Prezi

My Prezi on the course!

http://prezi.com/f3aicubbzgth/language-arts-and-technology-reflection/

Keystone Project

Lesson

The students used UDL Book Builder to show their understanding of elements in a story. Elements of a story and story structure were taught using the Smatboard. The online interactive (see link below) lesson was used to teach/review the elements of a story. The students then worked collaboratively in groups of two to write a story and present it using UDL Book Builder. The lesson was supposed to take place over four 40 minute periods, but it took five.

Story Elements Interactive

http://www.learner.org/interactives/story/

Grade level 4^th grade resources room

Student learning outcomes

·         The student will understand and be able to locate the elements of a story.

·         The student will create a digital book using UDL Book Builder.

·         The students will include all the elements of a story in their book.

Common Core Standards

Reading: Craft and Structure

·         Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words or phrases in a text relevant to a grade 4 topics or subject area.

·         Describe the overall structure (e.g., chronology, comparison, cause/effect, problem/solution) of events, ideas, concepts, or information in a text or part of a text.

Writing: Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.

·         Orient the reader by establishing a situation and introducing a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally.

·         Use dialogue and description to develop experiences and events or show the responses of characters to situations.

ISTE NETS Standards

1. Creativity and Innovation Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology.

a. Apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes

b. Create original works as a means of personal or group expression

c. Use models and simulations to explore complex systems and issues

Assessment/Rubric:

The following rubric was taken from Intel’s assessments and was modified to meet the lesson’s criteria.  This rubric was used to assess the UDL Book Builder projects.  Students were assessed individually even though they created books together. 

Title: Presentation Rubric

	1	2	3	4
The student used graphics, fonts, and backgrounds to add to the presentation.
The student used at least 2 coaches in their book.
At least one of the coaches a student’s voice.
The cover page has all of the group member’s names and includes the job title.
spelling, grammar, and accuracy
The student discussed all story elements (characters, plot, setting…)
The student clearly defined all story elements.

Adjustments made to accommodate students with special needs

The lesson was implemented in a colleague’s resource room.  The resource room only had four students.  All of the students had Individual Education Plans that were followed.  They all received resource room for having low reading comprehension and fluency.  All of the students received the accommodations as per their IEPs.  Some examples of these accommodations are extended time, use of a graphic organizer, directions read and repeated, and check for understanding.  These accommodations were made throughout the lesson for all the students. 

Effectiveness of Classroom Management

There was no need to make adjustments to prevent classroom management issues.  There were only four students.  My colleague and I were both helping during the creation of their projects.  This eliminated any issues and they were engaged and excited to use the technology. 

Questions Asked by the Students

Can I make the book read to me?

Why are the coaches talking funny?

How do I add the coaches?

What are the buttons on the side for? - referring to the buttons in the top left of the books

How do I add a picture?

How do I change my writing (text)?

How do I spell…?

Problems Students Encountered

The students needed all procedural steps on how to create the books clarified.  In order to help this process, I used a Voicethread lesson I had created for another lesson using UDL Book Builder.  This Voicethread worked great in this lesson because the students were able to visually see and learn how to create the books.  The added perk to this was that they were then able to see the use of Voicethread in this lesson.  I did not require these students to comment or participate in the Voicethread as I did when I used it in my own classroom because of the lack of time.  The need for clarification and the use of this Voicethread added an additional day to the implementation.  The lesson then took five days when it was meant to only take four.  See below for the link to the Voicethread.

 http://voicethread.com/share/3003401/

Decisions made on the Spot

The decision to bring in the Voicethread was made on the spot.  I did not plan to use it as it was created for a different project.  It suited this lesson as well and helped the students.  The only other decisions made on the spot were using the Smartboard randomly to show different aspects of UDL Book Builder that presented an issue for the students.  The teacher student ratio was ideal being 4 students and two teachers.  This definitely helped to eliminate many on the spot decisions.

Feedback from the Students

The students really enjoyed this lesson.  They were engaged and asked numerous times if I would come back again and teach them.  They were not very used to using a lot of technology and this really excited them. 

Timeframe

As I mentioned earlier, I did needed an extra day.  I would have loved to have an additional day but that was not feasible with state test prep going on.  I taught the lesson for one week on my lunch and wished I had more time to allow the students to explore more features of UDL Book Builder. 

