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Saturday, April 30, 2016
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:
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.
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 21st
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’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 21st 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
Sunday, April 3, 2016
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
|
_____________
|
Sunday, March 20, 2016
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 21st 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.
Friday, March 18, 2016
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
|
________________
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sunday, February 28, 2016
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.
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