Final Board and Reflection

Final Project: Board Builder- Environments

I created this board to teach students about different environments or ecosystems around the world. I wanted to provide them with an opportunity to continue to develop their respectful and ethical minds through science by learning about the world around them. The Discovery Education board that I created meets one of my science standards as well as introduces another. It will be a perfect starting point for students to work through either together on our SMART Board or independently on computers or iPads.

         Howard Gardner describes the respectful mind as one that notes          and welcomes differences between individuals and groups, tries to          understand others and seeks to work with them. He also mentions that the world is interlinked and that intolerance and disrespect should no longer be an option as the respectful mind develops. Gardner then explains that the ethical mind ponders the nature of one’s work, as well as the needs and desires of the society that one lives in. When developing the ethical mind, one works selflessly to improve all (Gardner, p.3).

My board focuses on the characteristics animals and plants need in order to survive in different environments. Students will first view a few short video clips about plant and animal survival in environments. One of the clips is about the deciduous forest, which is most similar to the environment in which we live. While students are viewing the four clips, they will be taking notes on characteristics plants and animals must have in order to survive, as well as noting differences between the environments. This will allow for us to have discussions based on their understandings as to how the environments relate to human life and everyday living.

My goal, through the use of this board, is that students will be able to recognize that our (all living things) resources are different depending on which environment that we live in. However, based on what is provided and what we can do to help ourselves, of course without harming nature, is living life just they same as we do, it just may look a little different. I want my students to look at places around the world with an open mind and not be judgmental to how others are living, but to recognize their environment and see how they are using their resources in order to survive and live a fulfilling life. As Gardner says, “A truly respectful individual offers the benefit of the doubt to all human beings” (Gardner, p.113).

I know as a fourth grade teacher that I am simply helping students build the blocks that will be the foundation for their learning and understanding through life. Through lessons like this and others, I hope my students will ask themselves “What is the right thing for me to do?” (Gardner, p.144) as they are “…all humans as part of a single community” (Gardner, p.120) including both all living and non-living entities.

Resource:

Gardner, H.  (2008). Five minds for the future. Boston, Mass.: Harvard Business Press.

Final Project- Interactive Whiteboards

EDIM 516 Final Project-Interactive Whiteboards
Click the link above to view my movenote video presentation.

Magazine Curation

Beneath all clips of articles and blogs you will see Ashley Scott says..that is where I have provided my interpretation, or annotation for each of the sites that I obtained information and/or images from.

Presentation can be found here.

*Images with data or information in regards to Interactive Whiteboards are from sites within my magazine.

*All other images were from a Google Search: Interactive Whiteboards or thumbs up

Looking Ahead: My Five Minds

How I plan to continue to develop my five minds for my future and for my students based on Five Minds for the Future by Howard Gardner and my take away from the readings, as well as this course. 

Resources:

Gardner, H. (2008). Five minds for the future. Boston, Mass.: Harvard Business Press.

Google Image Search: Five Minds

Respectful and Ethical Minds

The interview with Vicki Davis and Julie Lindsay was eye opening and engaging to me as I had never heard of the Flat Classroom Project, let alone the terms flattening the classroom. I was understanding it as taking the current curriculum that you have and with other classes around the country or world, having the students teach one another based on their interpretation. Following the interview video, I began to look up the Flat Classroom Projects and was happy to find links that worked, the first was frozen by the court. (Flat Classroom Project, Flat Connections) I was able to find the wiki pages of previous projects and had a new understanding for the "A Week in the Life" projects that are designed for grades three through five. Instead of it being related to curriculum, it is teaching other students what a week in your life is like with questions geared toward the students i.e. school days, after school, home, etc. It would be a perfect opportunity to tie into our writing and social studies curricula as well as incorporate the use of digital media and making global connections.

"A truly respectful individual offers the benefit of the doubt to all human beings" (Gardner, p.113)

As I reflected on the interview and both the respectful and ethical minds, I kept bringing my thoughts back to the Rachel's Challenge initiative that our school has adopted and implemented. It isn't an idea that I personally have created or discovered, but that my school, as a whole, has chosen to utilize as model for teaching students many of the traits or characteristics associated with the respectful and ethical minds.  Here you can learn all about Rachel's Challenge and how it is used and I will also give you examples of how I believe this program fosters collaboration among my colleagues as well as our students and how it helps to develop our students' respectful and ethical minds. Rachel Joy Scott was the first student killed at Columbine in 1999 and is remembered as a student who was always looking out for others, whether they were new, being picked on or were just different than others. As a teenager, Rachel had a strong developmental base of all five minds.

