The point of this final tech club meeting was to continue the stories the students did last week, and if any new students showed up allow them to work on new stories. We continued to use Storybird like last week and the program worked on all the computers. Since the group as a whole had knowledge about the software we could all help students equally. This allowed us to have our biggest group so far. Twelve Students! The students were however split into two groups because the library did not have that many computers together. Not due to any direct instruction the groups segregated by gender. The boys for the most part, all picked the same theme and made stories from the images. Or they finished stories from lack week. The girls did not pick the same theme as another girl and most were working on stories from last week.
Once again instruction came in the form of individualized lesson plans. The goal for all students was to finish a story using storybird, but the older the student the more they had to type for each image, and the more the story was supposed to flow from image to image.
Next time I would try to make sure no one was segregated. This allowed the boys to all use the same theme and not have to work as hard, while the girls did good work. Also allowing some time at the end for the students to read the stories if they wanted to.
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Tech Club Visit Number 5
The tech club meeting this Thursday really encapsulated the ups and downs of teaching. The students used an online program called storybird and one of the tech club members (kara bates) signed onto all the computers and the students created a story. Even though I attempted to get the group together to figure out how it works the group didn't want to do that so only Kara knew how it. The website allows students to pick an artistic style they like and then create a story around pictures that, that artist has created. Some collections have 4 or 5 dozen pictures, some have about a dozen. The students were instructed to pick a style they liked, then create a cover with their first name and a title of the book. Some students got upset because the pictures did not allow them to tell the story they wanted. One student did not want to do it at all and instead wanted to go ice skating. Regardless we pushed through. Each page was to consist of one picture and at least two sentences about the picture in regards to the story being told. The students completed as many pages as they could in the 30 minutes of allotted time. After the time was over (we had two groups) the students were asked if any of them wanted to read their stories and they were told they could complete their stories next week.
The second group was very productive, some students got to 8 pages and some got to 3. The program worked better the second time because all the tech club members understood how it worked while the first time we didn't. With a focus on typing using the homerow the students performed well enough for primary education students. There were common questions "how do you spell this," and "I am done with this page now what." And with four members of the tech club helping six students the questions got answered quickly. At the end almost the entire second group wanted to read their story out loud and the stories were comical, but did not exactly connect the pictures together. It was more a story about adventures various characters were having and each page was a new adventure. This works well enough but for older students I believe that there should be more 'connective tissue' between the pages.
One very funny part was two male students used a set of pictures that were meant to be the Lilad by Homer. One students decided his pictures were about the Revolutionary War, and the other student thought it was about "Warriors."
Next time I would have every member of the group understand how to use the program before attempting to tell students how to work it. Also give older students more instruction, more sentences, make each picture have to be related to the last one. But otherwise allow the student to develop creativity. I would keep this online website as a source for further enjoyment, but I can't understand how to use this creative tool in the classroom.
The second group was very productive, some students got to 8 pages and some got to 3. The program worked better the second time because all the tech club members understood how it worked while the first time we didn't. With a focus on typing using the homerow the students performed well enough for primary education students. There were common questions "how do you spell this," and "I am done with this page now what." And with four members of the tech club helping six students the questions got answered quickly. At the end almost the entire second group wanted to read their story out loud and the stories were comical, but did not exactly connect the pictures together. It was more a story about adventures various characters were having and each page was a new adventure. This works well enough but for older students I believe that there should be more 'connective tissue' between the pages.
One very funny part was two male students used a set of pictures that were meant to be the Lilad by Homer. One students decided his pictures were about the Revolutionary War, and the other student thought it was about "Warriors."
Next time I would have every member of the group understand how to use the program before attempting to tell students how to work it. Also give older students more instruction, more sentences, make each picture have to be related to the last one. But otherwise allow the student to develop creativity. I would keep this online website as a source for further enjoyment, but I can't understand how to use this creative tool in the classroom.
