For all teachers interested in providing 21st Century learning standards and NGSS for their students, I encourage you to research Project EDDIE, a collection of learning modules developed by science and education scholars who provide data driven environmental exploration. These modules incorporate critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity.  My daughter who graduates this May from ISU with her Master's Degree in Science and Education,  helped to write them.

Project EDDIE

The following are three lesson plans of my esteemed fellow students and comments regarding their work:

Sara Crim Technology Infused Lesson Plan

My comments:

From Sara’s lesson plan on World War II, I learned about pragmatism, and its connections to the constructivist epistemology. Sara applied the learning theory and design of pragmatism: it consists of the need for teachers to know our students and what lessons would be most practical and important for them. The theory of pragmatism is evident in the purpose of this lesson:  to create a Prezi presentation for understanding of World War II, and its impact on the United States and the world. The purpose also includes creating lesson tools for future students. Sara’s lesson was historically significant in allowing students to research history and discover its important elements. The lesson allowed students to prepare presentations that would focus on the students’ perspective: what part of World War II was influential and significant to them.

The technology incorporated in accomplishing the lesson’s goals was paramount in that it allowed the students to research, analyze, and synthesize. Online textbooks provided content instruction. The online textbook also allowed the students to divide into smaller focus groups, with separate areas of emphasis.  The Prezi tool gave students a tool to identify and choose elements in their presentation that effectively represented the section of World War II history they were assigned. The iPads allowed the students to create a video of the Prezi presentations, and the iMovie software the ability to edit the videos. Once uploaded to the class Vimeo account, assessments could be made that alligned with rubrics provided by the instructor and students.  Standards were well followed in the lesson plan with the following:

NETS goals of locating, organizing, analyzing, evaluating, and synthesizing information were provided in the online textbook as well as videos created from the Prezi presentations. 

NETS goals of modelling collaborative knowledge construction and designing, adapting, and facilitating digital instructional tools were met in the teams that created Prezi’s and videos of their presentations.

Students collaborated and published with peers their videos on Vimeo.

Students presented explanations about World War II in their videos that would appeal to other audiences. (future students, for example)

They analyzed public policy in historic settings with their research on World War II.

They analyzed World War II events as changes and/or continuous events in their research of how World War II impacted the US.

                I believe my instruction has benefitted from Sara’s example lesson in the following ways:

1.       I will search for video editing programs that my students can use on laptops or PC’s.  I found avs4u, an editing software program that is not as expensive as some others available.  I also discovered Cyberlink Power Editor, and will research its parameters. Because my students do not have Macs or iPads, we cannot use iMovie yet. I think creating videos is a wonderful resource for students to view and evaluate their own work, and that of their peers. It is especially supportive to English language learners who benefit from the simultaneous audio, visual, and text presentation.

2.       I will use Sara’s example of providing her students ownership of the material and creative learning activities as they pertain to history; these lessons are often distant and difficult to comprehend for younger students whose perspective is generally in the “here and now.”  My ELL’s find it difficult to grasp historical concepts, as well as cultural differences that present themselves in our social studies lessons. When they are able to connect with the material in small groups, researching, discussing, and analyzing, they understand more readily the historical events and the effects that are produced on our countries today.  Then, when they create their presentations and view them on Vimeo, they can benefit from the repeat language and vocabulary exposure to the information presented in a new format. They later could review and evaluate their own work and that of their peers, according to the rubrics created by both instructor and students.

h    Aysha Alahmari Unit Plan

The lesson provided by Aysha Alahmari was insightful for me as an ESL instructor in that it provided me a comprehensive plan for researching and implementing the Professional Learning Network, “Edmodo.”  As Ms. Alahmari is currently a doctoral student, she is not in the classroom at present.  I became her student in reviewing this lesson.  I also further developed my own teaching repertoire for my students.  I have created an Edmodo page for each of my two ESL classes where they will be able to connect with each other this summer.  As I work for a grant funded program, I was unsure whether classes would be offered next fall.  I can continue to use Edmodo this summer, and continuing in the fall, regardless of funding decisions made. Her lesson has provided a framework for my learning, as well as a teaching resource for my students this summer and fall.

Aysha’s lesson plan is well constructed and includes a step by step procedure to learn about Edmodo, and use it collaboratively. Her objectives of identifying and evaluating Edmodo, using Edmodo to support individual and collaborative learning, and demonstrating creative thinking and knowledge construction were well met by my learning with her as a student.

