Ms. M and I have been working out the details and ironing out any kinks in our lesson to prepare to teach the webquest in April. We have officially decided to have the lesson on the 17th of April in the morning, during science time (I think it's from 8 a.m. to 8:55 - don't quote me on it). I had my proposal to turn into my 545 class and it was a really list of questions and concepts to take into consideration in terms of making sure everything is coming together. Ms. M and I got on the computer during her planning block and found the exact SOLs we needed, and talked out a few things before she let me type it all up on my own. I told her I'd email her a draft of the work document and she could tweak it or let me know what needed to be tweaked - somewhat of an online collaboration. We talked about different sites I could go to in order to get help with things, and we decided to take the ESOL part of it seriously as well - making content objectives (SOLS), technology objectives (NETS) and language objectives (ESOL). We decided that we were going to make user friendliness our number one priority. By using the laptop cart and other laptops from the lower grades we'd put kids in groups or partners in front of a computer to work on it that morning of the 17th. We were also working out the pre and post assessment the day (or days) before and after the actual quest. I gave the proposal to Dennis to look over and am looking forward to his feedback on it.
Ms. M and I are trying to find a good time to keep working this all out. It looks like she has a lot of ESOL standardized tests to give this week coming up - so I think that she and I are going to get together to work on it over the ACPS spring break coming up.
I am trying to link the proposal to this blog....
That's all for now!
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Playing Catch Up...
So I haven't blogged since the beginning of March, and I need to keep everyone posted on what's been going on with my project. To be honest, it has been at a bit of a stand still while I try to work on all of my other course work I have been balancing on my plate, and it is also about to reach the heavy stages of planning.
I have been observing every week and seen lots of interesting things that I am enjoying soaking up in terms of the upper grades. and of course in terms of ESOL ideas. Everytime I am at school I spend a little bit of time with Ms. M planning or swapping ideas back and forth or reminding eachother what we need to do next in terms of the steps we need towards completion. I can't remember if I wrote about this or not, but I did get to see a lot of these students work during their content times, sticking my head in and observing them during social studies and watching the content areas in action, which will be helpful with the content of science as I work out the details.
I have also spent time with Ms. M during her planning block and gotten to watch her prepare her technology-heavy lessons, which sometimes work and sometimes don't and witnessing the process is really intriguing. One morning a few weeks ago we showed up at GE the mornign after a major power outage in the area. Of course, teachers usually have a back up plan for things like this happening, but it wasn't even a technology snafu, it was the whole upstairs of the school having lights and air conditioning, but no working outlets. How scary is that? Something that doesn't seem like technology suddenly becomes not-working technology. Students were struggling to sharpen pencils and clocks were unplugged, and the 5th grade Social studies class was supposed to be working with the laptop carts on powerpoints, but without charge at their base all night - they were dead. This was so exciting for me as a technology student looking for things to observe, but I am sure as a teacher I would be in a FULL ON panic! While the social studies teacher had to scrap his entire plan and work out of the textbooks for the day, Ms. M prevailed. She literally looked me in the eye and stated, "It's my way or the highway." She was convinced that there were still some working outlet somewhere, and had moved furniture away from walls and taken a tiny clock with a plug and tried every outlet along every wall in her wing. She finally found one that worked over the sink in the common area and we ran a HUGE extension cord all the way into her room from another room (taped it down to the floor and had signs indicating caution when walking through that hall) all for the sake of her cause. While other teachers were pulling their hair out and forced to work with worksheets and other low-tech activities, it was business as usual in her room. She had such a succinct plan B that she was able to work with the extension cord and power surge protector to plug in an Elmo, speakers, projector, laptop, just to name a few. She turned on the software and her kids were listening to a slave song on the internet (she even worked out a speaker snafu by replugging everything in) for their Civil War worksheets. It was amazing. Now THAT is what I call Teaching with Technology.