Interview with ELA Teacher

I interviewed a resource room teacher. She teaches ELA in a small setting where instruction is very individualized. The maximum amount of students she has at one time is five. She does her best to incorporate technology in the classroom but felt there were many challenges she faced. There is a Smartboard in the room but it is not working properly. She has two computers in the room. She uses E Books which are provided by the school. She expressed that the problem with the E books is that only one person can be logged into the book at a time. The district uses AIMSweb which is a progress monitoring system that provides assessment tools which are given to the students in a frequent manner. The data is then graphed and used to show the students progress and where they stand in comparison to other students in the district. She also utilizes a variety of internet resources to provide practice of specific grammar or phonics skills. One of her students uses an AlphaSmart. An AlphaSmart is a small word processing device. This is often used for student who has difficultly writing. She felt one of her largest concerns surrounding technology in her classroom was that she lacked the resources to incorporate it in her instruction. In our discussion, she provided me with at least three examples of tools that she would love to use but has no means of doing so. Overall, I felt she has done a nice job of using the technology that she is provided with.

Reflection:

I really enjoyed teaching this lesson.  I felt the overall implementation went well.  The students were engaged and worked diligently throughout the entire lesson.  The students were working together in their groups and sharing a computer.  There are only two computers in the room and only four students.  So the use of the technology worked perfectly. When I approached my colleague to discuss the use of New Literacies and assessed her technology, she had a Smartboard in the room that was not working.  I was able to help her to find the correct cables and hook up the Smartboard.  She is now able to use it on her own and has used many of the websites I referred her to.  This alone felt good before I even began implementing this lesson.  Then we worked together with the student to create the books and that was a wonderful experience, as well.      

There aren’t many changes I would make to this lesson.  I do think I should have found a more simplistic way to build their understanding of UDL Book Builder.  When I look back at the lesson, I feel that the student needed more time playing and navigating through the site.  If this lesson was implemented in a larger class it would have needed to be done over 6 or 7 days and in a computer lab.  The interactive website on story elements was great and the students loved it.  I used it on the Smartboard and all four students were able to stand at the board and interact with the sites during the question sets.  Again, if this was done in a larger class the students would need to have use of their own computers or not every student would be interacting directly with the website.  Overall, I loved teaching this lesson and felt the cooperating teacher and the students were very happy with it. 

New Literacies Reflection

                Our education system has mainly focused on reading instruction that is rich in print for many years.  With the development of technology came a change in society.  This change has taken longer than expected to finally reach the classroom.  The change is bringing technology into the classroom.  This change has made many people uncomfortable and is still something many teachers are getting used to.  Technology has changed the classroom environment profoundly.  English language arts and reading instruction is not what it once was.

            I have taught in an environment where New Literacies have and have not been incorporated in instruction.  I have found that the integration of New Literacies makes a dramatic increase in student’s engagement and motivation.  My student’s hands fly for a chance to interact with technology in a lesson.  When we are reading from a traditional reading textbook, I find my students slumped in their chairs and myself trying to keep them on task and focused.

            New Literacies have brought about a way to reach our students in a manner they fully appreciate and learn.  Our students know technology better than most of us do.  They are being brought up in a world where technology is familiar and in many ways natural to them.  On the other hand, most educators were not raised in this type of environment.  I believe this is one of the main reasons we do not see New Literacy techniques integrated in every classroom.  Many teachers are unfamiliar with it and lack the comfort and knowledge in order to implement it.   

            New Literacies have dramatically changed ELA instruction for the better.  Reaching the generations we are teaching is dependent upon incorporating technology in the classrooms.  I believe that student are not only motivated and engaged in this learning style, but they are also learning skills that will better equip them for future careers. 

Glogster

Features of Glogster	Affordance
Text	Students have the ability to add any form of text.  They can create comic strips, complete writing assignment, and share ideas easily.
Video	The video clip feature allows teachers and students to add in clips that align with the content of the page.
Links	Linking sites is a great way to create a page that is interactive and provides resources that review or explain the content of the glogster.
Public and private	The ability to make it public and private allows students to have the option to share with others or to just allow the teacher to view it.
Collaboration	The public option can help to create a glogster where many students are adding and commenting on each other’s work.  Group projects can also be completed with this tool and all students can access it from both home and school.

