Phase I

Lesson plans. I know what many of you (especially pre-service teachers) are thinking....

---NO!!!!!!!!!!---

To those of you who do not have this thought, good for you. For those who do, you are not alone; I occasionally find myself thinking the same thing. Some days I find writing lesson plans to be tedious, other days I'm too tired from work. On rare occasions I'm too hangry to deal with lesson plans. 

First and foremost: I have found that I enjoy writing lesson plans. I've also found that I'm one of the few. Does this mean that I write great/amazing/SPECTACULAR lesson plans each time? No. Does this mean that you should forget your lesson-writing process and adopt what this post says? No. Take what you want from my ideas, adapt my thoughts, don't listen to my opinions--whatever helps you! 

(The information below will reference a lesson plan I recently wrote about the Arizona College and Career Ready Standards, specifically the math standard 4.G.A.3 about lines of symmetry)

 

Assessing Prior Knowledge:
I have a simple belief when it comes to assessing prior knowledge (or assessments in general). It goes like this: Keep it simple. There is a time and place for formal pre-tests--typically when beginning a new unit, not for every sub-concept. For this lesson, I didn't see a need for anything super formal and decided a class discussion would be more beneficial. Not only can students increase their speaking and listening skills, but they can also practice using precision in their language (which is also AZCCRS Mathematical Practice #6, found here). The 4th graders can help each other fill in gaps in knowledge and as a facilitator, I can help with any misconceptions that come up. This information will help me as the lesson unfolds. I can adjust the amount of time spent on portions of the activity if students have a good understanding, point out different aspects of the activity that relate to the discussion, or determine if one-on-one help is needed during the lesson.

Planning Instruction:
Whenever I need to determine my goals, objectives, and/or outcomes, I refer back to the specific content strand. If I keep the strand in mind, I find I have an easier time developing my lesson. My objective directly relates to my chosen standard but is reworded so that students can easily understand. For example, the standard states the following: 

"Recognize a line of symmetry for a two-dimensional figure as a line across the figure such that the figure can be folded along the line into matching parts. Identify line-symmetric figures and draw lines of symmetry." 

Oh goodness. 

Students might have a hard time fully comprehending the standard. My objective is rewritten so that students will understand what they are expected to know by the end of the lesson:

"Students will explore shapes and lines of symmetry both online and off. Students will examine quadrilaterals." 

My objective is clear and appropriate for students. Is it exactly what the state standards? Nope, but it is aligned to the standards. Now the curious might ask, why quadrilaterals, what does "online and off" mean, etc. I decided that my unit on lines of symmetry will definitely take more than one day, so I'm focusing on quadrilaterals for this day. Online and off refers to using technology in the class. There are amazing apps and resources that students can use to enhance their learning, why not use them?! (The resource I used for lines of symmetry can be found here)
 

Designing Instruction:
Every lesson plan is different because every teacher is different. I have had teachers who never created a lesson plan because they knew exactly what they wanted to do. Some of my past teachers made an outline of basic themes and ideas they wanted to address. Most of my teachers develop 20-page, detail-oriented, organized lesson plans. I'm one of the latter. As a result, my lesson plan is organized in a table with headings, numbered steps, extension questions, instructional methods, etc. It is organized in a way that best fits my thinking process while providing all the information I need. I have made sure that plans are in place for students who need extra help and students who will finish early. My lesson plan integrates technology in such a way that students will be able to interact and learn while being responsible and safe with the digital information.

Planning Assessment:
If you hadn't already guessed, my assessment is not a paper/pencil kind of assessment. Rather than a formal test, my students will create shapes with multiple lines of symmetry, only one line of symmetry, and no lines of symmetry with paper, pencils, rulers, and scissors. The fact that my students are creating a finished product allows for the highest level of higher order thinking. I can see if students are able to move from abstract thinking to concrete thinking of the standard while meeting the needs of my learners at their individual level.

So, as I mentioned before: take my advice, don't take my advice. These four basic building blocks are at the center of each of my lesson plans.

Meeting Diverse Needs of Learners Through Learner-Centered Strategies and Equitable Access

Meeting the diverse needs of learners through learner-centered strategies and equitable access...Oh goodness, that's a mouthful. Typically when something sounds confusing, I break it into chunks. 

So......

Diverse needs:

It makes sense if you think about it; the United States thrives on the idea of diversity. In an excerpt from her book (found here), Marietta Saravia-Shore referenced Harold Hodgkinson by stating the diversity of students in classrooms will vary; some students will speak different languages at home, others will live in poverty. Regardless of the circumstances, each student deserves to get an education in the way he or she needs.

Learner-centered strategies:

Learner-centered strategies are just that--teaching strategies that keep students at the center of the learning process. Greg Kaminski states in his article that learner-centered strategies create an environment in which students share the responsibility of learning by making connections while the expert in the room facilitates.

Equitable access:

Equitable access refers to fair opportunities to technology and education. This does not mean that each student will get to use technology for the same amount of time every day, rather students will have fair access to what they need.

All together now: 

"Technology is a tool that gives everyone an equal chance to learn" (Jones, Valdez, Nowakowski, and Rasmussen). While many websites and technological applications are not learner-centered many sites do provide support for exploration and promote deeper student-thinking. It is then the teacher's job to act as a facilitator of knowledge while students are able to explore with technology. Due to the diversity of needs in classrooms, some students may require extra online help or assistance while gathering information and knowledge in the way that suits them best. 

