Reflecting on What I Know
#1 How do I plan an integrated lesson that will work with my students?
In order to prepare an effective integrated lesson plan that will work, I have to know my group of students and understand their current educational needs. I have to keep in mind whether or not I have students with disabilities in my classroom and make necessary accomodations and modifications within the lesson plan. Other teachers are very good resources to collaborate with during lesson planning. They are often willing to share insight as to what did and what did not work well for them. Teachers must be willing to "think outside the box" to include the unending possiblities of integrating technology into the classroom.
#2 Why do I need objectives to help with planning and lesson development?
As teachers we are required to follow NC Common Core and NC Essential Standards for the classroom. Objectives provide the focus and specifications for each lesson and "should support the goals, standards, or objectives of the [school] district (p. 32)". Stating an objective and referring back to it helps teachers accomplish their goals for each lesson. As a co-teacher, I have not had any experience creating lesson plans on my own, but I have worked in conjunction with general educators in carrying out their objectives. Some of them were gracious enough to allow me to have some input into creating the lesson plans.
#3 How can I encourage my students to engage in the processing of information?
This is a question that all teachers struggle in finding the answer to. Teachers that teach students on the high school level are always competing for the attention of their students. Did you see the game last night, who started the fight at lunch, did she really break up with him, and my favorite is my mom just texted me and I have to answer her. Once we get past all of that "stuff", then we are challenged with gaining their interest and keeping it. A comment that we constantly receive in our high school math classes is why do we have to know this-we are never going to use it. Nevertheless, we have to engage them in processing the information that we give to them. With high schoolers, we have to hook them a soon as they get settled into class. Our lesson plans must be interesting and challenging on some leel that peaks their need to find answers. I believe that integrating technology into the lesson plans more will help toward this goal. Teachers are often willing to share lesson topics and creative ideas with their colleagues. The internet is another source for topics and ideas.
#4 Do I have to use a different lesson plan when I want my students to use the computer?
Most lesson plans can be adapted to computer use with some tweaking. Of course there are times that you cannot complete a task using a computer. It is my experience so far that high school math lesson plans are hard to integrate with computers. The NTeQ lesson plan can be followed to address issues of adapting lesson plans to computer use (Ch. 2).
#5 What is the relationship between objectives and computer functions"
As stated in our textbook, in order to create a successful integrated lesson plan, teachers must match their objectives with one or more computer functions (p. 33). Teachers must analyze which computer function(s) is needed to complete the objective. Our textbook also provides a table that matches a specific learning task with computer function examples that can adapted for lesson plan development (pp. 334-335).
#6 Can you use a computer for every objective or lesson?
The computer is only one type of resource that is available to be used in lesson plan development. Teachers should engage and stimulate the learning environment by combining a variety of instructional strategies and resources to meet their objectives.
Reference
Lowther, D. & Morrison, G. (2010) Integrating Computer Technology into the Classroom: Skills for the 21st Century. Pearson Education, Inc. Boston, MA. USA.
Chapter 5 Think Sheets: Using Technology for Higher-Order Learning
Reflecting on What I Know
#1 How can I get my students to ask questions about the research they are conducting?
Uitlizing Think Sheets is a good way to get students engaged in their learning. As students begin writing down their ideas, questions will begin forming regarding their research topic. In a 10th grade English that I co-taught, the general educator used Think Sheets to help students generate their questions for their research topic. The students continued to revise their questions and finalized their topic statement wih teacher approval. The students were able to think critically using the Think Sheets to guide their research which follows the NteQ model (p. 126).
#2 How can I teach my students to solve problems?
Students have to be able to see their connection to a problem before they will be engaged in seeking solutions to the problem. Providing real-world examples for students that are meaningful can help engage students in the problem-solving process. Teachers must provide the steps involved in problem-solving for those examples. Students learn by doing, so they need much practice in solving problems.
#3 I've never used an inquiry-based approach, much less computers - so how is a teacher supposed to do both of them at one time?
As our textbook suggests, teachers can start with small changes to their existing lesson plans on a topic that is most comfortable and make adjustments or modifications as they go (p. 142). Teachers should collaborate and share knowledge, ideas, resources, and solutions to assist with lesson plan development.
Reference
Lowther, D. & Morrison, G. (2010) Integrating Computer Technology into the Classroom: Skills for the 21st Century. Pearson Education, Inc. Boston, MA. USA.
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