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Tech Club Visit Number 4
The students arrived to have a their ten minutes of typing practice on virtual piano. Afterwards they listened and asked questions about the phases of the moon and what causes them. A pre-assessment was informal given that allowed the students to explain what they know about the phases of the moon and what causes them. Their inability to explain why there is a full moon on the side of the earth that is opposite the sun caused a short informative session involving a flashlight and a "moon" on a pencil. Then the students were given a computer and shown a lunar phase program that allowed them to see how the moon orbits the earth and provide a deeper look into the phases of the moon. This took thirty minutes.
The lecture did not work, I asked two of the students after tech club was done for the day what they learned and they couldn't remember a thing we taught. It really made me feel like a failure as a teacher. Here I was trying to teach...and they didn't learn, despite one of my best efforts. Again the computer program was nice, but the only exercises that tested knowledge were done orally by a few members of the group. Some members of the group were off task a number of times leaving the assistance of students to only two members of the group. The computer program honestly didn't enhance knowledge like it was planned because it wasn't explained, nor was their a purpose behind using the program. I saw more than one kid bored, spinning the moon around the Earth because it looked neat. A few students (3 or 4 out of the 12 we had) actually asked questions and were able to demonstrate their knowledge on the program but a 25-33% success ratio is a poor one indeed.
As seems the unfortunate common theme with technology and the tech club if their is not a purpose to the technology, if they don't have to be on task aside from us telling them to, the students do not see the point and begin to play. The lunar phase program we used had a section called "student exercises" and I don't understand why we didn't use them. Next time I will use that section of the program. Added instruction is also imperative in something as complex as Astronomy. During the pre-assessment some kids thought that the sun rotated around the Earth, so maybe this was too complex for them, or too complex for an after-school program.
The lecture did not work, I asked two of the students after tech club was done for the day what they learned and they couldn't remember a thing we taught. It really made me feel like a failure as a teacher. Here I was trying to teach...and they didn't learn, despite one of my best efforts. Again the computer program was nice, but the only exercises that tested knowledge were done orally by a few members of the group. Some members of the group were off task a number of times leaving the assistance of students to only two members of the group. The computer program honestly didn't enhance knowledge like it was planned because it wasn't explained, nor was their a purpose behind using the program. I saw more than one kid bored, spinning the moon around the Earth because it looked neat. A few students (3 or 4 out of the 12 we had) actually asked questions and were able to demonstrate their knowledge on the program but a 25-33% success ratio is a poor one indeed.
As seems the unfortunate common theme with technology and the tech club if their is not a purpose to the technology, if they don't have to be on task aside from us telling them to, the students do not see the point and begin to play. The lunar phase program we used had a section called "student exercises" and I don't understand why we didn't use them. Next time I will use that section of the program. Added instruction is also imperative in something as complex as Astronomy. During the pre-assessment some kids thought that the sun rotated around the Earth, so maybe this was too complex for them, or too complex for an after-school program.
Tech Club Visit Number 3
At the beginning of the class the group gathered six students (one for each computer) and had them type in virtual piano (www.virtualpiano.com) for ten minutes. Afterwards I gave a very brief (less than five minutes) introduction to Google earth and demonstrated the cool things you can find in Google earth by showing a sunken ship and their school. The students then each went to a computer and looked at various iconic cities and cultural buildings in both street view and earth view. After correctly finding and identifying 8 places on Google earth the students were shown Google mars and Google moon. For the last ten minutes the students were allowed to look at what their wanted on Google earth.
The technology worked very well, the kids all knew how to use Google earth just fine. The problem came in that some of the group did not know how to use Google earth as well as the kids or some of the other instructors. Some kids also did not want to look at things but only want to go to the bottom of the ocean and "walk across the Pacific ocean." Which was fine, but learning didn't really occur. So the students were persuaded to do other things on Google earth, like street view in Venice. There weren't really learning objectives set which I would say is a big problem this group faces. But we don't want to stress students who are already stressed from a long day of class which make sense.
I really liked doing a Google earth scavenger hunt (essentially what it was), I just want some form of learning objectives at the end of the day. It was difficult to understand the purpose of using Google earth as a teaching device if there was no objective. It did build student knowledge of where in the world various cities are and through teaching them we were able to build knowledge of places like Europe and where the France is. I would make learning objectives a priority and do a short summative assessment such as each student finding one place on Google Earth such as the Pacific Ocean, Antarctica Europe, Greenland, Asia, Mt. Everest, etc. Also, as always some more instruction on the purpose behind virtual piano would be useful. But that was improved upon and I think it went better this week.
