Lesson Critique Comments

Jill Byrd’s Lesson Comments to other Group Members

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I too thought your initial critique was in depth and well thought out. I too had read through earlier and wonder what age/grade this lesson was written for, but I know the book well. I would think you could use this 1st through 3rd grade although the lesson itself sounds a little advance for a first grader. I think you did well with your comments and even offering an alternative assignment in place of the actual lesson plan. When thinking of the learning outcomes, and how the technology affordances help with achieving the objectives, I think that is a reason for coming up with an alternative assignment. The lesson itself seems to planned in such a way that the children may be very capable of using webquest- I think they would have to teach it to me:). I definitely think one area that could be noted is the intended age group and the age appropriateness of these assignments as written. Sometimes they don't always match up- just as some text books such as science and social studies are usually written above grade level. Also, I notice they use web quest to locate parts of the spider. Stephanie, is this same as finding images of spiders to use for illustration in a presentation? - sounds like they are comparing more than one if they are using a Venn diagram. Good job Stephanie for your initial ideas and getting started.

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Hey Stephanie- after spending some time reviewing my lesson, I thought I might have a suggestion to make the original ideas from the lesson you critiqued, and your alternative suggestion be more conducive to a younger grade such as K4 or K5 b/c I know you're working with that level now. What about setting up the power point templates for the students (they could work in pairs or groups) and let them work on them with Kids Pix or Kids Paint, drawing and illustrating the spider they have researched and any facts they have learned about their particular spider. Then you could save all templates and produced the power point presentation for them. When I commented last, I think I wrote before I understood exactly what webquest was. I was surprised to read that is was just a way to research a particular subject or topic.( I thought it was something more.) I think your 4 & 5 year olds could do that with perhaps some assistance and even some preset sites that could click on from the main screen as options for ones that need more help with navigating. It's amazing to see these young children can do a lot more than we think they can, but obviously some skills would have to be introduced before introducing this lesson. Your lesson critiqued really got me thinking... so thanks!

Hi Karen- Please don't worry that I will take anything that you or anyone in this group says to be rude. I will be the first to admit, I am probably the least knowledgeable when it comes to technology there is in this group, but I am learning more everyday :). And I have learned more today about web quest. When I saw it on Stephanie's critique I was thinking it had to be more than using the web for information. Then I looked it up in our book, and then while trying to find some support for my critique, I looked up webquest.org. I thought Stephanie was referring to a teacher made web quest. That is what I was viewing today. That being said, I think that a K4 or K5 student could possibly benefit from using a teacher made web quest. While some may be non-readers, I was thinking that children 4+-6 could research using a teacher made web quest, and see the images and pictures along with the text. The page could be printed and for a homework assignment/project, the children could take it home and read with their parents. Then the students could orally present 2-3 facts they learned about their subject or topic. My son as a kindergartener was a beginning reader, and this would have been a fun way for him to research. We actually had a similar project, but I just "googled"( didn't know about web quest) an animal for him. We selected a picture and read about it. He loved it, but he could have had the experience of finding his own animal and become more confident in his research once he was led to the teacher made web quest. Sorry for the confusion. Yes, it would be very hard for students this young to make their own web quest. Thanks for helping me to understand web quest more with your comments and questions. Now, I will have to learn how to teach older elementary students to make their own web quest :)

Karen - that would be a neat way if you could pair up with a lower elementary grade to do that. Your students as well as the younger ones could benefit and both would enjoy it!
Jill

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Hi Karen- Your thoughts on the lesson are good. I agree with you and Stephanie, that it does seem more teacher led than students at this age probably need. I looked up the sunset calculator and it just produces the data given the time zone the students put in. I suppose it generates the sunrise and sunset for the year that the students are to chart. Perhaps a good alternative to the lesson, as well as using the flashlight and ball as a physical example, would be to allow the students to research more about what is actually happening at sunrise and sunset. They could jot down some key facts and perhaps even save some images of the Earth at these times, thus showing sunlight on part of the Earth and yet still darkness in other areas. The obj. of the lesson was for students to chart sunrise/sunset for one year. I realize the lesson span was 45 mins. so maybe they are already doing that earlier. The original obj. can be met, but I think the teacher might add : students will demonstrate the ability to navigate on the internet and find information relating to sunrise and sunset times- Sunset Calculator. Also, I don't know how credible of a source I am to reference on your critique. Try looking up rubric on line- I found one assessing by LearnNC.org - you can find one supporting your idea of using rubrics for assessing technology use. Also, may another support of evidence could be drawn from the AL Course of Study - look up in the science section and see if this is an objective for students to learn about sunrise/sunset and charting and graphing. Hope these ideas help.

