Lesson Reflection

Thinking about a concept that my students usually have trouble understanding, continents immediately came to mind. Although it doesn’t affect the whole class, the students who do not understand the difference between a country and a continent are far behind their classmates. To solve this, I created a unit that guided students into understanding. The unit started off as a class discussion regarding different continents and countries, and the countries that make up continents. After that the students took notes on the definitions of each. Students then played a memory game online learning the locations of different continents and countries. Finally, the student created a word cloud to use as a study tool. This of course was followed by a variety of formal and informal assessments.

I did make some changes after writing my original lesson plan. The discussion on metacognition made me think about changes that I wanted to implement. Parts of my lesson already included memory, and attention, although I think there can never be too much focus on attention in a classroom. What I was concerned with was development. I wanted to see how the students developed their skills by using the map quiz game. I then implemented a score sheet that the students had to fill out each time they played the map quiz game. The students just had to jot down their score so I could see how they improved throughout the class period. I also would be able to better identify how students were progressing, and those who needed additional resources.

I implemented the lesson plan over the weekend with my cousin Eleni. She’ll be going into 8th grade next year. Although I’ll be giving this lesson to 7th graders, she was a pretty close match. Delivering the lesson to a class of one was a little bit different than instructing an entire class, but I did understand a few things that worked and what needs to be improved. I started by discussing a little about continents and countries. Only having one person in the discussion, there wasn’t much chatter back and forth. We discussed North America , and Africa and what we knew about the world. After that, I lectured, and Eleni took notes. I then stopped to check what she had learned. She seems to be understanding all of the information, and had no questions over what I had explained. We then went on the computer to the sheppardsoft site where she played the continents game. I had her keep track of here score. In the level that we chose, a continent was highlighted and she had to type the first three letters of it. She ended up taking the quiz four times, the last two times she reviewed a perfect score. On the first quiz, she mixed up Africa and Asia and the Arctic Ocean and Antartica. On the second quiz, everything was correct except she labeled the Atlantic Ocean as the Pacific. We then summarized what we learned. Though that informal assessment, I think the lesson was a success.

Technology played a large role in this lesson. Being able to play an interactive game that corrects student mistakes, has a score and instant feedback is exciting. There is no way that I would be able to quickly grade and give feedback to a class of thirty students the way a computer can. A disadvantage would be that some students might be lost when they take the test on paper, with a blank black and white map. The technology is much more user friendly and entertaining for the students.

My student seemed very excited to use the website. Even before we were finished she mentioned how much she wanted to play other games, and see what she could do. It turned into a competition, which made the lesson very interesting. Already understanding how to use this technology, she didn’t have any questions, other than thinking aloud to her herself about which ocean went where.

I think this technology helped students understand the content better because it made them an active participant in the lesson. I have taught lessons before that have explained the same concepts, but they haven’t been interesting. By creating an interesting lesson that students enjoy, it allowed them to put more effort into learning, and increased their achievement. I am very excited to present this lesson in the fall to my seventh grade class!

Wicked Problem Project

Below is the completed version of my Wicked Problem Project jing. Enjoy!

Group Leadership Project

For the last few weeks, I've been working with some scholarly educators from around the world. One group member is just over an hour from me in Michigan, and one is literally a world way in Bengladesh. Though a variety of conferencing tools, we've met multiple times to create a great tutorial on Google Docs, something that every teacher needs to use in their classroom.

Here is a link to the video and some information about it.

Using Google Docs

What tool did your group use to deliver the PD tutorial?

There were a few different programs that we thought about using to create our final video. We ended up settling on iMovie, a program standard on Apple computers. At first we were not sure what program to use, but Reaz was very familiar with iMovie. One of the things that we were looking for was a program that would allow you to create long video, which ruled out Jing. Jing, even the pro version will only let you create a 5 minute version. After creating our MP3 narration in Audacity, Reaz put the narrative into iMovie, and we have our finished product.

What did you learn during the development process of the final product?

