Technology Dream Classroom

Technology	Why it is important and how it will be used
Promethean Interactive Board, with activotes	Allows for collaboration among students, acts as a form of ongoing assessment, motivates students, increases interest, allows for integration of video, pictures, and stuff.
Mac Laptop carts w/ Macbook pros	Allows for everyday use of computers, writing, research, typing, increase of general comfort of technology, easy access.
Ipads, one for each student and for the teacher	Easy access for Voicethread, research, interactive communication, draw and explain thinking, save work for assessment. Recording availability. A lot of academic apps available.
Elmo	Presents student work, good for whole group instruction
Mounted projector	For connecting to ipads and elmo, showing films etc.
Digital Microscopes (4)	Delving into detail with science, used for close up looks for life and physical science.
Headsets with microphone, one for each student	For listening stations, recording digital stories on Ipads or computers.
G4 teacher computer and mac book pro for teacher	For teacher use at school and at home.
Front Row Microphone	Useful for hearing impaired students, used for quiet students to present. Getting attention - all students can hear teacher.
Salinity Tester	For physical science and life science, studying the oceans.
Digital video cameras (5)	For digital story telling and documenting classroom life and presentations.
Digital cameras (Canon Elfs) (10)	Digital stories, documenting fieldtrips
Sound system and stereo	For playing music, video
Wireless internet	To be used with laptops
IPhone	For teacher use: instant communication with parents.
Tripods (5)	For video cameras
Color laser Printer and Xerox machine (with unlimited ink)	Use for teachers and printers – used all the time!

Software	Why?
Microsoft Office for Macs	Word processing (Word), graphing data (Excel), presentation (Powerpoint)
Kidspiration	Graphic organizers, create and inspirational brainstorming and outlining.
Study Island	Math practice, instantaneous summative assessment
Reading Eggs	Phonics work for students, can be used at home as well. Motivational.
Unlimited budget to amazon.com for audio books	Fluency, differentiation, and motivation.
Voicethread for the school	Voicethread account for the entire school, all students can have their own account to make comments, create digital stories.
Adobe Addition	Editing for podcasts
Unlimited academic app budget	For purchasing academic apps as they arise.
Lightroom	Editing and organizing photos
Membership to NCTM, NCSS, NCTS	Teacher professional development, lesson plans

Podcasting for Education

Podcasts are downloadable audio bytes that can be used for practically any genre.  I used them a lot during my bout in University.  The professor would record each lecture, questions from students included, and then post it on the class website.  This was useful not only for students who missed class, but for students like me, who needed to go back and listen to difficult parts of the lecture.  With this technology, I was able to pause, rewind, or revisit a topic I was having difficulty with.  Podcasts aren’t just for teacher use. Tony Vincent’s Learning in Hand website discusses how students can make podcasts of themselves and post them online for others to listen to.  This can draw in parental support, community bonds, and give students a bigger audience than just their classmates.  They are put on the web along with NPR or the Discovery Channel podcasts to be useful to others around the world (Vincent, 2011).  The Carrolton-Farmers Branch Independent School District near Dallas has purchased iPods for the classrooms that students can listen to educational podcasts from other organizations or to recorded vocabulary and stories from their very own teachers (Smithsonian Education, 2010). The Smithsonian is one organization that puts out educational podcasts that student can download and listen to for sources of information. Other organizations that do podcasting that could be incredibly educational are the Discovery Channel, NASA, or even NPR for your Junior High or High School students. Podcasting can be an incredible tool in the classroom, a great way to get primary sources, and yet another way to get kids excited about using their generations technology to learn.

2010. “Podcasting with your students.” Smithsonian Education. Retrieved from http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/educators/lesson_plans/podcast/intheclassroom.html

Vincent, Tony. 2011. “Podcasting.” Learning in Hand. Retrieved from http://learninginhand.com/podcasting/

Lesson Plan and Reflection

Intern: Bonnie Brown

Content Area(s): Technology

Grade level(s): 1st

Date: October 28, 2011

STEP 1 DESIRED RESULTS

GLE(s)/Standards:

Appropriate behavior: with and around equipment (JSD)

4. Technology Operations and Concepts (ISTE)

Students demonstrate a sound understanding of technology concepts, systems, and operations.  Students:

a. Understand and use technology systems
.

Objectives:

I can use a camera safely and responsibly.

Students will know and be able to:

Students will know how to turn on a camera and use it properly.

Students will be able to take a picture and view the picture they have taken.

Students will understand that it may take more than one attempt to get their desired shot.

STEP 2 ASSESSMENTS

Evidence:

Students will have practice shots of each other that they have taken.

Assessments:

The photos on the camera will show if the students understood how to take a picture, view it, and decide to keep it.