"As disciplined learners, it is our job to understand the world. But if we are able to be ethical human beings, it is equally our job to use that understanding to improve the quality of life and living and to bear witness when that understanding (or misunderstanding) is being used in destructive ways" (Gardner, 142). 

Within our school, which houses grades 3-6, our guidance counselor has made it her mission to improve the way our students behave and view one another. She has taken the time to educate the staff in our building on Rachel's Challenge and uses the program when she meets with students throughout the school year. One initiative that we started last year was the creation of links, where teachers and students could fill out a slip of construction paper with a positive message when someone had said or done something that made them feel important, because that person had gone out of their way to notice or help them. Once the student filled out the link, then the student could either show that person or simply put it in the envelope. From there, a group of students would meet, fold and staple them into links and add them to the chain. It was great to see at the end of the year the long chain that students just from my room had created! (Wishing now I would have taken a picture of my students with their chain!) Through many of the statements that Gardner used throughout the text in both chapters on the respectful and ethical minds, I was writing them down as quotations that would be perfect to display to students or use throughout lessons. This one in particular reminded me of a lesson my students were engaged in with the Rachel's Challenge program that teaches students about differences, especially special needs, and how they are no different than you or I. " I call on human beings to accept the differences, learn to live with them, and value those who belong to other cohorts" (Gardner, p.107). Our students are great friends to the students with special needs in our building and grade levels; they accept them into their groups of friends and treat them with dignity and respect. 

"…all humans as part of a single community" (Gardner, p.120).

Throughout the school year, the students work on many projects together and discussions within their core classes and the program with the guidance counselor in which they are collaborating with their peers and teachers. Our students are beginning to learn and ask themselves the important question that Gardner reiterates throughout the chapter on the ethical mind, "What is the right thing for me to do?" (p. 144). This wonderful initiative was first implemented with the idea of anti-bullying and helping students to see ways out of being a bully as well as being bullied. It has transformed into something much larger, where we recognize that we are a community and it is our duty to unconditionally accept and respect all within, tolerating those that are not ethically oriented and not stooping to their level. However, our students are still developing this frame of mind, so it will take strong positive models in order to guide them down the right path from this point forward, as most of them were not oriented with ethical or respectful individuals in the early stages of their lives.  

"…we should whenever possible, give priority to respect for those with different backgrounds and beliefs--and hope that they will return the favor" (Gardner, p.119). 

References:

Gardner, H. (2008). Five minds for the future. Boston, Mass.: Harvard Business Press.

Rachel's Challenge. (n.d.). Rachel's Challenge. Retrieved August 2, 2014, from http://www.rachelschallenge.org

Gamification of behavior modification

(Image: Gamification Education) 

Initially the idea of gamification in education brought to mind the incorporation of games that practice certain skills, whether they be math or language arts related. As I began to further read about gamification, I realized that these games that I believed were enhancing students understanding, as well as incorporating digital media effectively, were truly just like any ordinary assignment, quiz or test, just in a different format. Most of the games we use are ones that students must answer problems and get the correct answer to move forward towards a goal or certain achievement. Which is great, but it is just play. Even though, one piece of information that was relayed throughout all of the readings and videos for this week was, that play is an important and healthy part of brain development. While I whole heartedly agree with that statement, I don't believe that all of the games or online activities students participate in during a school day are particularly aiding in brain development. Yes, students may learn and realize that if they keep trying at something they can find the correct answer or the solution to the problem, but are they able to recognize the steps that got them there, or are they solely focused on the end achievement of winning? And if that is the case, are we teaching them any life skills to benefit them further on? 

One specific example of gamification in the classroom is ClassDojo, which something that I am interested in experimenting with at least one of my classes this upcoming school year. While reading about the Top 10 Education Gamification Examples that will Change our Future, I came across ClassDojo and was immediately intrigued. ClassDojo provides a gaming scenario where students have an avatar and can earn positive or negative points individually and as a class based on their behavior. The teacher can set goals and provide immediate feedback. Teachers spend a large amount of their time with students focused on behavior management rather than instruction . This gamification provides teachers with a digital media platform that promotes positive behaviors within the classroom, and focuses more on the positive of reaching their goals, rather than the negative which is generally associated with behavior management within the classroom. This brief video is an introduction to ClassDojo for students which explains what it is and how it can be used. It then finishes with setting the teacher up to introduce how they plan to use it within their own classroom. 

As I began to have an understanding of what it was, I was curious to see how teachers were using ClassDojo within their own classrooms. Both of the examples below show two brief snapshots of how it is being incorporated into their behavior management system. 

• This first link shows how Matt Hurst begins each class using ClassDojo and his SmartBoard.
• This next link goes into more detail with how Mr. Tyler Keefe incorporates ClassDojo throughout the day with his students.

