Hi Friends, I'm Sandy from Sarasota, Florida and I'm super excited to have successfully finished my first two classes in my masters program (Curriculum and Instruction - Reading)! I was nervous that I wouldn't be able to manage it on top of teaching 4th grade, being team lead, and mentoring two other teachers all at the same time, but I'm doing it! 😁 I've been in education my whole life in some way, from teaching dance classes to preschool and finally to public school. 4th grade is definitely the place I'm meant to be and this is my 9th year teaching it! I have four grown children of my own, a hard-working husband who happens to be from Oklahoma, and 5 grandbabies with two on the way! Life is good! ❤
The ISTE standard I've chosen is
1.6.a Choose Platforms or Tools
Students choose the appropriate platforms and tools for meeting the desired objectives of their creation or communication
I couple this in my 4th grade classroom with our weekly mini research projects. I work with gifted/advanced students and they complete an assignment each week within a given set of choices that goes along with our reading/social studies units. They may choose how to display their new knowledge which fits under Florida's BEST Standard ELA.4.C.4 Researching and Using Information ELA.4.C.4.1: Conduct research to answer a question, organizing information about the topic, using multiple valid sources. Many students choose to create an infographic online or even a PowerPoint which they share with the class that highlights what they've learned about. Recently they've learned about aging, tornado/hurricane safety, and the government.
As a part of the Cambridge program I teach, students have attributes that we use as a guide for desired qualities in a learner. Innovative and Creative are two of these attributes so it merged nicely with Mark Gura's belief that students should be creative and innovative (Gura, 2016). Giving students a choice in not only the topic they choose to learn about but also in the way that they share that learning allows them to explore their own creativity. They often practice innovation when they choose a non-digital platform to share their learning and it is invigorating to see some of the end results of this consistent activity in my classroom.
Gura.M. (2016). Make, learn, succeed: Building a culture of creativity in your school. International Society for Technology in Education.
Hi Sandy, I love the look of your blog! It is absolutely beautiful. I totally agree with your view of giving students choices in how they complete certain tasks. I also try to do little research activities with my adult education students, with the nature of adult ed, we do not get the chance to complete these every week, but we try to do one a month that enhances the student's knowledge about the current topic we are studying in class. A lot of them are not familiar at first with the technology, but as time moves on they find formats that they enjoy making and I often have students working on this in a group setting. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHi Sandy, I am quite jealous you live in Florida. Being from the cold in Colorado has me dreading the next few months. I love your research projects for students. Allowing the demonstration of knowledge to be more than a test. I am sure your students create some amazing things. I teach fifth grade and often my students struggle with research, do you heavily guide this in the beginning or is this something they come to you able to do?
ReplyDeleteI do guide them in the beginning, and they are also my advanced/gifted class. I do open up these same projects for my other class later in the year so I think 5th grade could handle it for sure! I show them where to look and give them graphic organizers with guided questions before they are ready to go it alone and come up with their own questions to answer! 😊
DeleteSandy, I feel you on not knowing whether you could complete a masters program on top of all the duties. I am a first year teacher, and the struggle is real! I would love to live in Florida; although, I bet you get tired of hearing that! I love that you give the students choices in their projects. I was always the creative type, but I was always forced to do "traditional" work. I love the groovy background!
ReplyDeleteHi Sandy, I am working on my 5th class in my master program as well (curriculum and Instruction math). I have my 17th grandbaby on the way next month I am so excited and ready to meet him. I worried that I would not have enough time to juggle teaching as well as taking these higher level classes at the same time. I think that as teachers we just have a drive that allows us to be able to handle all these things at the same time. I have a 7th grade computers class and I have had the students use the Google slides to develop a presentation and the students are so excited about being able to use the technology that they practically fight over who gets to present to the class first and then next until they are all completed. They also are able to explore their creativity. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteWow, I like how your students have so much choice in their learning! That can really be a game changer! I've seen blog posts in the past about choice menus for students, and I did use one during a snow day once. The students really enjoyed being "in charge" of their learning. The standards were met and everyone was happy!
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