Collaboration Sccenario

I was asked to create a lesson based on the following Scenario and get feedback from others in my district and in my class:

Scenario Three: In a fourth grade social studies class, the class is discussing the  role of landscape and surroundings on early natives—what type of food they ate, the type of dwellings they built, and of course defensive systems or escape routes. Many of the students have never traveled out of their own state and are not familiar with alternate surroundings. The social studies teacher has requested that the technology integrator help her create a new lesson.

I created the fooling lesson:

In a fourth grade social studies class, the class is discussing the role of landscape and surroundings on early natives—what type of food they ate, the type of dwellings they built, and of course defensive systems or escape routes. Many of the students have never traveled out of their own state and are not familiar with alternate surroundings. The social studies teacher has requested that the technology integrator help her create a new lesson. 

Learner Outcomes:

Students will identify how landscape and surrounds influenced the development of the culture of early natives from around the world.

Students will be able to compare their own surrounding to that of early natives.

Students will be able to compare their own cultural heritage to that of early natives.

Students will identify how the surroundings of early natives has changed.

Tools:

Powerpoint- students will use power point or Prezi to create a presentation

Prezi http://prezi.com/your/ -students will use power point or Prezi to create a presentation

Diigo http://www.diigo.com/user/patterson13 - students will use diigo to access links that contain information they will need to create their presentation.

Google Earth earth.google.com/ - students will use google earth during presentations to show the class the area they early natives lived in.

Activities:

Teacher will start lesson by showing students their current location on google earth freezing it in frames to identify natural resources and characteristics of the area such as mountains, lakes, wooded areas and homes.  

Teacher will show the class a prezi she created about the their class showing students eating snacks, taking part in emergency drills and different locations inside and outside the school.

Teacher will place students into small groups and assign each group a different early native culture.  

Teacher will have each group login into google docs to a prepared spread sheet for each group.  They will use the spread as a guide for their presentations.  The spread sheet will ask the students to identify what type of food they ate, the type of dwellings they built, and of course defensive systems or escape routes.  

The students will login into the class diigo account and find the file for their group and start reading about and viewing the sources located in their folder.

The students will use what they have learned to create a power point or prezi presentation of their group of early natives for the class.

After all presentations teacher will lead class discussion comparing the cultures they looked at and comparing them to our own.

Assessments:

Teacher will use google docs, classroom discussions, teacher observations as formative assessments.  The summative assessment will be the class presentations.

Since I do not work for a school district I had to rely solely on class mates input.  It was recommended to add a boarder description of the tools.  One recommendation I really like was to add the Diigo folder link to the top of the google doc to make it easier for students to find. Also to add the standards I was looking to achieve was another.

My class mate had Scenario one  Which states that:

Upon walking into the classroom of a new eighth grade English language arts (ELA) teacher, the teacher informs you that she will be teaching a lesson on fate versus free will the following week. She plans on using excerpts from Oedipus Rex and Dante’s Inferno. She has not put the lesson plan together yet but intends to have the students present examples from the readings to support their case through a persuasive essay. 

She had some really well though out ideas for this lesson which included using the TV Show Lost to show examples of fate vs free will.  She uses tools like: 

videos clips 

discussion boards

wallwisher.com

(Bannister, 2013)

Since I do not work at a school and I only have one classmate I was unable to get input on the other scenarios.  Feel free to let me know what you would think.

Scenario Two: A high school science teacher is presenting a unit on astronomy, specifically on how Polaris is no longer the central point of the northern sky. The teacher is confident that he can teach it out of a book but is anxious to give the students a better experience from the lesson. He is hoping that the technology integration specialist will be able to help make a more authentic study for the students. 

Scenario Four: According to the math teacher, math is everywhere. The teacher is concentrating on a geometry unit discussing area and volume. The teacher is hoping to have the students design a home consisting of 1500 square feet of living space with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a family room, and a kitchen. A playroom or dining room are nice to have but are not needed. In the past, the teacher has asked the students to draw it out with paper and pencil; however, this proved to be a poor choice for reasons he has not given. The teacher is currently thinking of using craft sticks and glue to have the students build models, but this does not fall within the budget. The teacher is turning to the technology integrator for help.

References:

Bannister, A. (2013, January). Collaboration Scenario's [Lesson Plan].

Conrad Wolfram

Teaching Kids Real Math With Computers

• Do the points Wolfram makes relate to just math, or does the message of his talk apply across subjects?