The technology worked very well, the kids all knew how to use Google earth just fine. The problem came in that some of the group did not know how to use Google earth as well as the kids or some of the other instructors. Some kids also did not want to look at things but only want to go to the bottom of the ocean and "walk across the Pacific ocean." Which was fine, but learning didn't really occur. So the students were persuaded to do other things on Google earth, like street view in Venice. There weren't really learning objectives set which I would say is a big problem this group faces. But we don't want to stress students who are already stressed from a long day of class which make sense.
I really liked doing a Google earth scavenger hunt (essentially what it was), I just want some form of learning objectives at the end of the day. It was difficult to understand the purpose of using Google earth as a teaching device if there was no objective. It did build student knowledge of where in the world various cities are and through teaching them we were able to build knowledge of places like Europe and where the France is. I would make learning objectives a priority and do a short summative assessment such as each student finding one place on Google Earth such as the Pacific Ocean, Antarctica Europe, Greenland, Asia, Mt. Everest, etc. Also, as always some more instruction on the purpose behind virtual piano would be useful. But that was improved upon and I think it went better this week.
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Tech Club Visit Number 2
1. The students typed on a keyboard program called virtual piano for 10 minutes. Then went over to a table in the library with fossils on it and a short presentation was given about what fossil teeth tell us about dinosaurs. Kids were allowed to touch the fossils and ask questions about them and after all the teeth were passed around to look at, numbers were drawn assigning a tooth to a student. Then the students took the fossil teeth to a computer and wrote a short story about what they thought the dinosaur ate, and looked like. Instructors helped build the students creativity by asking various questions such as "what color would it have been." Afterwards the students were shown what a dinosaur actually looks like, not to tell them their ideas were wrong but to give them more perspective.
2. Some of the problems arose with classroom management. The first group of students (there were two) were organized sitting at a table with fossils on the table, this caused them to want to touch everything and I allowed them to look at fossils while I was talking which caused them to not pay attention. I was able to answer any and all questions, but the presentation took too long for the first group and they didn't have much time at the computers. The second group sat on the library floor while the table of fossils was above them, while I talked I didn't pass out fossils but passed out fossils after I showed the students them, and then continued to talk when the fossil was returned to me. This allowed me to answer questions the students had while holding the fossil. The presentation was also made shorter so the students had more time to create. The virtual piano software worked well but the students were initially confused as to what they were supposed to do.
3. Clearer instruction, and classroom management. I don't want to get a recurring theme going but I little to no experience working with elementary school students so my classroom management is mostly built around a fear that they will cry if I tell them no. I would also have enjoyed getting together with the rest of the group to formalize instruction a little more so the rest of the tech club didn't feel so left out (they didn't say they felt left out but they stood there most of the time).
2. Some of the problems arose with classroom management. The first group of students (there were two) were organized sitting at a table with fossils on the table, this caused them to want to touch everything and I allowed them to look at fossils while I was talking which caused them to not pay attention. I was able to answer any and all questions, but the presentation took too long for the first group and they didn't have much time at the computers. The second group sat on the library floor while the table of fossils was above them, while I talked I didn't pass out fossils but passed out fossils after I showed the students them, and then continued to talk when the fossil was returned to me. This allowed me to answer questions the students had while holding the fossil. The presentation was also made shorter so the students had more time to create. The virtual piano software worked well but the students were initially confused as to what they were supposed to do.
3. Clearer instruction, and classroom management. I don't want to get a recurring theme going but I little to no experience working with elementary school students so my classroom management is mostly built around a fear that they will cry if I tell them no. I would also have enjoyed getting together with the rest of the group to formalize instruction a little more so the rest of the tech club didn't feel so left out (they didn't say they felt left out but they stood there most of the time).