I did end up seeing the social studies use his powerpoint lesson on a later day, when everything was up and running the following week. He was using technology, but I'm almost certain that he was half as excited (his student too) about what he was doing as Ms. M has been when I've observed. It is crazy to me that you can go through the motions, pull out all of the stops, and give each student their own laptop, but if you're not excited about it or if you are just using the technology for the sake of using it, your students can tell. His kids were just typing up something he had already made and putting it onto slides to "review" for their civil war quiz/test the next class, but he was yelling at students he walked past who had the wrong window open or who were lost in the directions, and was just trying to knock the assignment out, instead of letting them have the time they need to work out the technology and content. It was a great example of what "not" to do.
I have been observing every week and seen lots of interesting things that I am enjoying soaking up in terms of the upper grades. and of course in terms of ESOL ideas. Everytime I am at school I spend a little bit of time with Ms. M planning or swapping ideas back and forth or reminding eachother what we need to do next in terms of the steps we need towards completion. I can't remember if I wrote about this or not, but I did get to see a lot of these students work during their content times, sticking my head in and observing them during social studies and watching the content areas in action, which will be helpful with the content of science as I work out the details.
I have also spent time with Ms. M during her planning block and gotten to watch her prepare her technology-heavy lessons, which sometimes work and sometimes don't and witnessing the process is really intriguing. One morning a few weeks ago we showed up at GE the mornign after a major power outage in the area. Of course, teachers usually have a back up plan for things like this happening, but it wasn't even a technology snafu, it was the whole upstairs of the school having lights and air conditioning, but no working outlets. How scary is that? Something that doesn't seem like technology suddenly becomes not-working technology. Students were struggling to sharpen pencils and clocks were unplugged, and the 5th grade Social studies class was supposed to be working with the laptop carts on powerpoints, but without charge at their base all night - they were dead. This was so exciting for me as a technology student looking for things to observe, but I am sure as a teacher I would be in a FULL ON panic! While the social studies teacher had to scrap his entire plan and work out of the textbooks for the day, Ms. M prevailed. She literally looked me in the eye and stated, "It's my way or the highway." She was convinced that there were still some working outlet somewhere, and had moved furniture away from walls and taken a tiny clock with a plug and tried every outlet along every wall in her wing. She finally found one that worked over the sink in the common area and we ran a HUGE extension cord all the way into her room from another room (taped it down to the floor and had signs indicating caution when walking through that hall) all for the sake of her cause. While other teachers were pulling their hair out and forced to work with worksheets and other low-tech activities, it was business as usual in her room. She had such a succinct plan B that she was able to work with the extension cord and power surge protector to plug in an Elmo, speakers, projector, laptop, just to name a few. She turned on the software and her kids were listening to a slave song on the internet (she even worked out a speaker snafu by replugging everything in) for their Civil War worksheets. It was amazing. Now THAT is what I call Teaching with Technology.
I did end up seeing the social studies use his powerpoint lesson on a later day, when everything was up and running the following week. He was using technology, but I'm almost certain that he was half as excited (his student too) about what he was doing as Ms. M has been when I've observed. It is crazy to me that you can go through the motions, pull out all of the stops, and give each student their own laptop, but if you're not excited about it or if you are just using the technology for the sake of using it, your students can tell. His kids were just typing up something he had already made and putting it onto slides to "review" for their civil war quiz/test the next class, but he was yelling at students he walked past who had the wrong window open or who were lost in the directions, and was just trying to knock the assignment out, instead of letting them have the time they need to work out the technology and content. It was a great example of what "not" to do.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Photo Shop Collage
Here is the link for my "Four Seasons" collage:
http://people.virginia.edu/~amc2x/545FourSeasonsPictures%20and%20collage/
Click on the .psd file titled "FourSeasonsCollage" and it should work!
http://people.virginia.edu/~amc2x/545FourSeasonsPictures%20and%20collage/
Click on the .psd file titled "FourSeasonsCollage" and it should work!
