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Entries Tagged as 'Coetail course 1'

Course 1 Final Project Reflection

October 17, 2011 · 2 Comments · Coetail course 1, Learning, Standards, Unit plan

Write a unit plan using UbD that integrates technology. This sounded like a project that was going to be very practical, especially since we are “integrating technology” into 3 of our units this year. Using UbD didn’t seem unreasonable since we have spent the last 2+ years working on understanding Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe’s book Understanding by Design. When I looked at the template we were given I was a bit taken back. I had read the book and been in discussions about it and remembered the terminology, to some extent, but we use rubicon atlas for mapping. I was much relieved to find out I could use the rubicon atlas form.

This Wednesday we are having our professional learning community(PLC) meeting. As head teacher of the elementary school, it is my job to run the PLC meeting. I do this in consultation with our elementary principal. We have had 2 other meetings when teachers could work on developing units and talk to our tech facilitator. But we decided we needed teachers to commit to 3 units and when those units will be taught to help our facilitator. Grace, our facilitator, wanted to help find a way to keep track and organize our unit plans and she created this blog. She created a page for each grade level and asked we put our unit plans there. As the leader of the PLC, and taking this course, I decided I really needed to try to get all 3 of my units inputted into the blog. It took several tries, but they are here.

What did I learn as I worked on these and on the one for this course in particular? Like I wrote last week, having learning targets is really helpful/necessary. At present, we have grade level learning targets for math, language arts and bible. I was able to use the technology strands our secondary has adopted and attempt to write grade level learning target. How will this all turn out? I’m not sure. The unit I’ve submitted will be taught in January. Presently I am working on teaching the students about blogging and reflecting on their learning for others to read. We are also working on collaboratively writing stories that will be published digitally.  Do I know exactly how or what that will look like – NO. Do I think it is a worthwhile learning experience – Most  definitely. Just this evening I was reading a post by Madeleine about being a risk-taker. I hope that our present unit as I stumble and fumble will help the students to see that it is okay to make mistakes, because even in making mistakes we learn and are able to share.

One of my next challenges as I look at our present unit and I look to the future with my students creating more is how do I grade it? What will the rubric look like that will help the students know what I am expecting? Since this is the first time I’m doing this, what do I expect the students to be able to do on their own and what will take more guidance? As we work towards a “final project” that we can share, what skills do the students need to be able to do?

I know I don’t have answers to many of my questions, but I am really excited that I can learn with my students and with my colleagues.

Unit Plan – Jesus’ Miracles

Learning Targets

​Technology standards:

  • ​Students apply technology to collaborate and communicate.

  • Students apply problem-solving strategies to organize content and complete projects.

Bible, Grades K-2, Bible
1. Students know key Biblical passages, characters, and events.

  • 1.1 Retell and respond to Bible stories

  • 1.3 Recite identified Bible passages

2. Students know how the history of God’s people fits into the flow of world history.

  • 2.4 Dramatize biblical characters and events (new)

5. Students know how the Bible is organized, the types of literature the Bible includes and how to read the Bible.

  • 5.4 Dramatize Bible stories with appropriate oral expression

13. Is a discerning thinker (DT)

  • 13.K12.1. Organize and use information to support conclusions (DT3)

  • 13.K12.2. Make creative products and presentations (DT4)

15. Is an effective communicator (EC)

  • 15.K12.1. Communicate their biblical thinking (EC1)

English 2010, Grade 2, Writing
4. Students will write with a command of informal and formal English.

  • 4.02.01. I can read my own writing and find mistakes in capitalization, grammar, punctuation and spelling.

5. Students will write with clarity, logic, validity, and effectiveness on a wide range of topics and for a variety of purposes and audiences.

  • 5.02.01. I write short fiction, nonfiction and poetry.

  • 5.02.02. I write with a main idea.

  • 5.02.03. I can write complete sentences.

  • 5.02.04. I use C-U-P-S

  • -regular/irregular verbs

  • -pronouns/personal pronouns

  • -subject-verb agreement

Enduring Understandings

Bible content:

  • Jesus’ miracles showed his authority from God.
  • Jesus’ miracles showed his power over nature.
  • Jesus’ miracles showed his love for people.

