3.1 Classroom Management & Collaborative Learning
Candidates model and facilitate effective classroom management and collaborative learning strategies to maximize teacher and student use of digital tools and
resources. (PSC 3.1/ISTE 3a)
resources. (PSC 3.1/ISTE 3a)
Artifact: Internet Lesson Plan
Reflection:
During the spring of 2015, I designed and implemented a project focusing on the ecosystem of Mill Creek as a project for ITEC 7430: Internet Tools in the Classroom. The lesson plan is one I designed in hopes of connecting field research work I was conducting with my students to enhanced learning experiences using technology. Throughout the school year my students worked hard to collect data about the fish population in our nearby creek by conducting monthly experiments where fish were trapped and tagged for identification purposes. This lesson was created as a culminating project for the end of the year to connect the research data with the larger picture of the local ecosystem which is one of the main 7th grade life science standards. I managed the classroom as the students used research skills and Creative Commons to create their own digital food webs of the Mill Creek ecosystem and then worked with a partner to communicate and collaborate in the creation of a digital presentations that included the use of a voice recording tool such as Voki. My contribution for this artifact was the sole design and creation of the lesson as well as the implementation in my classroom and assisting my coworkers in implementing the lesson in their classrooms as well.
It is crucial for every lesson to be well thought out and include effective classroom management. During the creation of this lesson, I worked to model and facilitate multiple collaborative learning opportunities so that the students had times of working whole class, in small groups, and individually. By allowing the students the transitions to move and work with various people throughout, classroom management was controlled and the students had maximum time to use the digital tools and resources presented throughout the project. In the lesson plan there is a section outlining my classroom management plan so that others would be able to model and facilitate the same effective working atmosphere in their classrooms as well.
In the completion of this artifact, I was asked to think critically about the classroom management and collaborative learning experiences offered to integrate technology in the best way possible for my students. Since technology can add challenges to a lesson if it is not thought through, this was an important aspect of planning a successful lesson. After implementing the lesson I found that the way I structured the groups worked, and I was pleased with the way I provided links for the students to use during their research because it allowed for freedom to find the answers while being an effective use of time. In the future, I would like to provide multiple websites for each piece of information the students have to research to give them a little more experience with choosing the website that they feel is best for the project. By the end of their 7th grade year, these students have learned enough to be able to evaluate websites more critically and I would like to see that skill utilized more in this project.
This lesson plan directly impacted the student learning of students in my classroom as well as those of my colleagues as I shared this lesson with them to use in their classrooms as well. Technology was highlighted in the lesson in a way that allowed students to use the technology so that it highlighted what they had learned instead of just something being used to keep the students’ attention. Sharing this idea and concept with my fellow life science teachers also helped to improve their overarching idea of effectively integrating technology in their everyday lessons. These impacts can be assessed through the student achievement shown on the project as well as the willingness of the other teachers to continue to integrate technology effectively.
During the spring of 2015, I designed and implemented a project focusing on the ecosystem of Mill Creek as a project for ITEC 7430: Internet Tools in the Classroom. The lesson plan is one I designed in hopes of connecting field research work I was conducting with my students to enhanced learning experiences using technology. Throughout the school year my students worked hard to collect data about the fish population in our nearby creek by conducting monthly experiments where fish were trapped and tagged for identification purposes. This lesson was created as a culminating project for the end of the year to connect the research data with the larger picture of the local ecosystem which is one of the main 7th grade life science standards. I managed the classroom as the students used research skills and Creative Commons to create their own digital food webs of the Mill Creek ecosystem and then worked with a partner to communicate and collaborate in the creation of a digital presentations that included the use of a voice recording tool such as Voki. My contribution for this artifact was the sole design and creation of the lesson as well as the implementation in my classroom and assisting my coworkers in implementing the lesson in their classrooms as well.
It is crucial for every lesson to be well thought out and include effective classroom management. During the creation of this lesson, I worked to model and facilitate multiple collaborative learning opportunities so that the students had times of working whole class, in small groups, and individually. By allowing the students the transitions to move and work with various people throughout, classroom management was controlled and the students had maximum time to use the digital tools and resources presented throughout the project. In the lesson plan there is a section outlining my classroom management plan so that others would be able to model and facilitate the same effective working atmosphere in their classrooms as well.
In the completion of this artifact, I was asked to think critically about the classroom management and collaborative learning experiences offered to integrate technology in the best way possible for my students. Since technology can add challenges to a lesson if it is not thought through, this was an important aspect of planning a successful lesson. After implementing the lesson I found that the way I structured the groups worked, and I was pleased with the way I provided links for the students to use during their research because it allowed for freedom to find the answers while being an effective use of time. In the future, I would like to provide multiple websites for each piece of information the students have to research to give them a little more experience with choosing the website that they feel is best for the project. By the end of their 7th grade year, these students have learned enough to be able to evaluate websites more critically and I would like to see that skill utilized more in this project.
This lesson plan directly impacted the student learning of students in my classroom as well as those of my colleagues as I shared this lesson with them to use in their classrooms as well. Technology was highlighted in the lesson in a way that allowed students to use the technology so that it highlighted what they had learned instead of just something being used to keep the students’ attention. Sharing this idea and concept with my fellow life science teachers also helped to improve their overarching idea of effectively integrating technology in their everyday lessons. These impacts can be assessed through the student achievement shown on the project as well as the willingness of the other teachers to continue to integrate technology effectively.