Creating this lesson plan has been quite the learning experience. I must admit I haven't been one to include a variety of multimedia in my lessons, but I've come to realize that incorporating technology in my lessons makes for a more fun, interactive learning experience.
And of course, every child learns at a different pace and with different methods of delivery. It would be a disservice to my students for me to stick with what I'm used to for the sake of being comfortable. I've learned that the path to being a great, effective teacher means embracing change and always continuing to reflect on what works...and what doesn't.
Writing this lesson plan has helped me think through the processes of the learning process and really take into account the special needs of my students. If I were to teach this lesson prior to taking this class, I would simply lecture and show a movie/vidoe clip of some sort relating to the water cycle. I'm almost embarrassed to admit my lack of diverse teaching methods, but I'll continue to grow as the years go by and will develop my skills and approaches.
Once again, I have found the idea of reflecting and revising to be the most effective and useful part of the lesson plan. It gives me the opportunity to look back and really analyze my work and more importantly...how successful the work of my students turned out. And if at first you don't succeed, try and try again!
I've truly come to appreciate the benefits of incorporating multimedia tools into any lesson plan. It helps bring life into the classroom, and I will continue to improve my skills as a tech savvy educator!
The standard I feel this lesson plan applies to would be NET*S Standards II. The lesson plan definitely required a supportive learning environment supported by the variety of multimedia used within the lesson. What I enjoyed the most was figuring out how to incorporate all that technology into the lesson. It made me really think and consider the needs of all my students, which I know should be the norm for all lesson planning.
Overall, it was an excellent experience and one that I know will help me continually grow as an effective educator.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Thursday, May 28, 2009
technology tools assessment
I never considered myself to be a tech savvy kind of person nor did I realize how easy technology tools were to use. I definitely believe this will make me a much more efficient, dynamic educator!
Friday, May 15, 2009
AAT: Breaking Barriers
Today's classrooms are full of students with a multitude of learning styles. Some learn better through hands on activities while others may be verbal, logical, or naturalistic learners (to name a few). Then there are some students who require special services and instruments to perform tasks that they would otherwise be unable to complete or experience a great deal of difficulty in trying to do so.
As a teacher, your job is to educate each child to the greatest extent and ensure each student is afforded an equal opportunity to learn and contribute. In order to do so, our lesson plans should include the appropriate modifications which will allow our students with disabilities to meet the objectives; however, before we can incorporate modifications, we must first analyze our learners. Who are we teaching and what, if any, types of disabilities do our students have? What modifications are listed in their cumulative folders? After identifying who our learners are, we can list our objectives.
Objectives must me measurable and attainable by all students. In my one of my classes, I have a student who has a degenerative hearing impairment. He refuses to wear his hearing aide because doesn't want to appear different so I need to include certain instruments in my lesson to ensure he gets the optimum learning experience as would any other student without his disability. In addition to having him sit closer to the front, he is provided with a lap top, headphones, and a copy of my (PowerPoint) presentation with audio inserted into each slide. All he has to do then is look up to see what slide I'm on and then click on the respective slide on his screen as well as the audio icon.
There are times, however, when he does not want to use the laptop and headphones so I provide him with a mini audio recorder. He is able to play back my lecture and our class discussions in the privacy of his own home.
Revised lesson plans should contain the same objectives and evaluation but they may differ in the media/technology, method of delivery, and assessment. In other words, all students are being held to the same academic standard; however, modifications are made in order to allow all students to participate and contribute equally.
Without adaptive/assistive technology, many students would be segregated from our mainstreamed classrooms and discriminated against without being given the chance to succeed like everyone else. Students with disabilities may start to feel inferior and insignificant. As educators, we are supposed to help build our students independence and teach them how to adjust to the society in which they live in.
Lesson plans that include participation of disabled students should not be optional or something that we do to be commended for. The inclusion of all students despite their disabilities should be a standard and code of ethic that all teachers live by. Without such lesson plans, many of our students will never know the feeling of success nor would they be able to appreciate the pursuit of knowledge in the same light as other students without disabilities. Moreover, without such lesson plans, students with disabilities may undoubtedly lose confidence in themselves and have lower self esteem than their peers.
At the end of each lesson, the effective teacher needs to go back and reflect on the lesson plan itself. Did it work? If not, what went wrong? What could the teacher have done to improve the lesson plan or make it more accommodating to all learner styles? More importantly, go back to the objectives and figure out whether or not they were met. Were students indeed able to do what you said they should be able to do after completing the lesson? If not, you need to reflect on what should be done to accommodate students with disabilities.
Teachers need to help our students break the barriers by incorporating all appropriate and necessary adaptive/assistive technology into their classrooms so that every child will have the opportunity to build their independence and become successful members of society.
