Prezi Project- The Water Cycle

Prezi-The Water Cycle

I know that at some point prior to my fourth grade students coming to my class that they have had some experience with the term water cycle. However, I have no idea to the extent at which they have studied this topic. Therefore, it is my job to ensure that students not only have a mastery of the water cycle at the level in which we will study it, but also that they have the capacity to be able to renew this craft through regular application through the years (Gardner, 2008, p. 43). This will meet the duel meanings of the word discipline in relation to the “Five Minds” that Gardner speaks of.

The media infused presentation that I created will help foster the development of a disciplined mind as it follows the four essential steps in order to achieve a disciplined mind (Gardner, 2008, p.32-35). The important concept has been outlined, there are a variety of models and examples, the topic is being approached in a number of ways, and there are ample opportunities for students to perform their understandings. I feel that this media infused presentation is engaging and interactive which follows what Plato is quoted for saying that “Through education we need to help students find pleasure in what they have to learn” (Gardner, 2008, p.41).

In order to foster the development of a synthesized mind, information has to be taken from various sources, time to understand the information needs to be given, and the learner needs to collate the information into a way that makes sense and can be applied (Gardner, p.3). Throughout the media presentation that I created about the water cycle, I have used visual examples, video segments and audio files that build upon the topic which will allow students with different learning styles to pull away the information needed in order to understand how and why water goes through phases. From the first clip to the last, students should be able to make connections with time to process and write down their thoughts and then apply them at the conclusion. Without this synthesizing students would be overwhelmed and unable to make connections for their personal self or for the sake of applying the information pushed to them (Gardner, 2008, p.18).

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

The Synthesizing Mind

So I have to say creating an eduClipboard was anything BUT simple or user friendly. I attempted to create an account using my school email information, however, I never received the email in order to be able to access my account. Therefore, I ended up just using my google account, thankfully that was a simple process (YAY, Google!). 

With all of that being said, here is my eduClipboard. Howard Gardner states that "there is a motivating goal; an initial stance taken by the synthesizer; a set of tools or strategies that can be employed; one or more interim syntheses; and at least some criteria by which the success of the synthesis can be evaluate." (Gardner, p.58).  I decided to go with a topic of study that my students already thoroughly enjoy and include graphics, interactive sites and videos to further enhance our study on Ecosystems and Food Chains. Fourth grade has an emphasis on Biological Sciences, especially in relationship to the study of plants and animals, their structure/function, continuity of life, and ecological behavior and systems. My clipboard focuses first on an image of a butterfly landing on a flower in a field which is an ecosystem and each play an integral part in one another's survival in that ecosystem. Following, is a simple diagram of an ecosystem that shows not only parts in an ecosystem but the flow of energy as well, which is something we also focus on when we study food chains. The next three links have activities or videos to engage students in the topic of study which will in turn, hopefully, help them to synthesize all of the content and information that is being covered. My goal would be to use this clipboard throughout the unit, as well as provide it to students to access on their own as a study tool. My hope will be, that when they are assessed, they are able to prove a strong understanding and application of the content.

Resources:

Babwahsingh, M. ( Illustrator). (2012). Synthesizing [Image], Retrieved July 10, 2014, from: http://michaelbabwahsingh.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/vizthink_synthesizing.png

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

Acceptable Use Policy Overload

   
  When I first started researching my district's acceptable use policy (AUP), I was bombarded with an eight page document that I needed to reread several times in order to grasp the concepts and big ideas. Those eight pages did not include the additional two pages of a filtering policy, the two pages for cyber bullying and social networking education,  the four page staff AUP signature agreement, or the eight page student AUP signature agreement. I wanted to take the student AUP and modify that, however when I pulled it up, parts were blacked out and I was unable to read the majority of it. I decided to look at the eight page AUP along with the policy in place for filtering. I took the two of those documents and condensed them into a one page document. I did keep a lot of the terminology but also tweaked it so that it is a little more user friendly.

Here is my revised addition of my district's current AUP:

I also chose to incorporate some of the key ideas that caught my attention from the YouTube video featuring  Bud Hunt, Joe Wood and Mike Gras. I appreciated Joe Wood's input that the network belongs to the children and teachers as they make up the majority usage, along with his closing relating to technology and policies being that it is all about education and expectations of behaviors. I took away that he was stating that  if staff and students are educated on behaviors and expectations for usage, you will have the community that Bud Hunt was stating in his final statement. I would like to believe that most teachers in our building understand the pressure that our technology department is under and look up to them as powerful resources whom we are grateful for whenever we see them enter our room, as it means they have heard our cries and are coming to rescue us! Bud Hunt also made me realize how stretched technology departments, within school districts, truly are. I know that our tech department would probably be better off with a  few more staff members which would help alleviate the long hours they put in all year long. They are just as much a district employee as I am and their job would run more smoothly if the other employees within the district were more educated on our technology resources. Finally, I feel that our tech department in our district does just what Mike Gras said, they trust their teachers. When I have a problem with a  site link not working or if we have a site that was once accessed (new security this past year) then we just have to fill out an online tech request and it will be taken care of. We even receive alerts when it has been assigned, who it is assigned to and once it has been resolved.
At the conclusion of the week's readings and assignment, I have a greater appreciation for the work that our technology department puts into our district, the policies it has to uphold as well as creating and revising policies with the school board. I would love to obtain access to our student AUP signature piece and reword that into terminology that my students would understand. That piece would make a wonderful mini lesson during the first week of school in order to make students fully aware of what they and their parents are signing for.


