Comprehensive Reflection

• Standard 1: Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity 

 How my understandings of the standards changed based on my experiences.

• Designing lessons has always been something that came easily to me. I am creative, so coming up with lessons that inspire creativity in students comes naturally. In this class I learned how many hundreds of ways one can use technology to make lessons more fun, interactive, and exciting for students. Technology takes away the physical and financial limitations of creative assignments and expands the realm of what is possible for a students to achieve. In designing lessons for this course I found ways to take a simple lesson and make it something so much more. I discovered resources for students of all ages, and although I chose only the one that was right for my lesson, I have those resources to use in the future.
• Teaching with technology is entirely different experience from teaching normally. I did not realize how different it could be until taking this course. It is simple to bring out student creativity in a low-tech teaching setting; simple bring out the crayons and glue and let them run with it. Technology is a little more difficult. I know how to use crayons and glue, but I have no idea how to use half the resources available through the use of technology. Technology opens millions of doors for students, allowing them to try things in ways they never imagined, but for a teacher it requires a lot of extra learning. This course prepared me a bit for dealing with that. I now have knowledge of and the general ability to use so many more resources for creative learning than I did in August.
• Assessing the artifacts from my lesson taught me a lot about what students will do if you give them broad goals and a program and let them run with it. The timeline activity I used for my second mini-lesson was especially helpful in seeing how students will use technology to create something, and how much guidance they really need. All of the students did exactly what was asked of them, and their assignments were all slightly different, but some students needed a little more encouragement to explore the creative side of the activity. I realized that some students -even when given a program like Kidspiration, which has hundreds of options- need a little extra encouragement to try new things and explore all the options. 

• Standard 2: Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments

 How my understandings of the standards changed based on my experiences.

• Lesson planning for me is about designing what I want to assess and how I want to assess it, then forming instruction around it. In this course, I learned how complicated that can be when taking into consideration all the technological aspects of the assessments and instruction. When building my lessons I had to take into consideration not only what I was assessing and how, but if the technology being used in the instruction reflected the technology being used in the assessment. Additionally, I had to keep in mind what I was really assessing. If I used a program the students weren't familiar with, was I assessing student learning or their ability to use the program correctly. This meant I had to keep in mind that part of my lesson might need to include a tutorial on the materials the students would be using.
• As mentioned above, teaching with technology often times involves some separate instruction on the program or app the kids are using. When I taught in this class I realized that the students did not necessarily understand how to use programs like Kidspiration, and I had to modify my instruction in order to ensure they were able to use the program correctly. 
• In doing this, I also had to change the way I looked at my assessment. The time lines they created all contained the necessary components, but some of them took a minute to find, as everyone did their activity somewhat differently, and some of them may have had some difficulties placing the pictures in the right spot or making sure things did not overlap. It meant I had to be sure to look more at the content and less at the way it was presented.

• Standard 3: Model Digital-Age Work and Learning

 How my understandings of the standards changed based on my experiences.

• When planning any lesson it is important to try the activity before asking students to do it. With digital components I found this to be even more crucial. There are always things that go wrong when working with technology. When planning a lesson using computers, smartboards, televisions, etc. it is important to find out what these typical problems are and how to fix them or modify the lesson to work around them. Knowing how to do this stuff as a teacher shows students that they can manage it too, and that their teacher does not expect them to accomplish something that a teacher cannot.
• I learned through my timeline lesson, that I need to take a minute at the beginning of any new activity to show the students what to do and how I do it myself. This modeling of the new technology is not only helpful for their understanding of the technology, but again, it lets them know that I do not expect something of them that I cannot do myself. I also learned that if there is a glitch, I should take it as an opportunity to model how to fix it. Shadow did this when the smartboard needed to be aligned every twenty minutes. He did not just fix it; he explained what he was doing and used it as a learning experience for us.
• Assessing students artifacts showed me how well I did in modeling the skills necessary to complete the assignment. If the students did not understand the digital component at all it means I did something wrong in showing them how to use the technology.
• Standard 4: Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility

 How my understandings of the standards changed based on my experiences

• In the lesson planning stage I realized how easy it is to take something from the internet and just use it without any mention of its source. I also noticed that this meant many sites asking people to pay to see the page or showing an overview, but not any of the real materials for a lesson. I think using other people's ideas for lessons is fine, but there should be some mention of where the ideas came from. Just because it is on the internet does not mean it is public property, and if people keep stealing without giving credit we will lose out on some of the great resources the internet has to offer.
• This course has a whole section on the responsibilities of us as digital citizens and how important it is to impart that onto students. If I had used the internet in my lessons I would have made sure the students knew that everything they used should be cited, and that in creating artifacts to post online they need to be careful about what they say, as that could harm someone else.
• When assessing artifacts I had to keep in mind my own biases and make sure that I was being responsible in my grading.

