Standard 2.3
Authentic learning is something that numerous schools and
teachers have problems with. Are students engaged and are they learning
material. For this standard I chose my Engaged Learning Project from our 21st
century learning class. I created a project for my 9th grade World
History class on the creation of government.
In this project I involved several different types of technology to
engage and create a positive learning atmosphere. My whole project was based on the interactive
poster board site named Glogster. In
this project students were to create their own governments that included laws,
and then visually display this new government in Glogster. I also used a site called Nation-States,
which is a simulator for students to test their governments and see it in
play. Since students were not familiar
with some of the technologies used in this project, I spent extra time modeling
and providing examples. The lead in to
the lesson plan was to show constitution rap video, as well as two web quest
that would lead student learning about forms of government and then the
American constitution. These 2 web quest gave students the base needed to create
their own governments and laws that would go along with it. This learning concept took about 2 weeks to
complete with 50 minute class periods.
Included with the web quest, project, and simulator was a discussion post
that students were to answer and collaborate with classmates. The discussion post
were completed through the class blog that was created for their class.
From day one teaching this concept was more about the student rather than the traditional teacher lecture that they had come accustomed to. I tried to set the hook with a rap video from youtube.com about the creation of the American Constitution. From here I showed students how access the web quests we would be completing. The web quests were used to flip the classroom, putting the learning into the hands of the students. I put my-self as the teacher in the role of a guide which would create a more student centered atmosphere where students lead the learning. This was a student driven lesson in which they were introduced to new technologies for which to create a final product to assess learning. For each tool that students had to use, I had to effectively model how the technology was to be used. This allowed me to create a good example of what the products were to look like. I created rubrics to help guide students while completing assignments. Along with rubrics for assignments I created rubrics to help guide students on discussion posts. Students would actively take notes throughout the web quests so a true government could be created in the end. In the end the simulator would give students feedback about their governments testing whether they would be successful or not. The digital tools that I used were laptops provided by the school, internet provided by the school, Glogster application, Nation-States simulator, Wordpress blog, and Questgarden for the web quest. With student driven learning and discovery through the technologies used authentic learning will have been achieved. I believe that the students will be creating meaningful and useful products in the end which will connect directly to the real world.
After completing this project and implementing it with my students I learned that planning a project such as this requires a lot of time. I had to really be careful and make sure that I gave adequate class time so all students were given equal access, as well as spending time modeling the technologies for the learning to take place. I feel like I learned how to be a better to teacher to tell you the truth. This flipped classroom experience really allowed me to focus more on the students rather than teaching to a whole. Students who needed help, got the time they needed from me while others excelled and made gains on their own. I also learned that we assume students are technology savvy because they have access to phones and computers, but this is a fallacy. Students are knowledgeable about social media, but lack the abilities to use applications needed for learning.. This knowledge will help me in the future in regards to creating aids for student support. The next time I implement this lesson I think that I could do a better job of providing extra aids to help students even when they are not at school. The plan would be to create some screencast and then add downloadable handouts to give step by step instructions to complete tasks. I asked my students at the end of the year “What are a few things I can work on in regards to assignments and projects?” One response I received was to give more aids to help with assignments. I took this to heart, because I know how they feel. I can only help so many students at a time. So, I plan to add these aids in the future to make it easier for my student’s to access the correct information. I plan to use this project as an example to show other teachers how technology can improve their lessons and their student’s grades. I feel that this project improved the quality of instruction in my classroom and did create authentic learning for my students. One, my students were continually engaged throughout the whole time spent on the concept. This type of example can be shared with my department and could help create an awareness about creating quality lessons at Moody High School. The best ways to assess this type of learning is through student work and through formative assessments. With these quality lessons student achievement will raise in my content area, as well as the content portion of the ACT, which is the state graduation exam now. School improvement would be best served by sharing these quality lessons with other content area teachers and hoping that they implement them. If quality lessons could be shared throughout the school all students in all subjects would receive a better education.
From day one teaching this concept was more about the student rather than the traditional teacher lecture that they had come accustomed to. I tried to set the hook with a rap video from youtube.com about the creation of the American Constitution. From here I showed students how access the web quests we would be completing. The web quests were used to flip the classroom, putting the learning into the hands of the students. I put my-self as the teacher in the role of a guide which would create a more student centered atmosphere where students lead the learning. This was a student driven lesson in which they were introduced to new technologies for which to create a final product to assess learning. For each tool that students had to use, I had to effectively model how the technology was to be used. This allowed me to create a good example of what the products were to look like. I created rubrics to help guide students while completing assignments. Along with rubrics for assignments I created rubrics to help guide students on discussion posts. Students would actively take notes throughout the web quests so a true government could be created in the end. In the end the simulator would give students feedback about their governments testing whether they would be successful or not. The digital tools that I used were laptops provided by the school, internet provided by the school, Glogster application, Nation-States simulator, Wordpress blog, and Questgarden for the web quest. With student driven learning and discovery through the technologies used authentic learning will have been achieved. I believe that the students will be creating meaningful and useful products in the end which will connect directly to the real world.
After completing this project and implementing it with my students I learned that planning a project such as this requires a lot of time. I had to really be careful and make sure that I gave adequate class time so all students were given equal access, as well as spending time modeling the technologies for the learning to take place. I feel like I learned how to be a better to teacher to tell you the truth. This flipped classroom experience really allowed me to focus more on the students rather than teaching to a whole. Students who needed help, got the time they needed from me while others excelled and made gains on their own. I also learned that we assume students are technology savvy because they have access to phones and computers, but this is a fallacy. Students are knowledgeable about social media, but lack the abilities to use applications needed for learning.. This knowledge will help me in the future in regards to creating aids for student support. The next time I implement this lesson I think that I could do a better job of providing extra aids to help students even when they are not at school. The plan would be to create some screencast and then add downloadable handouts to give step by step instructions to complete tasks. I asked my students at the end of the year “What are a few things I can work on in regards to assignments and projects?” One response I received was to give more aids to help with assignments. I took this to heart, because I know how they feel. I can only help so many students at a time. So, I plan to add these aids in the future to make it easier for my student’s to access the correct information. I plan to use this project as an example to show other teachers how technology can improve their lessons and their student’s grades. I feel that this project improved the quality of instruction in my classroom and did create authentic learning for my students. One, my students were continually engaged throughout the whole time spent on the concept. This type of example can be shared with my department and could help create an awareness about creating quality lessons at Moody High School. The best ways to assess this type of learning is through student work and through formative assessments. With these quality lessons student achievement will raise in my content area, as well as the content portion of the ACT, which is the state graduation exam now. School improvement would be best served by sharing these quality lessons with other content area teachers and hoping that they implement them. If quality lessons could be shared throughout the school all students in all subjects would receive a better education.
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