My Glogster

http://www.glogster.com/amymoe/nouns/g-6lj9hs3b2unbc2hhiouk4a0

Affordance of Educational Technology Article Reflection

     The article Evaluating Pedagogical Affordances of Media Sharing Web 2.0 Technologies by Kevin Burden and Simon Atkinson gave a good explanation of the uses of Voice Thread and its affordability.  I am familiar with Voice Thread and believe it is a valuable tool for the classroom.  One of the best benefits of this tool is that is free.  Often many resources or tools require a significant amount of money and training in order to implement them in the classroom.  Voice Thread is not only affordable but also very user friendly.  The article discusses how the use of the tool was implemented to aide in learner’s ability to reflect, discuss, and review peers work.  I believe this is an essential component to using Voice Thread.  It allows students and/or colleagues to reflect, respond, and discuss the content of the Voice Thread.  This opens a door for active collaboration and learning to occur.  An additional positive aspect to this is that you are using technology in the process.  This allows many NETS standards to be addressed in the process of learning the content. 
     The article also addresses how versatile Voice Thread is.  It can be used with many different forms of media.  For example, the article states, “The media under discussion can be almost anything ranging from still images, video clips, presentations, audio files, documents or any combination of these.”  This aspect of the tool allows for many different ways of using it inside or outside of the classroom.  A Voice Thread can be created by a teacher on any topic in any content area using many types of media.  Additionally, students can create them and comment on their peers or teachers work.  A good example of this is that, Voice Threads can be used to re-teach a concept that was taught in class that day.  It can be posted on the teacher’s websites and students can comment or ask questions while at home.  Overall, the fact that Voice Thread is so versatile and can be used with many forms of media allows a large range of learning opportunities to occur while it is utilized.  
     The article discusses how the tool and other tools cannot be used on their own to meet Dial-e’s matrix.  The tool needs to be used with good planning, creativity, and imagination.  I liked how the article discussed this.  I feel that all materials or tools that are going to be used in the classroom require these essential components.  It is an affordable tool but in order to use it to its full capability it requires thought and time.  All lessons should be created and designed that way.  This tool is very valuable and affordable.  It is definitely worth getting comfortable using and having your students use. 

My Voice Thread

https://voicethread.com/share/2762773/

Please check out my Voice thread to add comments.  Enjoy!

Keystone Project Draft

Summary

The students will be using Book Builder to show their understanding of elements in a story.  Elements of a story and story structure will be taught using the Smatboard.  The online interactive (see link below) lesson will be used to teach/review the elements of a story.  The students will then work collaboratively in groups to write a story and present it using Book Builder.  The lesson will take place over three 40 minute periods.  It will be for a fourth grade level resource room.

http://www.learner.org/interactives/story/

Student learning outcome

• The student will understand and be able to locate the elements of a story.
• The student will create a digital book using UDL Book Builder.
• The students will include all the elements of a story in their book.

Common Core Standards

Reading:  Craft and Structure

• Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words or phrases in a text relevant to a grade 4 topic or subject area.
• Describe the overall structure (e.g., chronology, comparison, cause/effect, problem/solution) of events, ideas, concepts, or information in a text or part of a text.

Writing:  Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.

• Orient the reader by establishing a situation and introducing a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally.
• Use dialogue and description to develop experiences and events or show the responses of characters to situations.

ISTE NETS Standards

1. Creativity and Innovation Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology.

a. Apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes

b. Create original works as a means of personal or group expression

c. Use models and simulations to explore complex systems and issues

Assessment
Three rubrics will be used.  One will assess the students writing skills.  The second will assess their ability to work collaboratively and a third will be used to assess their Book. 

Week 9 Article Review

The article The Impact of Using Blogs on College Students' Reading Comprehension and Learning Motivation was very informative.  The statistics in relation to using media while reading were astounding.  The article stated that 58% of middle and high school students use other media while reading.  This would explain the short attention spans of many of our students.   I have a difficult time reading at all when there is an excessive amount of background noise.  I can’t imagine multitasking by using media while reading.  I can see how much this affects out students reading levels.  I believe this sort of behavior is happening in lower grades, as well. It spoke of how multimodal texts may help change students reading levels.   I agree with this greatly.  I often use online texts that are animated.  My students love these.  They are engaged and motivated to learn more so than using regular text.  The generation we are teaching is exposed to technology in a variety of ways in their everyday lives.  It only makes sense to present technology in their learning environment, as well. 

The article went on to describe New Literacies.  It discussed how New Literacties are literacy skills that have an interactive multimedia approach.  We have been working in this class to integrate New Literacy practices in our classroom rooms.   The article reflected upon a case study that researched the affects of blogging on college reading levels.  The findings were interesting.  There was no significant correlation between blogging and reading scores increasing.  I found this interesting, because I feel blogging does increase writing abilities.  The writing ability increase would then lead to an increase in reading ability.  I feel that blogging is a much nicer way of publishing our work then posting it in a discussion forum.  The overall appearance of the blog is more pleasing. The communication is a little more personalized, as well.  In a discussion forum all you are is a name attached to a post.  At least with the blog, you can set up a profile and use a picture. I agree with the article in that blogs also offer a nice way to personally reflect on your ideas and thoughts.  They also provide a great means of collecting resources and projects to create a portfolio.  The article gave a nice insight into how blogs can be used as a form of New Literacy instruction.