KBerryhill’s Intel Blog

I have found throughout this unit that using technology makes projects so much more relevant and up to date. For instance, with Africa, conditions change day to day.  We did the Africa project (the old-fashioned way) before Christmas, and already elections have been held there and conditions have changed from that time. So that is one huge advantage of the internet, we can be up to the minute with our information and access news stories that are coming out today. My biggest problem with technology is that many of my students do not have computers, printers, or the internet at home. I have to try to make it fair for them and not give computer assignments that need to be done at home. I was very surprised at the number of my students who do not get the internet or have a printer. I find that technology is important to facilitating a student centered classroom so this is a challenge for educators in the future.

Module 6 was much easier than the previous two. I make modifications all the time in special education, so modifying the content for all learners came naturally. It doesn’t just have to be in special education. I always try to include a broad range of activities that appeal to all learning styles, and present information in several different ways. I have tried to make the unit as self-directed as possible, whether it is in the assessment or the activities. One advantage of this is that the students are in charge of their own learning. Many of them are not used to this–they are used to being told what to do by the teacher each step of the way.

I was surprised to find myself spending as much time on the assessment as on the student sample. I also found that by my own assessment, I would have gotten a mediocre grade on my student sample, so I had to go back and fix the sample as best as I could. The rubric is tough but fair, and it lets the student choose his own grade. In all the assessments I have tried to let the students be involved. The grades should not be a surprise. They should know the standards they will be judged by. They will be able to assess each others projects and their own and provide feedback. They will be getting feedback from the facilitator along the way.

Doing the student sample was difficult and time-consuming for me. I had trouble because I don’t understand the programs all that well. I don’t know all the features or how to work them, so it took longer. I really like my project and I am excited about how much better I can teach the Africa unit with technology instead of the same posters and reports that they have been teaching this unit with for so many years. I regret that I do not have more time to do it better and learn more of the powerpoint techniques so I could have a more polished and interesting presentation. If only there were more hours in the day.

The internet is so much more appropriate for this kind of a unit because it has up to the minute information instead of the stale information and misinformation they were getting from library books. Some of the library books they used for the Africa unit gave a completely false picture of Africa today. Conditions change quickly there and the internet is the best place to get current facts. I think the students will use the internet appropriately because they won’t have time to do anything else than their project.

I found this module extremely informative. “Choosing the best search” was so helpful, not just to this class, or teaching in general, but also to anything I want to research in my daily life. I wish I had time to investigate all the specialized search engines, and I hope I can find time in the future to do so because it really is a timesaver. I think my students can really benefit from this, we have a limited amount of time for research, and sometimes they have to share a computer. Not all have computer resources at home, so it is essential that they be able to search efficiently and not waste time. They need to have a copyright presentation so they properly cite things.

I thought I had a clear idea of what I wanted to do for my project when I came to class, but after doing the curriculum framing questions, I changed it. After further reflection, I changed it yet again. The curriculum framing questions really force you to look at what you want to teach, and how you want to teach it. As a new teacher to the school, I have gone along with many of the lessons that the other teachers are doing, and sometimes have been doing for many years. Some of the units could really use some updating. I chose to redo a unit that was stale and unexciting and had probably used the same lesson plan since the school was built.

The ongoing student assessments also helped me clarify my project and the form it would take. How could I best measure what they need to know and how can my students best get that knowledge? I tend to rely on quizzes, rubrics, tests–and this activity will help get me out of that rut and start using some other assessments.

I think that project based teaching will be a tremendous opportunity for both my special education and regular students, as well as for myself. As a history teacher I tend to do a lot of talking. But I love projects because kids retain information so much better when they can discover it themselves. Also, a lot of their focus is limited–they don’t have the attention span to retain a lot of facts, no matter how interesting. They need to move around. Right now we are very focused on TAKS in my classes and it is hard to find time to do projects–so that will be a challenge also.

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