Week 5

 Summary of Article:

        This week I read the article "Universal Design for Learning: Scanning for Alignment in K-12 Blended and Fully Online Learning Materials" by James D. Basham, Sean J. Smith, and Allyson L. Satter.  In this article, the authors look at a variety of online tools and rated them for learner accessibility.  To do this, the authors created a UDL Scan tool.  This tool reviewed instructional materials systems for their ability to be accessible.  

        The authors concluded that because students are spending more instructional time than ever on online tools, we need to make sure that these tools are following UDL principles and are accessible for all students.  If an online tool isn't accessible, it can not accurately monitor student learning or growth.  Furthermore, the student would not be able to show all that they know because they are restricted by the lack of accessibility of the program.  The authors express the importance of ensuring that educators and creators have high standards and expectations for online technology tools.

Connections between Article and Lesson Plan:

        There are several connections between the article and the lesson plan that I have created.  In my lesson plan, 5th grade students will be creating a final project of their choice to display what they have learned this year in regards to internet safety.  The students have a variety of online tools to choose from (Google Suites, Canva, Flip, etc.).  Using these tools, they can create a poster, a newspaper article, a podcast, a skit, a comic strip, or whatever they want as long as it relates to internet safety or being a good digital citizen.  By giving students a variety of online platforms to use, they can pick which they prefer and what works best for them.  When students are able to pick how they want to display their knowledge, they are more engaged and take more ownership of the project.  One of the UDL check points was "Illustrate through multiple media" and I think this fits that description very well.

Integrating CAST strategies into Lesson Plan:

        Two strategies that I am using are from the Engagement portion of UDL.  Guideline 7.1 says to "optimize individual choice and autonomy."  My lesson meets this strategy because students get to pick how the present the information.  By picking how they present the information they are offered choice and can develop autonomy over the project.  As stated above, when students have autonomy over a project, they are more engaged and produce a higher quality of work.  Guideline 8.3 states "foster collaboration and community."  My lesson meets this strategy because students get the option to work in pairs if they work like.  This allows them to practice their collaboration skills.  At the end of the project, students will get to present their creation.  This allows them to build community.

Week 4

Part 1: 

        For this blog post, I created a lesson plan that addresses the following standards; Next Generation Science Standard 3-5-ETS1-1 and ISTE 1.6.a Choose Platforms or Tools. The lesson plans that I have created using this website in the past have been great. However, today it feels like the website missed its mark. The lesson plan starts off with a good “hook”, however in the “independent practice” portion of the lesson, it talks about students “creating their own simple design following the guidelines given.” I am not quite sure what the students are creating here as the AI tool didn’t give any guidelines. 

        The lesson created aligned with the standards that I provided; however, the lesson was a bit vague and definitely needed to be “beefed up.” Additionally, the assessment created was very vague and did not give criteria for success. 

        To improve this lesson, I would need to go over to the “Group Work Generator” to create a project for the students. I would need to add more detail to the lesson plan about what simple design the students are creating and I would need to add success criteria to the assessment portion. 

        In my opinion, this tool is a useful starting point for rigorous lesson planning. The point of MagicSchool isn’t to do the work for you but to give teachers the starting block. From there, teachers are supposed to add their own flair and “bulk up” the lesson plan. MagicSchool gives us the outline and teachers are supposed to fill in the outline. To compare it to building a house, MagicSchool gives us the walls, teachers decorate and add the furniture. 

Link to Lesson Plan 

Part 2: 

        For this activity, I chose the “Vocabulary List Generator.” This is a tool that I have not had a chance to use yet on MagicSchool. This tool lets you pick a grade, the number of vocabulary terms you get (5, 7, 10, etc.), and asks for a standard or topic to address. For this list, I put 5th grade, 10 terms, and “STEM Engineering Design Process.” Some of the words I got were words that I had already thought of but some were words that I hadn’t considered before/had forgotten about. This tool could be useful if you need a list of words and don’t want to spend a long time thinking about which words. Now, I am wondering if you put the title of a novel/chapter book into the topic section if it would give words used in the book that students should know. I will test this idea another time. To use this list, I would print the words off and do a card sort with the terms and definitions. 