I have benefitted from Aysha’s lesson in that she invited me to join another learning network called “Classroom 2.0”, an amazing network of 80,000 instructors from 200+ countries who use technology in their research and classrooms.  I have designed a science review test on Edmodo, which my students will use next week.  They benefit from this digital platform, as it provides testing experience online, a skill required for passing the GED tests.  I have connected to ESL instructors from all over the world to share resources, pedagogy strategies, and future student collaboration. I have learned that YouTube presents tutorials on using Edmodo, which I will use for my students as an introduction of the software before we begin.

Aysha applied her chosen design theory of social constructivism and the work of Vygotsky to this lesson on using Edmodo with the instruction of synchronous and asynchronous communication available on Edmodo, and the parameter of social networking as a base for the instruction. Students who are teachers learning about Edmodo create their own accounts and actively seek information from the various software formats provided.  Students benefit from her inclusion of “Zoom”, the web conferencing program, and “Open Learning”, where a teacher can create a course in a different language.  Aysha has targeted students and fellow teachers in Saudi Arabia. She is offering instruction to these students by offering a socially constructive lesson plan that meets their language requirements and proposes future learning with the lesson activities of joining five different groups, five different communities, and collaborating with other teachers in discussing the use of Edmodo in the classroom.

The technology she incorporated for accomplishing instructional goals were varied and abundant:  Zoom, Open Learning, Classroom 2.0, YouTube, and Edmodo. She confirmed the option of Arabic as language of instruction in the YouTube video about Edmodo, an awesome resource!  She used the Edmodo platform to invite me and other instructors to join her in our discussions about Edmodo and its amenities. She was both an instructor and collaborator sharing information.

The six competencies were aligned with an ISTE NET standards, with learning activities following the benchmarks. Her alignment to those standards contributed to 21^st century learning by including creating, communicating, and collaborating as benchmarks.  She also used digital software and open-source networking that created “borderless learning territories for all students.”  (Barnett Barry, Center for Teaching Equality, 2010)

My own instruction has already benefitted from Aysha’s insight by providing instruction in Edmodo that I am using next week in my classes.  Her scholarly treatment of Edmodo as a learning and teaching tool is exemplary.  I hope that she will share this lesson in Edmodo, and Classroom 2.0, and Open Learning, and perhaps Education Week, Teacher PD Sourcebook. 

Lisa Dawson Technology Integrated Unit Plan

  

Lisa Dawson’s lesson plan on researching various ecosystems is an excellent representation of integrating technology in research and pragmatic learning theory. I found the lesson particularly insightful with her use of a teacher created Webquest. I imagine Lisa’s webquest might include specific information the students will use in their projects, as well as websites where they can access information to complete the outlined presentation responses. I appreciate her mention of her teacher’s page with connections to the assignment.  I support her instruction to include different digital presentation formats, like Prezi, Emaze, and Popplet. I have not used Emaze previously, and my students would be enthralled with its artistic capabilities, especially one student whose photography and digital design skills are exemplary.

Lisa may have already discovered the Fifth Grade Ecosystem Webquest, a site where multiple resources about ecosystems are available. The scientific terms and descriptions are written in a comprehensible form for fifth graders. The images are superb and charts simple and easily navigated.  The ample links provided include connections to the San Diego Natural History Museum, a site for oceanographers, National Geographic, University of California at Berkeley, and the Illinois State Museum, to name just a few.

Lisa’s practical application of the design theory of pragmatism is well evident in her lesson plan. She provides ownership of the lesson content by offering her students a research assignment where they themselves choose the ecosystem, discover and share the information, and collaborate with their groups. They have many tools for research:  books, print resources, Pearson science textbook, laptops with Wifi capabilities, ecosystem website linked to teacher’s page, and digital presentation sites to create their research findings. Their learning includes scientific research practice, knowledge of ecosystems, ability to use this knowledge in teaching others, and the language practice required to read, analyze, synthesize, and create.

Her instructional goals were successful in that students used multimedia resources to conduct their research and create presentations in the form of a webquest, digital websites, and presentation tools of Prezi, Emaze, and Popplet. 

Lisa’s lessons were aligned to the ISTE NET standards with Common Core English Language Arts standards of conducting research, recalling relevant information, summarizing or paraphrasing, drawing evidence from informational texts, and applying existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or presentations with a variety of sources. 

