PBL project reflection

Emily Headings

EdTech 650

Dr. Clausen

Reflection

Although this summer course has been fast and furious, I have learned a great deal about incorporating educational technology into my teaching practices. I consider myself to be very good at using the technology available to me in my teaching, but I still learned a great deal. I’ve learned a little bit about digital storytelling before this class, but had never used it. I was hesitant to use it with kindergarten students because of the huge workload it seemed to be. I am so glad I ventured out of my comfort zone to make a digital storytelling unit. I learned so much about the technology, and what my students really COULD do.   

I always consider the discussion board to be my favorite part of BSU’s distance education courses, because of the interaction with my peers. I always find the interaction to be a great learning experience. However, in this course, I didn’t learn so much from my peer as I did from my own research. This course had a vast amount of information that was not only interesting to me, but also applicable to my teaching at the moment. One post in particular got me to start thinking about adaptations when using technology. I had never before had a student who needed any adaptations, but I know I will in the future. It was a great experience for me to start thinking about different things I can do with these children. 

  I felt I learned more in this class than in others, and because my interest was peaked, I put a lot of effort into my learning in this course. I’m sure every students works harder with items they are more interested in, and I am no different. The Grabe & Grabe text is one I will keep with me for a long time.  The only thing I wish was different about the course, was the learning environment assignment. I absolutely loved this assignment, but I wish it would have been at the END of the course, instead at the beginning. After reading the different textbooks and articles, I would have changed a few things and added some different graphics to the project. 

     The biggest theme I saw from the discussion posts was simply looking at our own teaching practices, and seeing how we could make technology more effective. It was interesting to be participating in the discussion posts WHILE doing the planning for my project, because I made changes and additions to the project as I went along. Having my peer's input and ideas available to me the entire time was very beneficial. Although summer school is over and I cannot try out my project until the next school year starts, I look forward to trying it out and learning what works for them. 

Project Planning Sheet

 Project Planning Sheet

Name: Emily Headings

Grade Level and Subject Area: Kindergarten Writing and Science

Title of Lesson: What would YOU do? 

Goals: The major goal of this lesson is to give students a chance to show their writing abilities by creating a digital story. Students will be investigating how to best help the community with reducing, reusing, and recycling. 

Content Standard(s): 

-With guidance and support from adults, explore a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing, including in collaboration with peers.

-Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose informative/explanatory texts in which they name what they are writing about and supply some information about the topic.

Technology Standard(s):
Standard 2. Communication and Collaboration 
Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others.

Performance Objectives:

1. Students will pick an environmental issue they want to change.
2. Students will do research about the issue.
3. Students will create a story sharing about their issue.
4. Students will create digital pictures to use in their digital story.
5. Students will record their voice and put together their digital stories.
6. Students will use share their digital stories with other students, and give academic feedback on 2 other students' stories. 

Description of lesson: This unit will take place over a week, with a lesson each day.
1. the first lesson will start out with a video clip about our community's problem with littering, trash, and other issues. Students will be asked to think about how they could help the problem. We will make a list of problems and possible solutions to the problems.
2. In the second lesson, students will be taken to a landfill and be able to ask questions of the staff there. 
3.The third lesson will be a time students can write a story of how they can help the planet. They will be writing their stories, and asked to do a brief sketch. 
4.Then, students will be abe to pick whichever way works best for them to create pictures to go along with their story. They can use the ipad, computer, or draw and scan their pictures. 
5. The last day will more work time, in order for students to record their voices and put together their digital stories.
6. The week after, we will have a day for sharing time, in which we will watch other student's digital stories. Students will be asked to give feedback to two other students. For their grade, I will be grading using our school district's writing rubric, which is as follows. 
3- I can write a story with a beginning, middle, and end all by myself
2- I can write a story but need a little help
1-I cannot write a story without a lot of help.



Students will be using Track star to move through the project. You can find the track here. 

Create a Copy



Other kindergarten teachers will be using this same activity at the same time, so collaboration with other teachers will be key. If students need more time with a certain piece  we will take more time. This will be the first time doing this activity, so a lot of flexibility is built into the lessons.  

My Classroom Environment

Reflection
I was asked to produce an artifact showing my classroom environment using images, sound, and limited text. I've written various papers and other literature about my environment before, but using images was new to me.  Instead of just writing my points down, I had to think through the eyes of the viewer. I had to think about what images popped into my head when I thought about certain words. This was a lot of fun for me to think about (once I got on a roll) especially being a kindergarten teacher. Many of my students come in with little to no english. We have to communicate through motions, sounds, and pictures. How very appropriate for me to be in the opposite roll, trying to help others understand my point.  Even later in the year, kindergarteners write many stories using only pictures to show their stories. 