Link to vocabulary list 

Part 3: 

        Overall, I really like MagicSchool. This is a resource that I would use as a teacher and with colleagues. I think MagicSchool has a lot of good tools and can be used in a lot of different ways. A challenge I could see teachers having is that they think MagicSchool is supposed to do it all for them, when it is actually just supposed to be a jumping off point. In a PD that I have had on it, they have recommended using an 80 / 20 rule. MagicSchool does 80% of the work but then the teacher has to do the last 20% (proofreading, tweaking, adding/removing, etc.). There are so many benefits to MagicSchool. I think it will save teachers a lot of time and energy. So often teachers get burned out or stuck in a rut. MagicSchool can give teachers new ideas and help by saving our most precious resource, time. 

        I have not used any other AI tools in the classroom, however, I have seen a new AI software at a conference I recently attended that is meant to teach reading that looks fascinating. The students pick the topic and difficulty, the AI generates the story, and the student reads aloud. Next, the AI listens to the student and then generates a list of words the student needs to work on and asks comprehension questions. This software was just debuted 2 weeks ago so it is not yet ready for mass consumption but I think it will be amazing if we give it some time. 

        MagicSchool is a relatively new tool. As it is a new tool, there are bound to be quirks that need to be ironed out. However, I think if we give it time to grow and improve, MagicSchool will turn out to be a very useful tool for teachers.

Week 3

This week, I read chapter 5.  Chapter 5 is all about Knowledge and Reasoning.  In this chapter, the authors discussed the importance of prior knowledge for scaffolding and retaining new knowledge.  I chose ISTE standard 1.3.b because it is important for students to be able to think critically about the information that they are reading and not just assume that it is true.  People often fall into the trap that "because it's on the internet, it must be true."  However, we have to look at things like logic, the authors credentials and reliability, as well as how the website/supplier of the information is funded.  When connecting this chapter to the article from Gura, I thought about all the creative ways that students can demonstrate their knowledge and reasoning.  In our technology driven worlds, we have infinite ways for students to show their learning.  However, we often fall into a routine of worksheets and tests rather than dioramas, wax museums, or presentations.  Gura encourages readers to embrace creativity in all subjects, rather than just art.  Creativity is a dying trait that we need to let flourish in our students.

 

Week 2

 Part 1: Authentic Intellectual Work/Authentic Instruction & Assessment

        Authentic Intellectual Work (AIW) refers to the product that is created or developed to show what a child had learned.  It differs from traditional instruction and assessment where all students are given the same math test and there are right or wrong answers and everything looks the same.  When students are creating AIW they are using the knowledge they have gained from the lessons and applying it to create a final product.  

        There are several criteria's for student work to be AIW.  For work to be AIW, it must show Construction of Knowledge, Disciplined Inquiry, and Value Beyond School.  Construction of Knowledge refers to the "organizing, interpreting, evaluating, or synthesizing prior knowledge to solve new problems" (Newmann, F., et al, 2007).  Disciplined Inquiry is when students use their prior knowledge to create an in-depth understanding of the content and then effectively communicate that knowledge into a final product.  It has been proven that when students engage their prior knowledge of a topic, they are able to see the connections between what they know and what they are learning.  This prior knowledge acts as a strong base for the new knowledge being acquired.  Next, the student must develop a deeper understanding of the content rather than a surface level understanding.  This allows the student to have the knowledge to think critically about the topic.  Finally, the students must share their work.  A student could share their work in a multitude of ways.  This includes but is not limited to essays, research articles, math proofs, and musical scores.  The last criteria discussed is Value Beyond School.  AIW must have an impact on others around them and tie into their lives.

        If I were to have my STEM students do AIW it would be on the Engineering Design Process.  I have attached a photo below that describes the process.

First, I would connect to prior knowledge by reminded the students that every time we do a STEM challenge, we are using the Engineering Design Process.  We would walk through a recent challenge and discuss how it related.  Next I would put the students in small groups and have them each create their own STEM challenge making sure that their challenge would include step.  The students would have to document their ideas through drawing and writings.  Finally, I would have the students share their idea with another team.