Global Awareness & Digital-Age Communication

Upon my search for information in order to write this post, I came across a website (here) which stated a Yiddish proverb which I found particularly insightful...

"To a worm in horseradish the whole world is horseradish"

Now, I'll be honest- a few years ago I would have read this, noticed the overuse of an odd (and disgustingly pungent) plant, and skipped to the next website. Now I read this proverb and notice the different applications it holds. 

For example, take this proverb and imagine the applications to global awareness. Thousands of years ago, this 10-word phrase would have been directly applicable to the people of the time. There was little anyone could do to truly discover the world around them. Centuries ago, it became possible to travel long distances to find other cultures and people. Decades ago, digital technology was developed progressing to the present. Today children can literally hold a world of information in the palm of their hands; today we are able to recognize and appreciate the complexity and diversity of the world. We now have readily available information about cultures that at one point we may not have been able to understand. Unlike the tiny worm who knew only a single horseradish, we have access to a field of horseradish without needing to leave our single plant.

Enough about horseradish.

Our scope of the world is much larger than anyone thought possible. To be ignorant of the world in this day and age could be troublesome. Think about it: something that is deemed appropriate by U.S. culture may be completely offensive in another culture. Something that is said could be taken the wrong way because of a misplaced winky-face or "LOL". It can be hard to correctly get a point across and avoid misunderstandings. Grace Boyle talks about this concept on her blog (found here). She insists that with the technological advances today, authenticity between humans is declining. Text messages, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram detract attention from the person sitting across from you. 

Am I saying digital communication is bad? NO! (I wouldn't have this blog if I thought it was...) 

Do I think there is there is a time and place for technology? YES! 

Do I think that we need to be careful about what we post and how others might view it?

Absolutely.

Digital Etiquette & Responsible Social Interactions

What is digital etiquette? Sounds like a simple question; one that most people should be able to answer. However, when I log into the cyber world, it's hard to believe that the answer is known. 

While searching the internet for information about the aforementioned question, I was bombarded with search results referencing digital citizenship. Because I'm the kind of person who refuses to move on until I fully understand a concept, I looked a little deeper into digital citizenship. According to a presentation by Anna Clifford, digital citizenship is defined as the norms of appropriate and responsible behavior in regard to technology. Also associated with digital citizenship are nine themes of which digital etiquette is number five (for the other eight themes, look at this site). Both of these sites refer to digital etiquette as the standards of conduct one adheres to when using technology. Clifford further explores digital etiquette by stating that digital etiquette involves respect for yourself and others. 

I think this is where responsible social interactions should enter the discussion. Respect for yourself and others could be considered the foundation of responsible social interactions. When posting to social media we should ask ourselves, "If another person posted this, would I be mad/sad/angry/frustrated/embarrassed/etc.?" When the honest answer is yes, perhaps a different post should be used or reworded, perhaps a picture should be deleted, or perhaps motives should be reexamined. The unintentionally mean (or purposefully mean) text, post, video, picture is considered cyber-bullying. If you want more information, visit this the StopBullying site here. 

It's important that students continually learn about etiquette and responsibility with technology early in order to form habits of respect early on.



P.S.: In my search for knowledge, I came across this site. It's great for introducing kids to the concepts mentioned in this post.

Safe, Legal, and Ethical Use of Digital Information and Technology

In Nancy Willard's opinion article on protecting children in this technological age, she references the Protecting Children in the 21st Century Act adding a provision to the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA). This provision requires schools to educate minors in safe, legal and ethical use of technology.

Safe

Leslie Strahan noted that CIPA addresses "children's access to obscene or harmful internet content". Schools, as required by CIPA, must enact an internet policy which encompasses a variety of internet issues. Overall schools' policies must address how to screen and restrict inappropriate content online. Students should not be able to uncover inappropriate websites or images with simple information searches while at school. Students should also be taught about security when dealing with e-mail, chat rooms, or other electronic communication applications such as Facebook or Instagram. I have been shocked to hear from students that they do not realize what information should not be shared with the electronic world. Adults need to be vigilant in monitoring students and make safety a priority.

Legal 

Strahan continues, stating that "whenever someone uses the works of another person- pictures, words, music, etc. that is copyrighted- that is stealing unless due credit is given." Teachers are often thorough when teaching students about plagiarizing online content. In fact, there are many different websites that allow someone to enter a section of a student's writing to determine if it has been copied from other works. It is my opinion that students are not adequately taught about copyright legalities when dealing with online content unrelated to writing such as images. I had not been explictly taught these legalities until my first semester at college!

Ethical

In Strahan's presentation, she supports CIPA's argument that schools "must provide for educating minors about inappropriate online behavior". As I stated before, students are often unaware of the misuse of intellectual property and copyright materials. They do not have the sufficient background information of what is right and wrong when pertaining to cyber ethic issues. Education World also has a list of ethical issues observed in schools that they believe need to be taught. Their list of the "Ten Commandments of Computer Ethics" includes: 

• do not use a computer to harm others
• do not look around in another person's computer or files
• do not use a computer to copy or steal anything you have not paid for
• do not take anyone's intellectual property

The last "commandment" from Education World states that computers should be used only in ways that show consideration and respect for others. This brings up the issue of cyber-bullying. I have found StopBullying's website to be extremely informative on bullying both inside and outside of the classroom, online and off. 

Much to the dismay of my grandmother, the internet will not be going away any time soon. If anything, the internet will continue to advance at an alarming rate. Teachers and other adults need to inform students on the safety, legalities, and ethics of technology use in this day and age.