*In reflecting on my teaching experiences to date, I would say that the proportion of teacher centered versus student centered lessons has been different overall in my teaching and when I compare my first 5 years to the past 4 or 5. In the first half of my teaching career I can easily say that the teacher centered lessons comprised about 90-95% of my curriculum. At that time, I started taking some other classes and really was challenging how I approached the classroom. Ever since then I have been incorporating more student centered lessons and I’d love to say that I’ve completely flipped the 90% to student centered but unfortunately I’m not there yet. I would guess that at least 35-40% of my lessons now are student centered.
*I was able to identify more than one authentic assessment to measure mastery of a single concept lesson when I changed the lesson to reflect being student centered as well as when I incorporated more differentiation into the lesson. For every alternative activity there are a multiple of various assessments that can be envisioned.
*The rubric I created for my lesson clearly defined expectations and scoring for the lesson so that my students could start the project with a definite goal in mind. The rubric could be used somewhat like a checklist to work through each section so that the expectations are indicated as objectives to meet before the lesson even begins.
*While working on this module I had difficulty while narrowing down my lesson. I tend to think and teach in big concepts and units with activities spanning multiple days and sometimes even units. For example, the lesson I chose involved the prerequisite knowledge of construction and use of a dichotomous key. I originally didn’t explain that as a class, we would have already done the lessons on classification, key use and key construction so that the students would be drawing upon those experiences to help them create the key for this lesson. So my issue was keeping the topic narrow enough without throwing out all of the related activities that would help make the students successful. On the topic of keeping things broad and sweeping, I also have issues with really zeroing in on targeted differentiation - I tend to start brainstorming ideas and then ramble on and on.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
CED0550 - Week Three
• What is the greatest challenge that I have encountered as an online teacher/facilitator and how did I manage it? (If you have not yet taught online what do you think would be the greatest challenge for online teachers/facilitators?). I think the greatest challenge would be to get into the swing of things for the very first classes. I remember my first week in teaching and the nausea I felt going in each day dreading the unknown. After a while, I began to get more comfortable and felt like I could handle any of the little issues that would arise. I imagine the same uneasiness starting to teach online as I question how I would handle technology issues, facilitating, keeping track of all elements in the online environment, and/or questions I may not have an answer to at my fingertips.
• Some things that I feel are really important to consider about synchronous and asynchronous facilitation as I prepare to facilitate my threaded and web conference discussions are not to confuse the two and to keep the activities and discussions linked but not redundant. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve done an exercise in an asynchronous format and in the synchronous session, the facilitator reiterates the same content, nearly word for word without adding anything new to the discussion. That was one of the main motivators for my adding different, but related, activities in the synchronous discussion. The asynchronous portion will be revisited, but with the addition of applying the examples from discussion to the appropriate federal and state mandates, thereby extending the knowledge. For this to work, it was important that the asynchronous discussion came first. This also allows me to add into the synchronous conversation major items that were missed or skimmed over in the earlier discussions. On a side note, another item that I wanted to consider was that one of the participants currently teaches virtually and has a much different perspective to bring to the table than the ‘brick and mortar’ teachers.
• I choose my particular discussion topic because the issue of technological access is close to my heart living in the northwoods of Wisconsin. I struggled with internet access at home for 7 of the 13 months we’ve been in the MEIT program. Just recently, I’ve been able to enjoy taking classes from home and not having to travel to the local motel (8 miles down the road) in the middle of January so that I could attend class. This one aspect has made me think of the many issues with access as well as equity and how in the public school system we are required to provide for all students.
• One thing that I thought about when developing rubrics for the 2 different discussions is how to create them for dual functioning, that is how to make them easy to use on the instructors part as well as how to make them easy to read, understand and follow on the part of the students/participants.