Part 2: 2017 National Education Technology Plan Update

        The 2017 Nation Education Technology Plan (NETP) update can connect to AIW in many ways.  Technology is everywhere, especially post pandemic.  Most districts have transitioned to one-to-one technology for their students whether that means laptops, chromebooks, iPads, etc.  One way a student could use technology to create their own picture book.  Using Canva, Google Slides, or any similar website, a student could transfer their writing about any topic (fiction or nonfiction) and add clipart to match it.  When printed, this would create a book.  Or if the teacher doesn't have the funds to print, it can be a digital book.  This would be AIW because students would be showing construction of knowledge, disciplined inquiry, and value beyond school.  

Part 3: Triple E Framework

        There are many parallels between AIW and Triple E.  In Triple E, there is Enhancement.  In Enhancement, there is scaffolding and building upon prior knowledge just like in Disciplined Inquiry for AIW.  Another connection would be Extension in Triple E.  During Extension, students are making real-world connections by connecting to the learning and having authentic experiences.  This is just like the Value Beyond School section of AIW.

        My example from part 2 supports the enhancement section of the Triple E Framework.  One part of the enhancement section is personalization.  There is a lot of room for a student to personal on these digital books (especially if it is a fiction book).  Students are personalizing their book through their writing and also through the graphics that they choose.

Citations

Newmann, F., King, B., & Carmichael, D. (2007). Authentic Instruction and Assessment: Common Standards for Rigor and Relevance in Teaching Academic Subjects.

Week 1

 Part 1:  A Little About Me

        Hello!  My name is Chloe LaPorte.  I am from Michigan and this is my 3rd semester at Southeastern Oklahoma State University.  I am planning on getting my masters in Mathematics and I should be done in August.  I currently teach K-5 STEM/media at a local Title 1 school.  My career goals are to one day move into a math interventionist role.  Outside of school, I live with my husband, our two dogs, and one cat.  In my free time, I run agility with one of the dogs and have recently passed our certification exam for her to become a therapy dog.  My goal is for her to be working with my students as soon as possible.

Part 2: One ISTE Standard and a Matching Activity

        ISTE Standard 1.2 focuses on Digital Citizenship.  This is something that I teach every year as a part of the "media" portion of my job.  1.2b examines Online Behavior and states "Students engage in positive, safe, legal and ethical behavior when using technology, including in social interactions online or when using networked devices."  If my students take away ONE thing from the six years they spend in my class it is how to be safe and kind online.  One activity that I do for this standard is a card sort.  I typically do this for 2nd-3rd grade but it could be tweaked around for any grade.  I print out cards that show a picture or text of things we should do online vs what we shouldn't do online.  I give the cards to the students (they typically work in groups of 4-5 students) and tell them to sort without giving much direction.  Some groups create a "good / bad" categories, "yes / no" categories, and I even had a group split it into three groups with "yes / no / maybe".  The next time I teach this lesson, I would take pictures of the groups the students made and maybe use scrap paper for them to label the groups.  With these pictures, I could project them on the screen and talk about an inconsistencies or differences that we see.  Another alternative is to have the students do a gallery walk and view the other groups work.  At the end of this lesson, I typically have the students sit at the carpet and we go over the card sort and I explain any confusion.

Part 3:  How My Lesson Supports Kolb's Triple E Framework

        Engage:  This lesson engages my students by having them work together to physically sort cards.  I have some colleagues who have done this lesson but with digital cards on a Google Slides.  Being able to physically sort the cards with your hands engages the students and helps the kinesthetic learners.  The students are moving from passive learner to active social learner by working with their classmates and discussing how and where to sort the cards.

        Enhance:  This lesson enhances student learning by providing choice and allowing the students to take ownership over the task.  This is a lesson where I act as the facilitator rather than the teacher.  I am not guiding them step by step.  Instead, I give the cards and tell them to sort.  I intervene when groups are arguing or if they aren't being productive (i.e. fighting over who gets to hold the cards) but other than that, I let them guide their learning for this activity.  These cards can be used as scaffolding because students are tapping into prior knowledge.  I typically do this card sort activity the day after I do a more formal, sit down lesson.  On day 1, I do most of the talking.  On day 2, the students do most of the talking.

        Extend:  This activity creates a bridge between the students school day and their everyday life experiences because the internet is all around us.  Our students are living in a very technology focused age and that makes it important that they know how to properly behave online.  This is a real skill that will make students success inside and outside of the classroom.