories. However, our discussion questions prompted students to think about what to do in the case of a tornado, and students had a lot to contribute to that conversation. After reading and discussing the story, the students opened Word and wrote a sentence about something they learned or found interesting.
Overall, it was a good lesson. But, as often happens, time became an issue. In the past, we didn't give the students enough time to type because we didn't realize how much time they would need. This time, things got started late so everything was pushed back 5 minutes or so and we didn't keep an eye on the clock well enough to successfully manage it. Had I realize how behind we were, I could had skipped certain aspects of the story and discussion so that students could spend more time typing. Modifying lessons due to unpredicted issues or time constraints is something I'll have to work on in my future work in schools.
I felt like things went really smoothly this week. We executed a similar lesson plan to last week. After 10 minutes of Dance Mat Typing, we read the students a real-life story about a tornado in southern Minnesota from the website we are using which is Web Weather for Kids: http://eo.ucar.edu/webweather/. I am from southern Minnesota, so it was fun for me to read this story to the students and share with them some of my scary tornado moments and ask if they had any. Growing up in Bozeman, most kids did not have tornado stories. However, our discussion questions prompted students to think about what to do in the case of a tornado, and students had a lot to contribute to that conversation. After reading and discussing the story, the students opened Word and wrote a sentence about something they learned or found interesting.
Overall, it was a good lesson. But, as often happens, time became an issue. In the past, we didn't give the students enough time to type because we didn't realize how much time they would need. This time, things got started late so everything was pushed back 5 minutes or so and we didn't keep an eye on the clock well enough to successfully manage it. Had I realize how behind we were, I could had skipped certain aspects of the story and discussion so that students could spend more time typing. Modifying lessons due to unpredicted issues or time constraints is something I'll have to work on in my future work in schools.
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Tech Club Reflection for 11/13
Tech Club Reflection for 11/13
I think we've really gotten into the swing of things now. At our last tech club session,the students did dance mat typing for the first 10 minutes, as always then we read a story aloud from the same website we used last week. This way, the younger students and the students who struggle with reading did not feel so daunted by navigating the sophisticated website. Before we read the story, which was about hurricanes, we asked the students to tell us what they knew about hurricanes. We also had a discussion about Hurricane Sandy and the effects it had on the east coast. The story was a lighthearted one about a woman who had experienced a hurricane as a girl. Her parents had thrown a hurricane party, and all of their friends and neighbors had come over to eat, drink and weather the storm. The kids were even allowed to play outside and revel in the creepiness of the dark, ominous skies that loomed overhead just before the storm hit.
The Longfellow students loved the story and were very engaged in the discussion we had afterwards. We asked the students to each type a couple sentences describing something they learned about weather or hurricanes from the story. This took up the rest of the time we had (half and hour is too short!). The students printed off their sentences and shut down their computers.
This lesson plan was a successful one -- I think the only thing I would change would be to give the students more time to type at the end of the period. It is easy for us to underestimate how long it takes them to type a couple words, and we really have to be more aware of a realistic time allotment.
I think we've really gotten into the swing of things now. At our last tech club session,the students did dance mat typing for the first 10 minutes, as always then we read a story aloud from the same website we used last week. This way, the younger students and the students who struggle with reading did not feel so daunted by navigating the sophisticated website. Before we read the story, which was about hurricanes, we asked the students to tell us what they knew about hurricanes. We also had a discussion about Hurricane Sandy and the effects it had on the east coast. The story was a lighthearted one about a woman who had experienced a hurricane as a girl. Her parents had thrown a hurricane party, and all of their friends and neighbors had come over to eat, drink and weather the storm. The kids were even allowed to play outside and revel in the creepiness of the dark, ominous skies that loomed overhead just before the storm hit.
The Longfellow students loved the story and were very engaged in the discussion we had afterwards. We asked the students to each type a couple sentences describing something they learned about weather or hurricanes from the story. This took up the rest of the time we had (half and hour is too short!). The students printed off their sentences and shut down their computers.
This lesson plan was a successful one -- I think the only thing I would change would be to give the students more time to type at the end of the period. It is easy for us to underestimate how long it takes them to type a couple words, and we really have to be more aware of a realistic time allotment.
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Tech Club Reflection 11/6/12
Our activity this week was simple and straightforward but very fun. After helping with homework for the first half hour, we headed down to the computer lab. Haley and I had arrived a couple minutes early to set up every computer with a desktop icon that lead directly to the website we would be using. This made it very easy to guide the students to the website once they arrived. First, we discussed the weather in Bozeman that day. We asked the kids to make a hypothesis about the temperature outside. Interestingly enough, some students had checked the weather with their teacher earlier in the day and very confidently reported their findings. On the projector, we looked for Bozeman's temperature and weather conditions on weather.com and discovered that the current temperature was higher than the temperature the kids had found earlier in the day. Everyone was shocked, and it was a great opportunity to discuss the reasons for this change. Then, we asked the kids to name places around the world. We looked for the temperature and weather conditions in those places and discussed reasons for differences in weather around the world.
