Universal Design and Differentiated Instruction

Reflection

Indeed this course was very informative as it emphasized the need for organization and assessment strategies to identify learning styles in our students.

Once I have identified how students in my class learn I am better able to structure and design lessons to meet their individual and group needs. Without the learning style inventory it is possible to plan learning strategies, but it would not be as effective as knowing the processes that students are more likely to absorb so that we can capitalize on this.

By differentiating learning and using the principles of universal design in my lessons will help to increase the desire of students to learn. I believe that the use of social networking sites would be an advantage to students as they are used to facebook and myspace, but I am not sure that they have been properly taught to use these sites ethically. Incorporating these sites in the mainstream of the lesson would be a great way to get those who do not speak out in class to express themselves or to teach them to be ethical in the use of web resources. Social networking sites can also be used to have students communicate with experts in different fields, as they proceed through their projects, or to communicate with their peers in or out of state.

To better implement UDL and DI practices into my curriculum I will need to relate my lessons to the web 2.0 tools and be ready to have students practice using whatever tool is at my disposal. The web also has a lot of resources that can be implemented as well so I can use these resources to help guide the learning process of my students. But in every endeavor care, knowledge of content and effective use of technology to convey different aspects of learning will go a long way to engage and “hook” students into learning.

I am still searching for new ways to integrate technology into the teaching of algebra and geometry so that I can tap into the technological age in which my students are growing up. It is unrealistic of me to expect them to come and sit in school for 7 hours and be stimulated to learn using only the pencil and paper method, when they are into iPods, texting, and video games. In order not to frustrate the students or frustrate myself, it is imperative that I design lessons that create those brain connections that stimulate learning, thus tapping into the UDL and DI strategies.

My long-term goals then would center on developing UDL and DI strategies using concept maps, Voice Threads, and Wikis to enhance learning in mathematics. By getting the students involved in social networking sites, it will also help improve their social skills as we temper it with ethical principles and practices. In the fall of 2011, I hope that I will have an interactive white board in my mathematics classroom. My plans for the summer is to design activities (centered around math concepts and using as many web 2.0 tools), that will result in the students interacting with the white board and not just seeing the white board as a teaching tool but as a learning tool (Laureate Education, 2008).

Refernces

Laureate Education, I. (2008). Technology: Instructional tool vs. learning tool (DVD) Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Baltimore: Dr. Michael Orey.

Reflection

Reflection on Lessons Learnt

The use of technology in the class room to facilitate learning has moved beyond the simple use of calculators and probeware to demonstrate mathematical concepts. Available to the mathematics teacher now is the use of online collaborative tools (Skype, Wikispaces, Weebly, Voicethread, etc) as well as tools for students to create digital stories regarding different aspects of the mathematics content area. How do we as math teachers avail ourselves of all this technology?

The course “Integrating Technology Across Content Areas” answered some of the more academic questions, but it also posed many more application questions. For instance will the sites be available to our students as the schools tend to filter so much that is coming on on the servers; will the lesson be effective in conveying the content area to be taught?

I enjoyed the course immensely as it identified new collaborative sites and allowed me the opportunity to think outside the box when it comes to planning lessons for my math classes. At first I thought to focus on Biology my other content area, because I was so comfortable with the subject and could readily see the areas that technology would play a great part in. However I decided to focus on Math as this was a challenge to me, and I am glad that I did, as the strategies (like planning my GAME plan), helped me to see that integrating technology into math lessons were not so arduous or impossible.

With the wealth of information on the web, like WebQuests and other examples of digital stories that are available for teachers to peruse and modify to meet their needs, I have found that it is possible to implement a lot of the new technologies into the math curriculum. I have also found out that it also requires more time and effort to effectively plan for the content areas in math to make the technology enhance learning and not retard or frustrate it. I also need to make sure that I have the assessment rubric for the lesson in mind as it helps to guide me in shaping and constructing the lesson.