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Candance- I like your ideas you shared for alternative assessment. You could consider as this age allowing the students to be assessed with not only a checklist like a rubric, but perhaps have the students orally present 1-2 facts of their favorite bear they learned about the black, brown, polar.. and have them find a picture on the internet to share while orally presenting.
Also, I liked how you inserted your lesson into the critique. I could not figure out how to do that. Most of my lesson would not copy accurately.
Jill

A Powerful Resource

I think our last assignment really helped me realize how much teachers can utilize the Internet for just about anything. I am teaching preschool now after teaching & working in elementary schools for five+ years. It really wasn't until the last few years that I started using the internet to research information for ideas to use with my preschoolers. ( In case you think I have had my head in the sand, I have been at home with my two little ones that aren't so little anymore.) Now, if you want to know the truth about what I have been using the internet for...I have achieved quite a collection of great recipes-( I love cooking), researched symptoms of viruses, so I can know the full ray of every childhood illness that comes our way, and I have found more than my share of great buys on e-bay for little girls clothes!
As I get closer to returning to teaching full time, I am just amazed at the wealth of information available. I only got a taste of researching for a specific topic when I took my last class EEC 660 and really started to explore different on line journals. I loved it. A few weekends ago, when I began working on our lesson critique, we travelled to North Carolina to visit family. My sister -in-law recently became certified in Library Science after teaching for many years. She shared a couple of sites with me: learnnc.org and ncwiseowl.org Password: wiseowl. I was so impressed with both of these sites. I also just became familiar with the Alabama Learning Exchange. I didn't know it even existed until this assignment. Recently, I have been researching nursery ryhmes and activites. My class is composing a nursery rhyme book with a collection of art activites and the rhyme so each child will have one to take home and "read" with their parents. The Internet is so helpful to me to help bring new ideas to share with the other teachers so we can make the best choices in what we present. I am thrilled to know that I have so many websites to use to aide in lesson preparation when I return to teaching. This class has helped me see that and also it has opened my eyes to look for ways to incorporate available technology to enhance the presentation and to spark the student's interest in learning. The Internet is a powerful resource.

Thoughts on Lesson Critiques

This week's assignment has been fun. I enjoyed looking through the web finding a lesson I thought I might teach one day. The lesson on habitats I found was great and it allowed me to think through from the view of the teacher and actual application to the students. Since we have shared so much with each other online and through reading the chapters in our text, I have gained a lot of information about new technology that make presenting materials much more exciting and relatable. It is exciting to think that students can help create power-point templates, and storyboard templates to create power-point presentations and brochures that not only showcase their learning, but serve to connect their learning to a high level of comprehension that they will never forget.
I have also really enjoyed reading the other lessons selected by our group members and seeing how they can be improved with the addition of technology or how technology is presented and integrated. I love the feedback process and think that it is a wonderful tool to improve our work. When I taught, my grade level did not work together. It is so valuable and necessary for educators to brainstorm together, and review processes to make sure what we are presenting is in the best possible method. I have appreciated the feedback and think I have learned quite a bit through reading other's critiques to their lessons. I look forward to fine tuning my critique and reading the final versions!

Comments on Technology Affordances

Technology Affordances Comments

You are right, but I think you are thinking too hard on the affordances. Don't think of the specific examples for affordances. Think of the simple action it allows.
For example: email is a form of communication, between a sender and receiver(s), that allows both written and video conferencing.
Blog is a forum in which one can communicate and have the reader respond back online for all readers to see. Think basic at first for the affordances, and then your learning activities specify what can be done as an activity that results in the learning process. I think your learning activities look good.
Good luck! Look at a few others and see if that helps you. You're on the right track.- Jill

I think your learning affordances and activities are well thought out. I think yours teaches in the process, because I was not as familiar with wiki until this class, and I think anyone reading it could clearly see the difference in wiki and a basic web page. I was wondering about the web affordance where you listed one - usually web master writes and edits the content - I hope I am remembering exactly what I read- anyway I think it was the 2nd or 3rd one. At first, I thought that it didn't sound like an affordance, but that is an important one because the web page is different from wiki from that aspect because generally that person has control over material presented- you can really use that to target the sense that you may have more direct influence that way, whereas the wiki can allow others to comment thus having influence to the reader. Just a thought, but then again maybe I still don't have it right :) Anyway... good job. I think you could leave it bullet point if you wanted, but maybe condensed the size to a full page.

Stephanie- This looks really great. I was wondering if you should reword the affordance for the 1st paper/pencil. Instead of stating paper and pencil doesn't run out of batteries, maybe just reword and say pencil& paper is all that is needed to ...write and express oneself. That may not even sound great, but I was just thinking that it was stated as a negative and the affordance is what it allows. It just kind of stood out compared to some of the other ones.Everything else reads easily & learning activities are great! Jill

Technology Comments

I really like Group 2's idea of placing it in a Venn diagram. It was very easy to read and the technology that both students and teachers use was easily identified in this type of classification.

