Wrapping Things Up...

I am looking forward to putting the finishing touches on my Pecha Kucha.  I really liked using the student illustrations for the images of my presentation.  I think it will increase student interest and draw them in because of the bright colors, connection to the illustrator, and content of the picture.  If it ends up working the way that I would like will determine if I use VoiceThread for a future class project that I have in mind.  I like the idea of using VoiceThread because a link can be shared on our class blog for parents and other family members to view.  If VoiceThread doesn't work, I am not sure what presentation form I will use instead because I like the idea of sharing with parents, but it may not be possible with the other choices. 

Overall, I am glad that I got to do more work/projects that I can take back to my class and use.  It has gotten a little frustrating with all the activities that we have done so far in the program that have no connection to our classroom and have no potential use.  VoiceThread, Prezi, and the information from Presentation Zen have been some of the most useful new tools.

Developing the Pecha Kucha...

I am looking forward to getting more of the details worked out for my Pecha Kucha.  I am glad that we were given the "ok" to use voices other than our own.  I think that being able to use my students' to create the audio could be a great way to spark student interest.  I am actually considering having student artwork be the images that I use for many of my slides as well.  I have looked around for images of Pilgrims and related topics, but haven't found a collection of 20 that i would like to use, so that is where the idea of using  student artwork came from.

I also really liked taking the time to explore and learn more about Prezi.  I always liked the presentation format that it uses when we looked at presentations that other classmates put together using the software for other classes, but hadn't taken the time to learn a new tool until this class made it mandatory.  I can see myself using this often to create presentations for my students much more than some of the other ones due to the creative flare and interest level that it will create.

Excited But A Bit Confused...

I have really enjoyed the information that is coming from Presentation Zen.  Both the video clips and chapters have had some great concepts for making the best presentations that leave a mark.  My husband is a guidance counselor at a middle/high school and came home one night this week and during our nightly, "What happened at your school today…" conversation, he told me how his team was going to be giving presentations to the district administrators about what sort of programs they run and set up and what services they provide.  I started to share some of the information that we have been learning about in class and how it might be a stronger way to make an impact on the people who, in the end, will have a huge hand in deciding if their work is provides enough value to keep them around.  The main points that I shared with him were to reduce the amount of text on their slides so that the audience members listened to them and didn't get stuck reading the slides instead (one of the main points that Garr has been bringing up).

However, as much as I can see this being a really helpful thing for him to apply in his presentations, I am having a hard time seeing how to apply it to the types of "presentations" that I use in my room.  When I am making a flipchart to present and practice information, I am thinking about making it as interactive as possible (if that is applicable) and to get straight to the point.  It will be an interesting process going through some of my flipcharts to see how to apply some of the things we are learning, but also know that some of them will just have to stay as they are.

Using Digital Story Telling

Starting this school year, our K4 through 2nd grade classrooms started using a new reading curriculum.  It is a very well thought out curriculum with some wonderful components to teaching the skills and concepts to be great readers…however, it only goes through 2nd grade.  So over the summer, my third grade team met to revamp our reading curriculum, from scratch.  We looked at all the resources we have gathered and used over the years and looked at the new Common Core to see what materials best fit these areas and standards that we need to be teaching.  We have found this process to be very exciting because we, ourselves, have found a new excitement and enjoyment out of teach reading again because it is fun, appropriate concepts, however, frustrated because of the lack of assessments that are here, ready to use.  We have spent a lot of time thinking about what we want to see from our students and discussing the fact that it isn't reasonable to expect that we create a brand, spanking new (traditional) assessment for each book/story/topic/skill, so threw around the idea of project based assessments.  This way, the framework can be applied to many areas of study, not just reading, and can allow students to show what they know in ways that they feel more comfortable doing and allow them to be more creative and individual.  Using digital story telling will be a great way to assess their knowledge and understanding in so many areas that we will have to sit down and look at the best places to use it.

Digital Storytelling

Until this class, I didn't really think of my material as "presentations," when that is exactly what it is.  I know that I am sharing and "presenting" information to my students, but I also have always attached the word "presentation" to the business or professional world.  Thinking about it in my classroom really made me see my materials through a different eye.

The materials that we had to read and look at this week really hit home in so many ways.  I don't think any of us could read this and not connect it to at least one situation in our life when we have experienced a poorly delivered presentation.  Hopefully, after this course is over, we all steer clear of presenting the evil "slideument."

There was a mix of opinion about how to use presentation software to share information, and even an opinion that it shouldn't be used at all.  Each article brings out interesting and valid points about why presentations should simplify their material, why presentations have simplified material too much, and even why presentation software should be banned all together.  I can't see our world moving towards the elimination of presentation software, but hopefully towards using it more effectively.

Wrapping It Up...

What I have taken away most from this class is how to look at my lessons.  I took a lot from looking at each of the learning strategies and finding new and easy ways to apply them, without having to reinvent the lesson.

When I evaluated the lesson that I modified for our final project, I found so many simple and quick ways to address the learning goals and student needs.  When I saw the reactions of my students when I taught the mini-unit to them and the pride that they seemed to feel as they took control of their learning made me so excited.

I look forward to looking at many other lessons and units in this same manor.  It isn't realistic to recreate and reinvent every bad lesson so that it can be great.  But we can adjust details of it.

Ways to Hold Students Accountable...

The three focus areas for this week really seem to be ways that we, as teachers, can give students more control of their learning, which, at the same time, holds them more accountable for their learning and contributions.


Testing Hypotheses…

I really like the idea of giving the students the privilege of setting the goal(s) and desired outcomes of a unit/lesson/activity.  Allowing them to have that control helps them develop a higher interest level in the activities and process, as well as for having a higher sense of accountability to accomplish the set goal(s).  Younger students would need a bit of practice doing this, but reviewing how to set learning goals and set learning objectives would be something that all students should review each year.  Reflection will also be a huge part of this process so that students can see what worked or didn’t work and be expected to look at what the causes may have been, as well as what changes may be needed for future success.  Understanding and having a purpose for what they are doing is a driving force for successful learning.

Homework and Practice…

Many schools are changing the way that both students and teachers use homework.  The validity of traditional homework is being questioned.  Homework at the higher grades is being used in the way that homework for primary grades has been being used for years…as effort and extra practice.  Homework can provide inconsistent and inaccurate feedback of a student’s understanding.  Factors of a student’s home life can also be contributors to poor homework performance, which isn’t always a fault of the student.  Simple, interactive homework opportunities, that could even be done at school during study halls, seem to be much more fulfilling and provide a much better picture of student understanding.  One great example would be to have students complete blog posts on a topic or on a choice of questions, similar to the homework we have for our courses, and expect interactions among peers by commenting requirements.  This would allow for students to contribute their thoughts and to have dialogue with each other, without a teacher directing it.

Similarities and Differences…

Discussion of similarities and differences occur constantly, sometimes formally, while others are informal. Organizers are often used in the younger grades, where higher grades may be expected to submit more written responses.  Using metaphors is something that I introduce to my students, but it can be a bit difficult for them to use as a tool to compare until late in the school year.  One tool that I really find useful for them to use is analogies.  We constantly use analogies to compare the similarities between things.  It really helps students understand the concept we are learning about or the function that is happening. One example I use in my class is to have students look at the levels of the human, and ask them how they levels of our school compares (ie: cells = students, tissues = classes, organs = grades, systems = schools, human body = district).