Technology Integration Plan

  

The lesson I chose to teach is a lesson on The Odyssey. The lesson begins with an overview of the text with a class discussion, small group discussion, and Q&A, and is assessed with a group project and a student-taught lesson. This lesson should last 4-6 weeks.

After each student has read Homer's The Odyssey, I will direct a class discussion (aided by a PREZI presentation) where we will discuss the main ideas behind the text, the plot, and a very basic character analysis. The students will be broken up into four equal groups; each group will represent an island that Odysseus visited on his way back to Ithaca. They will have access to the Internet, if need, to look up certain words and phrases in the text that may not be understood. I will walk around to monitor discussions and contribute to the discussion if necessary. The groups will answer and analyze the following questions:

• What occurred on the island? 
• What were the personal obstacles Odysseus had to overcome? 
• How did his character develop?
  
  

 This will promote a democratic learning environment where everyone will learn together by help one another “fill in” unknown details and find clarity. Vygostksy’s zone of proximal development explains: “the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers”. By participating in small group discussions, assuming that each student fully read the assigned text, they will be able to help each other reach new and higher levels of understanding.

THE FOUR ISLANDS

Island ONE: Circe’s Island: Circe turns Odysseus’ men to swine but Odysseus is protected from her magic with the help of Hermes, a god who gave him a magical herb called Moly. Years pass, but Odyssues does not realize how long he has been on Circe’s island. Before Odysseus departs, Circe finally tells him that he needs to find the blind prophet Teiresias in the Underworld.

Island TWO: Cyclopes’ Island: Here, Odysseus and his men find the Cyclops’ cave, lured by cheese and wine left in front of it. The Cyclops traps them inside the cave, where Odysseus and his men determine they must blind the Cyclops then sneak out under his herd of sheep.

Island THREE: Calypso’s Island: Odysseus finds this island after drifting out at sea for a significant amount of time. It is an island inhibited by women lead by a nymph named Calypso. Enamored by her beauty, Odysseus spends seven years with Calypso. Hermes finally convinces Calypso to let Odysseus build a new ship and sail home.

Island FOUR: Scylla and Charybdis: Odysseus chooses to sail for Scylla, a six headed sea serpent, rather than Charybdis, a giant whirlpool. He did this because he knew that if he went to Charybdis, the whole ship would be destroyed. However, if he went toward Scylla, six men would die. A sacrifice the brave Odysseus had to make.

After about 15-20 minutes of small group discussion, the students will jot down a list of discussion questions for the entire class to discuss. The class will then have another full-class discussion where I--as well as other students--will ask and answer any of these questions.

THE GROUP PROJECT
After each "island" has sufficient information and has analyzed how their given island has developed Odysseus's character, they are to create a PREZI presentation that they will present to the class. The groups will need to put together a 20-minute lesson on their island. The lesson must include videos (either from YouTube or recorded at home) as well as photos that relate to the island. Their lesson must explain the three questions they were to answer during their group discussion in DETAIL. They are to show an extensive understanding of their island, Odysseus, and the other characters involved. They must also make a handout for the class. The handout can be an outline, fill-in the blank or matching questions, or they may even make a game, as long as the handout will give their fellow classmates a better understanding of the other islands.

PEER EVALUATION

Each island will be judged and evaluated by their peers on:

-        The comprehensiveness of their PREZI

-        Depth of knowledge about their island

-        Use of videos, photos, and any other multimedia

-        The comprehensiveness of the handout and if it appropriately correlates to the presentation

The reason why I chose PREZI over using a PowerPoint is because PREZI is fun and interactive. Students will have a list of fun templates and will have to be very creative when making their presentations. They are able to imbed music, videos, and pictures—much like PowerPoint—but PREZI takes more time, is much more visually appealing, and has a collaboration mode in which all students will be able to work on the presentation at the same time.

My Google Spreadsheet can be found here.

Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development

Using Tumblr In the the Classroom

Have you heard of Tumblr? Tumblr is a social media website where you can create and follow other blogs that are similar to your interests. It's one of the most popular, if not the most popular, blogging websites for teens and young adults. I think it would be something great to use in the classroom and here's why:

1: It's very popular.
As I've already said, Tumblr is extremely popular amongst high school and college aged students. Most of your students have either heard of Tumblr and may already have their own blogs. With that being said, it won't be hard to learn since students are already accustomed to it.