I thought Group #3 was very thorough. It did take a little longer to read through and follow across, but this is because they didn't combine to one cumulative list. Excellent job!

Group #5 did a nice job as well. I really liked the classification of technology and then how they showed some technology in several categories. I think it was easy to understand and in very clear terms.

I think Group 4 tried to separate everything into specific categories, but I found it a little strange that they had a category for extra multi-media when they could have listed it together with their first listing. Also, I thought their distance learning unique. I would also think you could consider some software that was listed in another category that as well. I think it just goes to show us that we all think of technology a little differently. I think maybe even our age has something to do with it. I read in the discussion that one school had not listed tv's as technology. I guess when you've never been w/o it, its not to you. I am 35, but I still think of tv's as being part of technology. I remember having a small black and white tv in my room- a Christmas present- I had asked for it. I think I could pick up 3 channels without an antenna hook up :)

Thoughts on Chapter 4

While reading chapter 4, one aspect of it stood out the most to me. The chapter included teaching with the basic software tools: word processing, spreadsheets, and database programs.I have the most experience using word processing in my personal life and when I taught. I found it interesting to see that these three were often referred to as the "technology toolkit" because they were design to save time with clerical tasks and make us work more efficiently. Word processing most definitely does that, and is cited as the most used software tool in schools. Both teachers and students are reported to use this software the most.
The chapter revealed that word processing has perhaps made the greatest impact on education for both teachers and students. It saves us time by allowing us to quickly modify documents and assignments much faster than by hand and typewriter. It obviously is more visually appealing and looks more polished than a hand written document. And it allows teachers and students to share materials easily. Teachers can also modify as necessary to fit their needs.
There has been many studies trying to determine the negative impact word processing may play in our classroom. The findings are mixed. The chapter cited several issues with word processing such as age to begin, keyboard skills, effects on penmanship, and effects on assessment. I can easily see concerns because I feel we live in an age now where computers are introduced at such a young age that children don't often see the value in learning to write on paper and edit. Everything is more exciting on the computer. I know I prefer to email people rather than write letters because that takes too much time and my handwriting might not be so neat. Young students need to learn proper penmanship. I don't feel it is a lost "art". I do believe we need to be cautious in trying to use word processing in place of actual writing but as students advance with progress, word processing is an important tool to learn and utilize. Is 4 or 5 too young to start or just right? Personally, from my own experience with my 7 year old, I can see the impact technology has had on him. I started him close to 3 on the computer. I waited a little later for my daughter. While I am glad he is comfortable on the computer, he often prefers it to other things. We as educators are most definitely dependent on word processing, and our students will become too as they get older. I think we need to be a little cautious about how much emphasis we put on it in the early grades in place of a well balanced approached.

When is Technology a Good Solution?

I think as educators we must ask ourselves that question as we plan to implement our lessons and think about the desired outcome we are wanting of our students. When I think back to my classroom days as a teacher, I realize I often got caught up in stating my objectives and goals in my lesson planning, but not always following through on the details that were actually going to be the "meat" of my presenting the new ideas and topics. I think as educators it is difficult to be the technology buff, and still do everything that is expected and required. While I was reading this past week, I notice that in Chapter 2 one of the key points stated " focus on results, not processes"- this got me thinking. If as a teacher we really aim to do this, then we do care how new information is presented because often how it is presented will make the difference in how it is retained. We strive to learn everything we can, and when we can't do it on our own we become that "squeaky wheel" that keeps bugging the technology person or anyone we think that can help us. I believe children learn best when we keep it fresh and engaging. Children do like routine,but they don't like to be bored either. To be able to show clips of history instantly, and pull up information on anything you possibly could be studying is amazing. While I was thinking on my tool affordances, library & internet, I realized that while we can do many things the old way it is so important to learn to do them the new, perhaps more effective way. This does not mean you have to abandoned everything " traditional", but you have to consider which is more effective for your desired objectives and learning outcomes.
So, the question, when is technology a good solution? I believe the answer to that is when you consider the impact that you want something to have on your daily teaching, and to the extent of reaching the many learning styles that children have within your classroom. If the tool allows you, as a teacher, to present something in an exciting, engaging way instead of just reading from a text and working a few questions.. I think the answer is an overwhelmingly YES! If your subject is getting lost in the presenting with technology then maybe you're trying too hard to integrate it when it may not be needed at that stage, or maybe you still have some learning to do. I know I have a lot to learn. Maybe I would be best to go and observe some teachers first hand and let them share their knowledge and experience with me. Time to use resources and " play" around with them sometimes is what we need to feel comfortable. I think if we let our students know we are still learning too, they see us being open with them and are more likely to experiment with new technology as well, and feel comfortable doing so.