STEP 3 LEARNING PLAN

Learning Opportunities and Differentiations:

Prep Work:

·      Have 3-5 (depending on how many I can get) cameras ready for student use by having clear memory cards. *Make sure all cameras have wristbands*

·      Have groups of students (4 per group) already made up

Learning Opportunities:

·      Before choice time, explain to the students that I will be calling four students at a time to come with me to the hallway.  (Tell students to bring their coats)

·      Remind students that this is a privilege and they will not be able to come if they cannot listen to and follow directions respectfully and safely.

·      Show students my camera.  Ask if they have ever used a camera before and what are some good things we might use it for.

·      Tell students that the number one important thing while using the camera is to have the wrist strap on their wrists at all times and to never drop the camera. This means no running with the camera and no horseplay. Remind them of our class rule “you break it you fix it”.

·      Show students where the flash is, where the lens is, and where the power button is.  Explain that it is important that they not touch the lens or put their finger over it or the flash while taking a picture.

o   Show them an example of a picture that I take while covering the lens and flash.

·      Ask students what I might be able to do with a picture like this on my camera and how can I fix the problem.

o   Show them how to view and then delete the picture and take a new one.

·      Show students how to use the “zoom in” feature and how to make sure their picture looks right before they take the photo.

·      Ask students if there are any other things they might need to know about using a camera, or if there are any other questions.  Answer accordingly.

·      Give each student a camera (hopefully I will have enough for each to have one in a group of four; or perhaps one camera per pair).  Have them practice taking pictures of each other or things in the hallway.

o   Pair students up with each other so I know whose picture is whose (because it will have their assigned partner in it).

·      If we still have enough time, take them outside and practice taking pictures of the playground.  Remind them that I want a picture of their friend in the frame because it is more fun to see pictures with people in them.

Differentiation:

·      Make sure to have Richie and Cole paired together with one camera so their aide can help with the picture taking process.

·      Do not have Tyler, Tevin, and Aaron in the same group

·      If some students have more background knowledge about taking pictures, shorten my explanation and vice versa for those who have less background knowledge.

Lesson Reflection

Describe what happened in the lesson (include size of group, level, student response, etc.) in enough detail to make the interactions of your lesson clearly demonstrate that you understood the elements of the teaching strategy.

Throughout the time for developmental centers (choice time), I pulled out six students at a time to teach about the camera and how it works.  I used two cameras and split them into groups of three.  Before giving them the cameras, I asked the students if they had ever used a camera and most students said that they had.  I did an overview of how to turn it on, off, take a picture, preview pictures, and delete pictures that we may not want to save. I asked them what might happen if they put their fingers over the lens. After asking if the students had any questions, I told them that this is a privilege and that there are certain things that could make them loose this privilege and asked if they had any idea what things those might be.  The pretty much all knew that they shouldn’t run with, drop, throw, horseplay, or misuse the camera in any way and to use the wrist strap. I then gave a camera to each group of three and they were supposed to take pictures of their teammates with a background in it (stairs, pictures, etc).  Most students did well throughout the lesson and were able to take pictures of their classmates for the most part.  They didn’t preview the pictures or delete any, most likely because they wanted to get back to developmental centers.

How did you adapt instruction in terms of individual cognitive and developmental levels, variations in cultural and individual learning styles, language background, and special strengths and weaknesses? How would you do so in the future?

There wasn’t a lot of differentiation needed beyond hovering over those I didn’t trust as much to go off alone.  Since the groups were so small, I think that the differentiation was the ability to oversee all the students at the same time. If I had given the lesson to a larger group, I would have pre-presented it to my ESL students first and then held a group of students who hadn’t ever used the camera before to give a lesson follow-up.

Did the students meet the objectives of the lesson? How do you know? What impact did you have on student learning? How do you know?

I do think the students met the objectives of the lesson for the most part.  They took the pictures, operated the camera, but didn’t actually delete or retake any pictures. I think they understood what they were doing because they didn’t seem to be confused and took the pictures like I asked. I think that my impact wasn’t as great as if I had been able to take time to let them take pictures of something meaningful or connected to what they have been learning, or if they had been able to take more time.

How clearly did you communicate your expectations and challenging standards? How did you integrate critical thinking and problem solving into the activity?

I don’t know if I did communicate my expectations clearly enough or they would have taken the time to review and retake some of the pictures.  It was critical thinking for these kids because they are learning a new skill and trying to figure out how to differentiate between shots to keep and shots to erase.

What would you change to improve the lesson the next time?

I think it would have been cool if I had enough cameras to have given the instruction as a whole class and let groups of three work on the project in class and then sent them out to do something a little more exciting than take pictures of each other.