I learned a lot when I created this product, not only on video production, but on other uses of Google Docs that I didn't know about. There are some great tools that I was not aware of, like Google Drawing and Google Wave. Even though we didn't end up using Google Wave as part of our final presentation, I learned a lot about that collaborative tool and some of it's uses.


What would you do differently if you had to develop a similar product again?

If I were to develop a similar product, I would try to structure better group meetings. Our group ran into many problems trying to meet. One part of this problem was our hectic schedule, and the other problem was the time difference. Suzy and I were able to find times outside of our workday when we could meet, but linking up with Reaz proved more difficult because of the time difference. Because of this, communicating though Gmail was easier than video conferencing because we were able to collaborate at times that worked for all of us. In doing this again, I would use the same software that we did before in our creation with the exception of iMovie. I have a PC, and I would probably end up using Windows Movie Maker, which I've had success using in the past.

Professional Learning Plan

You can view the Google Presentation here.

Part D - Findings and Implications

As I wrap up this foray into CEP 812 I have the unique opportunity to look back at the projects that I've undertaken and to assess them. There are a few key questions that I'll try to answer to assess the success of the implementation of my project, and how it affected my students.

Did the project get implemented as planned?
There were a few hitches in implementing my project. Our smartboard was rarely used in our school. With the lack of ceiling mounted projectors, or projectors that are readily available, teachers cannot count on having a projector in their classroom at all times. Once I was able to procure a projector, I wheeled the smartboard down to the room. When I set the board up, I began having trouble connecting it to my computer - only to realize that I did not have the correct adapter to connect the ps2 plug to my USB port. This caused a slight delay as I had to have the ISD come out a drop off the converter. Once I had the part I thought that I was all set. This though was not the case. Since our smartboard is not mounted, it has been wheeled all over the school - which has caused some wear and tear on it. One of the plugs had been pulled out of the mounted motherboard on the unit. After taking apart the panel, I connected all of the wires and got the board plugged in and working. Once it was actually connected to my computer, it was fairly simple to get used to using the board, and easy to get it oriented to the projector. It was just the task of getting everything working correctly that was a little frustrating. Overall, the setup took about four hours.

Evidence of success in addressing the problem of practice
I found multiple markers of success after implementing my program. The goals that I attempted to accomplish are followed by the evidence.

1.) Teach an interactive lesson that the students can control - In the lesson students were able to choose which 360Cities panoramic pictures to view. In the book, there were only a set number of pictures to use - but Google Earth allowed students to choose multiple pictures, from all over Cuba. Students also chose different places to zoom in on. One place that students wanted to learn more about was the US Naval base at Guantanamo Bay. Students asked to zoom into where the prisons, armory, and airport were. The class was very excited to see planes and runways. This is something that would not be possible using the book.

2.) Create a geography based lesson that does not rely on the book, but meets criteria of teaching the 5 themes of geography - In this lesson, it was very important that I was able to show the following things: Location, Characteristics, Movement, Region, Interaction. Using GoogleEarth allowed me to show each of these criteria easily. The ability to zoom, show topography and see user uploaded photos gave the students the chance to see all of the nation in much greater detail than the book.

3.) Find additional information on subjects covered in the lecture - This was one of the main goals that I had during this project. One of the topics that came up during this lesson was the Bay of Pigs. I hadn't planned on covering the Bay of Pigs, or the Revolution in Cuba as a whole but it was something that the students were interested in. By using layers in GoogleEarth, I was able to click on an icon for the Bay of Pigs and get more in depth information for the class immediately.

4.) Teach using up to date information - A large problem that I encountered this year was teaching up to date information. Since it's my first year teaching this subject, I am partially in the, learn as you go along phase. This is ok for most subject matter, but very difficult when presented with obsolete books. While teaching the political geography of eastern Europe, I had many questions regarding countries that have changed names and disappeared in the years since the book was published. By using GoogleEarth, I was assured that I had current information on the names, locations and boundaries of each place on my map.


How would you approach another project of this type differently given what you’ve learned here?