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Webquest Resources
http://bestwebquests.com/
http://projects.edtech.sandi.net/grant/oceanpollution/index.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WebQuest
http://webquest.org/index.php
Template
http://www.spa3.k12.sc.us/WebQuestTemplate/webquesttemp.htm
Ocean webquests:
http://www.kmuska.com/ocean/oceanx.html
http://peoria.k12.il.us/shwhite/OceanWQ.html
http://education.nmsu.edu/webquest/wq/ocean/index.html
http://www.runet.edu/~sbisset/ocean.html (Virginia Science SOL one?)
More sites:
http://www.teachersfirst.com/webquest.htm
http://www.teachersfirst.com/webquest.htm
www.emints.org/webquest/index.shtml
http://projects.edtech.sandi.net/grant/oceanpollution/index.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WebQuest
http://webquest.org/index.php
Template
http://www.spa3.k12.sc.us/WebQuestTemplate/webquesttemp.htm
Ocean webquests:
http://www.kmuska.com/ocean/oceanx.html
http://peoria.k12.il.us/shwhite/OceanWQ.html
http://education.nmsu.edu/webquest/wq/ocean/index.html
http://www.runet.edu/~sbisset/ocean.html (Virginia Science SOL one?)
More sites:
http://www.teachersfirst.com/webquest.htm
http://www.teachersfirst.com/webquest.htm
www.emints.org/webquest/index.shtml
Ocean Resources
Investigating the Ocean Unit
http://www.phoenix.k12.ny.us/elm/Grade5/LeBlanc/toc.htm
List of Ocean Sites
http://www.marine-ed.org/bridge/five.html
Oceans Alive!
http://www.mos.org/oceans/
Under the Sea Unit
http://www.teachingheart.net/ocean.html
BOOK: Magic School Bus - On the Ocean Floor
A to Z Teacher Stuff - Ocean Theme
http://www.atozteacherstuff.com/Themes/Ocean/
Ocean Unit
http://www.lessonplanspage.com/ScienceSSMDOceanUnit2-OceanPlantsK3.htm
http://www.phoenix.k12.ny.us/elm/Grade5/LeBlanc/toc.htm
List of Ocean Sites
http://www.marine-ed.org/bridge/five.html
Oceans Alive!
http://www.mos.org/oceans/
Under the Sea Unit
http://www.teachingheart.net/ocean.html
BOOK: Magic School Bus - On the Ocean Floor
A to Z Teacher Stuff - Ocean Theme
http://www.atozteacherstuff.com/Themes/Ocean/
Ocean Unit
http://www.lessonplanspage.com/ScienceSSMDOceanUnit2-OceanPlantsK3.htm
March - baby steps
This week I thought about going on Wednesday to see Ms. M and her groups use the computer lab (this is their assigned day) because I am so curious to see how she uses that space...but I got back to late on Wednesday night from my Spring Break trip that it didn't work out. We did however email and are starting to piece together the parts of the puzzle in terms of the TIP situation.
-We decided that I was going to go around and watch her in the other classrooms so that I can see the other 5th graders at the school and start to get used to the larger group.
-We are going to sit down and work out the proposal and contracts I need for both of my courses that this is working for - my final project in elementary education as well as the one needed for this TIP project. Hopefully in this effort we can sort out some of the questions and un-worked-out things we have left.
-We are going to collaborate a bit more on the content front with the science teacher and find out the area that we will be focusing on - OCEANS!
-We need to plan out days and times I will be out in the field doing all of this (so that my professor for TIP can some see it too!) and so that i have enough time to put together all of the finiahed product to present it with my digital story to make it happen in time for our last class at the end of April.
So...here's my first step in researching - the 5th grade science SOLs about the Ocean!
