Overall I feel that the unit plan went together nicely. The hardest part of the collaboration was working with someone solely online. I found it difficult to communicate the needs of the school to someone who has not visited the school. I also found it difficult to work with a SLMS since I have never worked in a school with one.
With the limited resources that we had to work with using my school as the setting, Tina did an excellent job of finding online resources that we would be able to use with our traveling laptop cart. I hope to be able to implement some on the ideas that we came up with in years to come. It will be a challenge as the students get used to the laptops (this is the first year we have had them available), but it will become easier. I feel that my original plans that I used in my class this year were supplemented nicely and could be implemented in the class.
I feel that I still have a lot to learn about the SLMS portion of the assignment and I hope that I will be able to learn these things when I have the opportunity to be involved with a school library media center. The most important thing I can take out of this is the importance of team work and listening to the needs of the teacher and SLMS during planning.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Assessment
The assessment for the unit plan flowed easily for me since I have completed the basics of this unit in my current classroom. I was able to use the worksheets that go along with the curriculum for the individual sections and topics. The binary digital code, circuits lab, open/closed circuit drawings and the unit test were all assessments that I completed in my current classroom. These assessments showed the progress of the students in my class and I feel confident that they would be useful in other classrooms.
The final project for the unit plan is to create a poster about on portion of electricity. This is not something that I have used so I will be creating a rubric for the project. Students will be graded on both content and visual appearance of the poster. This activity will follow the final web quest, which will not only assess the students on the topic of electricity but also on the ability to navigate through a website.
All of the assessments that are used in the unit plan can be shared with the students, parents and administrators. The posters (circuit diagrams and final poster) can be displayed in the hallway for the school to view. As for the individual worksheets, simulations, labs and tests, all graded work will be returned to the students who can then share it with their parents. Other teachers and administrators can view the individual grades through the teacher's grade book.
Both Tina and I were able to work on the assessments for the unit plan. I focused on the assessments that go along with the unit as described in the curriculum while Tina focused on the assessments that go along with the technology portion. With all the assessments combined, it covers both the Michigan standards and the technology standards. Although my school does not have a library, we do have one set of classroom laptops with internet. I hope to integrate these new assessments into the unit plan for the next school year.
The final project for the unit plan is to create a poster about on portion of electricity. This is not something that I have used so I will be creating a rubric for the project. Students will be graded on both content and visual appearance of the poster. This activity will follow the final web quest, which will not only assess the students on the topic of electricity but also on the ability to navigate through a website.
All of the assessments that are used in the unit plan can be shared with the students, parents and administrators. The posters (circuit diagrams and final poster) can be displayed in the hallway for the school to view. As for the individual worksheets, simulations, labs and tests, all graded work will be returned to the students who can then share it with their parents. Other teachers and administrators can view the individual grades through the teacher's grade book.
Both Tina and I were able to work on the assessments for the unit plan. I focused on the assessments that go along with the unit as described in the curriculum while Tina focused on the assessments that go along with the technology portion. With all the assessments combined, it covers both the Michigan standards and the technology standards. Although my school does not have a library, we do have one set of classroom laptops with internet. I hope to integrate these new assessments into the unit plan for the next school year.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Mid Planning Blog
For out unit plan we will be focusing on electricity (circuits and electronics) in 8th grade science. We will be planning 15 collaborative lessons in the unit plan. We will be using a variety of teaching styles and approaches for both the classroom and the media center. The demographics of the school where the unit plan is created for is made up of mostly African American students with a few Hispanic and mixed ethnically. Only 1% of the students population is considered ESL. Most students are below grade level in ability. We will address this by using a simpler web quest than recommended for the grade and by including additional instruction when needed. For all instances of differentiated learning included in the curriculum textbook, we will choose the below lever activity for the whole class.
A basic outline of the lessons is listed below.
1. Notes on section 1 (Charge needs a continuous path to flow)
a. Topics – Parts of a circuit, open and closed circuits
b. Complete workbook page for this section
2. Open and closed circuit diagrams
a. Students will draw and label a diagram of both an open circuit and a closed circuit.