As a teacher, your job is to educate each child to the greatest extent and ensure each student is afforded an equal opportunity to learn and contribute. In order to do so, our lesson plans should include the appropriate modifications which will allow our students with disabilities to meet the objectives; however, before we can incorporate modifications, we must first analyze our learners. Who are we teaching and what, if any, types of disabilities do our students have? What modifications are listed in their cumulative folders? After identifying who our learners are, we can list our objectives.
Objectives must me measurable and attainable by all students. In my one of my classes, I have a student who has a degenerative hearing impairment. He refuses to wear his hearing aide because doesn't want to appear different so I need to include certain instruments in my lesson to ensure he gets the optimum learning experience as would any other student without his disability. In addition to having him sit closer to the front, he is provided with a lap top, headphones, and a copy of my (PowerPoint) presentation with audio inserted into each slide. All he has to do then is look up to see what slide I'm on and then click on the respective slide on his screen as well as the audio icon.
There are times, however, when he does not want to use the laptop and headphones so I provide him with a mini audio recorder. He is able to play back my lecture and our class discussions in the privacy of his own home.
Revised lesson plans should contain the same objectives and evaluation but they may differ in the media/technology, method of delivery, and assessment. In other words, all students are being held to the same academic standard; however, modifications are made in order to allow all students to participate and contribute equally.
Without adaptive/assistive technology, many students would be segregated from our mainstreamed classrooms and discriminated against without being given the chance to succeed like everyone else. Students with disabilities may start to feel inferior and insignificant. As educators, we are supposed to help build our students independence and teach them how to adjust to the society in which they live in.
Lesson plans that include participation of disabled students should not be optional or something that we do to be commended for. The inclusion of all students despite their disabilities should be a standard and code of ethic that all teachers live by. Without such lesson plans, many of our students will never know the feeling of success nor would they be able to appreciate the pursuit of knowledge in the same light as other students without disabilities. Moreover, without such lesson plans, students with disabilities may undoubtedly lose confidence in themselves and have lower self esteem than their peers.
At the end of each lesson, the effective teacher needs to go back and reflect on the lesson plan itself. Did it work? If not, what went wrong? What could the teacher have done to improve the lesson plan or make it more accommodating to all learner styles? More importantly, go back to the objectives and figure out whether or not they were met. Were students indeed able to do what you said they should be able to do after completing the lesson? If not, you need to reflect on what should be done to accommodate students with disabilities.
Teachers need to help our students break the barriers by incorporating all appropriate and necessary adaptive/assistive technology into their classrooms so that every child will have the opportunity to build their independence and become successful members of society.
Friday, April 10, 2009
The Art of Lesson Planning
I'm fairly new to teaching-only about 1 1/2 years to date, and this is the very first time I've ever been introduced to the A S S U R E method of lesson planning. I've been using the "effective lesson plan" format since I've started at GPSS, and now that I think about it, it really is just a check list. You never have to elaborate nor do you have to write any part of your lesson plan in great detail. The drawback to this is that if someone else were to read my lesson plan and attempt to deliver it in my absence, chances are it won't be very effective! The effective lesson plan format is undoubtedly more simplified and requires less writing, less typing; however, in the end it really isn't very effective at all.
So what does it take to write an effective lesson plan? One of my mentors had advised me to always keep the end in mind when writing lesson plans. What do I want my students to learn from my lesson? What objectives will they meet through my lesson, and how do I deliver my lesson in a way that I reach all types of learners? And...how will I assess if learning has actually taken place? As I've stated before, the lesson plan I was first introduced to was basically a check list. The ASSURE lesson plan format goes above and beyond what I have been accustomed to, and I look forward to using it from here on out.
But before I go on about how I love the newly introduced method of lesson planning, let me first explain how I wasn't the biggest fan in the beginning. Using the ASSURE lesson plan required me to really take a lot of time to evaluate ALL my students and figure out not only what I want to teach but also how I'm going to teach it. After analyzing my students, I had to state objectives, select instructional methods, use appropriate media/technology, require students to participate, and then evaluate and revise my lesson to improve it for future use.
I like to think that I'm innovative and creative in my methods of teaching, but just from writing this one assignment, I've discovered that I have so many more options and so much I can incorporate into each lesson to really bring every idea to life. Another thing I've found to be most helpful is the last part of the ASSURE model: EVALUATE & REVISE! Within the few months I've been in this Fast Track cohort, I've heard many times that a great teacher always reflects on each day and revisits what worked for that day as well as what didn't work so well. An effective teacher then revises the lesson to make it better and more effective.