Scientific Investigation, Reasoning, and Logic
5.1 The student will plan and conduct investigations in which
a) rocks, minerals, and organisms are identified using a classification key;
b) estimations of length, mass, and volume are made;
c) appropriate instruments are selected and used for making quantitative observations of length, mass, volume, and elapsed time;
d) accurate measurements are made using basic tools (thermometer, meter stick, balance, graduated cylinder);
e) data are collected, recorded, and reported using the appropriate graphical representation (graphs, charts, diagrams);
f) predictions are made using patterns, and simple graphical data are extrapolated;
g) manipulated and responding variables are identified; and
h) an understanding of the nature of science is developed and reinforced
That was all I could find in the 5th grade SOLs - and it's the generic first first strands....I am looking under Earth science as well?
ES.11 The student will investigate and understand that oceans are complex, interactive physical, chemical, and biological systems and are subject to long- and short-term variations. Key concepts include
a) physical and chemical changes (tides, waves, currents, sea level and ice cap variations, upwelling, and salinity variations);
b) importance of environmental and geologic implications;
c) systems interactions (density differences, energy transfer, weather, and climate);
d) features of the sea floor (continental margins, trenches, mid-ocean ridges, and abyssal plains) as reflections of tectonic processes; and
e) economic and public policy issues concerning the oceans and the coastal zone including the Chesapeake Bay.
Hmmmmm....
-We decided that I was going to go around and watch her in the other classrooms so that I can see the other 5th graders at the school and start to get used to the larger group.
-We are going to sit down and work out the proposal and contracts I need for both of my courses that this is working for - my final project in elementary education as well as the one needed for this TIP project. Hopefully in this effort we can sort out some of the questions and un-worked-out things we have left.
-We are going to collaborate a bit more on the content front with the science teacher and find out the area that we will be focusing on - OCEANS!
-We need to plan out days and times I will be out in the field doing all of this (so that my professor for TIP can some see it too!) and so that i have enough time to put together all of the finiahed product to present it with my digital story to make it happen in time for our last class at the end of April.
So...here's my first step in researching - the 5th grade science SOLs about the Ocean!
Scientific Investigation, Reasoning, and Logic
5.1 The student will plan and conduct investigations in which
a) rocks, minerals, and organisms are identified using a classification key;
b) estimations of length, mass, and volume are made;
c) appropriate instruments are selected and used for making quantitative observations of length, mass, volume, and elapsed time;
d) accurate measurements are made using basic tools (thermometer, meter stick, balance, graduated cylinder);
e) data are collected, recorded, and reported using the appropriate graphical representation (graphs, charts, diagrams);
f) predictions are made using patterns, and simple graphical data are extrapolated;
g) manipulated and responding variables are identified; and
h) an understanding of the nature of science is developed and reinforced
That was all I could find in the 5th grade SOLs - and it's the generic first first strands....I am looking under Earth science as well?
ES.11 The student will investigate and understand that oceans are complex, interactive physical, chemical, and biological systems and are subject to long- and short-term variations. Key concepts include
a) physical and chemical changes (tides, waves, currents, sea level and ice cap variations, upwelling, and salinity variations);
b) importance of environmental and geologic implications;
c) systems interactions (density differences, energy transfer, weather, and climate);
d) features of the sea floor (continental margins, trenches, mid-ocean ridges, and abyssal plains) as reflections of tectonic processes; and
e) economic and public policy issues concerning the oceans and the coastal zone including the Chesapeake Bay.
Hmmmmm....
Visits - week of 2/25
I have finally put in some serious time at GE this week - and am at least starting to piece together the parts of my project, get a feel for these older students and what they are capable of, which is one of my biggest challenges working with these 5th graders after having had an experience in kindergarten all last fall. The brilliant part about Ms. M's schedule is that I get two hours of watching her ESOL groups and then there is downtime between the two so we can talk about things in there, or I can see her out in the bigger picture of the school day pushing in to the regular ed classroom as well. I think she is such a great person to collaborate with and we work well together. However, I think she can tell that I'm a little bit out of my element in terms of this whole project and is very helpful.
