EDLD+5364

This is the beginning of our group project. I have the awesome pleasure of working with two wonderful ladies whom I've collaborated with before. Lynne Wilde and Laurie Womack. I was unable to attend the first chat conference, but my team members filled me in by supplying me with the dialog from the chat session. Our next meeting will be on Saturday.
 * ﻿ Week 1 Reflection: **
 * Group Work: **

This week we learned about learning theories that are associated with teaching with technology. The theories we discussed were Connectivism, Constructivism and Cyborg. These three theories were compared and contrasted to show the advantages and possible disadvantges for learning. Most of todays teaching is constructivism based. Most teachers build on previously learned knowledge about a particular subject. The second type would be connectivism. Connectivisim shows the connection of one concept to another. This method shows why you learn concepts in a certain order and shows previously learned knowledge is connected to newly learned knowledge. To me this is like the application process of learning. We learn how to work with integers so we can now solve equations. Educators interact with a wide variety of students with different learning styles. Cyborging is a new term to me. I feel this is the learning that takes place as individuals interact with technology and tech applications. As students go through the motions of running different applications, they acquire knowledge. For many of the 21st century learners this is an ideal way to absorb new information. Video gaming and texting are ways that information can be delivered to the new age learner.
 * Readings: **


 * Week 2 Reflection: **

This week’s reading was about diverse learners and how to use technology to reach these learners. As educators we are given the task of reaching all students. Within the student population there are many different learning styles and students with different ability levels. This diversified population puts a great deal of responsibility on the educator. The needs of all students must be addressed and met. Information presented must help the student regardless of ability level reach his or her maximum potential. Students with physical restrictions and or skill restrictions must have their needs addressed. Using technology allows the educator to vary his/her teaching style to fit the learning styles of all learners. Varying the instructional presentation will allow all learners to feel at ease with the information presented will “hook” the interest of the learner.

This week our team discussed in detail about lessons and roles of each team member. Team members discussed the types of lessons we wanted to include in our project and how important it was to address students with special needs such as the visually impaired. We held two meetings this week to start firming up our plan for the group project. We have assigned different pieces of the project to specific individuals. Part of my contribution is to locate lessons that address the topic of Complementary and Supplementary Angles. This was the topic we decided as a group to present for this project. Our project will consist of three parts: an introduction, lessons (independent and guided practice), and assessment. The group decided to meet again on Wednesday to monitor the progress being made and to modify or adjust our time line for the individual parts of the project. The possibility of adding a sound track was discussed and including an introductory video about the project. Use of the promethean board, smart board, class pad and calculators along with the support hardware was also discussed. Brainstorming of ideas occurred along with discussion about which ideas were feasible for project inclusion.

This week our team met several times to revamp our action plan and discuss our UDL lesson and book development. I missed an online chat session due to regional competition for girl's powerlifting. I am the girl's powerlifting coach. Lynne and Laurie sent the dialog from chat to me. They are great team players. I agreed to do the accommodations for GT students. I enjoyed chatting and participating with my teammates. This week we finalized the lesson topic which is Lynne's lesson on complementary and supplementary angles. Laurie and I had different accomodations to add to the lesson. One accommodation I included was to allow GT students to do Power Point lessons on the lesson.
 * Week 3 Reflection (Group) **

The more I experimented with this application the more I wanted to continue. It sparked idea after idea. I created a pictionary dictionary of terms needed when working with parallel lines cut by transversals and the angles formed. When I first realized we had to create an electronic book I panicked. But my teammates assured me it was easy. And you know, they were right. Once I started inputting the information I wanted to include, the task went smoothly. I am seriously thinking about using this application as a teaching tool and as a project for my students. This would be a wonderful attention getter and a good example of cyborg learning. Creating lessons this way would allow teachers to prepare lessons in advance to be used on days when the teacher is absent, the student is absent and needs make up work, or as a team teaching tool for a younger less experienced teacher to use as a model.
 * Week 3 Electronic Book Reflections **

Again when I saw the form for this lesson builder, I freaked. As I started reading and getting into it, I found that it was a really great way to organize your thoughts and information for a lesson presentation. This lesson model made you think out in detail about the objective to be taught. The lesson builder enabled the planner to include accommodations for all learners. With the NCLB this is a big plus in the right direction. This lesson builder allows you to address the different learning styles of all individuals. Visual learners, auditory learners, students with special needs, and tactile learners can all be addressed using this lesson builder. The topic I chose was Angle Pairs. I choose Angle Pairs as my topic to extend the understanding of supplementary angles and the relationship between parallel lines and transversals.
 * Week 3 UDL Lesson Reflection **

Old school teachers believe that group work is taboo. They feel that students should work independently, classrooms should be quiet and student interaction should not occur. In order to prepare the 21st centruy learner for jobs in the 21st centuury, students must work in cooperative groups. This form of interaction increases team building skills. The belief that it a classroom is noisy, then no learning is occuring is an outdated theory. Jobs in the 21st century will rely on the ability of individuals to work as a collaborative group instead of a single unit. Our readings this week focused on the importance of cooperative learning. Learning to work cooperatively and collaboratively allows different points of views to come together from areas that were once impossible to collaborate. A person in China can discuss ideas with a person in India and the two of them can get feedback from someone else in another part of the world without being in the same office. This ability increases productivity and broadens the idea realm.
 * Week 4 Reading Reflection **

This week was a very busy week for me. But I managed to touch bases with my group members. We discussed the assessment section, the rationale section and the desire to include photos of the technology we were going to use. Assignments were made for the professional development piece(Laurie), rationale for SPED and GT activities. Lynne volunteered to do videos on smart boards. I had internet issues on Sunday, so I missed the meeting. Overall, our plan is coming together, and I am in the best group ever.
 * Week 4 Group Reflection **

Assessing student performance is a key to measuring their success. Administering the appropriate evaluation instrument is always an issue with educators. Increasing understanding and memory/recall is a factor that educators battle with daily. The use of graphic organizers is away to increase the retention of information learned. Technology can be used to help accomplish using the graphic organizers. Kidspiration and Inspiration are graphing organizer programs that can assist in creating memory maps to increase retention. Integrating technology into the curriculum allows students to use higher level thinking skills and it also opens the door to more opportunities for collaborative learning. Different means of assessment can be used to collect different types of data. For the student that does not test well, using an alternative method of assessment would work in this student’s favor. Alternative assessment would allow that student to demonstrate what he/she has learned and how well it was comprehended. Portfolio’s on a particular learning objective allows an educator to follow the progress of a student from start to finish. Using portfolios allows the instructor to follow the comprehension levels of the student from start to finish. Using various evaluation processes allows all students to demonstrate their levels of understanding in a way that best suits their learning style. With NCLB educators must integrate different ways to evaluate student progress. Technology helps educators simplify the use of new ways of evaluating student comprehension and progress. Using Web 2.0 tools, Schoology, Google docs and many other tech applications allow the creativity of a student to shine through. When a student can include his/her own creativity into an assessment, assignment, or project the instructor can truly see if the student has a true understanding of the information presented. With incorporating technology increases creativity and comprehension.
 * Week 5 Reflection **

Our group has completed our week 5 assignment. We have collobrated on all activities that will be included. This project was a great learning experience for me. The cooperative learning and sharing using Google docs was fantastic. This method would be a great tool for educators to share ideas and develop lessons without having to actually hold a sit down meeting. Online collaboration enables educators to plan, modify and adjust assignments and group activities at their convenience. This assignment has me thinking about what lessons I can adapt to a group activity instead of always doing individual assignments and projects.
 * Group Reflection: **