For this assignment I read an excerpt from the Malleus Maleficarum to explore the witch trials.
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Thursday, October 11, 2012
21st Century Learning
We live in a society where there is so much time, money, and effort set aside to better the future. Due to this, it is highly expected that as our world evolves, we must do the same. The field of education has come a long way, even since we were youngsters. As a child who group up in the 90's, sure we had computer classes and calculators to solve the hard stuff, but there were no smart boards. My father, a math and computer science teacher, was always infuriated when I resorted to using a calculator to solve equations. He didn't have assumed access to a calculator, and was forced to memorize quite a bit more than any student would have to today. That was then, this is now. I think its extremely important that we remain up to date on technological advances. P21 doesn't only cover technology, but covers learning and innovation skills, life and career skills, media, and as always the core subjects. It is important to hone your creativity to remain successful in this world. We are ALWAYS seeking new ideas. It is also important to know what it takes to become successful in todays world. While the core subjects are extremely necessary to any hope of survival, 21st century skills represent what is necessary for TODAY. By starting children off at a young age, we give them the chance to build on these skills. If new technologies weren't integrated into daily schooling, we'd be stuck in the "dinosaur age." Although not all advances may be seen as good, Jane McGonigal demonstrates how we can utilize even what people deem as a threat to education (video games), as a tool for the betterment of society. I believe we should certainly integrate 21st century skills into the learning environment, while continuing to teach in post 21st century ways. I do not believe it is all we should teach.
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Technology Integrated Lesson
Being that i intend to teach middle school or high school, I've decided to focus on the evolution of the expectations, as seen in the jump from middle school to high school. In strand A., the students are more or less expected to know how to input data, and utilize word processing/spreadsheet programs. By grade 12, these students are expected to know how to input problems/find solutions on a spreadsheet, create slideshows, participate in online learning communities, and to be able digital portfolios. In essence, students are expected to thoroughly understand, and reap, the benefits of computerized technology. In strand B., by 8th grade, students are expected to know how to publish podcasts, and the like. By the end of high school, one should be able to create a learning based game, such as a quiz, or a puzzle. In strand C., an 8th grade student is expected to have something quite similar to the idea of an e-penpal. They are expected to converse with other students worldwide, about global issues. By 12th grade, a student is expected to thoroughly grasp this idea of an online learning community, in conjunction with other research outlets they've learned about, to create a solution to a global issue. Strand D., expresses the need to be a good citizen while using computer/internet outlets. Almost every grade level is expected to preach the importance of copyrights, plagiarism, cyber safety, cyber bullying, and the like. By 12th, you are expected to put what you've learned over the years into action, via projects, and papers. Strand E. expects students to be able to research on their own, collaborate on real-world problems with others, and predict what might happen if digital tools are misused. Finally, strand F. expresses the importance of collaboration with those from other countries. By 8th grade you are expected to online multimedia, encyclopedia databases to understand other cultures. By 12th grade a student is expected to research on an advanced level, to better prep for college I assume. They are also expected to use and analyze technological resources (e.g. blogs, wiki's).
Now that I've discussed what's expected, I will try to put this information to good use, in the form of a technology-based lesson plan. I intend to become a high school social studies teacher. My lesson plan will be based off of the parameters of a Modern World History Class. This will be a group assignment. In order to understand history, I find it extremely important to understand the geographical differences that might effect your understanding of a historical topic. For example, the threat of Naval warfare in England, might appear a bit scarier to one who knows that the entirety of the British "mainland" (not taking territories and colonies into account), is and was an island. We know that during the colonial period, the British empire was certainly a force to be reckoned with. The Spanish Armada, by nature should have been able to defeat Great Britain, by geography alone, but were beaten by pure wit. The class will be divided into groups of 4 (class size permitting). I will provide each group with a time period that will be covered throughout the course of the year. Your tasks will include:
1. Create a map of that time period. This is to be done by hand, on a large poster (WHITE). You can find maps easily online. Please print a copy of the map you worked off of, and attach it to the back side of your poster board. Be creative with this! Use any colors you deem fit. NO GLITTER! Please include to a key, no scale measure need appear, but please try to keep to scale. Points will be deducted if England appears larger than Russia :).
