Standard 3.1 Classroom Management & Collaborative Learning
Candidates model and facilitate effective classroom management and collaborative learning strategies to maximize teacher and student use of digital tools and resources. (PSC 3.1/ISTE 3a)
Artifact: Internet Lesson Plan
Reflection:
This artifact is the Internet Lesson Plan that I completed in ITEC 7430. This lesson was implemented over a three week time period in my 4th grade reading class. During that school year, I experimented in using a lot of different technologies with these students, and managing my classroom throughout the use of all of this technology was a big part of what I was trying to master. I used so many digital tools and resources in this lesson that it was crucial to have a solid management system in place to encourage collaborative learning instead of chaos. This artifact shows mastery of Standard 3.2 - Classroom Management and Collaborative Learning - which states that "candidates model and facilitate effective classroom management and collaborative learning strategies to maximize teacher and student use of digital tools and resources" because I implemented a lot of classroom management and collaborative strategies while implementing this lesson with my 4th grade students.
This lesson will be done during our reading block. Students worked individually on their book responses and then in
groups for the culminating activity. They worked in my classroom. In my room, students had access to 8 mini-laptops, 1 desktop computer, and 10 tablets. In addition, many students brought their own device to school. As a result, every child had access to a device while in my room. Since we had all of this technology available to us, I had to model and facilitate effective classroom management strategies and effective collaborative learning strategies. First, I came up with a plan for who would use what device so that there was not a crowd of students rushing to get the tablets before anyone else. My reading class followed the workshop model, and as a result, students worked in stations for the majority of the class. Each station had something specific to work on while I pulled guided reading groups. Some students would go to computer stations in which they would work on this lesson while other groups were doing other things. That way everyone knew what stations required a device and what stations did not.
Next, I had to come up with classroom management strategies for when the technology malfunctioned. Students knew that if the Internet stopped working or if a program was not working like it was supposed to that they were to wait five minutes to see if the problem resolved itself. If it did not, they were to move on to an alternate activity, or if they were working on their book response, they could continue writing that on paper and then just transfer it to Kidblog later. Students understood that it was an incredible waste of time just to sit in front of the device and wait for an extended period of time to see if it might start working again. They also knew not to come to me about it since I was teaching my guided reading groups.
Finally, my students had to learn how to collaborate as they used these digital tools and resources. As mentioned before, some of these activities were individual, but the final product was done in their reading group. I did lots of mini-lessons on how students should share a device and how each person should get a turn when working on an assignment. There should never be a time when one person is using the device while the other group members are just sitting there not doing anything.
I learned so much about classroom management and collaborative learning strategies through the implementation of this Internet lesson plan. It is so important to have plans in place for when the technology does not work, and it is also crucial for devices to be distributed and used in an organized way. Finally, students must learn how to collaborate as they work on technology projects. That is definitely a life skill that they will take with them all throughout school and probably even into their future careers. If I could do this over again, I would have stopped the use of Movenote for the students' culminating project. This tool kept shutting down and glitching so many times, and it got quite frustrating for both myself and the students. At the time, I was unsure of any other Web 2.0 tools that did similar things, but I should have researched and found a couple of other options to relieve the stress and frustration that everyone started to feel.
This artifact impacted and improved student learning because students need to understand how to work collaboratively when doing projects. They also need to learn how to be problem-solvers and know when to troubleshoot a problem and when to move on and do something else. I believe that this lesson taught my students a variety of life skills that they will carry with them forever.
This artifact is the Internet Lesson Plan that I completed in ITEC 7430. This lesson was implemented over a three week time period in my 4th grade reading class. During that school year, I experimented in using a lot of different technologies with these students, and managing my classroom throughout the use of all of this technology was a big part of what I was trying to master. I used so many digital tools and resources in this lesson that it was crucial to have a solid management system in place to encourage collaborative learning instead of chaos. This artifact shows mastery of Standard 3.2 - Classroom Management and Collaborative Learning - which states that "candidates model and facilitate effective classroom management and collaborative learning strategies to maximize teacher and student use of digital tools and resources" because I implemented a lot of classroom management and collaborative strategies while implementing this lesson with my 4th grade students.
This lesson will be done during our reading block. Students worked individually on their book responses and then in
groups for the culminating activity. They worked in my classroom. In my room, students had access to 8 mini-laptops, 1 desktop computer, and 10 tablets. In addition, many students brought their own device to school. As a result, every child had access to a device while in my room. Since we had all of this technology available to us, I had to model and facilitate effective classroom management strategies and effective collaborative learning strategies. First, I came up with a plan for who would use what device so that there was not a crowd of students rushing to get the tablets before anyone else. My reading class followed the workshop model, and as a result, students worked in stations for the majority of the class. Each station had something specific to work on while I pulled guided reading groups. Some students would go to computer stations in which they would work on this lesson while other groups were doing other things. That way everyone knew what stations required a device and what stations did not.
Next, I had to come up with classroom management strategies for when the technology malfunctioned. Students knew that if the Internet stopped working or if a program was not working like it was supposed to that they were to wait five minutes to see if the problem resolved itself. If it did not, they were to move on to an alternate activity, or if they were working on their book response, they could continue writing that on paper and then just transfer it to Kidblog later. Students understood that it was an incredible waste of time just to sit in front of the device and wait for an extended period of time to see if it might start working again. They also knew not to come to me about it since I was teaching my guided reading groups.
Finally, my students had to learn how to collaborate as they used these digital tools and resources. As mentioned before, some of these activities were individual, but the final product was done in their reading group. I did lots of mini-lessons on how students should share a device and how each person should get a turn when working on an assignment. There should never be a time when one person is using the device while the other group members are just sitting there not doing anything.
I learned so much about classroom management and collaborative learning strategies through the implementation of this Internet lesson plan. It is so important to have plans in place for when the technology does not work, and it is also crucial for devices to be distributed and used in an organized way. Finally, students must learn how to collaborate as they work on technology projects. That is definitely a life skill that they will take with them all throughout school and probably even into their future careers. If I could do this over again, I would have stopped the use of Movenote for the students' culminating project. This tool kept shutting down and glitching so many times, and it got quite frustrating for both myself and the students. At the time, I was unsure of any other Web 2.0 tools that did similar things, but I should have researched and found a couple of other options to relieve the stress and frustration that everyone started to feel.
This artifact impacted and improved student learning because students need to understand how to work collaboratively when doing projects. They also need to learn how to be problem-solvers and know when to troubleshoot a problem and when to move on and do something else. I believe that this lesson taught my students a variety of life skills that they will carry with them forever.