• Some things that I feel are really important to consider about synchronous and asynchronous facilitation as I prepare to facilitate my threaded and web conference discussions are not to confuse the two and to keep the activities and discussions linked but not redundant. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve done an exercise in an asynchronous format and in the synchronous session, the facilitator reiterates the same content, nearly word for word without adding anything new to the discussion. That was one of the main motivators for my adding different, but related, activities in the synchronous discussion. The asynchronous portion will be revisited, but with the addition of applying the examples from discussion to the appropriate federal and state mandates, thereby extending the knowledge. For this to work, it was important that the asynchronous discussion came first. This also allows me to add into the synchronous conversation major items that were missed or skimmed over in the earlier discussions. On a side note, another item that I wanted to consider was that one of the participants currently teaches virtually and has a much different perspective to bring to the table than the ‘brick and mortar’ teachers.
• I choose my particular discussion topic because the issue of technological access is close to my heart living in the northwoods of Wisconsin. I struggled with internet access at home for 7 of the 13 months we’ve been in the MEIT program. Just recently, I’ve been able to enjoy taking classes from home and not having to travel to the local motel (8 miles down the road) in the middle of January so that I could attend class. This one aspect has made me think of the many issues with access as well as equity and how in the public school system we are required to provide for all students.
• One thing that I thought about when developing rubrics for the 2 different discussions is how to create them for dual functioning, that is how to make them easy to use on the instructors part as well as how to make them easy to read, understand and follow on the part of the students/participants.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
CED0550 - Week Two
Identify at least two synchronous and two asynchronous online learning tools that would be appropriate for your targeted online learners.
Two synchronous learning tools that would be appropriate for my online learners would be a classroom program like Elluminate or WizIQ and some other communication tool like Skype or ToxBox. Asynchronous tools that I could use would be to set up my classes in Moodle or some other LMS and I would probably also choose to have students either start a their own blog or website to keep track of their accomplishments and learning.
List four different types of activities that you might use with your targeted online learners and identify an appropriate online tool to use in implementing that activity.
e-portfolio: I would have my students maintain a website using a tool like Weebly for the duration of the class to document in an e-portfolio their assignments and projects.
reflection: A link to a blogging site like Blogger would enhance the site and could be utilized as a place for students to reflect upon their work and progress.
discussion: In order to get a better grasp on the activities and tasks, I would have students participate in class discussions and would therefore use a discussion board to accomplish this. Utilizing forums in Moodle or the discussion section in a Ning would facilitate this activity so I would use the tool I am presenting to the class as our LMS.
collaboration: In addition to the individual work, I would expect my students to work collaboratively on some activities and so I would use a shared document editing program like GoogleDocs or etherPad. While doing the work, students would need to communicate and so I would suggest Skype to my students.
Is my initial contact warm and inviting? Are there things I did particularly well or could do better in the future?
I think my initial contact is inviting, but I’m not to sure about the warm part - it seems slightly clinical and like a laundry list of items to accomplish. I do really like the format as I think the information is readily available and easy to find but I could improve on making it more reflective of my personality.
Is my initial contact clear and concise and yet user friendly? What are some strategies that help to format your contacts to make them as clear and concise as possible?
I do believe my initial contact is clear and concise while remaining user friendly. I would take another suggestion (it came after I had already revised and submitted on Saturday) to include the list of programs that should be installed on the user’s computer. Strategies to format the contacts would be to create and use a banner headline for all contacts and possibly making use of visual cues in each contact. For example, if I used the “ducks in a row” graphic on all contacts where students had a list of items to accomplish, they may grow accustomed to looking in the same place for that information in all future contacts.
Two synchronous learning tools that would be appropriate for my online learners would be a classroom program like Elluminate or WizIQ and some other communication tool like Skype or ToxBox. Asynchronous tools that I could use would be to set up my classes in Moodle or some other LMS and I would probably also choose to have students either start a their own blog or website to keep track of their accomplishments and learning.
