Productivity Reflection

There are many tools we have seen and experimented with in class that would help to increase my students' productivity, efficiency, and effectiveness in the classroom. For example, one of my favorite sites we explored is kidspiration. This sight allows for students to easily plan out and brainstorm their ideas for a writing assignment or project using computers. This sight enhances efficiency because the sight allows students to jot down ideas quickly and has built in Internet, video, and picture sources that they can add to their brainstorming web. This allows students to work fast and organize their thoughts easily. This website also meets the NETS-T standard of developing digital-age learning experiences for the students. This promotes student learning and creativity and incorporates digital tools in the process.
Another tool I enjoy is google docs. Using google docs students can create word documents that they can easily share with one another. One of my favorite features is that students can create surveys so they can receive feedback on an assignment or project from their peers. This is helpful because they can gear the survey toward specific questions that they want answered about their assignment. This increases efficiency because students can quickly take the online survey and then the creator can have all the feedback in one place and can access that information easily. I think this saves time, rather than students writing their own analysis of their peers project on a peice of paper, they can go online and answer the questions the student has asked them to answer. Peer review is very important and google docs allows for students to easily create documents in order to enhance their learning and quality of their work. Google docs meet the NETS-T standard of developing digital-age learning experiences for students. By using this technology students learn more about digital tools and resources.
All of the tools we have seen in class have helped me to understand the technology helps increase student productivity, efficiency, and effectiveness.

Production Evaluation

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Production Evaluation

Names- Julie Stelzer, Kelsey M. Deckard, Ellie SalkyProduction Name- Your Hometown Digital Scrapbook

Acadmic Standard: 1.3.4: Identify and describe physical features* and human features* of the local community including home, school and neighborhood.
relative location: the location of a place in relation to another place or places
physical features: geographic features that occur in nature, such as land and water forms, natural vegetation and wildlife
human features: features created by humans, such as buildings, cities, roads and farms

Technology Standard: Technology Operations and Concepts- Students demostrate a sound understanding of technology concepts, systems, and operations.

Benefits:
Individual Responsibilty- Each student will be responsible for providing pictures of his or her idea of his hometown to accurately portray a personal idea of the cultural aspects of the area. Group Responsibilty- Evalute each picture and how it is an accurate representation of the definition of a hometown.
This allows the students to make decisions as to what they would like to use to represent their living accomodations in their town. Students can use imaginative skills to create and use any type of image they would like to represent their town. They must communicate with group members and amongst classmates to evaluate the images and discuss their significance. Using basic public speaking skills, the students will convey their idea in the form of a scrapblog in front of their peers for evaluation. In order to creat such a scrapblog, the students will actively engage in asthetic reasoning in order to create an eye pleasing slideshow by making decisions as to the organization of the images and where they would be appropriately placed.

Disadvantages:Students may disagree on the definition and representation of a hometown depending on where they are from and how they are raised. Nonetheless, this will lead to useful debate and discussion and perhaps open the children's minds to new ideas and cultures.

Instruct:We would begin with basic lecture and discussion about indentifying physical features that define your local community as a hometown. Also, a short discussion about the generalities of a hometown will be necessary. No physical teaching tools are necessary for this portion of the lesson. However, it would be beneficial to have visual aides such as pictures and references to hometowns in relatable situations such a movies and other popular culture situations.For the activity itself, the website for the scrapblog (scrapblog.com) will be needed as well as a computer lab or at least one computer per group to use for limited internet access and image production programs that may be used to alter their images approriately.

Evaluate: The categories that were chosen to evalute the students on are based on what would accurately represent an aquired knowledge related to the given standards. Rubric

Modified Lesson Plan

I reviewed and modified a 3rd grade social studies lesson plan about geography and spatial patterns of a certain city or place.
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/lessons/03/g68/hometown.html
To enhance technology and improve the lesson plan i suggest that instead of using map print outs the students use Internet resources such as google earth and online maps to mark and track spatial patterns of their hometowns. Using these online resources will enhance efficiency because instead of students dealing with numerous print out maps students will have one map to scroll along and find everything they need. They will be able to change the size and dimensions of the map which will allow them to see the information they need for the lesson. They will also be able to bookmark sites and locations that they want to use so they can track and identify spatial patterns more easily. Using online resources instead of print out maps will increase student effectiveness or comprehension as well. By seeing the actual city or 'real data' students will pick up patterns more easily and connect better to the lesson. Using google earth will also enhance the lesson plan by creating a learning experience that would not be possible without technology and the Internet. With google earth students will be able to see the actual business and streets that they are finding spacial patterns for. It will bring their hometown to life without leaving the classroom. By seeing the actual town through online maps and google earth students will be able to find patterns more easily than if they were to use print out maps.