Skills:

  • There are appropriate ways to dramatize a story.
  • There are various ways to retell the stories of Jesus’ miracles
Essential Questions
  • What do we learn about Jesus from his miracles?
  • How can I report what I know about an event?
Content
  • Bible memory – Matthew 4:23
  • Miracle at Cana – John 2:1-11
    • Jesus’ first miracle
  • A Soldier’s Faith – Matthew 7:28-8:1;8:5-16
    • Jesus’ love included the Gentiles
    • Jesus had the power to heal the centurion’s servant without seeing him
  • Calming the Storm – Matthew 8:23-27
    • Jesus has power over the forces of nature
  • Healing the Demoniacs - Matthew 8:28-34
    • Jesus had compassion on the men
    • He cares for both spiritual and physical needs
    • He has power over demons/devil
  • Healing the Paralytic – Matthew 9:1-8; Mark 2:1-12
    • Jesus showed he was Lord by healing those who were sick
  • Wake Up! – Matthew 9:18-26; Mark 5:21-43
    • Jesus has power over death and illness
  • Cure at Bethsaida - Mark 8:22-26
    • Jesus cared for a blind man, tending to his needs
  • Blind Bartimaeus - Mark 10:46-52
    • Bartimaeus recognized Jesus as God’s Son
  • Withered Hand – Luke 6:6-11
    • Jesus healed people because of their faith
  • Widow’s Son – Luke 7:11-17
    • Jesus raised a widow’s son from the dead
    • People were amazed and recognized Jesus as a great prophet
  • Raising of Lazarus – John 11:1-44
    • Jesus can do more than we could dream or imagine
  • Vocabulary: synagogues, authority
Skills
  • Summarize the bible stories, beginning, middle and end
  • Illustrate bible stories
  • Use a graphic organizer to plan writing
  • Analyze what the miracle teaches about Jesus(authority, power, love)
  • Memorize Bible passages
  • Dramatize stories using appropriate acting skills
    • voice
    • gestures
    • following directions
Assessments
Bible memory
Teacher: competency tests
Copy, illustrate and recite the bible memory verse.
News report
Teacher: projects
Students will interview/report on Jesus’ miracles using multi-media including news type articles and video interviews/news reports for the class blog.
Resources
  • Blue binder Unit 8 on the shelf by the door
  • Student Bibles
  • Classroom bible costumes in plastic bins
  • Videos – The Miracles of Jesus from the media library, The Miracles of Jesus Family Entertainment Network (in classroom) – Show one at the beginning of the unit
  • Flash a Card – in the classroom
  • Kidspiration - planning a news article
This is already a rather long post, but I wanted to share some photos that my students took with their 5th grade buddies who emailed the  photos to me. Hope they make you smile as they did me.

photo by Samuel and Nicolas

by Jasmine and Tina

Photo by Zach, Ty and Michael

The final photo says it all – I’m in for the ride of my life!

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Learning Targets Who Needs Them?

October 11, 2011 · 7 Comments · Coetail course 1, Digital Citizenship, ISTE, Learning, Standards

I DO!

ISTE, NETS what are they all about? A few weeks ago I had never heard of ISTE or NETS. Standards, learning targets that’s all we’ve talked about the past few years at our school. We’ve spent a lot of time looking at various standards and then choosing to write our own most of the time. As department chairperson for the elementary division I have worked with our department on writing language arts and math grade level learning targets. We even wrote some learning targets for our Student Objectives that are listed on the elementary report card. Recently we revised our grade level bible learning targets. We still need to work on our grade level science and social studies learning targets. The technology learning targets were to be written by the technology department and taught by them too, right!?! Music, Art and Physical Education all worked that way.

Elementary students in the computer lab.

Until this year our elementary students went to “computer class” once a week. Standards and learning targets for technology were someone else’s job. Last year the elementary principal talked to us about integrating technology into our classes. We were excited, I think, but really had no idea what we were getting into. In late spring, a good friend of mine, Vivian, mentioned the Coetail course to me. The elementary librarian at our school, Ruth had already been talking about attending. We were to get a “new” elementary technology facilitator, Grace so the two of us signed up too.

