How effective were your actions in helping you meet your goals?
At this point I have implemented two activities/projects that incorporated technology as well as had them use their creativity. The actions I took to implement those activities mostly came through conversations and brainstorming with colleagues. I find that my searches on the Internet have not been as successful. In some cases I think I am being too specific or looking for the perfect activity. When I don’t find something I refine my search to something else, and generally I am too broad then. The textbook and DVD segments have given me ideas that I have written down to use in the future though.
What have you learned so far that you can apply in your instructional practice? O
ne of these activities was more successful than another. The one that was not as successful was a data analysis activity that utilized Microsoft Excel, yet only a handful of students had experience with Excel and knew what a spreadsheet even was. Part of the unsuccessfulness of this activity was my fault because I did not inquire about the students’ skills prior to starting and I did not go into enough depth as to how to use Excel…I should’ve known - assume nothing! My students are in need of much more guidance getting started using the technology than I thought.
What do you still have to learn? What new questions have arisen?
Since my students need to learn the technology before they can actually use it, how much time should I spend with the introduction? I feel like my students would be able to click around and figure out most things but they tend to not like to do that in an academic setting. They would love to explore a new cell phone or digital camera, but exploring Excel isn’t high on my students’ list of things to do.
How will you adjust your plan to fit your current needs?
Currently things are slightly chaotic because there is a push on the standardized tests and the holidays coming up. I am trying to continue to integrate technology a little at a time to get my students used to using it first. I still need to give my students some more freedom to control their learning but I am struggling with how to do that while still making sure that the standards are met and all students are meeting the same standards.
Any suggestions?
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Something I have found very effective is the concept of "guided practice." This is something we probably already do for many things (especially brand new activities), but I am constantly reminded that students need time to practice skills that I had assumed that they would able to manage on their own. With guided practice, you begin by giving some simple steps for the students to follow and then a couple of minutes for the exploration of those steps. Then, you model something a little deeper and follow up with practice time. Eventually, you can give the students more freedom to find out some things on their own and report their findings back to the class. It does take time to do this, but it is time well spent. If your colleagues are up to it, maybe dividing some of the guided practice amongst the different content areas would be helpful, too. Here is a website that goes into more detail about guided practice... (again, it is nothing new really, just a good reminder that there is a good process to the practice):
ReplyDeletehttp://www.suite101.com/content/guided-practice-a214274
Good luck with your projects!