With about 15 minutes left, we had the students click on the desktop icon that brought them to the website we would be using, called Web Weather for Kids. The site had been approved by Longfellow's computer teacher and has some great interactive games dealing with clouds, lighting and severe storms. On the projector, we demonstrated to the kids how to navigate the website and encouraged them the explore the types of weather that interested them. We quickly realized however, that this website was over the heads of many of the first graders, and some of the second graders. We had one kindergardener in the computer lab as well, and she was very lost. We have 2 or 3 struggling readers in Tech Club who were not there that day. But if they had been, I'm sure they would have been frustrated.
We were intending to have the students each write down a few notes about something they learned while exploring the website in order to start typing next week. But we realized that not much was learned and that we had to take a different approach next week. We've been looking at a few different weather websites for kids that can hopefully be used in place of this one.
Overall, it was a good lesson. The students were very interested and engaged and very excited about seeing the current temperature of Billings and Bejiing. At first they were thrilled about the website, but lost interest after a couple minutes of not finding material that was at their level. For the next Tech Club, we'll use a new website.
With about 15 minutes left, we had the students click on the desktop icon that brought them to the website we would be using, called Web Weather for Kids. The site had been approved by Longfellow's computer teacher and has some great interactive games dealing with clouds, lighting and severe storms. On the projector, we demonstrated to the kids how to navigate the website and encouraged them the explore the types of weather that interested them. We quickly realized however, that this website was over the heads of many of the first graders, and some of the second graders. We had one kindergardener in the computer lab as well, and she was very lost. We have 2 or 3 struggling readers in Tech Club who were not there that day. But if they had been, I'm sure they would have been frustrated.
We were intending to have the students each write down a few notes about something they learned while exploring the website in order to start typing next week. But we realized that not much was learned and that we had to take a different approach next week. We've been looking at a few different weather websites for kids that can hopefully be used in place of this one.
Overall, it was a good lesson. The students were very interested and engaged and very excited about seeing the current temperature of Billings and Bejiing. At first they were thrilled about the website, but lost interest after a couple minutes of not finding material that was at their level. For the next Tech Club, we'll use a new website.
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Tech Club Reflection 10/30
Reflection for Tech Club 10/30
Today, we decided to do a fun introductory activity to get the kids thinking about different types of weather. After helping with homework, we went outside to the playground and sat in a circle. Luckily, it was a really nice day -- beautiful fall colors, a slight breeze and a warm sun. We seized the opportunity to talk about the seasons and changes in the weather. We also discussed hurricanes, and specifically what has been happening with Hurricane Sandy. After some informal discussion, we passed a soccer ball around to kids eliciting their responses to our discussion questions. First we asked "How does the weather affect you?". Each student took a turn answering the question and after he/she was done answering threw the ball to the next person who would answer the question. Only the person with the ball in their hand could talk. We did the same thing with the question "What's your favorite type of weather and why?"
It was a simple activity, but it was a great preassessment. We were able to get a feel for which students already know a lot about weather, and which don't. We were also able to get to know the students -- which ones are shy, which ones are easily excitable and which ones are very serious. It was a fun, relaxing activity that the kids really enjoyed and that was beneficial to us.
I think if I were to do this next time, I would come up with more questions and maybe have the students talk amongst themselves. It would also be great to have the students explore the playground for a couple of minutes and ask them each to come back to the circle with an piece of evidence that weather affects our lives. I think it might be more engaging and get the kids moving (which they love to do after being in school for 8 hours). But overall, I think that our lesson plan was a success the way it was.
Tech Club Reflection 10/23
Reflection on Tech-Club Experience for 10/23
Our first day working with Liz at the Longfellow Tech Club was great. I spent the first half of the semester doing Book Club for EDU 331 at Longfellow with 3rd and 4th graders and I'm interested to see how my Tech Club experience differs from that one. I participated in Book Club by myself, with no other MSU students to work with. I'm excited to have support from fellow MSU students. And, we gathered to discuss our book in the gym where all of the other students who attended were playing and doing homework. Sometimes Book Club participants became distracted by the kindergardeners running around and the noise of the gym. I think that Tech Club participants will be able to focus better in the computer lab where there are not so many distractions.
We helped the students with homework for the first half-hour of our time at Longfellow, and then followed the kids and the MSU students who were in the first cohort down to the computer lab. For the first 10 minutes of the half-hour in the computer lab was spent working on a program called "Dance Mat Typing" which helps them practice finding home-row and basic typing skills. Then they began working on their project, in which they researched birds. The MSU students in the first cohort had intended for the Longfellow students to have researched a bird online, copied and pasted an image from the internet onto a Word document, and type a few short sentences describing the bird. At the end, everyone's final product was compiled into a little book. The idea was for this project to be spread out over the whole 6 weeks. However, Haley and I worked with two students who hadn't been to Tech Club before, and we had to rush them through the whole 6-week process in one half an hour. It became clear that constant improvisation will be necessary due to the nature of the after school program in which many students will be leaving early, or only there on certain days. The fact that all students will be at different levels was an issue in Book Club as well, but I see it as great practice for implementing differentiation tactics.
