Before this assignment, my experience with technology within the classroom stretched little further than PowerPoint presentations and Youtube video clips. I can readily admit that I did not bother to imagine lesson plans that incorporated any more than that, always limiting myself with the notion that it would only be a waste of time. As it is, the only way a teacher can get access to more technology is by having the good fortune to work in a private school or GCC. (Unless, of course, a teacher decides to make the necessary purchases his- or herself, but with a fixed pay salary of an emergency-certified teacher, I am disinclined to make such sacrifices.) The public schools are not yet equipped to cater to the technology needs of all students, and so I never bothered to plan for lessons that would incorporate tools I will not even have access to. However, as I ventured into this assignment, I began to realize that just because I will not have the opportunity to use this lesson plan in the near future, does not mean I will not have the opportunity to use it at all. A tool is still a tool, regardless of when one can use it.
What I like best about this lesson plan is its flexibility. It is simple enough in design and concept, making it easy to adjust. Its framework is minimalistic, so I can easily use its skeleton as a template for other assignments that would incorporate students creating posters to display collected data. The lesson itself is meant as a refresher course and an introduction to Glogster, which makes it quite easy. This leaves plenty of room for revising to make it more challenging, such as incorporating a presentation aspect of the lesson that might require the students to record their presentation through the use of a video-recording tool, and adding that to their online poster. Students can also challenge themselves by creating several diagrams in one, or attempt to incorporate several of the multimedia tools the website offers.
The assignment itself had been a challenging one, if only because it is so multifaceted. It not only required us to create a lesson plan centered around a given topic (nutritional facts/labels) using a format many of us were not even aware of, but it also required us to step outside of our comfort zones and incorporate multimedia tools that we had only just been introduced to. Then, on top of all of that, we were made to present said lesson plan using a digital spreadsheet. However, as daunting as the assignment itself had been, I found myself having fun. This is the first time I had ever used Wix but after this assignment, I know it will not be my last. That was my favorite part about this assignment - creating it. I enjoyed watching this website come into fruition and had fun learning how to manipulate the website's tools to do what I wanted.
I also appreciated how this assignment forced me to consider factors that I, unfortunately, let slip past me on a regular basis. As I had mentioned earlier, the separate components of the ASSURE model breaks things down so simply and so tediously that it feels near impossible to have an oversight.
With that in mind, I feel that NETS*T standard 3B best applies to this assignment. This standard states that teachers "use technology to support learner-centered strategies that address the diverse needs of students" (International Society, 2011). Thanks to the format of the ASSURE lesson plan, I found myself much more aware of the students I am teaching. The format forces the teacher to break down the demographics, so that no one can slip through the cracks. Because of this focus, the lesson itself becomes that much more student-centered. One cannot help but cater to the needs of the students, with it broken down so plainly and in text. These diverse needs can range from special education needs to the different types of learning styles a group of students can have. By becoming more aware of the different learning styles of the students within his or her classroom, a teacher can plan a more effective lesson that can engage most if not all of his or her students (Multiple Intelligence Theory, n.d.).
There is really only one thing I found regrettable about this assignment, and that is the short amount of time I had to do it in. This, however, was more my slight than anyone else's. The flu, combined with the end-of-the-school-year rush and missing a vital class lesson that addressed this assignment had all made for an unfortunate and stressful time that might have been easily avoided had I had better time management skills (and a greater immune system). Still, I enjoyed this assignment, and I look forward to the day that I might be able to apply this lesson plan in my classroom. After all, the public school systems are constantly changing, and the boom in technology does not seem to be decreasing any time soon. Fourteen classroom computers cannot be that far out of reach.
References
Multiple Intelligence Theory. Retrieved June 6, 2012 from http://www.multipleintelligencetheory.co.uk/index.aspx
International Society for Technology in Education. (2011). Retrieved June 6, 2012, from http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-teachers.aspx
Hi:
ReplyDeleteYou write very nicely. It is a pleasure to read.
-j-