Phase III

After designing and teaching lessons which incorporate technology, I feel that my understanding of the standards has increased. I'm not talking about the College & Career Readiness Standards (although my understanding here has increased as well), but of the Technology/Global Citizenship standards:

    Standard 1: Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity
    Standard 2: Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments
    Standard 3: Model Digital-Age Work and Learning
    Standard 4: Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility

See the connection between all the posts now?

I feel that I have become more mindful of what I'm teaching and how I'm teaching, especially when using technology. Up to this date, I have not had many opportunities to truly incorporate technology for student use. For example, I've used smart boards and websites in my lessons as resources to enhance the teacher's lesson. I've enjoyed planning activities in which students are the focus of the technology used. Because students are the ones using the technology, I've needed to be more creative in assess what they have learned while making sure they are using the internet/computer/iPads/etc. in respectful and responsible way. 

The standards listed above have been branded in my brain and are referred to throughout my lesson plans and implementation--including my team lesson plan. 

Working as a team has its pros and cons. However I feel team teaching can be a success when each member team communicates, offers suggestions, brings a positive attitude, and is willing to compromise/be flexible. With multiple teachers planning and teaching the lesson, the class is able to be more focused with less tangents, directions are likely to clearer and detailed, and classroom management is more successful. The team-teaching lessons I have been able to see flow smoothly with a variety of resources and materials.

I have seen tremendous personal growth as I worked to incorporate the Standards of Technology/Global Citizenship, developed technology-rich lessons, and created team lesson plans. I feel that I'm more prepared to work as a team with my future colleagues and teach lessons with a variety of resources.  

Phase II

Phase II of my "Line of Symmetry" lesson was implementing it in a classroom. (Original posts can be found here).  As you have probably gleaned from the educational-type posts I've written, I'm still a student working on my Elementary Education Bachelor's Degree. This means that I have no official classroom to implement my ideas. Typically I would go into the elementary school I'm assigned to for the semester and teach my lesson, however it's currently 110° outside signifying summer in Arizona. Summer in Arizona means no school at the elementary level. 

As a result, I taught a 4th grade math lesson to a bunch of 4th year college students.

Instructional Decisions/Teaching:

My group consisted of three fellow future-teachers. As a team we decided that we would teach our lessons as if our audience were elementary-leveled students and elementary teachers. For instance, as I taught my lesson, I taught the lesson the same way I would in an elementary classroom while explaining why I did what I did.

Throughout my lesson, I made sure to have a copy of the lesson plan with me so that I could judge my timing for each of my activities and goals. Having a copy of my plan also allowed me to keep track of the objectives I wanted my students to master. As the lesson progressed, I made sure to help one of my "students" with the technology aspect of my lesson. I've noticed that it takes him longer to get used to websites and the links that are embedded. The other two members of my team were moving faster through the activity so I let them explore different shapes and lines of symmetry.

Assessment of Learning:

I feel that my lesson was very successful and enjoyed the instant feedback my team provided. Each of my team members let me know that my objective was met and they all enjoyed the website I used (it can be found here). My team also gave me extra suggestions on when to discuss lines of symmetry, and where to provide more details to the students. I absolutely agreed with everything they said.

My Reflections:  
I would add some more details to my lesson plan. I feel that if a substitute teacher were to pick up my lesson, he or she would be able to teach the lesson, but not as smoothly as I would hope. For example, I would add more specifics to my  assessment piece. After watching how many lines of symmetry my college colleagues were drawing, I realized that my 4th graders would be folding their assessment shapes multiple times to find the lines of symmetry. After I have the students fold the shapes they designed, I would have them color the different lines of symmetry so that I know which folds they want me to check and assess.