Giving students tools

I stand at the front of my classroom and finish giving the directions to today's project. My students are trying to find are trying to find which planet in our solar system would be viable for supporting life. They will need to find the different characteristics of each planet, decide their needs, and be ready to support their claim to their classmates. The computer labs are full, the planet books in our classroom are outdated, and the students have decided that using a wiki would be the best way to organize and store their data as a group. The groups gather in their own space and start their research. They search the net for data, each working on their own section of the needed information. The internet is available on the Ipod Touch that are at their desks, they can research and collaborate with their group right from their desk. The Ipod is available for ¼ the price of a laptop and far more portable. The Ipod would also give my students a way to create their final debate about their planet which they could make in the form of a podcast to be shared with the class at anytime.

In the final class of my Master's Degree we were to find a new emergent technology and show how it could increase student learning. The Ipod is the piece of technology I chose because of the amount of ways that it could be used in the classroom. Students could be searching, listening, and processing information throughout the day. The technology would work with our current wi-fi set up in our building and would be portable enough to be used even on school grounds while doing an outside experiment. They are durable enough to be used by several years of students and would allow students to access their work wherever they can get wi-fi. The Ipod also has several applications that would give students practice on skills, or learning games when they are done with their school work.

As a new technology that is slowly making it's way into the schools of the future, we can start the change now. I have written a grant proposal for the new Ipod to join my 'bag of tricks', now the job is to seek funding and continue to integrate this tool ( I have one currently) into my plan for student learning.

-Melissa

Online Learning: Got MOODLE?

After exploring the LMS (Learning Management System) called MOODLE, I created a presentation to explain it's benefits to my colleagues. My presentation has been created using a program called prezi.com. Please view the presentation below.

-Melissa

MOODLE on Prezi

Reflecting with DI and UDL

Seven weeks ago, I was invited into an online group to be used during a course in my Master's degree. At first, I felt overwhelmed with one more social network to stay on top of, but now that I have spent the semester with my group I have found that it is a great resource. Throughout the course, we have each added resources to our discussion board as we covered the different areas of Differentiated Instruction (DI) and Universal Design for Learning (UDL). The sources are ones that can be used daily in the classroom to enhance instruction and create lessons that reach all learners. Social networking has allowed for a safe place to share with classmates and leave a collaborative list of resources to be used after the class is over this week. I plan to check back on these resources often and use them as I build new units in my classroom instruction.


During the semester, we also integrated technology into our DI lessons. In my room, I have created lessons that have been differentiated to meet the needs of my students using our building DI coach and resources found to enhance lessons. The technology that I have encountered during my classes with Walden and that are available in the relatively young building that I work in, I have several opportunities to integrate technology into my classroom activities. For example, my students are researching biomes on the internet this week and have several choices for presenting what they have learned. Some of those choices include a slideshow, a wiki, and a 'poster' made on Microsoft publisher. My plan is to continue to design lessons that challenge students at their level and allow them to present information using technology available to our students.