I’ve tried to use technology in my classroom in the past, but I must admit that it has been mostly as a consumer. Students could “listen to reading” with Bookflix, Storyline Online, Raz-kids, practice math with IXL and World Math Day. Last year the students got very excited when they were able to use an iPad for “listening to reading” and practicing kanji in Japanese class. None of these programs are bad, but I’ve realized there is so much more to technology in the classroom.

Practicing kanji in Japanese class.

So, here we are 6 weeks into the Coetail course and about 6 weeks into the school year. Our goal in the elementary department at my school is to integrate technology into 3 units this year. What does that look like? What can/should we expect students be able to do? What are authentic assessments using technology?  With no learning targets those are difficult questions. Our middle school has some technology standards and learning targets. They took NETS standards and rewrote them for our school. I like the standards they have written and they pretty closely follow NETS.

  1. Students create original digital products.
  2. Students apply technology to collaborate and communicate.
  3. Students research efficiently and effectively using reliable online resources.
  4. Students apply problem-solving strategies to organize content and complete projects.
  5. Students address current ethical and societal issues in the use of technology by applying a Christian world-view.
  6. Students demonstrate fundamental skills related to operational systems, input methods and software applications.

I understand these, but what do they mean in 2nd grade? How do I help the other classroom teachers decide what they mean in their classroom? When I looked at grade level learning targets for the middle school I didn’t see targets that students would necessarily carryover to other subjects. I saw a final project for a 9 week course. That’s not what I think NETS is about.

Reading a lot of different pages and articles on the ISTE website has been a great help. NETS for Students 2007 has been informative, but even more so is the Students 2007 Profiles. I’ve come up with some learning targets for 2nd grade, but continue to refine and tweak them. I’ve shared them with our elementary technology facilitator and our principal I guess my next step will be to share them with the technology co-ordinator and other elementary teachers. Will they work? I’m not sure, but I think so. I’ve found it especially helpful to have some type of learning target as I work on my final project for the Coetail course. I’ve also found it easier to find units that I want to integrate technology with as I have  learning targets that I can think about. I can think of authentic assessments that will show students have understood the content and can use technology to show that understanding.

Should the NETS for Teachers be part of a teacher’s evaluation. Yes, but first of all teachers need training and then continued coaching in this area. Technology, Coaching and Community has very practical advice.

  1. Context
  2. Relevance
  3. Ongoing
I know that as I am learning new skills and have opportunity to try them with colleagues I feel more confident in using technology with my students. Does it always work out? No, but then there are non-technology lessons that also don’t work out. Can we learn together? Of course.
One example of learning a new skill that I’ve been able to begin teaching my class about is blogging. We have a class blog. I’ve done most of the posting, but had the students each write about a photo and then I typed the text and posted the photos. I’ve assigned commenting as homework a few times and have had about half of the students and or parents respond. This is a new platform for parents, students and teachers at our school as an educational tool. As we all become more familiar with it I am looking forward to how we will all grow in our learning.
Photos taken by me at CAJ in the 2010-2011 school year.

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Where am I on Bloom’s Taxonomy?

October 3, 2011 · 4 Comments · Bloom's Taxonomy, Coetail course 1, Learning, Tech tools

Somewhere at the beginning of the Coetail course we read an article about Bloom’s new taxonomy. At the time I wasn’t sure I would every be able to get above the Lower Order Thinking Skills (LOTS). I was really hoping that I could just Remember and possibly Understand a few of the terms and ideas. This article was in our reading again this week. This time I was able to make more connections and look at my own learning.

Remembering: I have learned and begun using Diigo. I started by creating a group for my Professional Learning Community (PLC) at my school. I will also be sharing with the staff members who are advisors/shepherds for our seniors. Personally I have also been able to bookmark articles through Diigo so I can go back and reread or look at them again. I was also grateful to learn how to organize my own bookmarked pages into folders (from the speed geeking session on September 27, I think it was during Mitch’s session).