Liz, the Tech Club coordinator at Longfellow, gave us a few guidelines about how we should conduct Tech Club. With her help, Lane, Haley and I decided that we would do a similar project with the students. We are going to have the students research a type of weather or weather pattern and similarly, teach them how to copy and paste an image from the internet, give them some practice typing a few short sentences and have them print out their final product at the end to be compiled into a little book about weather. Before today, this wouldn't have seemed to me like enough to fill a 6-week program. But after seeing how complicated it was for the students go back and forth between a word document and an internet page, not to mention typing a simple sentence, I have realized what a huge task navigating computers can be for them. I think that this amount of work will be just right.
Our first day working with Liz at the Longfellow Tech Club was great. I spent the first half of the semester doing Book Club for EDU 331 at Longfellow with 3rd and 4th graders and I'm interested to see how my Tech Club experience differs from that one. I participated in Book Club by myself, with no other MSU students to work with. I'm excited to have support from fellow MSU students. And, we gathered to discuss our book in the gym where all of the other students who attended were playing and doing homework. Sometimes Book Club participants became distracted by the kindergardeners running around and the noise of the gym. I think that Tech Club participants will be able to focus better in the computer lab where there are not so many distractions.
We helped the students with homework for the first half-hour of our time at Longfellow, and then followed the kids and the MSU students who were in the first cohort down to the computer lab. For the first 10 minutes of the half-hour in the computer lab was spent working on a program called "Dance Mat Typing" which helps them practice finding home-row and basic typing skills. Then they began working on their project, in which they researched birds. The MSU students in the first cohort had intended for the Longfellow students to have researched a bird online, copied and pasted an image from the internet onto a Word document, and type a few short sentences describing the bird. At the end, everyone's final product was compiled into a little book. The idea was for this project to be spread out over the whole 6 weeks. However, Haley and I worked with two students who hadn't been to Tech Club before, and we had to rush them through the whole 6-week process in one half an hour. It became clear that constant improvisation will be necessary due to the nature of the after school program in which many students will be leaving early, or only there on certain days. The fact that all students will be at different levels was an issue in Book Club as well, but I see it as great practice for implementing differentiation tactics.
Liz, the Tech Club coordinator at Longfellow, gave us a few guidelines about how we should conduct Tech Club. With her help, Lane, Haley and I decided that we would do a similar project with the students. We are going to have the students research a type of weather or weather pattern and similarly, teach them how to copy and paste an image from the internet, give them some practice typing a few short sentences and have them print out their final product at the end to be compiled into a little book about weather. Before today, this wouldn't have seemed to me like enough to fill a 6-week program. But after seeing how complicated it was for the students go back and forth between a word document and an internet page, not to mention typing a simple sentence, I have realized what a huge task navigating computers can be for them. I think that this amount of work will be just right.
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Digital Storytelling Contextual Analysis
Montana Education
Standards met: With this
digital storytelling project students introduce family members and friends
using video, photos and internet media.
In practicing basic language skills like conjugating common verbs and
introducing oneself and others, students work to fulfill Montana English
Language Proficiency Standard 1, which states “English Language Learners
communicate for Social and Instructional purposes within the school setting”. Because students will be using many
resources to create this personalized multi-media presentation, they will be
better equipped to meet Montana K-12 Content Technology Standard 3 which states
“the student will apply digital tools and skills with creativity and innovation
to express his/herself, construct knowledge and develop products and
processes”.
Learning Outcome: Students will properly use and
conjugate the verbs “to be” and “to like” as well as one other verb for every
person they introduce.
Unit Overview: The
unit that this digital storytelling project would be incorporated into is a
unit for beginner students that introduces basic vocabulary and verb
conjugation. Students would have
learned family member vocabulary and occupation vocabulary by the time we start
the unit on activity vocabulary, present tense verb conjugation and how to make
introductions. Students will be
given time to explore movie making programs. They can bring in photos to be scanned, bring in camera
chips, or download photos from the internet. Students are required to use at least two forms of media
(photos, internet graphics, video, etc). Using a digital storytelling project assignment to teach these concepts will hopefully engage students more than a more traditional presentation as well as teach students the skills to navigate movie making programs. Rather than create a poster board or present in front of the class, students will learn to find internet graphics, use movie making programs and create a streamlined, visually pleasing digital story. It gives the chance for students to make their friends and family a little more glamorous and exciting by making a movie/slideshow about them.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)