List four different types of activities that you might use with your targeted online learners and identify an appropriate online tool to use in implementing that activity.
e-portfolio: I would have my students maintain a website using a tool like Weebly for the duration of the class to document in an e-portfolio their assignments and projects.
reflection: A link to a blogging site like Blogger would enhance the site and could be utilized as a place for students to reflect upon their work and progress.
discussion: In order to get a better grasp on the activities and tasks, I would have students participate in class discussions and would therefore use a discussion board to accomplish this. Utilizing forums in Moodle or the discussion section in a Ning would facilitate this activity so I would use the tool I am presenting to the class as our LMS.
collaboration: In addition to the individual work, I would expect my students to work collaboratively on some activities and so I would use a shared document editing program like GoogleDocs or etherPad. While doing the work, students would need to communicate and so I would suggest Skype to my students.
Is my initial contact warm and inviting? Are there things I did particularly well or could do better in the future?
I think my initial contact is inviting, but I’m not to sure about the warm part - it seems slightly clinical and like a laundry list of items to accomplish. I do really like the format as I think the information is readily available and easy to find but I could improve on making it more reflective of my personality.
Is my initial contact clear and concise and yet user friendly? What are some strategies that help to format your contacts to make them as clear and concise as possible?
I do believe my initial contact is clear and concise while remaining user friendly. I would take another suggestion (it came after I had already revised and submitted on Saturday) to include the list of programs that should be installed on the user’s computer. Strategies to format the contacts would be to create and use a banner headline for all contacts and possibly making use of visual cues in each contact. For example, if I used the “ducks in a row” graphic on all contacts where students had a list of items to accomplish, they may grow accustomed to looking in the same place for that information in all future contacts.
Monday, February 1, 2010
CEDO550 - Week One
So, I've really been intrigued this week with the discussion revolving around the debate as to whether or not online education is for everyone. It reminds me of the debate about using stem cells for research - the issue is so more complex than all or nothing and I fear that the asynchronous discussions about online education is fostering some slight misunderstandings as clarifications and explanations are minimal. I plan on taking this into consideration when asking students to participate in forums and discussions, noting that they cannot replace the need for synchronous opportunities to revisit some of those discussions.
As for the interchange regarding online education, I believe that any educator worth their salt is already incorporating online components into their classrooms. I really think that so many educators are using tools, lessons and interactives in the classroom, making us teachers that informally qualify as "blended" ed teachers. This isn't to say that the incorporation is utilized on a regular basis much less always as a best practice. I'll be the first to admit that I've used activities like this for my sub plans occasionally instead of worksheets. The activities are directly related to my curriculum, but I'm not sure that they're being utilized at their best potential.
This brings me to the point that I've found running through so many of my previous blog posts - there just doesn't seem to be enough time to complete and set up units of curriculum that are stellar - and that's what I think educators should strive for or we may be doing a disservice to our students. I mean - I'm still trying to get my "death by powerpoint" lectures and presentations cleaned up. I really think that if given a dedicated block of time every day (prep doesn't count!) where I was expected to do some of this work, I'd really be able to pull together all of these elements together so that I'd be able to teach in an online or distance learning venue in the near future.
As for the interchange regarding online education, I believe that any educator worth their salt is already incorporating online components into their classrooms. I really think that so many educators are using tools, lessons and interactives in the classroom, making us teachers that informally qualify as "blended" ed teachers. This isn't to say that the incorporation is utilized on a regular basis much less always as a best practice. I'll be the first to admit that I've used activities like this for my sub plans occasionally instead of worksheets. The activities are directly related to my curriculum, but I'm not sure that they're being utilized at their best potential.
This brings me to the point that I've found running through so many of my previous blog posts - there just doesn't seem to be enough time to complete and set up units of curriculum that are stellar - and that's what I think educators should strive for or we may be doing a disservice to our students. I mean - I'm still trying to get my "death by powerpoint" lectures and presentations cleaned up. I really think that if given a dedicated block of time every day (prep doesn't count!) where I was expected to do some of this work, I'd really be able to pull together all of these elements together so that I'd be able to teach in an online or distance learning venue in the near future.
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