If I were to approach another project in my class where I were solving a problem using technology, there would be a few things that I would do differently. First, if I found a technology that I wanted to use, I would sit down with other teachers and ask them about there experiences using the technology. I ran into a lot of problems because I had used a Smartboard before, and assumed that this smartboard would be easy to use. As I mentioned before, it was an absolute headache connecting the smartboard to my computer and there were points where I wanted to scrap the program and start over. A lot of this could have been avoided had I asked some other members in the district about their experiences using it.

What are the lessons learned that others might benefit from knowing about?

A great lesson that I learned during this program was that kids love GoogleEarth. They absolutely love flying over parts of the country that they know, looking at the earth from space, and the really, really love to see their house on the projector. I am really looking for ways to incorporate using GoogleEarth and local maps to teach basic geographic concepts because kids are so excited about using it. Next year when the district "Images" or "ghosts" the computers, I will suggest to them that they include GoogleEarth because it has so many practical applications. To the teacher out there, you need to play with GoogleEarth. It has so many great functions. Your kids will love it.

In what ways will you endeavor to do the same project again, and what will you change or not do?

I will definitely use GoogleEarth and the smartboard again - and I plan to use it frequently. Ideally, I will use this for each and ever unit that I teach, when I get to the part where I explain the five themes. One thing that I will have to change will be the way I set up my unit. Next year I'm going to try and set up the smartboard and projector in a spare classroom - so there will be no set up involved. Teachers will simply be able to sign out the room and then have access to all of the technologies. I will also try and create an outline, and a structured set of questions that the students need to answer. There were many time where the students were off task because the lesson was too open ended. In closing, I will definitely do this lesson again, and my modifications will only make it a more effective lesson.

PART B - Storyboard and Script

Lately, myself, and two group members have been working on a project that will create a stand alone instructional resource that will help people use Google Docs!

Here's a link to view the storyboard of our presentation:

https://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AUDTy9j6FhYdZGR6cjlnZ2ZfMWZ3eDR2ZmNo&hl=en&authkey=COSg2-gD

I spearheaded the Google Forms part of the storyboard. I have used it many times and it's very simple - although it is time consuming. Suzy will be discussing the benefits of Google Drawings, and Reaz will be discussing Google presentations.

Our audio will be a mix of step-by-step and also a short tutorial of what you can do with these tools.

We have decided that we will be producing our movie using iMovie. Each group member is going to record MP3 audio for their part of the presentation and then Reaz is going to put that audio into the sideshow that we'e prepared as a group. We already have our audio completed, and since the audio corresponds to the sides, we will transition the slides manually to link up with the sound. The goal is to have this done by Wednesday so we can adjust anything that is needed before it's due.

We will be discussing a lot of this tomorrow during another brainstorming session.

Poll Everywhere

Today I used a a website called PollEverywhere. It allows you to create a poll or question that people can answer via SMS. I used it in my class and it was very interesting to say the least. The kids were very excited to be able to use their phones (since we have a no phones in school policy). But I let them get them out for a few minutes. This service was interesting, but it was no faster than writing. I expected kids to fire out text messages quickly - that didn't happen. It was also difficult monitoring the results. Any kid could have typed anything and it would have appeared on the LCD screen. With 7th graders, responses weren't always appropriate.

I think I'd try this again if I taught high school - I think that would be a productive usage, but I'm not sure about middle school.

Take a look below at a sample of the responses that I received.

PART C - Implementation

Below is my podcast describing what it was like implementing my new program teaching geography using the smartboard, and not the book. Take a listen!

Podcast Powered By Podbean

http://tomgunnells.podbean.com/

Jing of 360 Cities
http://screencast.com/t/hXnnybh3Il

Below: Circled and Highlighted Guantanamo Bay airport runway


Below: Picture of 360 Cities Icons


Below:Measuring distance from Cuba to Florida

CEP812 Video Introduction

Below is a video that I created as an introduction for my CEP812 Course at MSU.