Confusion:
This is the second class and third experience with UbD lesson planning. However, this has been by far the most difficult time I’ve had with it. I feel like many ideas I have had or thoughts aren’t clearly expressed in my UbD so I’m working around clarification. A main component of this is time. I have had a very limited amount of time to put towards this class so in turn, my products reflect that. But this leads me to my celebration! Celebration: I get to celebrate the fact that I am completing this Master’s course while maintaining a full time teaching job, two other classes, and implementing two large grants. Another celebration is getting a MUCH better idea of UbD and understanding my strengths and weaknesses. I realize that I have all these great ideas and a dozen different ways my lesson can go. However, I seem to get lost in my lesson and need to continuously reflect back on, “what is the goal of this lesson?” Knowing that this is a common weakness of mine will help me in all my lesson planning in the future--- keep the outcome in mind! Interest: Presenting my unit was an interesting experience. I first submitted a lesson that, well, was rather boring and dry. The minimum requirements were met. And then I explored other people’s presentation of their UbD and felt really inspired to create a more appealing presentation. This also made me a lot more interested in exploring screen-cast-omatic and prezi for future classes. This has been my constant struggle this year. What will work better for my students and I? Paper or online assessments? I know the answer is about balance. How do I find what the balance is and how do I make it work? I was hoping to come out of this week with a little more insight, but I still feel at a loss. I think the data collected from online assessments is valuable, but does it go beyond just data? Should I put more emphasis on paper assessments and products rather than collecting data to see a trend? Ultimately, how do I balance both? Melissa talked about her experience with an only online assessment school and the lack of benefits seen during that time. I agree that we will never see as much growth in our students if we only stick to a number in our data. Our students are so much more than that which is why the e-portfolio method constitutes a more wholesome picture of our students. Her idea of using portfolios for self assessment is the direction we should be headed-- but my problem is how do we find the time to make them as efficient as possible for every age? Casey mentioned the positives of online assessments such as immediate feedback, excitement, and less time grading. However, the ultimate question is whether these pros are enough to outweigh the negatives. It takes students a long time to familiarize themselves with online format, which then gives skewed data. Should we persist with online assessments even when very little data shows it is better than other methods? They key here is balance! However, I’m stuck at how balance looks these days. To finish this reflection, Bill said it perfectly that, “Another problem with these kinds of tests is that they give us a snapshot in time rather than any meaningful ideas about growth.” As educators, how will we balance this drawback to online assessment? Week 10 How do technology-based assessments contrast with paper-based assessments? Pros? Cons? This topic is very relevant in my classroom right now as I notice a few students finding success and failures with technology. Just yesterday I had a conference with a parent who highlighted how hard it is for their child to focus on math assessments given online. In my 2nd grade classroom, all math assessments are online so that they can hear an audio recording of the question. Generally, this works great for most students; however, I’m finding that one or two students are either struggling with the content or with the format of the test. Starting next week, I’m going to start giving this student paper assessments to see if their score increases at all. In the meantime, I am curious what are common disadvantages to online assessments that this student may be experiencing? I found a few common disadvantages as I researched online. Impersonal and a lack of face time can often hinder students from performing their best on a test (Classroom Assessment). I do feel like with my student they get bored quickly and zone out with an online assessment. The computer screen immediately puts a negative connotation to the test. Other drawbacks are higher chance of cheating and technology connection issues. I am curious to start experimenting with paper tests to see if, at all, any improvement is noticed with this particular student. For the rest of my class, they seem to be finding the online assessments unproblematic. Benefits we see in online assessments are independence, immediate feedback, flexibility, lower cost, more frequent, and differentiated (education solutions). For elementary years, online assessment can help with struggling learners as it provides more visuals and audio recordings. Some alternatives teachers can use in their classroom for formative and summative assessments are found in the picture below. https://www.nwea.org/blog/2016/take-three-55-digital-tools-and-apps-for-formative-assessment-success/ Sources: Classroom Assessment Theory into Practice. 2017. Retrieved from https://classroom-assessment-theory-into-practice.wikispaces.com/Online+Assessment+Tools Education Solutions. 2013. The Benefits of Online Testing. Retrieved from https://www.wonderlic.com/blog/online-testing/ This week has been eye opening as I review and edit the work on my UbD. I realize after getting feedback, that many of my ideas fell flat-- so I was happy to resubmit in hopes of meeting all requirements.
