This year I have two main goals: increase student discourse and increase student think time. To achieve my goals to increase both of these items, I have themed the days of the week to allow for planned, purposeful think time & opportunities for student discussions. These themed days have brought me joy. The joy of seeing more light bulb moments with students. The joy of learning more about each student individually. The joy of having students look forward to and inquire about the theme for the day. While these discussions and thinking times aren't necessarily lend themselves to increase use of tech, they do allow for critical face-to-face conversations & these moments wouldn't be able to be without my access to tech. Monday=Math Fails Tuesday=Tunes/Riddles Wednesday=WODB Thursday=Games/Puzzle Friday=RPS
It may sound a little strange but seeing students struggle brings me joy...or rather should I say brings joy...eventually. Today I assigned a task to students that was unfamiliar to them to complete and while they knew the content and had all the resources they needed, they struggled to complete the task. The struggle came from them not completely applying themselves. I knew that they could successfully complete the task at hand, but they didn't. Though inquiry, persistence and problem solving, they were able to complete the tasks and end the end hand that joyful lightbulb moment! At times I find standardized-type assessments to be invaluable. I have yet to have a student become passionate about a topic when they learn that they are going to be tested over a topic via paper and pencil with questions that are selected response, short answers, etc. Yes, they can regurgitate the knowledge that they have learned, however I don't see any of the process bring any joy to my kiddos. This is why I have added a assessment project of sorts in for each unit. (Eventually, I would like to have a quarter project that is a true PBL/PBLE/CBL type of thing that blends the topics of our quarter together!) Recently. we had our students research facts involving numbers that they found interesting and convert them into two forms of scientific notation. One that used a positive exponent and one that utilized a negative exponent. They were then asked to create a slide for an all class paper slide demonstrating their learning while also sharing the facts that they found to be interesting. The gain from creating these types of assessments is that when students have some ownership in sharing what they know, they get engaged and interested and have a desire to share what they know!
To launch our new unit and to assess student prior knowledge, students in my class were asked to complete two tasks. The first was to determine the distance in miles of all minted 2011 pennies, if they were stacked on top of one another. Students were encouraged to use their Measure app and a ruler to make their measurements. They were also permitted to use both their classroom provided calculator and their Calculator app on their iPads. After they completed their penny activity, students were provided a link to a digital breakout that had them work with scientific notation using both positive and negative exponents. Both of these tasks were highly engaging and allowed me to assess their prior knowledge about exponents and scientific notation as they relate to our new unit. Technology is something that is purposefully and meaningfully incorporated often (daily) in my classroom. Up next...Giant Burgers, quick online checks for understanding using a variety of interactive sites, listening to our scientific notation playlist and our annual scientific notation paper slide project!
Students were prompted to reflect on their school year in math and to consider something that they did or in math that they didn't think they would do. In addition, students were asked to share a piece of advice for incoming 8th graders. The original plan was to have students use Vocaroo to listen to and complete the task. This site is super easy and very straight forward, however, the site relies on Flash and the students were not able to use their devices for this task.
R.A.F.T. prompts are certainly not new as they have been used in classrooms around the world for many years, however, over the last 15 years technology has become a part of many R.A.F.T. tasks. Students in my class, were asked to become producers and create a video commercial that explains to other 8th graders what happens when a transversal crosses through set of parallel lines. To help with the design and creating process, students utilized these templates found at Learning at Hand. These templates really help students to understand how iMovie Trailers are set-up. They also helped students to be more efficient when creating. As for sharing, sine we weren't able to upload, mirror, etc. we create a gallery walkthrough of our items to share with one another.
Proof in the Pudding
Technology is merely a tool that can support the art of teaching but it cannot replace the art of teaching. Many quotes support this idea. It's seems that even one of our own (Kansas) U.S. Senators shared the same thoughts years ago. While lending itself to many positive possibilities, it seems as if over time, technology use, not technology itself has filtered into education in a negative manner. So what is the real purpose of technology and the idealities that stem from it? What really are the best, research based, tried and true practices? Where is the proof in the pudding? |
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November 2019
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