Moving up the ladder to Understanding: obviously I have learned something about blogging. Put I am pleased that this is not the only blog I am working on. After a few false starts, I have a classroom blog. I have done the posting, but last week I had the students each choose a photo and write a sentence or two about what learning was going on in the photo. Tomorrow we will be looking at what I typed (word for word) that the students wrote. The students did a great job in writing in the 3rd person and even when the photo was of themselves they were able to say he, she, the boy or the girl. We need to learn more about editing and making corrections in spelling, capitalization and punctuation, but it was a first attempt. Another blogging experience that we are participating in as a class is Teddy Bears Around the World.

This past weekend I wanted to post something on the Teddy bear blog about Sports Day since the local elementary school was having their “undo kai” or sports day. As I picked up “Brisky Bear” our class mascot, I was wondering how strange and stalker like it might look if I went to the elementary school and started taking random photos. I didn’t take too many photos and tried not to look stalker like!

Elementary Sports Day

Brisky Bear by the welcome sign to the Sports Day at the 2nd Elementary school in Higashi kurume shi

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the Understanding category I have also worked on subscribing. I started with a google reader for the blogs I was reading, but that wasn’t working out very well as far as feeling user friendly. Then when I looked at the Participants blogs I felt that netvibes was much easier to navigate. Although I haven’t figured out all the widgets I am finding it much more user friendly to keep track of the blogs I’m reading at netvibes.

Applying: In the last week I haven’t done any editing but I was reminded this past week of editing I did last year in iMovie. Last week my students performed a Water Cycle Poem. The performances were only 30 seconds so there really was no need for editing. After several unsuccessful attempts to upload them to the class blog, I was able to upload them to You Tube on my private channel and then share the link on my blog. My first attempts produced the photo on the blog, but when the photo was clicked, it disappeared! I asked our technology coordinator for some help and 45 minutes later the same thing was still happening. I went home and tried the You tube. Last spring I did do some editing on collaborative presentations the students had done and was able to shorten a 15+ minute retelling to about 9 minutes. I know this wasn’t great editing and more could have been edited out, but I at least learned something about the editing process.

Analysing: Being able to add links and be comfortable with adding links has been a big plus in the last week. Our school is going through the re-accreditation process. I am one of the Focus group leaders. In each group we are using google docs to collaboratively write our report. This Wednesday and next Wednesday we will work on editing and adding hot links to our reports. Learning to tag blogs and what are useful tags has also come in handy with the blogging that I have been doing lately.

Evaluating: As I blog more I am feeling more confident in commenting on other blogs. It has been very encouraging to receive feedback from the authors of blogs, particularly from blogs I have started following of people I don’t know. Being in this Coetail course has been a great way to collaborate and network. This week I plan on my students looking at our class blog as well as the Teddy Bear blog to discuss what are good comments, why should we comment. Hopefully, as we begin this process they will recognize the value of thoughtful comments and the greater value of a thoughtful post that will encourage people to comment on it.

Creating: I haven’t reached this level yet, but I am looking forward to growing with the members in this course and with my students to reach a level where we will be directing and producing a performance of high quality and doing publishing not just on blogs but other types of publishing on the web.

 

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Learning and Legacy

September 26, 2011 · 3 Comments · Coetail course 1, Learning, Legacy

This past weekend I got to talk with my daughter who has been in Papua New Guinea for the last 6 weeks. She excitedly told me how the team she was working with had been helping to input into a computer the translation of part of the New Testament for a tribal group. She spoke of the “legacy” they were leaving as they did this work. Also this past weekend I read this blog that talked about a “legacy of learning.”

I graduated from college 21 years ago. I spent a few years teaching in the states, but really wasn’t sure that was what I wanted to do. I came to Japan for a summer mission trip where I taught English at a church. I came back the following year to teach English full-time at that same church. I did that for 2 years, met my husband and then got married. My husband has 2 daughters who came to live with us in our first year of marriage, we added 3 more children in the next 5 years. I did some English teaching in my home, but didn’t see myself going back into the classroom. I was a full-time mom and loved it. Around 1998, I became fed up with the Japanese school system and wanted to enroll our 3 younger children in an international school. When our youngest,(who graduated last year) began school I applied for a teaching position to help pay the cost of 3 kids in international schooling. I never thought about how much learning/studying I would have to do.