Her standards contributed to 21^st century learning by incorporating the 4 C’s:  Critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity. Critical thinking opportunities are included in the class discussions that will take place after viewing student group ecosystem presentations. Communication is paramount in this group research project to ensure all students take part. Lisa provided special accommodations to those students who were hesitant or who needed additional assistance.  Collaboration is the key to this project, in the research phase, as well as presentation creation phase.  The instructor’s job, as Lisa indicates in her plan, is to provide facilitation of work for all students, and provide accommodations for those whose IEP’s require specific supports. Creativity manifests itself in the research as well as presentation phase with students choosing websites to investigate, and platforms with which to create their final project they share.

My own instruction will benefit from Lisa’s insight in the form of providing my students more opportunities to search facts and data charts online.  I was not previously aware of all the science sites available to fifth graders, which is the reading level of most of my advanced ELL’s.  This is a perfect lesson for them, though they are adults.  We have been studying GED science test preparation this semester, along with language attempts. I had not provided them a research project, and now I am planning on implementing several. I appreciate the wonderful template Lisa provides.

C

Technology Infused Lesson plan:  “How do I become a Global Citizen?”

ESL/ GED students at Illinois Central College

Ann Eads

Illinois State University

Essential Questions	Teachers’  standards	Students’ standards	Learning activity	Date completed
Essential question: Students will watch a video about Kid President and Soulpancake:  “How to change the world?  A Work in Progress”:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4z7gDsSKUmU	ISTE-T  3C: c. Teachers will communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital-age media and formats	ISTE-S  3B: Students will Locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a variety of sources and media	Students will choose vocabulary words as they walk in the classroom. They will watch the video and hold up their specific word when they hear it spoken and see it written in the video: “progress, complain, holler for a dollar,  yell, bullhorn, dumb, figure it out, ignore, famous, powerful, one person filled with love, homeless, hungry, unhappy, awesome”	___________
Presentation: Students will be presented images of war and strife and poverty with a websites referenced on each one.	ISTE-T  1B:  Teachers will engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources	ISTE-S  4A: Students will Identify and define authentic problems and significant questions for investigation	Students will work in partners and locate the websites corresponding to the images.  They will write a short description of the photo together.	____________
Practice: Students will work as a whole group and identify the word “Global” with a doc cam and topic wheel graphic organizer, taking turns adding to the diagram on the doc cam for all to read. Application: Students will create a PowerPoint on google docs collaboratively to identify what is means to be a global citizen	ISTE-T  2D: Teachers will provide students with multiple and varied formative and summative assessments aligned with content and technology standards and use resulting data to inform learning and teaching ISTE-T  Teachers will address the diverse needs of all learners by using learner-centered strategies and providing equitable access to appropriate digital tools and resources	ISBE-S  2B: Students will Communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media ISTE-S  Students will contribute to project teams to produce original works or solve problems	Students will complete a graphic organizer that will later inform their research and application of connecting with other students in a discussion about global citizenry Students will create and edit PowerPoint slides collaboratively on google docs to identify what it means to be a global citizen	____________
Extended application and formative assessment: Students will post comments about being a global citizen on an Edmodo classroom site with another ESL instructor’s classroom whose students are also discussing global citizenry	ISTE-T  4D: Teachers will develop and model cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with colleagues and students of other cultures using digital-age communication and collaboration tools	ISTE-S  2C Students will Develop cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with learners of other cultures d. Contribute to project teams	Students will post comments about global citizenry and read and share other comments from students in different classrooms, an authentic example of global communication in a digital format	_____________

Think outside the box with technology....

Thinking Outside the Box with Edmodo 

I am using Edmodo this summer for continuing science instruction and workforce skills for ESL/GED students.

The current GED test preparation websites are excellent.  However their text heavy content is often not suitable for ELL’s.  With the combination of ESL and GED instruction, the instructor must not only choose appropriate content presentation but integrate second language acquisition pedagogy at the same time.  Edmodo allows me to choose a combination of ESL appropriate and GED test preparation resources that align with my students’ needs.

The multiple resources available from the Edmodo:

·         As an instructor, I have immediate access to multiple grade level, subject, and topic resources.

·         It is a safe space for teachers to interact and connect.

·         It is both information aggregation and social media connection.

·         Its design is similar to Facebook; the familiarity facilitates using it for both students and teachers.

·         Subject and publisher communities promote their products within a network environment open for evaluation.

·         Each member has an RSS feed for receiving updates from chosen learning communities.

·         Badge system of rewards for teachers and students encourages exploration of the site.

·         I can continue connections with learners this summer and fall, supporting their learning with educational technology beyond the classroom due to budgetary constraints.