Last Saturday, we all gave short snippets of what our lesson plan was about and how we intended to teach what it is we said we would teach. This little bit of sharing has proven to be invaluable. It allowed each of us to get feedback from each other as well as from our professor. This enabled me to fine tune my lesson plan and anticipate any problems along the way (i.e. privacy issues with students disclosing GWA bill information).
Going back to the planning stages of my lesson plan one of the things that stands out the most is the need to incorporate technology into my classroom. I realize that students in this day and age are surrounded by different technology and media that we (teachers) are competing more than ever to keep their attention and motivation in the classroom. To ensure that kids stay motivated, we must move with the times and utilize the appropriate media and technology. In this case, my students are using computers to record and graph their data. Giving our students the opportunity to use and appreciate technology is an excellent way to cater to the needs of our diverse classrooms (NET*S 2A).
I thoroughly enjoyed this assignment as a whole, but if I had to choose just one aspect of it that I liked the best it would have to be the idea of using another model all together. I'm usually a creature of habit, and anything that opens up the door to change and creativity is always a plus in my book. On the flip side, the one thing I disliked was the fact that it takes longer to use this model than the one I've been accustomed to using; however, the pros definitely outweigh my one con, and it'll only help me become a more creative, dynamic teacher.
Overall, I would say this was definitely a successful (and ongoing) learning experience. I've always appreciated my teachers, but now I've developed a much more intense appreciation for what they do. Planning is definitely an art form I hope to develop to the best of my ability and even then...I hope to continue to improve my teaching methods. And then...I believe it would be fitting to say my lesson plans are indeed "effective lesson plans."
Reference
So what does it take to write an effective lesson plan? One of my mentors had advised me to always keep the end in mind when writing lesson plans. What do I want my students to learn from my lesson? What objectives will they meet through my lesson, and how do I deliver my lesson in a way that I reach all types of learners? And...how will I assess if learning has actually taken place? As I've stated before, the lesson plan I was first introduced to was basically a check list. The ASSURE lesson plan format goes above and beyond what I have been accustomed to, and I look forward to using it from here on out.
But before I go on about how I love the newly introduced method of lesson planning, let me first explain how I wasn't the biggest fan in the beginning. Using the ASSURE lesson plan required me to really take a lot of time to evaluate ALL my students and figure out not only what I want to teach but also how I'm going to teach it. After analyzing my students, I had to state objectives, select instructional methods, use appropriate media/technology, require students to participate, and then evaluate and revise my lesson to improve it for future use.
I like to think that I'm innovative and creative in my methods of teaching, but just from writing this one assignment, I've discovered that I have so many more options and so much I can incorporate into each lesson to really bring every idea to life. Another thing I've found to be most helpful is the last part of the ASSURE model: EVALUATE & REVISE! Within the few months I've been in this Fast Track cohort, I've heard many times that a great teacher always reflects on each day and revisits what worked for that day as well as what didn't work so well. An effective teacher then revises the lesson to make it better and more effective.
Last Saturday, we all gave short snippets of what our lesson plan was about and how we intended to teach what it is we said we would teach. This little bit of sharing has proven to be invaluable. It allowed each of us to get feedback from each other as well as from our professor. This enabled me to fine tune my lesson plan and anticipate any problems along the way (i.e. privacy issues with students disclosing GWA bill information).
Going back to the planning stages of my lesson plan one of the things that stands out the most is the need to incorporate technology into my classroom. I realize that students in this day and age are surrounded by different technology and media that we (teachers) are competing more than ever to keep their attention and motivation in the classroom. To ensure that kids stay motivated, we must move with the times and utilize the appropriate media and technology. In this case, my students are using computers to record and graph their data. Giving our students the opportunity to use and appreciate technology is an excellent way to cater to the needs of our diverse classrooms (NET*S 2A).
I thoroughly enjoyed this assignment as a whole, but if I had to choose just one aspect of it that I liked the best it would have to be the idea of using another model all together. I'm usually a creature of habit, and anything that opens up the door to change and creativity is always a plus in my book. On the flip side, the one thing I disliked was the fact that it takes longer to use this model than the one I've been accustomed to using; however, the pros definitely outweigh my one con, and it'll only help me become a more creative, dynamic teacher.
Overall, I would say this was definitely a successful (and ongoing) learning experience. I've always appreciated my teachers, but now I've developed a much more intense appreciation for what they do. Planning is definitely an art form I hope to develop to the best of my ability and even then...I hope to continue to improve my teaching methods. And then...I believe it would be fitting to say my lesson plans are indeed "effective lesson plans."
Reference
National Educational Technology Standard 2A: Design developmentally appropriate learning opportunities that apply technology-enhanced instructional strategies to support the diverse needs of learners.
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