This is my 13th year at the school. When I began I had been out of college for several years and had not continued my learning in the education field. I had no idea of all the changes that had or would take place in the field of education. Since beginning my present teaching position I have attended various workshops and seminars. I remember several years ago when I took off from school to attend a workshop one of the students commented on “You’re going to school!?” And seemed genuinely impressed that the teacher was still learning. My principal commented about how important it was for the students to see each of us as life-long-learners. I know in the field of technology I have only begun to see the tip of the iceberg.

It has been exciting though as I share and others who are attending the cohort share at our PLC. Last week we had 4 articles we were going to read and my principal had suggested writing on chart paper, what we found interesting, disturbing, etc. As I was heading to the meeting, Wednesday morning, I realized that we could do a google doc and have the document for everyone to share. As everyone chose an article to read I created the document. Not having thought things through, I had a document, but not a format, one of the members of the group added a table and we were off. I’m sure it would have been a much better final product if I/we had collaborated beforehand, but it gave a great way to save our thoughts and to be able to go back to them and no one had to type up the minutes of our sharing later. It also showed the others in the group how easy it is to work with a google doc.

I am still in the process of working out what this looks like in my classroom. This past summer, a projector was installed in my classroom which I am trying to use on a regular basis although it is still more for instruction than for students sharing. I know there are many wonderful ideas out there and there are many ways that the tools I’m learning about and learning how to use can enhance my curriculum.

With my students, my colleagues and my own children I want to leave a “legacy of learning.” I was really excited when I sent my PLC an invitation to Diigo and before the morning meeting 2 of my colleagues had signed up. At the meeting everyone got signed up so we can share articles. The next day, the kindergarten teacher set up her own You Tube channel with songs they are learning in kindergarten. Later last week another colleague shared her favorite blog site, which is one I’ve been reading, but it was exciting for her to share.

I am looking forward to learning more from each of the members of the Coetail cohort, my colleagues at school and even my students. I think one thing that really pleases me is that I am trying things on the computer that until a month ago, I would have asked my son or daughter to help me with. Since my youngest graduated and went off to college, I don’t have a digital native in my house I can call on.

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Am I a Geek?

September 18, 2011 · 2 Comments · Coetail course 1, Connected educator, Tech tools

Last week I admitted to my fear of “messing around”. I’m not sure I will ever be confident in calling myself a tech geek or “Geeking Out“, but this past weekend has given me insight and confidence. Attending The Networked Educator with Chris and Kim gave me new tools for my tool box. Understanding what Diigo is and how beneficial it can be to me and to my colleagues was one of the things I learned. Creating a group on Diigo for the PLC(Professional Learning Community) that I lead and want to get reading about technology will allow me share articles that I have found interesting. It will also help be organize my bookmarks.

I have several articles I need to go and read after hearing bits and pieces about them from others at the workshop. I know that there are some more good ideas out there and I want to find them.Where Good Ideas Come From by Steven Johnson.

I’m still working on my RSS feed, but I can now understand how it will help me be connected to others who will push my thinking and give me ideas for using my new tools. Twitter is a tool that I’m not very comfortable with, but I can see the uses and benefits, if I could figure out the lingo!! I’ll spend some time here in the next few weeks and try to get a handle on tweeting!

Google apps with mapping and searching and so much more! I want to use the mapping with students on where they were born and where they travel during the year. Other google apps will also help to streamline and organize my computer as I work with them.

This has been a full weekend but I am realizing it is just the tip of the ice berg. I spent some time in creating a blog for my class, in the side bar is the feed. I’m sure it will take on some new and different looks in the next few weeks as we work on it together in the classroom.