After completing the above graphic, I began to think about how might my students represent their knowledge in different ways. I used graphics that included some words in some instances.  If it were my students, this entire graphic would be pictures. I think I will use this activity next year with my kindergarteners. I could ask them to explain a word on a poster, maybe using only magazine pictures or pictures they draw. 

My own research- how child development plays into using technology in the classroom

       I am currently working on my Master's degree in Elementary Education with a focus in Education Technology. In another course, we are talking about digital literacy. This week we were asked to consider some possible downsides when using technology. While researching, it was interesting to see how much connected with the child development course I am also taking.  I am currently planning a digital storytelling unit for my summer school kindergarten students, so I did some researching.  Story telling and story time is used daily in a kindergarten classroom. Unfortunately, the older children get, the more teachers forget the power of stories. “Although story time is a staple in early childhood education, one rarely observes learners above the fourth grade engaged in a storytelling activity, which is in direct conflict with theorists in education who tout story as a primary tool in learning and memory  (Banaszeqski, 2005).” One of my kindergarten team members is moving to a 3^rd grade classroom next year. She tried to bring me all of her books after the last day of school. I tried to tell her that 3^rd graders still enjoy read alouds, and that she can use them with her new students. It took a few other teachers to hear what was going on to convince her to keep the books. Just because a student can read, doesn’t mean they forget the love of picture books. 

       Through my research, I found that when working with kindergarten students, one has to be very carful when scaffolding learning with technology. I am a huge technology user, so I am constantly looking for new technology to use with my children in my classroom. But is using all that technology always beneficial for 5 and 6 year olds? When planning the scaffolding for 5 and 6 year olds, It is important to keep in mind that most have never touched a computer before. I teach in a very poverty stricken school district, so it’s a little easier for me to plan out lessons with technology, since little to no students have had experiences before.

       Before looking at the child development side to educational technology, I had never before thought about scaffolding limiting growth, or scaffolding TOO much. I always thought scaffolding was a great thing, and as teachers, we must scaffold as much as possible. Dalton had a different point to make. “Successful learning depends on customization, and scaffolding is essential to making it work for each child. However, scaffolding can limit growth and actually cause students to disengage if it is too constraining or if there is no progression toward increasing independence. For example, I may start with an activity that is highly constrained, yet still offers creative choices around the skill that is the focus of the lesson (Dalton p13).” Of course we can lose our children’s interest! Why have I never thought of this before? I have never lost a child’s interest from introducing too much technology at one time. But I have lost interest from not allowing them enough creativity. “When products start to look the same or students lose their creative energy, it’s a sign that there may be too much scaffolding (Dalton p13).” It’s always a hard thing for teachers to give up control, I find. I remember in my first year of teaching three years ago, I had to constantly remind myself that my kindergarteners could do things themselves. I need to continue to remind myself of this while using technology. 

       I am very much looking forward to using technology in a way that is productive for my student's development next year.  I will be careful not to push too hard with using technology. Just like with anything else with children, we must first make sure they are ready, so as not to turn them off from a specific activity too early. Most of the students I will have are from families that cannot afford technology in their homes. Looking at their developmental level while planning the lesson's scaffolding will lead to successful learning in my classroom 

Dalton, B. (2012). Multimodal Composition and the Common Core State Standards. The Reading Teacher, 66(4), 333-339.

Morgan, H. (2012). Technology in the Classroom: Creating Videos Can Lead Students to Many Academic Benefits. Childhood Education, 89(1), 51-53.

Competitive Academics and Social Development

Do you remember being in a Spelling bee? I sure do. I was a HORRIBLE speller, and never made it to the school spelling bee. I can tell you that I still get knots in my stomach thinking about it now as a 25 year old. I remember one instance in particular. I was in 4th grade, and we were doing some spelling "around the world" to see who the winner of our class was. The winner of each class would then get to stand up in front of the school and compete to be the spelling bee winner of the entire school. It was round one in our classroom, and I missed up the very first word. Everyone laughed at me, and I was incredibly embarrassed and down. I'm sure no one else remembers me missing the first word, but to this day I still will not spell a word for someone needing help.  Spelling bees are competitive  and T& Johnson explain it perfectly : "An interpersonal, competitive situation is characterized by negative goal interdependence, where, when one person wins, the others lose. T & Johnson, p 280)." Negative goal interdependence happened with lots of things when I was in school. Spelling bees, around the world, math facts, I could go on and on. Each of those activities, to this day, make me cringe. I have adapted my teaching style around this, in fact. I never teach in a way that negatively effects any of my students. I want them to learn, but I refuse to distrees any of my students while they are learning. In my opinion, the learning environment should be a positive one. 

