Sunday, September 29, 2013

5364 Week 5 Final Reflection

This week we are to reflect upon our UDL lesson and book builder assignment. I think I was stuck in a rut with the UDL lesson builder.  I don’t think I totally understood the process.  I think I did a good job building the lesson and understanding the lesson and how it would work and what standards it would meet.  I don’t think I showed how the modifications affected the networks.  I know that my grade reflected that because it wasn’t there.  I do understand the importance of the networks and in making the assignment a success.  The lesson template was very easy to use and it helped organize the lesson. It was easy to paste information in and I think it would benefit any teacher.  I will definitely be sharing it with other teachers.


The bookbuilder lesson was a little tougher. It definitely wasn’t as easy to use as I thought it would be.  I thought it would be easier and I didn’t leave enough time to fully utilize its potential.  One of the things I do remember clearly is that there weren’t any graphics and it would be easier to use if there were.  It would be much easier than having to download them and rename them. If you didn’t have any technology in your background it would be more difficult to understand how to do it. I think with a little practice and some good thoughtful ideas this would be a great tool.  I looked at some of the samples and was really impressed. I do think if they had more tutorials in bookbuilder it would be another advantage to using it. I was able to grasp the technical concepts and therefore was able to get through the lesson successfully, but think I need to spend more time in it to be more successful. 

5364 Week 5 Web Conference Reflection

I am so glad I listened to the week 5 web conference.  First we went over week 3 and 4 questions.  It seemed that everyone had a pretty good grasp of what they were doing with their assignment. When we started talking about week 5, it got a little confusing. To me it was very confusing looking at the assignment document and reading the rubric.  They were both different. In the conference, we finally got clarified that we didn’t need to create a new UDL lesson but a reflection of our current UDL lesson and book. 
Ms. Abernathy clarified at the end that we were to follow the rubric and do the reflection on the UDL lesson and book that we created in week 3.  I think it was very clear on the instructions and the amount of points that would be awarded for this week.
This has been an interesting class and I think I learned a lot of things. I actually think it was probably one of the more difficult courses for me. I hope I will be able to take everything that I have learned and be able to grow as an educator.

5364 Week 5 Reading Reflection

In our reading this week, I continued to think about assessments. I found this quote “And using Web 2.0 tools the educators might also devise an interesting, authentic, and appropriate summative evaluation for the unit.” Web 2.0: New tools, new schools. This is an interesting quote because it makes for a way to assess the lesson as the lesson occurs which is important in the learning process. If you don’t have a way to assess the lesson the way you are told to teach it, why do the lesson.  Sometimes the testing is not fair to the students because it doesn’t follow the way the students are taught.  I think if the teacher can create the assessment with the lesson, then it’s going to be truer to the student when they take the assessment thus improving the validity. 

In today’s day and age, assessment is so critical and we have to equip our students with the right tools to pass these assessment.  Technology is key to doing that and we need to utilize our whole bucket of Web 2.0 tools whenever possible.



Solomon, G., & Schrum, L. (2007). Web 2.0: New tools, new schools. Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education, 168-176.

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Week 4 Web Conference Reflection

Week 4 Web Conference Reflection

Can't believe it's already week 4, but also glad it's week 4.  This class has been a tremendous amount of work, but it's been a great learning experience. We discussed about helping each other and collaborating.  Which is great because collaborating is a huge part of what we are doing. We discussed about doing one book as a team or doing one book individually.  Our team each created one because we didn't realize it was designed as a team.  Our team has been doing a great job of working together and talking about what we have heard in the web conferences and applying it to our group project.  One thing she talked about was making sure we shared everything with her so she could see our work.  She strongly stressed the working together and sharing with each other because that is the whole idea of the courses.  She said we would need to have 5-8 technology activities for the professional development.  After listening to this, I decided to go and do a tutorial about embedding the book lesson on the page. 

She talked about giving everyone editing privileges which we had already done, but something that came up was group ownership.  I went back and made us all group owners of the site so that we could all make site layout changes. All of our team members have been contributing so that has been good.  We have a group that really works well together. 

Week 4 Reading Reflection

In our reading this week, I was thinking about assessments and how all students are not the same and how can we assess properly knowing this.  I was reading Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age and came across the following statement:  "Generally, educators have interpreted "fairness" to mean that assessments are uniform in format and administered in a standardized fashion.  The same test is given in exactly the same way and under the same conditions for each learner. In some situations, and for some purposes, standardized administration is indeed appropriate, particularly if the format and circumstance of the test exactly match the requirements of a future task."
This is so true.  We have been worrying about our testing scenarios all being the same, but the truth is some kids learn differently than others and with our technology resources we have already found many ways to overcome the learning differences so that all students can excel. We need to embrace technology and find better ways of assessing and helping students excel in their learning environment. We as educators have a responsibility to make sure all of our kids are succeeding to the best of their ability and the best way to do this is to find ways to enhance their learning utilizing technology whenever possible.


Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age: Universal Design for Learning, Chapter 7, Rose, D., & Mayer, A. (2002),http://www.cast.org/teachingeverystudent/ideas/tes/chapter7_3.cfm

Sunday, September 15, 2013

UDL Lesson and Book Builder

UDL Book Builder - Click HERE

CAST’s UDL Lesson Builder

 

Lesson Overview

Title:
Who is Your Inspiration
Author:
Annette Reband
Subject:
Reading/Language Arts/Technology Applications
Grade Level(s):
6-8
Duration:
5 days
Subject Area:
Reading/Writing
Unit Description:
Students will:
  • Explore different important figure heads in society
  • Compose questions to generate research information
  • Research using different technology available
  • Write to learn more about a persons characteristics, likes, and dislikes, and important events
  • Learn how to cite sources
  • Compile a summary report to draw conclusions
  • Use google drive to create document
  • Learn how to use text and graphical features in google drive

Lesson Description for Day:
Students will research their favorite person and compile a summary report with relevant information including pictures.
State Standards:
(4) Writing/Inquiry/Research: The student uses writing as a tool for learning. The student is expected to:
(A)  use writing to formulate questions, refine topics, and clarify ideas;
(B) use writing to discover, organize, and support what is known and what needs to be learned about a topic;
(C) compile information from primary and secondary sources in systematic ways using available technology;
(D) represent information in a variety of ways such as graphics, conceptual maps, and learning logs;
(E) use writing as a study tool to clarify and remember information;
(G)  analyze strategies that writers in different fields use to compose.
(8)  Reading/variety of texts . The student reads extensively and intensively for different purposes and in varied sources, including American literature. The student is expected to:
(B)  read in varied sources such as diaries, journals, textbooks, maps, newspapers, letters, speeches, memoranda, electronic texts, and other media;
(12)  Reading/analysis/evaluation . The student reads critically to evaluate texts and the authority of sources. The student is expected to:
(A)  analyze the characteristics of clearly written texts, including the patterns of organization, syntax, and word choice;
(B)  evaluate the credibility of information sources, including how the writer's motivation may affect that credibility;
(13)  Reading/inquiry/research . The student reads in order to research self-selected and assigned topics. The student is expected to:
(A)  generate relevant, interesting, and researchable questions;
(B)  locate appropriate print and non-print information using text and technical resources, including databases and the Internet;
(C)  use text organizers such as overviews, headings, and graphic features to locate and categorize information;
(E)  draw conclusions from information gathered.
(21)  Viewing/representing/production. The student produces visual representations that communicate with others. The student is expected to:
(B)  use a variety of forms and technologies such as videos, photographs, and web pages to communicate specific messages;
(C)  use a range of techniques to plan and create a media text and reflect critically on the work produced;
ISTE Technology Standards
(1)  Creativity and innovation. Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct
knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology
a.    Apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes
b.    Create original works as a means of personal or group expression
(2)   Communication and Collaboration. Students use digital media and environments to
communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others.
a. Interact, collaborate, and publish with peers,
experts, or others employing a variety of digital
environments and media
b.    Communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats
(3)   Research and Information Fluency
Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate,
      and use information
           a. Plan strategies to guide inquiry
           b. Locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize,
           and ethically use information from a variety of
           sources and media
           c. Evaluate and select information sources and     
           digital tools based on the appropriateness to  
           specific tasks
           d. Process data and report results


Goals

Unit Goals:

Students will:

Draw upon previous experience to research topic
Correctly indentify major characteristics/events of a person
Recognize proper writing techniques
Recognize using technology properly to create report
Use google drive to create document
Learn how to use text and graphical features in google drive

Lesson Goals:
Students will:
Learn about researching
Learn about writing techniques
Learn how to cite sources
Learn how to use technology to create report

Methods

Anticipatory Set:

Share the lesson goals with the students

Share a sample report
Show how to use the technology properly to research and to write
Brainstorm ideas for important features of report

Who does your “inspiration” remind you of?

Have you ever seen your inspiration in person?
Why is this person your inspiration?

 

Introduce and Model New Knowledge:

Share a students computer screen with the class so they can show their work.

Work in pairs to get simple ideas of project pages for report set up.
Encourage class to participate in discussions about their inspiration.

 

 

Provide Guided Practice:

Have students go online to website to see basic research project developed so they can see finished product that is expected. They will see the types of information, pictures and work that they should be looking for.

 

 

Provide Independent Practice:

Students will have opportunity to collaborate online with fellow students.

Students will research and type their paper. Then they will share their screen when finished to display their report.
Students will use google drive to be able to work on project outside of class.

 

 

 

Assessment

Formative/Ongoing Assessment:
Evaluate each students individual work
Participation in classroom discussions
Correctly explain how they went about researching inspiration
Correctly explain how to use google drive to save work



Summative/End Of Lesson Assessment:
As part of final project, students will use google drive to share report with teacher.



Materials


Teacher website

Research websites

Computer

Google Drive Account

Online spell check

Online dictionary/thesaurus






UDL Lesson and Book Builder Reflection

It was interesting using the lesson builder program.  I actually had fun doing it.  It was a lot of work, but it helped me understand some things about creating lessons and I enjoyed doing it.  It was a little time consuming to do it, but I think I did a good job.  I tried to make it a fun assignment and one of the great things was in looking at all the standards and making sure I accomplished them with the lesson.

It was great talking to my team members as well.  It was interesting to listen to their likes and dislikes of the program and how they went about creating their lesson and their book.

Book builder was kind of cool.  I would love to be able to spend more time on it and use it in the future.  I already have another idea for it.

I definitely think I will try to use both of them again in the future and will share them with others to help make their jobs simpler.