I have already begun to make adjustments to my instructional practice regarding technology integration in my content area. The unit plan formulated for my portfolio will be used in the spring with my geometry class and some of the other lesson plans developed in this class and others have already been implemented. I was glad that I was able to implement them as I learned a lot from the lesson as well. Next school year when the same lesson is to be taught I will have made revisions to that lesson to make it a more effective learning tool for my students.

Indeed I learned a lot from this course and will continue to research the different ways that I can improve and increase the use of the different technologies taught here in all my math classes.

Using the Game Plan with Students

Planning this unit & lesson plan to corporate social networking and then thinking about incorporating digital storytelling has been very instructional. It was very hard for me to think of how to set up a lesson plan for social networking. In addition I was unable place some of the resource materials into my lesson plan resource section and had to have them as an attachment. I really do not like doing that as there are times when I do not know if I will remember where it is saved, so it would be easier to have it in the plan.

The other problem I faced was how to structure the lesson to include all the resources and then have the students represented their work and experiences on an “educational networking site.” I did however enjoy the challenge to try to figure out what to do and how to get the students engaged in the activity.

This class project for Walden has really been an eye opener as it made me realize even more fully that to organize the technology activities for Math (especially) requires a lot of thought and preparation and therefore time. I think I will have to maintain that for the upcoming school year (2010-2011 provided I am still employed with all the upcoming cuts to the education budget), to develop one activity per unit per subject, as opposed to per chapter in order to really do a good job in each subject area. I think with this in mind I will be able to devote more time to each activity and really think about the small detail that would affect the smooth transition through each section of the activity.

Revising Game Plan

This week I have been asked to:

Identify what I have learned so far that is applicable to my instructional practice?

I have been really busy online looking for lessons that are applicable to math and using problem based learning. If you have the time to search you will find lessons that can be adapted to your classes. Finding these new resources are great as I am not very creative and I become more creative as I am exposed to the creativeness of other individuals.

Goals I am currently working towards:

I am still collecting ideas and still attempting to introduce more technology based activities in all my math classes. I have struggled with the idea that I need to carry my laptop to school as it is the source for my classes here at Walden. I would hate for anything to happen to it, but my school is not very open to providing me with a onsite one to use in my classes, and that frustrates me. I find that the hierarchy at the school is really hard to get through, but I have started to carry my laptop and use power point to introduce topics and the students really enjoy this, I even think that they retain a lot more. So my goal is to keep this up, but be mindful of the cost to me if my laptop is damaged.

Based on NETS-T, what new learning goals will I set for myself?

My goals are to:

a. To continue to facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity by providing experiences that advance student learning, creativity, and innovation in both face-to-face and virtual environments.

b. Design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity.

If I am not ready to set new learning goals, how will I extend what I have learned so far?

As I continue to search for ideas to incorporate new technologies and PBL into my lesson plans I have learned that it really takes commitment and time. During the school semester there is not enough time to do this. My plans are to use my time off from school (during spring break and summer) to continue to build my repertoire of lessons and to modify them so that it applies to our states content standards. Some of the activities that I have been introduced to I did use with some of my classes and the results were good and bad, but I believe with some minor changes it will continue to improve as time goes on.

What learning approaches will I try next time to improve my learning?

My desire is that our school corporation would have more in-service sessions for the math and science departments for our school district. However I was never one to wait on others to get the ball rolling. I like to continue learning because I love learning, and will continue to use the world wide web to advance and increase my learning experience so that I can be a better teacher in the 21st century class room. I believe that learning, and teaching has taken on a whole new scope and if I am unwilling to embrace these new changes I not only cripple my ability to adequately direct my students in their learning experience, but I also risk being frustrated because I am unable to reach the students entrusted in my care.

Game Plan Progress

My GAME Plan Progress

I believe that so far my GAME plan for assessment is working. I have collected the Tangram project form the geometry students and from a total of 53 students only 40 students have turned in their project. I was not pleased with the number of students that completed the project, however those who did not turn in their project, are the ones who are hardly ever at school. Truancy is a big issue for most of our schools in the South Bend Area.