As I continued my search to see how other educators were using ClassDojo, I turned to Twitter to find hundreds of different tweets, links and blogs related to the use of their digital media behavior management tool, which best of all is FREE! Within the ClassDojo Twitter feed, I stumbled upon a blog Teaching Organization through Interactive Notebooks. Coming upon my second year of teaching, and being responsible for preparing my students for state testing in science, I found this a very simple and easy way to incorporate writing into our science classrooms more easily. I also believe it would be a motivating way for students to take pride in their work as well as utilize the ClassDojo behavior management tool to earn points for completed assignments within their notebooks. 

Positives

• Engaging digital media platform for behavior management that allows students to see exactly how they are doing.
• Provides an interactive way for teachers, students and parents to view behavior each day within the classroom.
• Students can take ownership of their character and their behavior. 
• Can be accessed on multiple devices, anywhere.
• Can set individual and whole class goals, rewards, or consequences based on end of day report.
• Can be used to take class attendance and hold students accountable for any assignments or tasks.

Negatives

• I didn't like how it seemed that Mr. Tyler Keefe always had his phone on him and was constantly accessing it.
• It seemed like a distraction, more so to him and his focus on his classroom, than to his students.
• It could become very time consuming until you have a rhythm for its use within your classroom.
• You need to be able to update it throughout the day.
• Would seem to work best on an iPad or other tablet device, rather than a phone, which would have personal distractions. 
• Then you run into BYOD policies if your district doesn't have a tablet device available for you. 
• Could provide distractions to students and problems as they see you constantly accessing a device. 

Motivators

Extrinsic: Students have goals and objectives that need to be met in order for them to earn points. If the goals and objectives are met, then they are able to earn points which allow them to move up in levels or earn rewards, however the teacher has it set up. I would have it set up so that individually and as a class students would be responsible for keeping track of their points. Once students and the class reach certain point amounts, they could move up a level and at certain levels there would be rewards available that the students and I have determined together. However, there would also be consequences if students earned below a certain point value for the day or if students lost points for a day, instead of earning. This would encourage team work and show students that they have choices to make each day with the outcomes being different, which should in turn lead them to successful choices individually and as a class. The teacher is then shifting the focus of behavior management from him/herself to the students, which leads to intrinsic motivation.

Intrinsic: Students need to take ownership and pride of their character and behaviors that they display both in and out of school. By incorporating ClassDojo, I would be providing a means of accountability for their actions, or teaching them how to behave and treat others in a way that is socially acceptable. This is something that is falling more and more upon the teachers, and this method would provide the ideal platform for social education without a lecture. If students are able to receive positive feedback, as well as recognize any negatives, then they will hopefully develop or build upon a sense of ownership and pride in their successes and continue to strive to do better each and every day. The successes and sometimes failures they see through their avatar, which is just an exciting or engaging representation of themselves, will continue to be a challenge for them to overcome or excel upon throughout the course of the year.

All in all, I look to use ClassDojo as a motivating way to focus on positive behaviors rather than the negatives and to give students the opportunity to see what I am thinking directly in terms of class and individual behavior. This would provide a means to hold students accountable for individual, group and class actions as well as allow me to reward them for their positive actions and completion of tasks or assignments. I would like to use it at the beginning of each class, as Matt Hurst did utilizing his SmartBoard, and also find a way to incorporate it within my classroom routine, without having to constantly be on a device. Students would be accountable for keeping track of their points earned each day and week on an individual, group and whole class basis. We would review the results at the end of each day prior to dismissal which would allow for any discussion to happen which not only encourages an open line of communication, but also allows for a fresh start the next day.

(Images found through a Google Image Search: ClassDojo)

SOS: Similarities and Differences

            

SOS: Similarities and Differences

            In my classroom I am constantly brainstorming ways to keep my students engaged and to create an active learning environment. Active learning is defined as “anything that students do in a classroom other than merely passively listening to an instructor's lecture” (Merlot Pedagogy). When having students identify the similarities and differences of natural and human-made systems I am encouraging them to compare, classify and create both analogies and metaphors (Ohio Dept. of Education). While the students are engaged in the activity of identifying the similarities and differences, it also holds each student accountable. I can easily see whether students are correctly classifying the natural and human-made systems and base any further instruction off of these results (Liscom, E.). Therefore, my goal is to provide the instruction and understanding that they need in order to create a tool (graphic organizer), which they can build upon, for further understanding of systems, models, and patterns. I feel that when utilizing the strategy of identifying similarities and differences, I am meeting each of these five teaching styles which allow for me accommodate to students’ needs and learning styles (Concordia University). Not only has identifying similarities and differences improved students’ understanding of content, but it has also proven to increase writing quality when graphic organizers have been utilized (Ohio Dept. of Education).