These links will take  you to my district's list of policies as well as the individual policies that I used to create my own:
TASD- Policies
TASD-AUP
TASD-Criteria for Filtering





References:
Pyne Arts Technology. (Photographer). (2013). Student Acceptable Use Policy [Web Photo]. Retrieved from https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF461wOyUOdeKGbF5ekERmcBFhzOCDCWuilNKhcoGaOewuII-4S6L0uWnVYs73kyiaNiYuVvl0A3V7ndQIpevBxJugvjeQq_5IrJg5TrT_d-IT1hxuRd9ukCemvcJ6aPt4zWDqtdqMEA/s1600/AUP.png

Shareski, D. (2014, March 16) EDIM516 Network Filtering [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sThQDRqMzYw&list=UUaAh-TmAdlzAuASh_fR6-gA

University of Missouri-College of Veterinary Medicine. (Photographer). (2013). Acceptable Use Policy [Web Photo]. Retrieved from http://it.cvm.missouri.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/AcceptableUse.jpg

Blog on Digital Media: Plant Trading Card

I chose to create a trading card using Big Huge Labs for my fourth grade science classes. My intention for this trading card would be to present it at two different points throughout our year-long study. The first would be during our unit on the Nature of Science in which we will differentiate between natural and human made systems. Students would need to be able to recognize that plants are natural systems. I could use this trading card as a displayed picture through the smart board and it could be our opening as we begin our lesson on systems. Students could do a Type 1 write up (Collins Writing) answering the questions listed within the areas on the trading card. A Type 1 writing is similar to a brainstorm in which the students do not need to have the correct responses, but need to have a certain number of lines written in a certain amount of time all relating to the topic. The second point in our year-long study that I could utilize this image again, would be during our second unit of study on Biological Sciences where we explore how the parts of a plant work together to provide what it needs. Instead of using it as a brainstorm in the beginning of the unit, I could use it as an assessment tool near the middle or end of the lesson relating to plant parts, displaying the image through the smart board. This would allow us to discuss systems again and make connections to new learnings. However, this time I would ask students for a Type 2 writing (Collins Writing) where I would be looking for a correct response to all three open-ended areas within the card. It is visually appealing, relates to two areas of study within our science curriculum and would be opportunities to use writing within science class. 

Resources:

BigHugeLabs: Do fun stuff with your photos. (n.d.). BigHugeLabs: Do fun stuff with your photos. Retrieved July 3, 2014, from http://bighugelabs.com

Collins Writing Program. (2013). Five Types of Writing ~ Collins Writing Program. Retrieved July 3, 2014, from http://www.collinsed.com/5types.htm

Fuqua, P. (2005). Flower, orange hibiscus. [Image]. Retrieved July 3, 2014, from: http://www.discoveryeducation.com/

Curation + Aggregation = Confused Station

As I began Unit 2 I realized how "behind the times" I am for a younger, newer teacher. I began drowning in the amounts of information I was finding, reading about, and the sites I was beginning to access. I have never used Feedly, or Symbaloo or accessed any of the blogs and sites others have referred to as being their go to's for information. I am a guilty Google search engine user. I say guilty now because I am aware of how my searches are geared towards me and that I am only seeing a single story, not the whole picture, thanks to the two TED clips (Beware of online "filter bubbles" and The Danger of the Single Story). My eyes are now open and I'm on the hunt to find a curation/magazine tool that works for me and is something that I can balance and utilize for myself, my students and my PLC. 