I feel that this is a concept that applies to all subjects.  For to long we focused on names and dates in social studies while the bigger concepts were treated like fillers to the lesson instead of being the lessons.  Wolfram points out that when we stop focusing on the calculations, "then we can ask questions, real questions,..." (Wolfram, 2010)  Some of the greatest thinkers and inventors of all times where great because they asked the questions.  In some cases they were not even able to answer the questions they posed because they lack the technology too.  We need to make learning meaningful and not a chore.  I believe that was the point Wolfram was trying to make and that can be applied to every subject.

Here's another video I found that helps with my point.

• How could you use Wolfram’s talk when working with teachers?

I actually forwarded it to a high school math teacher that said he did not see the point of teaching algebra to high school students because their was no application for it in the real world.  I think when dealing with teachers viewing the talk would be the first thing, then I would ask them what they think of the concept of using computers to teach math.  I feel it is important to make sure that the teacher does not feel like they are being attacked or undermined.   Some may feel like they are being asked to change because they are doing it wrong and that is not a comfortable feeling for someone who has do something the same way their whole life.

• What points would you make to teachers when you begin working with them to lay the foundation for collaboration?

I think the biggest point to make is that learning starts with inquiry not memorization or computation.   That real world inquiry leads to real world solutions and we have technology to enhance our lives so lets use it.




Wolfram, C. (n.d.). Conrad Wolfram: Teaching kids real math with computers. TED: Ideas worth Spreading. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/conrad_wolfram_teaching_kids_real_math_with_computers.html

A Vision of K-12 Students Today. (2007, November 28). YouTube. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_A-ZVCjfWf8

Teacher Technology Motivation

I believe that the best ways to motivate teachers to use technology would vary from teacher to teacher.  Everyone has some level of intrinsic motivation, it would be important to find out what that is for the teacher or teachers you are trying to motivate.  For someone like me, all you would need to do is show me something new and I will work it into a lesson.  I love technology so it really does not take much to get me motivated.  I think most teachers want to engage their students.  I've never heard any teacher say that they do not care if the students are involve or learn.  At some level even the most resistant to technology want to be better and more effective in their classrooms.  

I feel that it is important to assess what technology the teacher or teachers already use, whether in the classroom or on personal time.  If a teacher only uses the computer for email then you have a starting point for properly integrating technology.  You would not take that person and give them a smartboard and expect them to use it. That would be the fastest way to unmotivated a teacher, and is frequently what happens.  I have been in so many classrooms that have an unused smartboard in it.  The teacher was told it was being installed and trained once on the basics of what it does.  They never see the full potential to use it in the classroom so they do not know.  We would not do that to our students so why do we do it to our teachers?  For that type of teacher you may start out with using a google doc for students to collaborate, and you could model it by using a shared document to discuss ways to implement it into a lesson.   If you can ease teachers into it with collaboration and training teachers will be confident and confidence drives motivation.

I found this video and thought it was funny!

Challenges of Serving All Communities

How does working with the public, school board, administration, and teaching staff differ from working with students? 

 I have only student taught so my experience with this is very limited as I do not have a classroom to call my own yet. I believe that the fundamental difference when working with the public, school board, administration, and teaching staff would be the perspective or role you would take. As a teacher you are leading the lessons and units. When working with coworkers the relationship is one of teamwork and mutual status. When working with the public, the school board and the administration you may be simply relying information or receiving instruction.

What are the potential challenges a technology integrator faces from school communities? 

There are many challenges that technology integrators face from school communities. One is a lack of funding that would support new devices, software, and training. Another is an agreement and understanding on all side from teachers, administration, school board and public. "Parents, parent associations, and local community will have a range in thoughts as diverse as the community itself" (Tufts, 2013)

What do you believe are the best strategies for tackling these challenges? 

Having a plan for implementation is necessary. In order to have a clear plan that is connected to curriculum Pamela Morehead and Barbara LaBeau recommend using curriculum mapping as a strategy. "Teachers need to recognize technology as an instrument in their tool chest for teaching and learning." (Morehead and LaBeau, 2013) They also state that it opens the door to teacher communication and collaboration that is lacking in curriculum development.



References:
Tufts, K. (2012, January). The Role of the Technology Integrator. Reading presented at Module One in Southern New Hampshire University, Manchester. Retrieved from https://blackboard.snhu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_id=_2_1&url=%2fwebapps%2fblackboard%2fexecute%2flauncher%3ftype%3dCourse%26id%3d_86929_1%26url%3d

Morehead, P., & LaBeau, B. (n.d.). The Continuing Challenges of Technology Integration for Teachers. Usca.edu. Retrieved January, 2013, from http://www.usca.edu/essays/vol152005/moreheadrev.pdf