In an article from Queen's University, the author talks about team sports helping children become successful. The article discusses how being with a team gives children all sorts of positive benefits. "Coaches who were able to help children improve against their own benchmarks rather than focusing on comparison with others, and who provided challenging, innovative practices also helped foster an environment in which young players displayed initiative and motivation (Queens, p1)."The key in that statement, however, is that the coach is focusing on the player, not comparing the players. In a sport, each child or person's skills matter. Each person works on their skills to improve, which then helps the entire team. Players on the team work together to make the team better. In my experience, the coaches who brought out the most where the ones who looked at the team as a whole, instead of it's parts. 

To look at the other side of this argument, competition creates students that will work hard to achieve something. It seems like more and more in sports, children are given awards even if they didn't "win" something. I've heard of organizations giving participation awards to every player, or even not keeping score of a game. While I don't believe all competition has a place in school, I do think it is important to teach children that we are not all winners, and we will not always win. If our society continues to do this, we will be creating people that are motivated not by being better, but by simply participating. Would we want a pilot flying a plane that wasn't good at it, but he/she tried? Absolutely not. We have to continually practice and work very hard, and even then, we still might not win or be the best.  But it's fun to try! We must instill the drive to become better, but the knowledge that we are not all the best at everything. 

In looking at how to improve certain activities to promote a better environment for competition, I think simple changes can make a very big difference. For instance, when looking at a spelling bee, one could change the competition from single players to a group atmosphere. Groups must work together to outsmart the other team. 

Sources 

Belfield, C. R., & Levin, H. M. (2002). The effects of competition between schools on educational outcomes: A review for the United States. Review of Educational research, 72(2), 279-341.

Roger, T., & Johnson, D. W. (1988). Cooperative Learning. Transforming Education.

Queen's University (2011, July 20). Team sports: For kids, it's more than just a game. ScienceDaily. 

Emotional Intelligence

        After reading chapter 8 and 9, and after researching memory and intelligence, I personally believe that emotional intelligence paired with IQ is a more valid predictor of academic and vocational success than solely IQ. In our textbook Berk states, "Emotional intelligence is modestly related to IQ. And in school-age children, adolescents, and adults, it is positively associated with self esteem, empathy, prosocial behavior, cooperation, leadership skills, and life satisfaction (p325)."All of these skills are beneficial, if not necessary, for success in the working world. While researching more information on emotional intelligence, I found this TED video. 

The speaker has some great points on emotional intelligence, and how it is completely different than IQ. In the middle of his presentation, he talks about his brother going to visit a killer in prison. The killer had a very high IQ, actually a certified genius, but committed a horrendous crime. The speaker's brother asked the killer," How could you do this act,  didn't you feel any pity for your victims?" The killer replied that he did not feel pity and that "I had to turn that part of me off." This man had an incredibly high IQ, could have been very successful, but because of his emotional intelligence, he committed a huge crime. Through my readings and understanding, there is no correlation between IQ and empathy. 

        

          Some think that emotional intelligence has become a sort of "buzz word" in the last few decades. But according to a table in our power-point for chapter 8, Gardner's eight intelligences include a couple which would be considered emotional intelligence. These are interpersonal, and intrapersonal. Interpersonal intelligent people are known for their sensitivity to other people's moods, feelings, temperaments,motivations, and their ability to cooperate in order to work as part of a group. Intrapersonal is having a deep understanding of what your strengths and weaknesses are, what makes you unique, and being able to predict your own reactions or emotions. All of these qualities that belong in these two intelligences are important parts of a person's being. If a person would have 6 of 8 intelligences, but no intrapersonal or interpersonal intelligence, can you imagine what kind of person they would be? Would you want a person like that working for you? I would assume not. 

 

              At my school we have a system set up. Each teacher is given a folder with different indicators on it. Some are for emotional intelligence, some are for humor, analytical, etc. Throughout the year, when we see one of the indicators present, we write the child's name next to the indicator. If we see the indicator, we put a tally next to their name.  Then in the spring, we count up the students who had the most tallies, and we test those students with some sort of program. Unfortunately, only the analytical memory  are really tested with the program. But I think the process that we use is very fair and gives a chance for students with different high abilities a chance to be tested. 