One area I didn’t realize that I was completely misunderstanding was the reflection component and clarity. I was so focused on creating a unit that tied in cultural connections to a geography standard that having students self assessed got lost. Additionally, I had to revamp my technology component to make it more meaningful and impacting. The idea I had to take photos of it and use that as a self assessment didn’t quite get students experiencing the creation aspect of using a digital tool. Bubblr and Slidestory give students a better opportunity to create a meaningful product and self assess at the same time! This second submission is definitely a much more well-rounded unit. Week 8 Reflection This week was helpful in many ways. I was able to analyze and dissect the various ways I use visual literacy in my teaching. More importantly, I was able to see the areas I struggle and the lack of experience I have with teaching visual literacy. I looked at this week's question from a more "digital" lens, and realize that traditional methods are equally (if not more) important. This meant reading other people's blog helped immensely. Catherine has a lot of experience and was able to remind me that analyzing visual literacy in text is such a great tool and one that I could do with my 2nd graders. Ashley reminded me the importance of TPR in visual literacy. Instead of just looking and analyzing literature, we can go to the extent of acting it out-- total physical response. This is especially important in ELL learners. I am surprised I did not read more about this area this week, but let us not forget how crucial visual literacy is for those who are learning English. Lastly, I really took a useful tool away from reading Joni's blog. She talked about reading through drawing as a means of comprehension, and I would love to try this with my second graders. It is a great method of formative assessment, observation, comprehension, and retention!
Visual literacy and the direction it is headed definitely excites me! I immediately think of VR and traversing through the world right in the classroom. I see apps like Aurasma that help bring art to life. However, reading the article, Visual Literacy, highlights the importance of educating our students on visual literacy. The article was a great reminder to teach our students to critically and thoughtfully question and analyze the things they see. As we put our students into the World of technology, we also need to teach them that sometimes, things aren’t real or require more deciphering. A great example of this was the photo of the shark about to bite a man hanging from a helicopter ladder. The truth of this photo came out days after it had been virally spread. It was photoshopped together, and tracing it back to its rightful owner was nearly impossible. It was an intentional lesson about believing what we see, copyright, and manipulating reality (Gray, 2012). An augmented reality program that has really caught my interested and I have hopes to integrate it this year is Aurasma. It is, “one of the most popular and cutting-edge technologies being used in schools around the world today. Enabling teachers to connect digital content such as video to images in books and classroom walls, Aurasma offers a uniquely inventive, fun, and holistic way of engaging students of all ages (Aursma.com).” Aurasma has been known to make learning more transformative and engaging. It is taking simple to complicated concepts from math, social studies, language arts, and other subjects and turning them into enticing creations (Brown, 2015). Augmented reality seems futuristic even though it has been here for a few years now. The likelihood of it going away is unlikely, which gives me even more of a reason to become familiar with it now. Mind mapping is an advanced idea/tool for 2nd grade students. I have tried a few apps but I felt it was more of a waste of time than meaningful. For this age, I really believe paper and pen is the best way for them to understand concepts and mapping. The tangible and easy tools makes it a little more practical and not so distant.
There were a few good suggestions like Mind Mup which is one I will try. However, not having enough ipads/tablets for each students definitely makes this instructional practice much more difficult. How can the cognitive mapping tools presented provide a means for students to demonstrate their own thought constructs? How can you be sure students are actively demonstrating their own meaning and not simply demonstrating constructs you've taught them? This seems to be my weakest area and thinking critically about it renders little excitement. I realize that giving my 2nd grade students mapping tools and making sure they are producing their own thoughts can get pushed to the side. I encourage my students to think critically and develop their own ideas, but this can be the ultimate challenge when there are so many other social and emotional areas that need attention.
Concept vs. Mind Maps article defined the differences between the two mapping tools. Concept mapping takes a broad topic and breaks it into more specific ideas. Mind mapping feels more like a web where many ideas connect directly to the central topic (Frey, 2016). The majority of mapping that I do with my students at this point in the semester is creating graphic organizers for our writing. This helps identify the main idea and supporting details. My students have also done mind mapping during their Genius Hour exploration. They developed one idea and then asked questions in a mind map based on their main idea. After looking at the suggested mind and concept mapping tools, I realized that this area of education is quite profitable! I looked into Mind Meister and Inspiration and quickly realized these were paid for tools. Soon after I found many free apps and websites that would work great with any age. Popplet, iBrainstorm, and Corkulus were a few suggestions provided by Teachthought.com However, these still didn’t meet my needs and expectations. Further research on digital concept mapping tools proved that 2nd grade students may need to do visual mapping using old fashioned pen and paper. The best tools for the age I teach would be Popplet, which is more user-friendly. I liked that this app allowed for students to draw right on their mind map (Bittman, 2014). Sources: Bittman, E. 2014. Popplet Mind Mapping Tech Tool. Retrieved from https://www.weareteachers.com/popplet-mind-mapping-tech-tool/ Frey, C. 2016. Concept Maps vs. Mind Maps. Retrieved from http://mindmappingsoftwareblog.com/concept-maps-vs-mind-maps/ Teach Thought Staff. 2013. 25 Top Concept-mapping Tools for Learning. Retrieved from https://www.teachthought.com/technology/25-top-concept-mapping-tools-for-visual-learning/ |
Author2nd Grade teacher at Keet Gooshi Heen in Sitka, Alaska Archives
December 2017
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