2. You will select 3 major events/situations, that occurred within the time frame your map is based on. This can also be done with research. I would like you to come up with various reasons each event might have occurred, and why the result may have ended as it did. Be sure to use geographical locations, climates, landforms, water forms, etc. in your reasoning, as this is a geography-based assignment. Be aware that geography is not always the sole contributor, but often has a great amount to do with how history pans out.
3. You will be presenting this to the class. Be prepared to have your map on hand, and a powerpoint presentation ready to go! Be sure to include a bibliography page in your powerpoint as well.
4. You will also be expected to create some sort of quiz or game, based on your presentation, to be embedded or linked to into your powerpoint. This will appear just before your bibliography page at the end of the presentation. DO NOT, steal pre-made games. I would like proof that the game was created by your group. For this reason, be sure to title your game quiz as "MWH Map of insert time span."
5. You will be receiving two final grades. One from myself, and one from the group. You have received a copy of a the rubric for this assignment. Based on the rubric, create small excel/word chart. Put the names of each group member. Each column will represent a different topic on the rubric. Each row will host the numbers you choose to grade your group mates on the scale of 1-5 I've provided.
6. The day before the assignment is due in class, I expect you to send a copy of your powerpoint and rubrics to my dropbox. For your powerpoint, I need only one copy per group. Please send them in the following formats "Group#_MapProj.ppt" and "LastName_MapProj.doc" (if created in Excel it will obviously NOT say .doc).
Now that I've discussed what's expected, I will try to put this information to good use, in the form of a technology-based lesson plan. I intend to become a high school social studies teacher. My lesson plan will be based off of the parameters of a Modern World History Class. This will be a group assignment. In order to understand history, I find it extremely important to understand the geographical differences that might effect your understanding of a historical topic. For example, the threat of Naval warfare in England, might appear a bit scarier to one who knows that the entirety of the British "mainland" (not taking territories and colonies into account), is and was an island. We know that during the colonial period, the British empire was certainly a force to be reckoned with. The Spanish Armada, by nature should have been able to defeat Great Britain, by geography alone, but were beaten by pure wit. The class will be divided into groups of 4 (class size permitting). I will provide each group with a time period that will be covered throughout the course of the year. Your tasks will include:
1. Create a map of that time period. This is to be done by hand, on a large poster (WHITE). You can find maps easily online. Please print a copy of the map you worked off of, and attach it to the back side of your poster board. Be creative with this! Use any colors you deem fit. NO GLITTER! Please include to a key, no scale measure need appear, but please try to keep to scale. Points will be deducted if England appears larger than Russia :).
2. You will select 3 major events/situations, that occurred within the time frame your map is based on. This can also be done with research. I would like you to come up with various reasons each event might have occurred, and why the result may have ended as it did. Be sure to use geographical locations, climates, landforms, water forms, etc. in your reasoning, as this is a geography-based assignment. Be aware that geography is not always the sole contributor, but often has a great amount to do with how history pans out.
3. You will be presenting this to the class. Be prepared to have your map on hand, and a powerpoint presentation ready to go! Be sure to include a bibliography page in your powerpoint as well.
4. You will also be expected to create some sort of quiz or game, based on your presentation, to be embedded or linked to into your powerpoint. This will appear just before your bibliography page at the end of the presentation. DO NOT, steal pre-made games. I would like proof that the game was created by your group. For this reason, be sure to title your game quiz as "MWH Map of insert time span."
5. You will be receiving two final grades. One from myself, and one from the group. You have received a copy of a the rubric for this assignment. Based on the rubric, create small excel/word chart. Put the names of each group member. Each column will represent a different topic on the rubric. Each row will host the numbers you choose to grade your group mates on the scale of 1-5 I've provided.
6. The day before the assignment is due in class, I expect you to send a copy of your powerpoint and rubrics to my dropbox. For your powerpoint, I need only one copy per group. Please send them in the following formats "Group#_MapProj.ppt" and "LastName_MapProj.doc" (if created in Excel it will obviously NOT say .doc).
YOU WILL HAVE 1 MONTH TO COMPLETE THE ASSIGNMENT!
_________________
This assignment will be covering various aspects of the core curriculum in technology. The students will be researching, creating slideshows, creating digital games, creating charts, using dropbox, and understanding the importance of good digital citizenship.
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