Collaborating with Becky

http://www.flatclassroombook.com/final-book-survey.html

After vowing not to be out done with this challenge; persistence pays off. We all knew something was wrong with the link. I posted the broken link on various flat classrooms sites, discussion boards and emailed Mrs Davis about the issue. Ms. Davis and I emailed back and forth, with the last couple of emails being sent to tech staff of the book company. No one knew that the link was not working. it has now repaired and we can finish the assignment. The above picture is the completion statement which you will receive after completing the survey. The picture below that is what the survey looks like.

I feel relieved and as if I have accomplished something by being able to complete the assignment.

The below submission is intended to meet the requirements of Challenge 14 in “Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds.” This is a plan for Professional Development for both teachers and students. This plan could be implemented at any school, during  school hours.  The plan is for a 2 1/2 day time period.

The following informati0n is available in chart format on separate pages. These can be located to the right under pages. These pages are titled “Flat Classroom Design”and

“Curriculum Planning, Standards Alignment, Inputs, and Outcomes”

Project Design Essentials

Flat Classroom Design

Design                            Essentials Description
Project Name:            How Is the Weather?
Website URL:            http://howistheweatheredt602.weebly.com/
Location:                     Global
Communication:     Asynchronous- web page, wiki and blog
Synchronous- video introduction (handshake), live chat box
Generation:                10-12 year old
Information:             Teachers, peers, online authentic research
Time:                            10-12 weeks
Learning Legacy:    Videos, blog posts are shared on website.

Curriculum Planning, Standards Alignment, Inputs, and Outcomes

Design Essentials        Description
Curriculum
Integration and
Alignment: Science, Math, and Technology
Guiding Question: How do global patterns of atmospheric movement and global winds influence local weather.
Project Aims: The aim is for participants to understand why different parts of the world experience weather both the same and differently.
Focus Questions: What is the weather like each day where the participant is located?
Standards Alignment: ACOS 6th grade:
Science 1; ELA 26, 27, 28, 31 Math 29
Prerequisites and Skill Level: The use of Web 2.0 technologies, wikis, blogs is an advantage. Participants will need an email account to sign up for services used in this project.
Required Outcomes: 1. Video handshake
2. Submitted weekly- daily data from their weather observations.
3. Collaborative report using wiki.
4. Post project reflection
Optional Outcomes: Data gathering of temperature and conditions.
Using lines of latitude and longitude to locate areas of specific weather events; Interpreting weather data through observations collected over
Team Structure: Teams will be determined by number of participants from locations- one member from each geographical location.
Required Inputs: Handshake, collaboration of research, report summary of data
Optional Inputs: One student from each team to be the lead editor
Assessment: Rubric-based assessment
Evaluation: Teacher survey, student reflective blog posts.

Challenge 12 was an undertaking for those of us that are not in a regular classroom or itinerant as I am. Hopefully this video explaining what I have learned this far into the class will suffice. Please leave a comment on this to help with the collaboration of this challenge.

There is a link to this video on the right hand side of the screen under the category EDT 602 or
my video is located on YouTube at: http://youtu.be/hMyKXqq21RY

Since Challenge 10, I have revised this project plan by adding ISTE standards, an additional time period to the duration, and revised the reflection.  Also to the right, I added the Rubrics for the projects.

Project –Exploring Alabama Native American Tribal Culture before Removal
There were four main Native American Tribes in Alabama before the removal which is referred to as the Trial of Tears. These tribes were the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Cherokee, and the Creek.

Project Duration – Four 30-45 minute sessions using computers or iPads

Grade Level – 4th grade

Standards –
SS(4) Alabama Studies 2. Describe cultures, governments, and economies of prehistoric and historic Native Americans in Alabama.
TC2(3-5) 8. Collect information from a variety of digital sources.
TC2(3-5) 9. Use technology tools to organize, interpret, and display data.

ISTE Standards
3. Technology productivity tools
•   Students use technology tools to enhance learning, increase productivity, and promote creativity.
• Students use productivity tools to collaborate in constructing technology-enhanced models, prepare publications, and produce     other creative works.
5. Technology Research Tools
• Students use technology to locate, evaluate, and collect information from a variety of sources.
• Students use technology tools to process data and report results.
• Students evaluate and select new information resources and technological innovations based on the appropriateness for    specific tasks.

Project Plan:

Students will be allowed to choose one of the four tribes for their project. Students will research the selected tribe using the web. Students will research the tribe’s government, lifestyle and culture. Students will report the information using the media of choice. Students can choose from creating a report using Microsoft Word, a presentation using Microsoft PowerPoint, or a brochure using Microsoft Publisher. Students will also have the option to use the Storykit App on the iPad. Each of these will have the availability to add the information to the classroom blog which the students can use as a study guide for end or unit assessment.

Teacher Will:
1. Explain the project to the students, including background knowledge about Native Americans.
2. Model examples of the published end of project in order to lead the students to a decision about how they would like for their project to be published.
3. Supply to the students the assessment rubric and review this with the students.
4. Monitor progress of the student’s work, while supporting the student’s choice.
5. Offer assistance as needed.

Students will:
1. Decide which tribe will be researched and follow up with the research
2. Make a decision as to how the project will be published.
3. Start the publishing process
4. Display and report to the class the finished project

Assessment:

Student’s project will be assessed using a rubric developed according to the publication choice.
• Microsoft Word projects will be assessed using the categories of organization, the amount of information, quality of information, mechanics, and the internet use for research.
• Microsoft Publisher projects will be assessed using the categories of content, knowledge gain, mechanics, attractiveness & organization, and graphics.
• Microsoft PowerPoint projects will be assessed using the categories of organization, content, information requirements, mechanics, and attractiveness.
• StoryKit projects will be assessed using the categories of content, required elements, mechanics, clarity and the use of time.