What I have learned about preparation and teaching from my peers.

• My peers were very well prepared in teaching their lessons. They were familiar with the technology they were using, and knew exactly what to say to explain it to us. I learned a lot about how to present a lesson and what I need to improve upon from watching them.
  I had less technical difficulties than my peers, but they seemed well equipped to deal with any problems they had, and they handled it very well. I think this comes from having a good understanding of the tools they were using, and being prepared with solutions in the event that something did go wrong. 
• My feedback was all very nice. I almost would have preferred some harsher feedback, as I did not know what they wanted me to change. One thing I learned from that is that other people are far less hard on me than I am on myself. Another thing I learned is I may not have been asking the right questions. If I had to do it again I would ask more about my instruction and less about the technology and accommodation.

My experiences in this class will impact my future teaching in more ways than I could explain. I have learned how important it is to be familiar with the technology I am using. I learned that if there are problems I should not panic, because technical difficulties can teach students just as much as the lesson itself. I know that going forward I will be more confident in my abilities to learn about new resources and deal with any problems that may arise from new technology. Before this class I never thought to use technology in my lessons, and now I have dozens of ideas floating around in my head, just waiting to be used.

Kids need technology in the classroom because that is what they have in everyday life. This class has taught me how simple it is to fullfill this need. It was taught me how rewarding learning can be for students if they are allowed access to all that is out there. So many people are afraid of technology in the classroom, but if used correctly it can be an amazing tool.

Lesson 2:Phase 2- Assessment Example

This is an example of one student's timeline with the graded rubric following it:

Example 2:

Lesson 2: Phase 2- Assessment of Learning

All three students emailed me their completed timelines. Using the rubric I created, I assessed these timelines. They all met all of the criteria for full points as indicated by the rubric.

I was fairly successful in the implementation of this lesson. The timelines indicated achievement of the goals and objectives as expressed by their meeting of requirements in the rubric. They were all successful in creating detailed timelines that outline full stories. The timelines indicate clear beginning, middles, and ends of the stories to come.
The responses from my peers also indicated success. The only suggestions they had were increased familiarity with Kidspiration, and perhaps some visual aids such as props or actors to enhance the stories. They all felt the lesson was well prepared and accomplished what it set out to accomplish.

Lesson 2: Phase 2- Instructional Decisions/Teaching

The teaching process seemed to go alright. I got a little frazzled and did not show the timeline in as much detail as I had originally planned. I was not sure if the students were all that engaged when reading the pilgrim letters, but towards the end they wanted to hear more indicating that they enjoyed them the first time. The question and answer portion confused the students a bit, but they really got into it once they understood. It seemed like the actually creating of their stories and timelines went well. They all got into the kidspiration thing, adding pictures and colors once they had some of the timeline aspects down. None of the students wanted to read their stories to the class, but that was alright. Instead, I read more of the Pilgrim letters.
I learned that it did not take as much time as I thought to create the timelines so I could have spent more time on extra instruction. I could have expanded more on my timeline and done more with my teaching time.
I learned that a visual aid or interactive component to stories would have improved the experience for some of the students and that using a puppet or costumed person would have been a better way to do the letter. They would have understood that portion better had I done something with a character acting that part rather than just requesting questions from them.

I think if I went more in depth with the timeline I made the alignment with goals and objectives could have been improved. However, they did do what was asked of them, and achieved what I was hoping they would achieve. All three timelines included what they were meant to include. All of the students seemed to understand the concepts, and asked informed questions when they were having trouble with certain events. They definitely met the goals of this lesson, and completed what the objectives required of them.

There was not much modification necessary, however in the creation of the timeline some students needed some additional resources, so I gave them the letters and my timeline as references. This seemed to help with the trouble they were having with event orders and so on.