2: It promotes a sense of community:
Tumblr allows you to "reblog" (repost) blog posts and pictures that you like from the people you follow, thus creating a sense of community. It's easy to access your followers because they all show up on your "dashboard" (Tumblr newsfeed), meaning that you won't need to have to search too hard for a certain follower.

3: It's easy and fun!
Tumblr is a very fun website to express your opinions, post and share pictures, and communicate with your followers. You can easily search different posts through what is called a tag. It would be a fun tool to bring into the classroom.

So, how would I bring it into the classroom?
This could be an assignment for Catcher in the Rye, for example. It would be a week long assignment. Each student would be required to make a new Tumblr account and follow the rest of his/her students' Tumblrs. Every night they are to reblog different pictures and quotes and make a nightly blogpost as if they were Holden. Each post would be related to his likes and beliefs. At the end of the week, we could have a discussion on the blogposts they wrote, the pictures/quotes they reblogged, and why those posts were posted. I think it would get students to think like Holden if he were alive today (he would definitely be the kind of person to have a blog) and compare it to how he was depicted in the book.

What do you think? How could you use tumblr in your classrooms?

Mandatory Technology Seminars

As previously stated in earlier posts, sometimes the problem with technology is that the teacher doesn't know how to properly utilize it. It may not be the case that they don't want to know how to use it, it's just that they don't have the time! Sometimes these new technologies, like the SMARTBoard for instance, is put into the classroom without the teacher's knowledge or consent and the teacher is supposed to either:
1) already know how to use it, or
2) is supposed to read the manual to learn how to use it.
And let's be completely honest--how many people would honestly sit down and read a manual on something they didn't want to use?

So,  I think there should be a mandatory technology seminar, workshop, or emporium, that every teacher, no matter how young, old, or level of experience, must take at the end of the summer. They should be introduced to popular technologies that could possibly show up in their classrooms and how to use them properly and effectively.

I also think teachers should be taught how to use the technologies that students themselves are using (such as iPads and other tablets) and how those kinds of technologies could also be used in the classroom. I think students will be more engaged if they're using technology that they're already accustomed to.

Now, I understand that not every school has SMARTBoards, iPads, or any other hi-tech devices, but these seminars could also provide online technologies that students could use at home or at the local library.

While I do know that these seminars do exist, many of them are only optional and attract the teachers who like using technology. These workshops should be mandatory for every single teacher. The fact of the matter is times are changing and new forms of instruction are making their ways into the every day classroom. Instead of working against them, it's time to work with them.

Studying with Quizlet!

During middle and high schools, I was terrible at studying. I was terrible at studying because I truly didn't know how. I would think to myself "Well, I already read the assigned reading and practiced the homework lessons, so why should I study?" Making notecards took too much time and I never wanted to "waste" that much paper on a test. I never took notes; I relied on just listening to what the teacher said and hoping I could remember it for the exam.

That method of thinking definitely worked for me in high school, but it didn't fly once I got to university. I was bombarded with homework assignments, chapter reading, quizzes, and endless amounts of note-taking. When it came to my first exam, I failed. Terribly. It was because I didn't know how and what to study. By this point I was already planning on failing out of school. Then a fellow student suggest I utilize a website called quizlet.com

I. LOVE. QUIZLET! It's an online learning tool where you can make electronic notecards to help you study. Then, when you're done with the notecards, you can play games that help you memorize. It's fun, easy, and extremely user friendly. There is even an option that "auto-define" option with definitions from the internet as well as other Quizlet members for when you're not entirely sure what the correct definition is.

For example: I want to study Shakespearean language. I can't remember what "zounds" means, so I type it in on the front of my "notecard". Then, underneath my notecard, I click "auto-define 'zounds'". A pop-up notification appears with web and user-contributed definitions of zounds. I find the definition(s) that make the most sense, then I'm done!

The thing I like the most about Quizlet is the fact that it helps me study through easy computer games. They're simple, fun, and I truly believe they help! I use Quizlet every time I need to study; it's much faster than physically making notecards and much more fun. I would definitely refer it to my future students who find themselves struggling with trying to find good studying habits.

Have you heard of Quizlet before? What do you think of it?