3. Notes on section 2 (Circuits make electric currents useful)
a. Topics – Parallel and Series Circuits
b. Complete workbook page for this section
4. Human Circuits
a. Students will use string (to represent wire) and labels to simulate what a series and parallel circuit looks like. Each group will have 4 members (one battery and three light bulbs).
b. Students will complete a packet at the end of the simulation.
5. Media Center Research
a. Simulations on parallel and series circuits.
6. Circuits Lab
a. Students will work in groups to create a model of a working parallel circuit and working series circuit.
b. Materials include wire, batteries, switches and light bulbs from the science kit.
c. Students must demonstrate the working circuits for credit.
7. Notes on section 3 (Electricity is based on circuits)
a. Topics – Binary and Digital Coding, Circuit Boards
b. Complete workbook page for this section.
8. Binary Code Designs
a. Students will create a design on grid paper and code using 0’s to represent empty boxes and 1’s to represent colored boxes.
9. Binary Code Designs #2
a. Students will receive another student’s code in order to recreate the original design.
10. Chapter Review
11. Chapter Test
12. Webquest and Unit Project
13. Webquest and Unit Project
14. Webquest and Unit Project
15. Webquest and Unit Project
We are in the process of modifying and creating the full lessons to be placed on our wiki. I feel that we have made great progress on the project.
A basic outline of the lessons is listed below.
1. Notes on section 1 (Charge needs a continuous path to flow)
a. Topics – Parts of a circuit, open and closed circuits
b. Complete workbook page for this section
2. Open and closed circuit diagrams
a. Students will draw and label a diagram of both an open circuit and a closed circuit.
3. Notes on section 2 (Circuits make electric currents useful)
a. Topics – Parallel and Series Circuits
b. Complete workbook page for this section
4. Human Circuits
a. Students will use string (to represent wire) and labels to simulate what a series and parallel circuit looks like. Each group will have 4 members (one battery and three light bulbs).
b. Students will complete a packet at the end of the simulation.
5. Media Center Research
a. Simulations on parallel and series circuits.
6. Circuits Lab
a. Students will work in groups to create a model of a working parallel circuit and working series circuit.
b. Materials include wire, batteries, switches and light bulbs from the science kit.
c. Students must demonstrate the working circuits for credit.
7. Notes on section 3 (Electricity is based on circuits)
a. Topics – Binary and Digital Coding, Circuit Boards
b. Complete workbook page for this section.
8. Binary Code Designs
a. Students will create a design on grid paper and code using 0’s to represent empty boxes and 1’s to represent colored boxes.
9. Binary Code Designs #2
a. Students will receive another student’s code in order to recreate the original design.
10. Chapter Review
11. Chapter Test
12. Webquest and Unit Project
13. Webquest and Unit Project
14. Webquest and Unit Project
15. Webquest and Unit Project
We are in the process of modifying and creating the full lessons to be placed on our wiki. I feel that we have made great progress on the project.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Early Planning
I was a little concerned at the beginning about trying to collaborate with someone solely online, but things are falling into place. Once we found a unit focus we were able to get started on the process. We are focusing on electricity and circuits for the 8th grade level. I am able to use the textbook that I have at my school so I can get a firm grasp on the topic since I have taught it for a few years. Using what is familiar to me has made the lesson planning a smooth process.
Tina has set up the wiki for our collaboration and I am so grateful! It is easy to edit an existing wiki but with little wiki experience, I was unsure of where to begin with our page. I will definitely be doing further research on wikis so that I am prepared to create wikis on my own. We have split up the responsibilities and they fit well for our roles in the collaboration.
We came up with five essential questions for the unit:
What is a circuit?
What is needed to make a circuit work?
What is a series circuit?
What is a parallel circuit?
How are circuits used in electronics?
The questions have given us an idea of what we want to accomplish. Most of the lessons will focus on series and parallel circuits since they can encompass the other essential questions.
The hardest part of the collaboration so far is coming up with the information for our school. The school I work in and the school that Tina has connections with are completely opposite of each other. Also since my school has no media center it is hard to determine what would and wound not be available. We are in the process of finding a similar school to mine (urban school) that has a media center with an online catalog. It is proving to be quite challenging to find the resources we need for the project in the type of school I work in.