Lesson 2: Phase 1- Planning Assessment

Rubric:
https://w.taskstream.com/RubricWizard/RubricPrintView/PrintView?encLegacyRubricId=fgf8elf7e9eff6ex&platform=LAT

The goals of the lesson involve creating a timeline with facts from colonial times. They also involve understanding the sequencing of a story and using the outline to create a story sequence that they will use in the next class to write their story. The rubric clearly states what the expectations for the activity will be, as per the goals of the lesson.

The outlines will demonstrate an understanding of what they have learned. They use higher order thinking skills in the creation of their story. The rubric does not get too specific, but does  require that they include realistic facts and events in their story, meaning students will have to use what they learned to create new knowledge and ideas on their own.

They will be allowed to work with a partner in the creation of their stories, meeting the needs of students who may need extra help or require social interaction for learning. The Kidspiration program they will use also has many features to meet their needs as they complete the activity being assessed.

Lesson 2: Phase 1- Designing Instruction

Link to lesson plan:
https://w.taskstream.com/Lesson/View/0CA74B38CDC1DCEF18F8011537AFAFE6

I organized my instruction so the introduction of the stories and topic would draw the students in and they would get to see examples of their final product right off the bat. I will then show them an example of a timeline so they have something modeled, and some events to choose from in the creation of their own timelines. I felt the stories were the more interesting portion and would give them ideas before getting into the technical aspect of their timelines and outlining. All the topics link and overlap, while still giving students separate sections for each activity to be learned. I also thought putting the question portion in the middle may help me assess how much the students are learning, and give them more story ideas and detail at the same time.

There are quite a few instructional methods used. The whole group instruction involves a read-aloud to give auditory learners something to enjoy and learn from. The discussion accesses higher order thinking skills as they must come up with their own questions, not just about the assignment, but to ask a real person about their life. It also allows time for processing of the new information. The timeline building and story planning accesses creative writing skills, and uses Kidspiration which can be great for visual, auditory, and linguistic learners. They get to work in whole group, pairs, and individual settings based on their individual learning styles.

The technology used in the lesson is age appropriate, as it is created for children under third grade. It is integrated into the lesson in a way that enhances learning, rather than disrupt it. One of the keys to technology integration is making sure the technology is something that improves the lesson, not simply something to use because it is there.

There is not a lot of technological etiquette, global awareness, or ethical use of technology. None of these things are entirely applicable with a self-contained program like Kidspiration. There are, however, many ways of meeting diverse needs of learners. The different features in Kidspiration, such as the ear button, meet the needs of all sorts of learners. There are pictures, written words, spoken words, and so much more in Kidspiration. The students will have access to all of these as they build their timelines.

Lesson 2: Phase 1- Plans Instruction

I will explain the goal of the lesson (to create a timeline for the purpose of writing a story) at the end of our pilgrim letters. After talking about pilgrims using my timeline I will reiterate their lesson goal of creating a timeline outline for their story, and explain what their story will be about, and what the requirements are (using at least two facts or events from colonial times).

They are appropriate because the students will have prior knowledge of the Kidspiration and the concept of timelines. It fits with the time of the year (Thanksgiving). And it does not require them to do both the timeline and the story in the same period; it simply gets them started thinking about their story, sequencing it, and preparing their thoughts. This will give them the time they need and a way of organizing and retaining the new information.

The AZ state social studies standards require knowledge of pilgrims and their interaction with Native Americans, recognition that the U.S. began as 13 colonies rules by England, comparison of colonists to people now, the significance of national holidays, placing events chronologically on a timeline, and retelling of stories to describe past places, people, and events. All of these items are covered at least in part by the standards. The students will learn about Thanksgiving as a national holiday and the interaction of pilgrims with Native Americans in this setting and possibly when the Mayflower arrived through this lesson. They will discuss colonial life, indicating knowledge of the 13 colonies and their rule by England. They will use the timeline to place the story events in chronological order and use this to retell stories similar to those of colonists.
The common core language arts and literacy standards require writing of informative/explanatory texts which name a topic, facts about the topic, and provide closure, as well as writing narratives with at least two sequenced events, details of the events, and language indicating the sequence. The students will do this by creating their timelines and will continue to accomplish these standards when writing the rest of their stories in the future.