Sunday, April 2, 2017

Second Lesson Incorporating Technology

I have written another lesson incorporating technology. For this lesson students learn about homonyms and homophones and using a laptop create a glog on a website called Glogster. I learned about Glogster earlier in the semester when a peer presented on it and how it can be utilized in the classroom. Feel free to click on the link to open the lesson plan!


For this lesson it was asked what I would do to accommodate students with a cognitive delay. To help students master fine motor skills to later be able to effectively use laptops, I created this worksheet where they'd color, cut and paste the pictures where they belong, either with homonym or homophone and glue them onto a construction paper. This way these students get the same concept of the lesson and are able to express their creativity at a level that is appropriate to them. Maybe once this step has been mastered, with the help of the teacher or a peer, these students can in a later lesson recreate their posterboard as a glog also! Here is the link to that worksheet!


Here are some reflection questions to give a more in depth look at the lesson.

·         Lesson Plan: I. Rationale & II. Overview Reflections: Assessing Prior Knowledge and Planning Instructions:
o   What do the students need to know prior to the lesson?
Prior to the lesson students need to have prior experience in working with Glogster and how to create new glogs and share them to the class portal. For the purpose of this specific lesson, students will also need to have previous exposure to homonyms and homophones. This is a review lesson to make sure students have mastered homonyms and homophones via a glog on Glogster.

o   How will prior knowledge and experience be assessed?
The prior knowledge and experience will be assessed by the teacher having already worked with her class in using Glogster for other assignments. The teacher would also gauge the students knowledge on homonyms and homophones in previous lesson done introducing homophones and homonyms.

o   How will you use this information in the planning process?
This information will be taken into account when planning the lesson to decide how in depth the instructions on using Glogster will be gone over and also in how much detail the lesson on homonyms and homophones will be focused on before letting students work independently.

o   Why should the content of this lesson be taught at this grade level?
The content of this lesson should be taught at this grade level because it meets the ELA grade level standards for fourth grade. Also, by fourth grade students should have enough experience with technology that they would be able to navigate a laptop to work on an assignment online.

o   How do the objectives that you have for the lesson align with the standards?
If the students meet the objective for the lesson and are able to define and give examples of homonyms and homophones, they will meet the standard to correctly use frequently confused words.

o   When will the lesson be taught in the course of the school year? Why?
In the course of the school year, this lesson would be taught toward the middle of the year after the students have been introduced to Glogster and are able to utilize it and navigate through it with minimal support.
·         Lesson Plan: III. Implementation Reflection: Designing Instructions:
o   Why are you using the instructional methods you have described?
Since the students are all already familiar with Glogster and with homonyms and homophones, I chose to have this as more of a review lesson to help reinforce something we’ve already learned and also give the students a chance to practice using Glogster and getting time on the laptops. This lesson doesn’t have much lecturing and that’s intentional.

o   How do the instructional methods align with what you know about best practices (think about your methods classes)?
The instructional methods used during this lesson align with what I know about best practices, because I review the content with the students and offer an opportunity for questions or clarification and give them time to work independently. Using prior assessments, I know how much review students need and whether or not they are able to work independently and I take that knowledge into consideration when putting together the lesson.
o   How are you engaging students in creative and higher order thinking?
Students are being engaged in creative and higher order thinking by creating their own Glogster and decorating it. Glogster has several options for everything that is done, a background, a layout, how to put text on the poster, what type of font to use, etc. In creating one Glog, students have to tap into their creativity to decide how to approach the assignment. Students are also engaged in higher order thinking by coming up with their own homonyms and homophones and finding pictures for each of them, taking the lesson beyond just a lecture.

·         Lesson Plan: IV. Assessment Reflection: Planning Assessment:
o   How does the assessment align with the standards and objectives of this lesson?
The assessment aligns with the standards and objectives of the lesson because by completing the assessment students are demonstrating an understanding of the lesson. If students understand the lesson they are meeting the standards and objectives.

o   How does the assessment demonstrate that the students have been successful in learning the content?
The content of the lesson is the students understanding the difference between homonyms and homophones and the assessment is students defining each term and coming up with three examples for each. If students are successful in completing the assessment, the students have been successful in learning the content.

o   How does the assessment demonstrate student engagement in higher order thinking?
The assessment demonstrates student engagement in higher order thinking because it requires students to use a different platform to complete the assignment other than pencil and paper. The students are also asked to do more than just define terms in order to demonstrate understanding. They are required to come up with multiple examples.

o   How does the assessment demonstrate that the individual student needs were met?
The assessment demonstrates that the individual students needs were met because the students’ needs were met throughout the lesson and the assessment is the final product of the lesson. Students with cognitive delays were taken into consideration, as were ELL students and gifted students with variations of the lesson and extension activities as well.

·         Lesson Plan: V. Materials & Resources Reflection:
o   How does your lesson meet each of the ISTE NET’s Standards?
Each of the standards are met throughout the lesson because the students are utilizing technology to create glogs demonstrating their understanding of the content. Anytime technology is utilized in the classroom the ISTE NET’s standards are being brought into the classroom to ensure that the students are appropriately using technology.
o   How does your lesson meet Standard 1: Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity?
The lesson meets Standard 1 because students are encouraged to create their own glogs and tap into their creativity to make it their own. The color scheme can be changed and the style of the text and the way the text is put onto the glog has several options. It lets student get the work done, but add their own style to it. With students being technology driven, any chance they get to use the computers is a good lesson that inspires learning.
o   How does your lesson meet Standard 2: Provide Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessment?
This lesson meets Standard 2 because it involves the use of technology and students getting hands on experiences with technology. The assessment itself cannot be completed without the use of technology. The students would all need to turn in a completed glog into the class portal as their assessment.
o   How does your lesson meet Standard 3: Model Digital Age Work & Learning?
Standard 3 is met in this lesson with students submitting a digital assignment as opposed to a paper and pencil assignment, helping students to become members of the digital age they currently live in. By practicing skills they’ve already learned, students are learning to tap into their prior knowledge and utilize those skills in current situations. 




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