After reading chapters four and nine in the text, I decided on three topics that I really enjoyed reading about and would like to share. Including Enhancing a lesson plan with technology, Student Performance Assessments, and Streaming Video Sources for Teachers.
Designing and developing a lesson plan can be a hard task, after our last project in class I gained a new respect for teachers and all the planning they have to do in order to have a successful day. There are three things that go into making a lesson plan, and that includes:
- Academic Content (What to teach)
- Teaching goals, methods, and procedures (How to teach)
- Learning Assessments (How to know what students have learned)
The book provided a diagram that I liked, so I have recreated it online:
The academic content portion is basically about what goes into the lesson plan such as, facts, concepts, ideas, skills, and certain understandings the children should have. I like how the book explained how the lesson plan needs to be connected to the local curriculum, it also talks about the importance of digital content and technology in the lesson plan. The text provided a list of things for teaching goals, methods, and procedures. A few of my favorite were Presentation software, Web-based diagrams, Threaded discussions, and Interactive software. My favorite has to be the threaded discussions, we do this in our classes here at FSW and I really like the way it allows you to communicate on topics with your teacher and peers. It allows further explanation of what you’re teaching and what the students are learning. Lastly, in a lesson plan there has to be some sort of assessment and the best one the book gives is using Digital Portfolios. I like the idea of the students being assessed on their actual work rather than a test on the background knowledge and what not. I think it’s also better because it helps the students who are not very successful test takers.
Students Performance Assessments are assessments that measure what someone actually does in a certain activity, assessing performance within the context of that activity (Maloy, Verock-O'Loughlin, Edwards, & Woolf, 2013). Personally, I like these assessments more than the standard assessments, it helps with students who are not successful test takers, and students who can’t concentrate on these types of tests. Performance assessments can include educational activities, evaluations on portfolios or blogs. These types of assessments are evaluating the student’s performance rather than the book knowledge.
I have included a video of a student who explains her take on performance based assessments and how they better prepare students for college:
Lastly, the book included a small article of Streaming Video Sources for Teachers. I believe these are extremely important because they are an easy way to integrate technology into the classroom, and I believe they better engage students and keep them interested for longer. Students respond positively to visual learning and these sites provided allow the teacher to find a video on basically anything that is being taught. I strongly stand by using videos in the classroom, simply because I remember being in school and being so bored just listening to some teachers talk on and on. Having videos or visual representations allow the students to learn different things from different people, they engage them in their learning, and a lot of the time the videos make learning fun.
Some of the sites the book recommended include:
- PBS Learning Media
- YouTube for Schools
- YouTube Creative Commons Search
- TeacherTube
- The Futures Channel
- SnagLearning
- Common Craft
I have included a video that includes tips for using video to improve teaching:
Resources:
Maloy, R. W., Verock-O'Loughlin, R.-E., Edwards, S. A., & Woolf, B. P. (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
Standford Scope. (2015, February 1). A Student's View: Meaningful Learning through Performance Assessment. Retrieved 2016, April 3, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHzjlYVdojM.
Teaching Channel. (2013 March). Using Video to Improve Practice: Video 101. Retrieved 2016, April 3, from https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/videotaping-tips-for-teachers#video-sidebar_tab_video-guide-tab
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