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Why I Fear Messing Around

September 8, 2011 · 6 Comments · Coetail course 1

I had an “ah-ha” moment this evening as read this article on Messing Around. About 20 years ago we had some type of Mac computer. It was my husband’s and the operating system was Japanese. He had written an article and needed it typed into the computer. Now that was going to be a challenge since the article was in Japanese and I basically don’t read Japanese. I might also mention that my husband is a pathologist, so it had something to do with cancer research. My in-laws were visiting at the time and my mother-in-law was willing to help, unfortunately she knew nothing about computers or typing in romaji for hiragana and kanji to appear. Don’t ask me why my mother-in-law and I decided that we would “help” my husband and type in the article.I might also mention that I had 2 teenagers, 2 pre-schoolers and a one-year-old at the time. Needless to say, I don’t think I was thinking straight. Anyway, my mother-in-law read each kanji, I would try to understand the syllables she said and type in the romaji, wait for the kanji to appear and then she would help me decide which one to click on. It was rather painstaking. We eventually finished. Now, I was trying to save energy and thought I should shut down the computer. I had no idea how to save the document or really what I was doing with the computer. I did manage to get the computer turned off, but didn’t know what we had “saved” the document as or even if we had saved the document. When my husband came home, he was unable to find the document, although I do believe a few years later it did make an appearance, although too late. He had to retype the entire thing. I thought I would never touch a computer again. Seven  years later I began teaching and was introduced to more Apple/Mac computers, but with an English operating system. Although I use computers on a regular basis and even have helped other teachers in our elementary division to use them in the classroom I think I have some fears of spending a lot of time and then losing everything I’ve done. I’m realizing that most times what I lose in not irreplaceable and the more I “mess around” the more fun and interesting things I find to do. I know that computers need not be feared and can be fun.

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Technology is here to stay and change us

August 30, 2011 · 4 Comments · Coetail course 1

Is technology a tool or an end? Is the web a mass of information that no one could possibly understand let alone master or is it a provider of connections to help understand the world? There is so much I have to learn about using technology that at this point in my learning it seems more of an end, than a tool to help me help students learn. I think back a few years ago to the professional development my school provided with Chris Toy. One of the ideas he shared that has been running through my head this week was about  innovation. He had us think about the first teaching/learning that began with writing with a stick in the dirt. This moved onto writing on a scroll and slate. Eventually paper was developed and writing was portable and easy. In the classroom the teachers first had a chalkboard. Then it was a whiteboard. Lessons could be written in different colors. Overhead projectors allowed the teacher to keep the lessons from one year to the next, but most lessons were still the same and the technology really did not provide help for the struggling students or change the method of instruction. As computers became more popular the lessons were saved on the computer and could be shown year after year. Although the technology had changed the teaching, “the sage on the stage” had not.(That is a very brief explanation of what Chris shared) Where am I and where do I want to be in the use of technology?

Christensen and Horn discuss in Disrupting Class: Student-Centric Education Is the Future http://www.edutopia.org/student-centric-education-technology?page=2 one of the biggest challenges to using technology effectively is that technology is not being used to transform education, but educators are trying to fit new technology into existing strategies of teaching. The idea of disruptive innovation is interesting. It really is necessary for us as educators to think about the students who are struggling or not being reached with traditional methods and how we might become “the guide on the side” to those students using technology to find their interests and take control of their learning. As we step out of our comfort zone, at least for me it is stepping out, to help even one student our confidence will hopefully increase to where we can provide opportunities for all of the students.

One of the things that excites me as I begin this journey into increasing my understanding and use of technology is the collaboration that is available. World Without Walls: Learning Well with Others  http://www.edutopia.org/collaboration-age-technology-will-richardson gives a variety of examples of how collaboration can and is happening via the web.  Each blog or article I read gives me new ideas. It would be impossible to implement all of them, but if each week there is something new I have tried and then shared with students, colleagues or parents, I know that it will be worth the challenges.

Another challenge of thinking out of the box and using technology can be the parents. Particularly when working with lower elementary students and sometimes even older students, parents don’t want their child “on the computer” for “so long.” Parents need to be educated to the value of new technology and be given the training to feel comfortable with what their child is doing. We often fear what we don’t understand or haven’t done before. Most parents are familiar with computers and often are learning on them, but still expect to see their child’s education looking the same as what they experienced. I am looking forward to sharing with the parents of my present students some of the exciting and new learning we will be doing using technology this year.  Presently I am working on publishing a classroom blog for the first time. This will be a way to share with the parents what is happening in the classroom on a weekly basis and to see technology in action.

Technology is here to stay and to be used. There is a lot of information and ideas out there and I am excited about the possibilities.

 

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