• What tools have I explored and what made me choose this one? When I'm thinking of sources, what influences my decision?
• The tools that I have currently explored include Feedly and Symbaloo. Within Feedly I have began to access other tools and resources to delve into. I created a content area that I titled EducateME in which I added TEDTalks, Larry Ferlazzo, Free Technology for Teachers, and Edudemic. I know that in our text the suggestion when beginning was to only choose three to seven so as not to create overload, so my hope is that I won't feel bombarded (McLeod & Lehmann, p.43). I chose Feedly as a source to pull information in that would benefit my teaching career, both professionally and in order to serve my students, and it is a method that allows me to choose topics and sites that will send me information. It appeals to me as it brings content, news, and information directly to me. It allows me to look at those pieces in a snapshot view and choose whether or not I go any further. It seems to be quite user friendly and there are several videos on youtube that can be accessed when questions arise. I also chose Symbaloo as a source to organize the many sites I access on a daily basis to browse or use certain features. I can see myself benefitting from this tool as it is visually appealing, easy to access and use, FREE and suits my need for having an organized place for all of the places I like to visit on the web. That being said, it will benefit me greatly when going back and forth between my work and home computer. I will no longer have two separate toolbars with completely different pins that I can't ever remember the direct link to. It's a great solution to your typical bookmarks, or so it seems thus far. I look forward to using both tools throughout the summer to prepare for the upcoming school year and to keep myself educated with current technologies that better serve my students.

• How many of my sources are teachers or practitioners, how many are considered experts, do I have a balance?
• Outside of using my colleagues, my initial sources would include Pinterest, Twitter, YouTube, DE and search engines such as Google. With my new outlook on Google and other similar sites, I hope to utilize some of the blogs and videos I have been newly introduced to. Those particular sources that I have chosen are either run by teachers or they are directed toward teachers. I haven't done enough research to know whether or not they are run by experts, but I feel they each have more expertise than I do and will offer powerful search points when I'm looking for something specific. Between my colleagues, my initial sources and the new tools I have come across, I feel I will have a balance and be confident using them as credible resources that provide me with more than one story outside of my general search area.

• How will I look and find sources that will challenge me?    
• My intention is to use Feedly and other blogs to find sources that will continue to challenge me. Thus far, I feel challenged to understand the capacities at which I can use Feedly to broaden my searches, as well as find meaningful sources, other than the ones that Google provides to me based on its algorithm of what I click. My hope will be that the new sources I have found will encourage me to search for others, and that I will have a better understanding of how to go about this process.

I am wondering if there are tips and guidelines that some of you may have as I begin this new process ? I'm anxious and excited to begin this new journey and believe it will greatly benefit me as a learner and teacher. I look forward to reading the various sources my classmates are utilizing and their grasp on them.

McLeod, S., & Lehmann, C. (2012). What school leaders need to know about digital technologies and social media. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. 

EDIM 516: Unit 1

Hello all! I am Ashley Scott, a fourth grade teacher in Troy, PA where I teach Science and Social Studies to three groups. I also teach writing to my homeroom and have tutoring or seminar groups at various levels for math and reading throughout the year. This will be my second year as a full time teacher. I am taking my first two graduate classes this summer, EDIM 516 and EDIM 508, in hopes of increasing my awareness and abilities to incorporate digital media into my classroom. 

Throughout my first year of teaching I felt like I was scrambling to find enough teaching resources to cover the necessary content. For science, I was given a PSSA prep book and outdated mapping of curriculum as my guidelines. Throughout the first weeks of school, we used the PSSA prep book as a guide and then I was introduced to Discovery Education (DE). I used pieces from DE while I continued my hunt for other resources. I found that other grade levels in the district were given a science curriculum. So, I researched and found the means to get a "sample" of the fourth grade leveled curriculum. I linked the curriculum with the Pennsylvania State science standards for fourth grade and began mapping out the rest of the school year using the materials provided and DE. Occasionally, youtube or various other sites were used, but the curriculum I was sampling not only provided an online text, but also online videos and activities for each lesson and unit. Social Studies is a little different, a new curriculum had just been purchased at the end of the previous school year. We had teacher manuals, books for students and supplemental resources from local agencies as we cover Pennsylvania history. Once again, DE provided wonderful songs, videos and other resources that we were able to incorporate into our classes. 

For all of my classes, when I need more to enhance a lesson I first check with any colleagues also teaching the same curriculum or who have taught it before, as well as any colleagues teaching the same subject in various grade levels. Second, I go to Discovery Education (DE) and search for anything relating to the topic at hand in the appropriate grade level. Third, I search youtube. I don't have specific channels that I follow or have found, I just do a topic search and scan for anything credible. Lastly, it's a search on the web through either google or bing in hopes of finding something worthy to incorporate into my lessons. 

As I attempt and try various methods to incorporate new ideas or findings the constant challenge is having something for everyone. Whether it be a text/book for students to read in front  themselves or a computer/iPad so they can explore or follow along with what I am doing through the main computer and smart board. We are fortunate enough to have smart boards, computers, laptops and iPads, however the number of students in our building and grade level far exceed the amount of devices available. The second major challenge I find due to the number of devices is keeping the students engaged through the smart board and main computer. 

My goal and hope through the courses I am taking this summer is to have a stronger understanding of how to reach my students using the resources available and to have a wider array of resources to tap into when in need. 

EDIM 508: 140 characters about ME

Attached below you will find my tweet answering four questions about myself in 140 characters or less. This was definitely a challenge, but an enjoyable one.