Reflection:
Since Challenge 10’s reflection, I added an additional time frame to this project. Most students have needed the extra time to work on their project. The choices seemed to be a little overwhelming for some of the students; they had difficulty making a decision as to how they wanted to publish the information. I feel that the next time they have these choices it will be easier. Overall the students enjoyed this project and all gained the knowledge as was expected. Most have asked when we will do this again. Several of the students were familiar with Word and PowerPoint, but only a few had used Publisher and none of the students had used StoryKit. I think that would have been better if the students had all experienced the types of publications we were using before the projects so that they had a better understanding of the publication methods. Therefore making the publishing choice would have been easier. Possibly prior to this lesson, each type of publication should have been assigned for other projects as an introduction to these tools. Overall the project was successful.

Project –Exploring Alabama Native American Tribal Culture before Removal

There were four main Native American Tribes in Alabama before the removal which is referred to as the Trial of Tears. These tribes were the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Cherokee, and the Creek.

Project Duration – Three 30-45 minute sessions using computers or iPads

Grade Level – 4th

Standards –
SS(4) Alabama Studies 2. Describe cultures, governments, and economies of prehistoric and historic Native Americans in Alabama.
TC2(3-5) 8. Collect information from a variety of digital sources.
TC2(3-5) 9. Use technology tools to organize, interpret, and display data.

Project Plan –Students will be allowed to choose one of the four tribes for their project. Students will research the selected tribe using the web. Students will research the tribe’s government, lifestyle and culture. Students will report the information using the media of choice. Students can choose from creating a report using Microsoft Word, a presentation using Microsoft PowerPoint, or a brochure using Microsoft Publisher. Students will also have the option to use the Storykit App on the iPad. Each of these will have the availability to add the information to the classroom blog which the students can use as a study guide for end or unit assessment.

Teacher Will:
1. Explain the project to the students, including background knowledge about Native Americans.
2. Model examples of the published end of project in order to lead the students to a decision about how they would like for their project to be published.
3. Supply to the students the assessment rubric and review this with the students.
4. Monitor progress of the student’s work, while supporting the student’s choice.
5. Offer assistance as needed.

Students will:
1. Decide which tribe will be researched and follow up with the research
2. Make a decision as to how the project will be published.
3. Start the publishing process
4. Display and report to the class the finished project

Assessment- Student’s project will be assessed using a rubric developed according to the publication choice.

• Microsoft Word projects will be assessed using the categories of organization, the amount of information, quality of information, mechanics, and the internet use for research.
• Microsoft Publisher projects will be assessed using the categories of content, knowledge gain, mechanics, attractiveness & organization, and graphics.
• Microsoft PowerPoint projects will be assessed using the categories of organization, content, information requirements, mechanics, and attractiveness.
• StoryKit projects will be assessed using the categories of content, required elements, mechanics, clarity and the use of time.

Reflection –

When I introduced this project to the students, they were somewhat excited to get to choose how the report would be published. They liked the idea about having choices with which tribe to report on, however this part seemed as a determent. Several students could not get started on the research, because of not being able to make a choice of which tribe to research. I observed a couple of students actually starting the third time on different tribes. After these two students made their choice of tribe, choosing the publishing source was just as hard. But they finally got started. A few others procrastinated getting started because when they did the research, they were having trouble deciding what information that they actually needed. These students usually need the extra guidance on sorting through unnecessary information to get to the information which they need.
Now as the publishing of the project is getting underway, only one student has chosen to use Word for their project. A few others were going to use Word because they said that PowerPoint and Publisher were too hard (took longer) but then they say some of the other students working on these programs. They liked how the results were looking and asked if they could change. We discussed how sometimes they would have to go with their choice, but I did not tell them this in the beginning, so I allowed them to change their publication choice and we discussed how they could copy and paste the information from the Word to the selected program. One student is using Word, six students are using PowerPoint, four students chose to use Publisher and five are using Story Kit on the iPad. The students seem to have been encouraged to have the ability to select their publishing program. Except for the reluctant students, allowing choice was a good thing. Now to see the final projects.

I chose to use the Rubric 2: Engagement, Reflection, and Evaluation for this challenge. This rubric is set up for the teacher to use as an assessment tool for student collaboration on the wiki. The difference is that I am a contributor to the wiki with two other people and the owner of the wiki. This rubric gave me the opportunity to see how the assessment would work with in a real teacher/student assessment. The rubric has two descriptors, criterion C and D. Criterion C assess the online interaction and engagement with the project. Members did contribute to the discussion quickly. Although posting was few, it was quite relevant for the time frame which we had to work in. Because of this, I would give each member a 3 to reflect that each won communicated as frequent as possible. Criterion D is about the reflection and evaluation of the assessed project. The wiki which I was invited to participate in was set up with solid continent material geared toward our study of “Flattening Classrooms”. The creator did a great job in formatting the discussion material. The members each had different perspectives of what they felt was useable material to them. Each of the members had good reasoning for their choice, which created deeper thinking about the subject. Therefore the reflections of the past lessons and the evaluation content were well thought out from each of the members. Again, each member should be given the total points due to the reflections of the discussion. So members of this wiki group would recieve all points at this stage of the project.

fcc9_assess