Task 3-3 Reflection

1.    What ideas have you contributed to your team this week?

I got my team started on ideas for our scenario and we've worked on adding more details to our scenario.

2.    What role did you play on your team this week?

I was in charge of writing/keeping track of our guiding thoughts.

3.    How did you encourage and support your team members this week?

By giving little comments/encouragement like "great idea," "you did a good job on that," or "I like that idea." I helped support my team by getting my part done on time and sending a member the chat log from a meeting she was unable to attend.

4.    Did the group have any questions or problems this week?

We apparently forgot the part about including technology to assist our students in their learning, but I think we've got that fixed now.

Task_3-2 Reflection

1.    What roles did the members of your team have this week?

 

I was the facilitator this week. Kaleo and I had Question 1 and Shannon and Makana had Question 2. Shannon reserved our meeting time. Makana did the SLO form.

 

2.    Given your role in the group this week, how did you contribute to group?

I facilitated for our current event, helped come up with SLO suggestions, and brainstormed with the group about our PBL lesson plan subject and grade level.

3.    What worked well this week?

 We all knew a little more about what we were supposed to get done this week as opposed to last week's craziness. Shannon did well taking charge while Makana and Kaleo were encouraging and kept us on track.

4.    What will you do differently next time.

 I think we definitely should get started earlier in the week if possible to be sure that we have everything done by the end of the week.

Current Event Week 11

This is an article that is sort of like a lesson plan that I found on scholastic.com.

Student Led Parent Teacher Conference

This lesson plan shows teachers a way to have students be more involved with their PT conferences. This teacher is a supporter of student led parent teacher conferences because it helps relieve students' anxiety, lets the student reflect and be responsible for their academic progress, helps students develop better speaking skills, and might help increase parental involvement/attendance to the conferences.

Basically, this teacher lets students use PowerPoint to show how they feel they are doing. They give themselves a letter grade on life skills that are used in class (i.e. - focus, respect, following directions, responsibility, etc.). Students are also allowed to list their strengths and moments they are proud of and they are allowed to ask for help from their parents and teacher (i.e. - they don't feel like they are really good at reading and would like extra help).

Our group liked this article because one of us actually experienced a student led parent teacher conference where their child prepared a speech and showed their work. They were more comfortable because they were able to show Mom their work and weren't as anxious about the conference.

Task 3.1 Reflection

1. What roles did the members of your team have this week?

Shannon was the leader of our group this week. Kaleo, Makana, and I weren't given specific roles.

2. Given your role in the group this week, how did you contribute to the group?

I was given the task of finding out what I could about PBL and then posting a little bit of what I found on my group's Google Document.

3. What worked well this week?

Shannon was a great leader and put everything together after we all found some information on PBL.

4. What will you do differently next time?

My group was a little confused regarding what the assignment was, so we were a tad disorganized. Next time, we'll work it together so we all know what we're doing and hopefully be more organized.

Debrief - Web 2.0 Tool

Debrief on my Web 2.0 Tool - www.learner.org

• Having completed this review of a web 2.0 tool would you use this tool in your classroom?

I would use learner.org in my classroom. It has so many instructional videos that students can watch on their own and develop their independent learning while I am helping other students who need the extra help.

• Prior to this activity, how did you typically select website or tools to use?

I normally would just Google what I needed to find.

• Do you have any ideas, comments or feedback on improving the web 2.0 tool selection process?

I honestly can't think of anything I'd change. The site is well organized, you can search based on grade level, subject, or audience (students or teachers).

Learner.org

Current Event Week # 7

The article Group 2 Pueo chose for this week's current event is a blog from Education Week that talks about teachers trying to be innovative and creative at the same time students are graded on standardized tests that leave no room for creativity. Some thoughts from our group included that teachers shouldn't only teach so their students are able to pass the standardized tests, but also teach them to be creative, think outside the box, and learn to be more creative in general. It is hard for students to express themselves creatively because the standardized tests have almost eliminated it completely. We as teachers need to balance teaching our students to pass tests (because that is how success is currently measured) as well as teach them to be creative and innovative.

Trying to be Innovative During a Standardized Time

Debrief on Personal Learning Network

Prior to this activity I had not used Screenr and only had a rudimentary understanding of Twitter. But I have to say, Screenr is a lot of fun (even though I sound really weird in my presentation). I can see various applications that teachers of all age groups can use it for. Take elementary school for instance, a teacher may have students show how to navigate a website or demonstrate how to put books on hold at the library. An intermediate or high school teacher could have students do something similar to what we did or have them make tutorials on how to  use Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, PowerPoint, iTunes, and more. Teachers can use it to demonstrate math concepts, have a specific set of instructions for assignments (so they can save paper/printing materials), or show students anything relevant to their studies. The possibilities are endless! 

I am still working on managing my personal learning network to be more efficient, but I am learning so much about the technology out there and what we as future teachers can do to help our students. Having a refined personal learning network would be extremely valuable to a new teacher. There are so many resources out there and just being able to filter some of it would be very helpful to new teachers.

My Screenr presentation on Twitter