The rubric I designed on Rubistar (a great place to design your own rubric and include areas that you are looking for) worked very well in assessing the students participation and understanding of the concept of polygons, as well as some of their designs, that were very nice indeed. Next year when I have the students complete this project I am going to have them show case their work on a wiki page, or using voicethread along with their journal entry of their experience completing the project. I am still processing the idea of ways to make certain algebra topics more technology friendly, but this area is a little harder than geometry as algebra is more concrete and lends itself to equations rather than diagrams. Concept maps are a great idea for this area but I want more and will continue to search until I have achieved what I am looking for. Sadly I am not even sure what I am looking for, but pretty sure when I see it I will know.

Implementing and designing the GAME plan is a necessary step to planning the lesson for each content area in order to make the lesson the success I desire it to be. Learning all this has allowed me to try new and (I think) exciting activities with my students, but I will have to prune these activities over the summer for the upcoming school year.

GAME Plan Monitoring

Monitoring GAME plan Progress

This week’s assignment for Walden required that I look at assessment techniques (Forced option format, opened ended response formula, performance based assessment and project based assessment) that would be useful for the content areas in which we teach. We also had to connect these assessments to the use of technology.

In order for students to perform well in the content area it is important to have the assessment format in mind as this is the guide for the teacher in directing the learning of the student. I have used each form of assessment, and probably used forced assessment and open ended response more than the others. I think however if I am preparing my students for the 21^st century that I really need to incorporate a lot more performance and project based assessment, especially in math. I think that the students do not see that in math there can be useful projects that can be applied to some of the content areas that they are learning. I see more applications of this in geometry than in algebra, but that is because I am just opening up to the possibilities.

My plans for the rest of this school year and especially during the summer months is to research and design more project and performance based learning activities for my algebra and geometry students as this is vital to for them to be able to succeed in the 21^st century.

Resources

Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach ( Laureate Education custom edition). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

Carrying Out My GAME Plan

Our application activity this week for Walden made me do a lot of thinking about how I would need to design my lesson plans to incorporate technology. My GAME Plan is to be able to design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools to promote student learning. I realize that to be able to do this I need the support of the school corporation. As it is, they have so many blocks and filters in place that when the students are given research to do even the sites that they would need to find worthwhile results are blocked. This causes frustration on the part of the student and me the teacher.

In order to make the learning experience a positive one, I would need first of all the approval of the department head for the project. I am not sure how other schools hierarchy is organized, but at our school we have to first go through our department head. If he likes the idea then he will convey the ideas to the principal. I believe that instead of talking that it would be more profitable to demonstrate the uses of the voice thread or wiki in advancing student learning capabilities. To do this I would have to demonstrate its usefulness by doing a demonstration and possibly using tools like screen capture and possibly hold the demonstration outside of school property as once there the filters would block my ability to carry out the demonstration effectively.

Once I can get the department head, principal and my peers in the math and science department on board maybe as a group we can begin to effect the changes needed to incorporate the new technologies into the curriculum. As it is demonstrated how to teach students safe internet practice and ethics they will be more inclined to be flexible with the accessibility of the websites and the use of different web tools. It may be a long fight, but with perseverance I am sure that everything will work out in the end.

My other goal is to demonstrate fluency in technology systems and the transfer of current knowledge to new technologies and situations. In order to do this I have recently began using the graphing tool with the overhead projector. This is very useful as I do not have graphing calculators for everyone and the students get to come up and input data into the calculator and observe the graph as it is projected on the screen. I have also gone ahead and set up my geometry, algebra 1 & 2 school web page with resources for all my students including power points, video tutors and online quizzes in the content area. At the moment the school web access is so slow and frustrating that I will have to terminate the idea of online quizzes and revert to paper pencil quiz, but I also notice that the students are not making use of the video tutor helps provided to them. I am very discouraged by this, but I think it is a lack of exposure on their part why they are not using this resource and can only hope that over time there will be an improvement in their response.

It would be nice to hear from any of my peers about how they got their students to be comfortable with using these additional resources provided online.