As Blackboard is our current education technology resource, our students will not be able to maintain their Blackboard login eligibility after classes are completed and they are no longer officially enrolled. They can maintain their participation in Edmodo pages indefinitely.

I have invited my colleagues from Illinois Central College as well as my fellow students from the Teaching and Learning Master’s Program at ISU to view and share on my page, “ICC ESL/GED”.  I have received one response so far this week, and I responded to her with appreciation.  I look forward to maintaining my professional connections with her and others who are interested. I also invited my previous professors from Bradley University and ISU to potentially view and share on the page.

                                                                                                                         

In order to contribute to other teachers, I must offer insightful questions and new resources and ideas that service their teaching demographics. For this reason, the Edmodo networking is inspirational in that it forces me to think “outside the box” and analyze how my pedagogy could potentially benefit other teachers.  My particular experiences and teaching paradigms are specific to ELL’s and adult learners. This is narrow in scope, compared to my to my colleagues who teach elementary and secondary grades in public schools. I seek universal teaching strategies while pursuing those pedagogies that target ELL’s in particular.  The potential benefit for mainstream teachers is to gain valuable information about their ELL’s.

My first impression is that mainstream elementary, middle, and high school teachers in central Illinois have their plates completely filled without addressing specific needs of ELL’s. That concerns me not only for the students’ learning success and welfare, but for that of the teachers as well. It is difficult enough to teach with differentiation within the same language. Having other native language speakers in the classroom presents another level of curriculum planning and differentiation.

Mainstream teachers in Illinois are now required to be endorsed in bilingual education or ESL, due to growing numbers of English language learners in the school district. We have a growing need to address the needs of teachers, as well as students in this changing demographic.

Because of my research of Edmodo, and thinking “outside the box”, I have contacted some of my students to accompany me to a Peoria Pubic School Board meeting in April, 2016.  I am finalizing a proposal that offers instruction from my international students as mentors in the primary and secondary grades to share language, culture, and social science education that aligns with the P21Partnership for 21^st Century Learning in Global Education. My students would benefit from volunteer experience and exposure to English speaking learning circles. Our elementary and secondary students need exposure to real people with authentic stories that can change their mindsets to be more globally accepting and appreciative.  This is a real need in our communities!  I worked with a young man in high school last year who talked about his international classmates and the “funny way they smell and talk.”  He was a junior in a well-respected high school with zero tolerance for bullying. He did not bully the students, but clearly he had no understanding of the differences of students in our schools that invite celebration, not ridicule.

We need our students to be exposed to real people and share conversations. Our students need to know how to investigate global challenges and improve critical thinking and thoughtful and analytical perspectives. This could be enhanced with technology and connections established with Edmodo.

I discovered Virtual Job Shadowing and Pebblego Science from Edmodo’s publisher listings.  I am presenting these two digital learning programs to my supervisor for possible financial support in purchasing them for the classroom. I have received a quote to purchase both of these digital platforms. I volunteer every summer to extend the learning of my ELL’s.  They lose linguistic proficiency without support during the three months of no scheduled ESL classes. Last summer we studied driver’s license test preparation, and participated in a conversation club.  This summer I can offer enhanced technology extensions of Edmodo, Virtual Job Shadowing, and Pebblego Science in a summer course, maintaining the flow of learning English as a second language, workforce skill development through digital job shadowing, and GED science concepts presented in an interactive digital platform. I look forward to evaluating the results and will share these on Edmodo as well.  

Lesson plan for ESL language arts and workplace skills

 I am interested in your feedback.  I have opened a page in Edmodo, requiring a lesson plan sample.  What are your constructive criticisms? I appreciate your honest feedback.  I am a new teacher as of three years ago in an adult education program.