            The integration of digital media through the use of videos, presentations and interactive sites would further student understanding of the concept, as well as, encourage active participation. Utilizing the SMART Exchange lesson would give the students a brief idea of the concept being discussed and then allow students to use prior knowledge to sort the objects. This would initiate great conversation and student engagement prior to any instruction. Following with the Discovery Education video would allow students to see a natural and human-made system and then be introduced to the nervous system, which is natural and crucial for our survival. The video compares the nervous system to the system of a computer, which would provide for a great visual example for the students. I would also look to compose a Prezi or other video to enhance to use of digital media within this lesson. Either would provide students with further knowledge as well as opportunities to engage within the lesson, specially interacting within our science notebooks. I believe that teachers look to digital media as a means of connecting with students in today's society, which increases its value when used in the classroom. That being said, the modes of using digital media within the classroom are not the sole focus of the lesson, but a tool used to bring visual clarity, practice, and further understanding to the concept. 

Resources:

100% Educational Videos, Discovery Education (2012). The Nervous System:Introduction to Body Systems. [Video Clip]. Available from http://www.discoveryeducation.com/

[hllambeth]. (2013, February 3). Nature Made vs. Man Made. SMART Exchange. Retrieved July 27, 2014, from http://exchange.smarttech.com/details.html?id=e209a51e-cb9b-4396-849b-8901657dbe50

Liscom, E. (2013, August 5). Education to the Core: Six Teaching Strategies I Couldn't Live Without. Education to the Core: Six Teaching Strategies I Couldn't Live Without. Retrieved July 27, 2014, from http://www.educationtothecore.com/2013/08/six-teaching-strategies-i-couldnt-live.html

Merlot Pedagogy. (n.d.). Teaching Strategies. Retrieved July 27, 2014, from http://pedagogy.merlot.org/TeachingStrategies.html

Concordia University - Portland Online. (n.d.). Concordia University Portland Online:Most Common Teaching Styles used with Elementary School Students. Retrieved July 27, 2014, from http://education.cu-portland.edu/blog/reference-material/most-common-teaching-styles-used-with-elementary-school-students/

Ohio Department of Education. (n.d.).Teaching Effective Learning Strategies: Similarities and Differences. Retrieved July 27, 2014, from http://ims.ode.state.oh.us/ode/ims/rrt/research/Content/similarities_and_differences_what_we_know.asp

Tyson, K. (2014, January 5). Marzano's 9 Effective Instructional Strategies. . Retrieved July 27, 2014, from http://www.learningunlimitedllc.com/2014/01/infographic-marzanos-9-effective-instructional-strategies/

Creativity to a 4th grader

I had a discussion with a student of mine from last year, who also happens to be my "nephew" (cousin's son). He seemed very confused with what I was asking him and I sensed that he was trying to give me the "just right" answer. I kept talking to him and insuring him that he could answer with however he really wanted to and that my questions had nothing to do with our school. Still, he continued to think before answering and I felt he was only skimming the surface. I would have LOVED to have had this discussion with all three of my groups last year and get their feedback, yet it is summertime and I'm at the beach, so a phone call with my "nephew" will have to do for now. 

These are the questions I asked him and the responses he gave to me.
What does creative or creativity mean to you? What does it mean to be creative?
-You have different things around you and you can make different things. Being creative means using different resources than you might usually have or choose to use. 

What does that look like in your classrooms (creativity or being creative)?
-In math class we got to make goo and that was creative because we got to choose our colors and make something different.
-In science class when we made our projects about the planets, we got to be creative.

What would you change?
-Maybe have more projects and creative activities, especially around holidays or special times. LIke maybe for Halloween, we could make a statue. We could use paper and make bones and then create a skeleton. 

What is important about your classroom with technology and creativity?
-We were able to discover really neat websites when researching for our planets and they (the technology) helps us when we want to look things up and find answers to things.

What would you want to change about your classroom when it comes to technology and creativity?
-To have more computers or devices available in the classroom so that we can use them. It would be really great to be able to use them more for writing time to be able to create our essays and projects on them.

*This student has an iPad at home, a computer available and internet access. He utilizes several types of apps and will be going into 5th grade next year. I thought it was very interesting, considering what he has available to himself at home, that he didn't want to incorporate any of that into the classroom or improve the amount of usage or devices that could be available to us. This student doesn't particularly enjoy writing, so I think it is wonderful that he brought up writing and that it would be a good change to use the devices to "write" with. If we had more devices available per grade level or students, then it would allow us to create ways for students to enjoy writing within the devices that they are familiar with.*


Images from Google Search:
Creativity in Classroom
Technology in Classroom