Reflection on Unit/Lesson Plan

Integrated Technology Unit/ Lesson Plan Reflection

Nelly and I wrote and Unit Plan and Lesson Plan on the Civil War. For the most part, I thought we did very well. A lot goes into planning a Unit Plan and organizing a lesson. I thought this was a good experience to have before we actually become teachers in the near future. Areas that I thought we did well in included the planning of each individual lesson, and incorporating in with another subject. We had a total of four lessons, and for one we incorporated economics and math, reading/comprehension, Civics, and Technology. It is really important for students to get cross curricular lesson plans, as it works towards higher order thinking for the students. I also thought we did well in incorporating technology into the lesson plan. Students love to play games and many are also big on visual learning too, which we had a game over the Internet and a video about the Civil War to show.

Areas that I think we needed to work on include having a specific set of rules for the Jeopardy game. Nelly and I did not how active students would be in the game, and now that we saw how they were we both agreed that for any classroom game to be played, a detailed set of rules must be followed in order for the class to not get out of control. However, this game did turn out to be a success because many students learned a lot of facts and retained the information during the game.

In order to teach this lesson, teachers need to have a strong knowledge or background in history, specifically the Civil War. In order to pass on the knowledge to other students, they need to have all their facts straight. Resources needed to teach this lesson include the Social Studies Textbook and various attachments and worksheets for the students. If technology was not available the teacher would still be able to teach this lesson, technology is not required. However, in the technology integrated unit, it serves as a great tool to aid to the teacher’s lesson as a study tool, and a way for students to comprehend the information. Overall, I think we did a great job, and I think this experience will help us to become better teachers in the near future!

My lesson is related to the TPCK Model because it combines the content knowledge, the Pedagogical knowledge, and the technical knowledge all in one lesson. The content knowledge relates to history specifically th Civil War. The Pedagogical knowledge or how to teach the lesson uses a variety of ways. In the beginning of class the teacher leads the discussion after the video trying to engage the students. Then the lesson advises to guide the teaching and have students work in groups as the teacher walks around, and the third is to have a whole group session where the whole class interaacts. Technological knowledge is use through out the whole lesson, first by showing a video to th class, second having the students research websites and learn how to use the internet. Lastly, the students play a game and learn that technology can be used as a study tool. I think it is important for teachers to include the TPCK Model in their lessons because it brings the most out of a lesson, and has students reach towards higher order thinking

References: http://teched2010.wikispaces.com/TPCK+Model

NETS for Students & Teachers

I have read the NETS for students and teachers. I think both sets of standards are well stated for the most part. In the student set, I really think collaboration is key as one of the standards. In the past few years, many collaboration type programs have emerged such as blogs, wikkis, Facebook, and MySpace. I like that part of the collaboration was to interact with people from other cultures and develop a cultural understanding and awareness. Technology can help those in areas not as diverse, become more open to other cultures that are out there. Collaboration also helps with students studying with each other; help with homework, and sharing ideas on projects, or giving opinions on research.

One part of the standards that I think should be added is safety. Even though students are not chatting online at school. They use programs such as Facebook and MySpace. While this is the parents’ responsibility as well, I believe it should be taught in schools as well. Many incidents happen at school that stem from Facebook, and students need to know the correct way to use social networking sights such as this one.

I like that there are technology standards for teachers as well. Many teachers are not very willing to be trained on new technology, and to have standards for teachers makes the process more mainstreamed. I like the standard to develop a technological enriched learning environment. Technology can help teachers expand on what they are teaching and enrich student’s understanding of what they are learning. I also think the standard to engage in professional growth and leadership through technology is important. Much of professional growth is done through technology or it is where many teachers need to grow. Teachers should attend training on new software such as the Smart Board. Additionally, technology makes it available for teachers to attend conferences through the Internet, called Webinars. This can be an extremely useful technological tool for all teachers and they should not be afraid to use it.

Student and Teaching Directed Inquiry, Drill and Kill

I believe I will use student directed inquiry the most in my classroom. I feel like more teachers are moving away from teacher-directed inquiry and moving towards student-directed model. Instead of “giving” students knowledge, student centered inquiry provides students some of the tools or language they might need in order to discover their own knowledge. With student-centered inquiry, I would have students first start off with their prior knowledge of a topic, and then investigate by learning from each other and researching on the Internet or library on a topic I give them.

Since I ideally would like to be a third-grade teacher and I would definitely use the drill and kill method with students learning their multiplication tables and possibly use different software that has this method of learning in it. I am not a fan of drill and kill in other areas of learning, for it becomes repetitive and boring, but as far as math goes, there needs to be some form of drill and kill, but students need to understand the math, not just memorize it.

Teenagers and the Role that Media Plays in their Lives

Technology plays a major role in teenager’s lives. I was surprised to see the results of the key findings. The fact that they can spend 8 ½ hours a day using media while multitasking is a surprising statistic to find out. This pretty much shows that they probably use phones, I-Pods, and Internet surf while they are at school. I think that schools should not allow students to carry I-pods and cell phones during class time. I have observed at many schools where they allow students to listen to I-Pods during their downtime or study hall. Instead, students can be taking part in extracurricular work or studying for a test, even reading a book!

I was also surprised to find out that the time spent in each sector of the media has increased tremendously in the past ten years. However, the only sector of media that has not increased usage per day is reading. Time spent reading went from 43 to 38 minutes per day. Now that magazines, newspapers, and journals are online, everything is right at their fingertips. Teachers should assign students for each subject either a book or an article to read and present it to class, at least once a month. Also, there should be more silent reading that goes on during free time. Students need more exposure to reading in order to gain more knowledge in their life.

Furthermore, just as teachers need to make students read more, the same goes for the parents. It was reported that children whose parents made an effort to limit media in their children’s time had less exposure to media. Furthermore, it was also shown in the findings that students that had less exposure to the media had better grades and were more content. As a result, teachers and parents should make a combined effort to limit media that the students use. Technology can be used in the classroom, administered by the teacher, but it should always be educationally related.

Technology and My Educational Philosophy

My personal philosophy of education is based on the theories of progressivism and behaviorism.
I think that teachers that incorporate this theory into the classroom will plan lessons to arouse curiosity and push the student to a higher level of knowledge. I also believe in this theory because students solve problems in the classroom similar to those they will encounter outside school. This problem solving method provides students with the essentials needed to become higher level problem solvers in preparation for their future. Furthermore, I think that the role of the teacher should be to act as a guide and help the student, but not provide the answers for them.

In my philosophy of education, technology plays a major role. First of all, for the past decade, the Internet and technology has significantly advanced, and if students do not learn the proper skills for technology, they will not be able to solve everyday problems. I think that technology also promotes higher order thinking in students. Using the smart board, or Promethean Board acts as an aid for lessons the students are involved in. Once a teacher provides a lesson, these educational boards can only enrich the students thinking. Furthermore, it goes along with progressivism because I believe technology arouses students' curiosity, making them want to learn more. Tools such as these boards, an IPOD, powerpoint, Internet research, and also assistive devices for the handicapped play a major role in education and can only benefit the students in a positive manner.