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Tech Club Visit Number 1
Thursday January 31st, 2013
Three of the four members arrived early to the meeting and we were introduced to Mel, the after school program coordinator. She is a practicum student and very knowledgeable about the program. Most of the kids were outside at the time so we went into the area and learned where to sign in and we were able to ask Mel important questions like: Where are the computers? Do we have headsets? How many children are there typically? Are there any health issues we should know about? Then the first ten kids came in for snack. The three of us talked to various children, I met a ten year old boy named Podrick who has a twin brother named Brady. He was very interested in naming all the capitals of all the states on a rug in the room. He would ask other kids who were younger than him what was the capital of x state. Since the other boys on the rug were not doing very well I decided to quiz Podrick myself, and he was doing very well until we got to the Eastern states. I helped him through them and he was able to memorize more than half of the Eastern states by the end of ten minutes or so.
I decided to let all the boys play and see what else was going on with the program. Morning star is building a cardboard box snake with various boxes making up the body. They were painting the head box of the snake and I was assisting students by helping them not get covered in paint. I was successful, mostly. I learned the girls were very docile and the boys were all about destroying everything. So praising the girls on everything they did and simply watching the boys (and intervening when it became too much) wrestle with one another was all they really wanted from me.
I would ask for a more formal introduction with all the students next time. I think some of them thought I was a parent, and some thought I was a stranger and that made them wary. It would have been nice if all four of us were on time or early (fourth person showed up about 15 minutes late).
Three of the four members arrived early to the meeting and we were introduced to Mel, the after school program coordinator. She is a practicum student and very knowledgeable about the program. Most of the kids were outside at the time so we went into the area and learned where to sign in and we were able to ask Mel important questions like: Where are the computers? Do we have headsets? How many children are there typically? Are there any health issues we should know about? Then the first ten kids came in for snack. The three of us talked to various children, I met a ten year old boy named Podrick who has a twin brother named Brady. He was very interested in naming all the capitals of all the states on a rug in the room. He would ask other kids who were younger than him what was the capital of x state. Since the other boys on the rug were not doing very well I decided to quiz Podrick myself, and he was doing very well until we got to the Eastern states. I helped him through them and he was able to memorize more than half of the Eastern states by the end of ten minutes or so.
I decided to let all the boys play and see what else was going on with the program. Morning star is building a cardboard box snake with various boxes making up the body. They were painting the head box of the snake and I was assisting students by helping them not get covered in paint. I was successful, mostly. I learned the girls were very docile and the boys were all about destroying everything. So praising the girls on everything they did and simply watching the boys (and intervening when it became too much) wrestle with one another was all they really wanted from me.
I would ask for a more formal introduction with all the students next time. I think some of them thought I was a parent, and some thought I was a stranger and that made them wary. It would have been nice if all four of us were on time or early (fourth person showed up about 15 minutes late).
ASP Introduction Meeting Reflection
I went to Emily Dickinson's Meeting
a) The school would like to focus on typing and allow older students to develop something they would be proud of during tech club. The vision is to allow students to be proficient in typing and computer use so that all their homework can be done on a computer.
b) To assist the students in developing their computer skills, to plan 20 minute lessons and to be flexible in designing and implementing the lesson plans.
c) The school is 80% kindergarten, first and second grade. The students are excited to start Tech club again and have asked multiple times when it will start again.
d) I need to lower the expectations of students, excel is too difficult of a program to use for first graders, and typing a paragraph may take 10 minutes. Students at that age have difficulty pay attention much past 5 10 minutes of lecture, so short sweet and too the point.
e) I want to be able to use a mixture of hands on approaches with technology to bridge what some believe is a gap between experimentation and technology in a classroom. Experiments don't have to all be virtual and technology doesn't just have to be data collection. I want lesson plans that incorporate technology for various learning modalities all while enjoying the accelerated learning the two bring.
f) Using technology with someone who may not completely understand how it works. Typically education is book smarts, but teaching technology use and building technology abilities all about moving, maybe just your hands, but it is tactile to the core. I believe tactile learners are under-appreciated in education and technology gives them a little love.
g) Understanding Elementary children. I am mortified if they cry, it is my cryptonite. I believe I can teach the information and not talk down to them but elementary age children are rowdy, so I find chaos control to be my biggest personal challenge. But chaos control is applicable to all teachers, so overcoming my personal challenge also build personal growth.
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