Overall I think that we are off to a great start and I hope that it continues to be a smooth collaboration!
Tina has set up the wiki for our collaboration and I am so grateful! It is easy to edit an existing wiki but with little wiki experience, I was unsure of where to begin with our page. I will definitely be doing further research on wikis so that I am prepared to create wikis on my own. We have split up the responsibilities and they fit well for our roles in the collaboration.
We came up with five essential questions for the unit:
What is a circuit?
What is needed to make a circuit work?
What is a series circuit?
What is a parallel circuit?
How are circuits used in electronics?
The questions have given us an idea of what we want to accomplish. Most of the lessons will focus on series and parallel circuits since they can encompass the other essential questions.
The hardest part of the collaboration so far is coming up with the information for our school. The school I work in and the school that Tina has connections with are completely opposite of each other. Also since my school has no media center it is hard to determine what would and wound not be available. We are in the process of finding a similar school to mine (urban school) that has a media center with an online catalog. It is proving to be quite challenging to find the resources we need for the project in the type of school I work in.
Overall I think that we are off to a great start and I hope that it continues to be a smooth collaboration!
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Pre Planning Blog
As I get ready to begin the collaborative unit plan there are a lot of things that are going through my mind. I hope that his project will help me see what the media specialist can offer in terms of collaboration. I have never had the chance to work with a media specialist before and have no idea what to expect. With no experience in this area, I don't know what will and will not work when it comes to collaboration. Although I know that we all have a lot to learn, it will be interesting to work with someone who has a least been exposed to the school library media center.
I am a little disappointed that we are not working with a teacher partner of our choice. I had planned on working with another teacher at my school that has a very similar teaching style to my own. Although I know that I will have to work with teachers in very different styles it would have been nice to start off with someone who plans similarly to me. I was also looking forward to the opportunity to visit a school media center to get some ideas, but have found with the new partnerships that it would be more convenient for me to be the classroom teacher since I am currently teaching now.
Being a current teacher will be a strength for me in this project since lesson planning is part of my daily job duties. I will be able to create a lesson plan that I can use immediately and will be able to implement the collaborative information in my classroom. I also feel that being a classroom teacher will benefit my partner because she will get the opportunity to work with a teacher just as it will be once working in a school.
My weaknesses for this collaboration will be the fact that I have no experience or exposure to the media center. I do not know what it has to offer and what is available to me, especially since I cannot see the media center from which the collaboration will take place.
As for unit plan ideas I will be creating my plan for 8th grade science which is one of the subjects and grades that I currently teach. I came to this decision based on the information from my partner's background. She has access to a high school media center. In 8th grade science there are no GLCE's so for planning purposes, the high school science benchmarks are used. This should make it easier to locate resources for the unit, despite the fact that the level of the students and the media center are different.
I hope that this collaboration will benefit both myself and my partner as we continue on our educational journey to become school library media specialists.
I am a little disappointed that we are not working with a teacher partner of our choice. I had planned on working with another teacher at my school that has a very similar teaching style to my own. Although I know that I will have to work with teachers in very different styles it would have been nice to start off with someone who plans similarly to me. I was also looking forward to the opportunity to visit a school media center to get some ideas, but have found with the new partnerships that it would be more convenient for me to be the classroom teacher since I am currently teaching now.
Being a current teacher will be a strength for me in this project since lesson planning is part of my daily job duties. I will be able to create a lesson plan that I can use immediately and will be able to implement the collaborative information in my classroom. I also feel that being a classroom teacher will benefit my partner because she will get the opportunity to work with a teacher just as it will be once working in a school.
My weaknesses for this collaboration will be the fact that I have no experience or exposure to the media center. I do not know what it has to offer and what is available to me, especially since I cannot see the media center from which the collaboration will take place.
As for unit plan ideas I will be creating my plan for 8th grade science which is one of the subjects and grades that I currently teach. I came to this decision based on the information from my partner's background. She has access to a high school media center. In 8th grade science there are no GLCE's so for planning purposes, the high school science benchmarks are used. This should make it easier to locate resources for the unit, despite the fact that the level of the students and the media center are different.
I hope that this collaboration will benefit both myself and my partner as we continue on our educational journey to become school library media specialists.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
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