Lesson Plan: High beginning ESL Class

Illinois Central College

March 16, 2016

Essential questions	Language Arts	Workplace Skills	Learning Objectives and activities	Date completed
How do we ask for help at work? How do we respond? Project Success, pages 36-38	Students will practice using pronouns “this, that, these, and those” (reading, speaking, and writing domains)	Students will practice a dialogue with workers in Fresh Foods after a watching and listening to a video	Students will practice a dialogue in partners about workers in Fresh Foods, focusing on vocabulary and pronunciation	________________
How do we calculate the total cost of groceries?		Math skills of shopping and tax calcuation	Students will shop using flyers and calculate the total price, including tax.	_______________
How do we talk about our families in the past? Ventures 2, pages 70-73	Using past tense and past progressive tense		Students will listen to three conversations and discuss ages and traditions of immigrant families	___________________
How do we know what happened first, second, last? (Page 77)	Students will match images and life events of family members in story		Students will work with a timeline of their own major life events	_______________
How do we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in the US?  How do you celebrate spring in your country?	Reading descriptions of cultural symbols and talking about other celebrations native to students		Students will learn about and discuss St. Patrick’s Day symbols and spring festivals in other countries	_______________
How do we write a paragraph for a magazine by ICC students?	Students will practice writing a paragraph		Students will write a short paragraph about a subject of their choice for possible submission to the Harbinger, ICC’s student publication	________________
How do we use a computer in the computer lab?		Computer skills:  keyboarding and word processing	Students will practice keyboarding skills as they write a short paragraph in a word processing program	________________

Instructional Design Models

How do they compare?

When we discuss instructional design models, we are referring to setting up curriculum that best serves our students. As there are many types of students with varied learning styles, as well as schools with varied demographics, and teachers with preferred paradigms, it behooves us to compare elements of instructional design to evaluate and plan curriculum in our own lesson plans.

Gagne’s Nine Events is a design model for teaching and learning that aligns with constructionist and bilingual education pedagogy, my focus framework for teaching English language learners.  Where Gagne’s Nine Events includes the following nine elements, the chart below provides a three way comparison of those elements with constructionist and bilingual education pedagogy:

Gagne’s Nine Events	Constructivism	Bilingual Education
Attention	Leading questions, presenting a problem or dilemma	Simple, creative questions of familiar content with support of L1
Objective	Student-centered with practical use	Comprehensible goal
Prior Knowledge	Surveys of individuals and small groups; small group discussion to assess prior knowledge	Ask questions in L1; incorporate elements of L1 language and culture in questions
New content	Identify attributes; provide examples with compare and contrast exercises; provide familiar examples	Scaffold concepts slowly with simple language in L2; affirm that students understand before transitioning to new concepts
Guidance	Foster concept discrimination; use concept maps to teach; use worked examples	Present concepts in order of simple to complex; check for understanding
Performance	Students create anchor charts; concepts practiced in participatory tasks	Students use authentic conversations with scripts, write personal stories, create original posters with images and words of content knowledge using L1 when necessary
Feedback	Peer editing; IEP’s to promote student directed themes for future study; consistent one-on-one conferencing	Translation of concepts not clear to the student; support of L1 as student’s work is critiqued
Assessment	Project based formative assessments; include students’ research findings	Use of L1 in formative portfolio; assess in role-play for oral proficiency; autobiographies, short questionnaires, authentic writing tasks
Retention and transfer	Technology:  Facebook page, texting, emails, reviews in alternate modalities; have students create PowerPoint and podcast presentations	Provide student additional practice lessons for repeat language applications; Technology using interactive language programs, Facebook, texting, emails, Voki, podcasts

Each of these three instructional design frameworks provides a similar student-centered perspective.  What the teacher might find most challenging following any framework is the fluidity by which lessons and assessments are presented. We as instructors know we must include motivation, essential questions, and presentation of content, appropriate practice lessons, feedback, and application for retention of the content learned. The way in which we serve our students with those elements are contingent upon our program’s required documentation, (Best Literacy Exam given every 60 hours of attendance, for example), and the demographics of our students:  Which students are English language learners? Which students struggle with reading and/or math? Which students may be developmentally delayed due to disruptive home lives? A framework provides the ideal format for including necessary elements of a successful teaching and learning experience.

How does the use of technology expand our lessons?

Objectives can include the use of cell phones, the internet, and radio and television, providing the instructor a choice of a flipped or traditional classroom activity. Prior knowledge can be accessed with use of the internet: (students can research their home countries or ancestors’ home countries and talk to their families).  Content can be presented in numerous interactive online programs that promote language learning as well as content knowledge acquisition. Guidance can be offered in the form of emails, and google docs, and wikis for collaborative discussion. Performance opportunities are expanded with students creating Voki, PowerPoint, videos, podcasts, blogs, and protected Facebook pages. Feedback and assessment can be prefaced with discussion and explanation of the value of the assessment, with word document comments, return emails, and posted rubrics on Blackboard.

Retention transfer can be in the form of project-based tasks where students use the content knowledge to share with other students:  creating their own Facebook page, or webpage, or class online newspaper.  By using the content in a sharing collaborative, students remain engaged and able to retain new information in authentic communication.