We touched base again and basically honed in on the webquest idea as a final decision. It's really my best option with the time I will have with the kids, and also something that if I can really get good at I can really learn to use with my own kids next year. We talked about lots of different things to get the kids going on it - but are still trying to figure out exactly which science or social studies topic it would be best for. I am personally a science person - I don't do well with history in terms of my prior knowledge, and history in 5th grade is different wherever you go - if I teach next year in a different state it won't be Virginia History but another history all together. Science is also what I"m leaning towards because it's more universal and carries over and some of the concepts go up and down the spectrum and spiral off of eachother. I think the girl who did the placement last itme with Ms. M did light or sound so I am going to look at the 5th grade Science SOLs and just get familiar with all of them.
Other than content, we talked about logistics - do we want the students to work with a partner or groups? what kind of rubric would we have? What would their final product that they are "questing" for be? I am also concerned with the real details - do we have enough laptops to do it with the cart and take it to a classroom? Do we need the computer lab and how can I reserve the times we need?
The other thing I really want to make sure of - that is important with so much in teaching - is to make sure that the structure of the activity IS user friendly and that with a streamlined design for autonomy, can the students use it easily and does it actually help and benefit them? I want to see if I can make it accessible for all of them, allow them to reach their strengths and talents and that if they are performing or presenting something in the end, that it allows for them to be successful!
The other great things I am seeing amidst all of the ESOL observing I am doing as well, is Ms. M's great way of integrating technology into the day in little ways. I got to see her record students reading aloud - and then having them watch it to be aware of their fluency and literacy improvements and to hear their mistakes. Also, she uses the Active board often - let's the kids use it too! She gives them the pen (obviously they know what to do and what not to do with it!) and hast them match words and definitions in front of the group. Her small group setting is definitely to her advantage, because they all get lots of turns. She also has little applications like dice that she rolls so that turns are random, or using colors to represent things. I think the beauty of her system is that the board is ALWAYS set up, so she always thinks about using it, and so that it is always easy. Just something to think about....
We touched base again and basically honed in on the webquest idea as a final decision. It's really my best option with the time I will have with the kids, and also something that if I can really get good at I can really learn to use with my own kids next year. We talked about lots of different things to get the kids going on it - but are still trying to figure out exactly which science or social studies topic it would be best for. I am personally a science person - I don't do well with history in terms of my prior knowledge, and history in 5th grade is different wherever you go - if I teach next year in a different state it won't be Virginia History but another history all together. Science is also what I"m leaning towards because it's more universal and carries over and some of the concepts go up and down the spectrum and spiral off of eachother. I think the girl who did the placement last itme with Ms. M did light or sound so I am going to look at the 5th grade Science SOLs and just get familiar with all of them.
Other than content, we talked about logistics - do we want the students to work with a partner or groups? what kind of rubric would we have? What would their final product that they are "questing" for be? I am also concerned with the real details - do we have enough laptops to do it with the cart and take it to a classroom? Do we need the computer lab and how can I reserve the times we need?
The other thing I really want to make sure of - that is important with so much in teaching - is to make sure that the structure of the activity IS user friendly and that with a streamlined design for autonomy, can the students use it easily and does it actually help and benefit them? I want to see if I can make it accessible for all of them, allow them to reach their strengths and talents and that if they are performing or presenting something in the end, that it allows for them to be successful!
The other great things I am seeing amidst all of the ESOL observing I am doing as well, is Ms. M's great way of integrating technology into the day in little ways. I got to see her record students reading aloud - and then having them watch it to be aware of their fluency and literacy improvements and to hear their mistakes. Also, she uses the Active board often - let's the kids use it too! She gives them the pen (obviously they know what to do and what not to do with it!) and hast them match words and definitions in front of the group. Her small group setting is definitely to her advantage, because they all get lots of turns. She also has little applications like dice that she rolls so that turns are random, or using colors to represent things. I think the beauty of her system is that the board is ALWAYS set up, so she always thinks about using it, and so that it is always easy. Just something to think about....
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