        Unfortunately, emotional intelligence varies across different situations, so it is difficult to compare adaptiveness. This doesn't mean it is any less important."The concept of emotional intelligence has increased teachers' awareness that providing experiences that meet students; social and emotional needs can improve their adjustment(Berk p325)." As educators, we need to not only focus on IQ, but also the emotional child behind the learning. Instead of asking, "how smart are you?" we should be turning toward the query "how are you smart?" (Cassady). For a child to be able to succeed to the best of their ability in their adult life, focusing on IQ and emotional intelligence creates the best chance of success. 

            

         

Sources 

Berk, L. E. (2012). Child Development. Prentice Hall.

Cassady, J. C., & Eissa, M. A. (2008). Emotional intelligence: Perspectives on educational and positive psychology (Vol. 336). Peter Lang.

Child Development 2- Over stimulation

       Too much stimulation over an extended time can most definitely affect infant development in a negative way. Sometimes parents try too early to "teach" their children in order for them to be smarter when they are older.  Infant stimulation is important, but it is more important to do what they are ready for in order to not overstimulate them.  Too much stimulation during early childhood can change a child's whole life by causing an inibility to focus. "ADHD is on the same rise as ADD and both are increasing at an alarming rate. Some 4 to 5 percent of children have ADHD and 60 percent of these children carry symptoms well into adulthood (Vera)." Introducing infants too early to too much can increase the likelihood of ADHD and inattention.  "At the same time, ADHD is associated with environmental factors. Prenatal teratogens- particularly those involving long term exposure, such as illegal drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes- are linked to inattention and hyperactivity (Berk p.291)."

       Along with infants, this issue is also important later in child development. I've seen many times where parents want their children to do sports at a very young age. They are not always developmentally ready for this, and they may end up hating it and wanting to quit because they do not feel successful.  My brother had issues with sports early on. My dad is a huge football fan, and wanted to start him young in camps and football leagues. He wasn't ready, and wanted to quit after a very short time. A few years later, after he had further developed, he tried again and was extremely successful in the sport. 

Studies show that too much video games, tv, and movies can also cause problems for children.  "Frequent TV viewers in early childhood were most likely to score in the highest 10% for concentration problems, impulsiveness and restlessness. Scoring within that 10% doesn't mean a child has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but many would have it, and the others could face major learning problems.Every added hour of watching TV increased a child's odds of having attention problems by about 10%. Kids watching about three hours a day were 30% more likely to have attention trouble than those viewing no TV (Elias). " Coincidentally, my brother was also diagnosed early on with ADHD. He was constantly playing video games, watching TV, and started activities before he was ready. Looking back, I now know that his early ADHD may be attributed to these factors. 

      

        As a kindergarten teacher, I see daily the impact child development has on learning. Each year, we are pushed more and more to teach our kids material they are NOT ready for, earlier and earlier in the school year. For instance, our school district wanted us to teach about money and time near the beginning of the year. My kids were incredibly frustrated and wanted to give up. I stopped teaching, and tried again at the end of the year. The learning came easily to them because they were ready for the material, Thankfully, the early presentation of the material did not hinder their learning later on, but it scares me to think about what will happen in the future. It is such a scary thought that we are forced to teach material that we know children are not ready for. Our school district is realigning our learning targets for next year to incorporate the 8 step process. I am worried to see what will happen with our youngest learners.  If we really want children to learn we also need to be able to recignize their needs and wait till the children are ready. 

       A lot of this TED talk was incredibly interesting, but the very last sentence he said stuck with me the most,"If we change the beginning of the story, we change the whole story." What an amazing way to wrap up his talk about stimulation and early childhood. 

Sources

Berk, Laura. Child Development,. nineth edition. New York: Allyn and Bacon, 2010.

Cushman, T., LeBlanc, M., & Porter, G. (2004). ADHD: Results of a national survey of school psychologists. Ethical Human Sciences and Services, 6(3), 183-192.

Elias, Marilyn. “Short Attention span linked to TV.” USA TODAY (online) 4/5/2004. <http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2004-04-05-tv-bottomstrip_x.htm>

Vera, M. ADD/ADHD. <http://hype-glory.wetpaint.com/page/ADD%2FADHD>