Interactivity #4

Lesson Plan Map Analysis

I chose this lesson plan because utilizing an online blog is great medium through which to practice some creative writing.  A blog that every group member has access to is a space that allows for great group collaboration, because the final product is something tangible, created solely by the students.  It also demonstrates the accessibility of online technologies.  If the students had access to a computer and internet, they could access their project from anywhere.  If they didn’t have access to those tools, the lesson plan gave them options to do work in class.

Overall I thought the lesson plan had little to no gaps.  The lesson plan did a great job channeling what the students know to help them produce an online blog.  They learned HTML coding, as well as how to navigate blogs, to ultimately help their creative writing style.  I think where there was a gap was when it came to examples.  The United States is not an example of a Utopian society they may find in literature.  I think the lesson plan needs to incorporate more literature that helps target the learning standards.  Incorporating Utopian examples from more literature will bolster the how much it targets the standards.

Utilizing a blog site is essential to achieve the curriculum goal because it allows for students to simulate the collaboration necessary to establish any community.  Students could have filled information out on a poster, but using a blog site they could be anywhere, and work on the project.  It allows for a more fluid group work experience than just an in class assignment could provide.  Since each member can make their own blog post, the Utopian society becomes a group effort with personal touches.

Adaptations, adaptations, adaptations

Something I have come across recently is the strong need for adaptations in the classroom.  I do not mean adaptations for specific students.  When I say adaptations, I mean thinking on your feet--improvisation.  What happens when a projector doesn't work?  What happens if the computer you wanted to use isn't playing a video?  Most relevant, what happens when not everyone in your classroom has access to technology that is needed in classroom participation?

Teaching is like acting.  Everything you do in front of the classroom is a reaction to something.  You teach your lesson the way you know your students learn best, and you also assign them homework that they need.  So when something goes awry in the classroom it would make sense to follow this path.  If you're teaching and the projector doesn't work.  There better be a back up lesson, or a way to still teach the lesson without the projector.  I experienced this in one of my classes held in University Hall.  The projector failed to turn on, and so the professor cancelled class.  This was wasted time that could have more appropriately been used had he moved on to another subject or done the lesson with adaptations.

When students lack the appropriate tools to participate in the classroom, it seems that there is nothing that a teacher can do remedy that situation; however, there are many things that the teacher can do.  In my classroom, I would allow for time in the classroom for the students to work on a project or a paper if they didn't have a computer at home.  If students need dictionaries, or tools they can only obtain at the library or at school, then I would assign library time.  If a student can't have access to these tools at home, then it is the teacher's responsibility to make an adaptation in the lesson plans to help the student lacking that access.  It is important that a teacher is flexible, and ready to change the lesson on the spot.  This is something that is important for a teacher to know because of the unpredictability of the events of the classroom.

"Social Media Offer Classes a New Feed"

I was perusing USA Today while baking cookies, and this headline caught my eye immediately.  The article began by saying something we all know:  Those students that obsess with social media while doing work tend to not do as well on quizzes.  But an even more recent study has shown that those teachers that incorporate students' social media such as Twitter may actually be helping the students learn!  I think what resonated within me most is that one of the professors said "social media is here and we as educators have to acknowledge that."  I think this comment is what makes classes such as these so valuable.  Technology and the future of technology is inevitable.  Trying to avoid technologies and social media is a fruitless effort.  I feel like incorporating technologies that are relevant to the students and not just useful will provide a synergistic effect that will give them the best possible education.  The article also gave an example that one professor is doing.  Jen Lee Reeves of University of Missouri actually has her students tweet about the lesson during class.  When she goes back to check her phone it is all there.  I like this way of incorporating technology into class because students like Twitter, and it is a fun and innovative way to get students to collaborate, or to take notes.  I think that I will use something like this when I become a teacher at a school.  It sounds to me like it is a live version of a discussion board.  Of course, within limits, I would like to use this, because I don't want to be left behind when it comes to technology and social media.  If social media is going to be present in my students' lives, I may as well use it.