View my digital footprint

Habitats of Emperor Penguins

Here is my animoto about the habitat of an Emperor Penguin

Habitats of Emperor Penguins

Lesson Plan – Grade 4 

	“Big Idea” this lesson plan supports: safety researches a bird of choice on the internet and uses this information on the pic collage app on their iPads.
Title Lesson Plan Component		Bird Collages Students will display the research the have obtained on the bird of their choice using the pic collage app on their iPads.
GSE’s/GLE’s/ Frameworks/Common Core/NETS- Standards		ISTE  6.Technology operations and concepts (a) Understand and use technology systems. Common Core: Rl.4.7 Interpret information presented visually, orally, or quantitatively (e.g. in charts, graphs, diagrams, time lines, animations, or interactive elements on Web pages) and explains how the information contributes to an understanding of the text in which in appears.
Objective(s)		·      Students will choose a bird of choice to research ·      Students will need to identify the following details about their birds; habitat, diet, predators, one fact they find interesting about their bird ·      In a previous lesson students will use the internet to find and save images of their 4 details of their birds to their iPads ·      Students will take the pictures they have already previously saved and using the pic collage app on their iPads will create a collage displaying these details
Materials		·      1 iPads for each student ·       Pic collage app on the iPad ·       Smart Board
Anticipatory Set		Students will have already been researching their bird of choice and should have the needed information already obtained and their pictures saved to their iPads. In front of the class the teacher will display the pic collage app and show her sample of a pic collage with her/his bird of choice using their iPad and the smart board. Explain every student will be able to make their own pic collage using the research they have already obtained from their bird of choice.
Procedures		1.     Students together with the teacher will look at their iPads and locate the pic collage app 2.     The teacher will display using an iPad and smart board how to choose a collage and insert their pictures as well as go through the bottom options; home, text, effect, text, stick, and share 3.     Students will then choose the collage of their choice that allows them to include all 4 details required during their research 4.     Students will insert their pictures as well as adding what they feel will enhance their collage such as text, frames etc. 5.     Students will then save their collage to their iPad as well as email to the teacher’s Gmail account
Closure		Students will present their collages to the class.
Assessment		·      Throughout the work time the teacher will be walking throughout the class observing students work ·      Assessments will also be done as students orally present their collages to the class
Modifications/ Accommodations		·      All work time will be done as a group activity so students can talk with each other to receive help suggestions or use others work for samples of how collages should be ·      Teachers and other staff in the classroom will be walking around available to assist students in any way they need ·      If students can be pushed further they can research and save other interesting images to be added to their collages.

CATEGORY	4	3	2	1
Requirements	All requirements are met and exceeded.	All requirements are met.	One requirement was not completely met.	More than one requirement was not completely met.
Content	Covers topic in-depth with details and examples. Subject knowledge is excellent.	Includes essential knowledge about the topic. Subject knowledge appears to be good.	Includes essential information about the topic but there are 1-2 factual errors.	Content is minimal OR there are several factual errors.
Attractiveness	Makes excellent use of font, color, graphics, effects, etc. to enhance the presentation.	Makes good use of font, color, graphics, effects, etc. to enhance to presentation.	Makes use of font, color, graphics, effects, etc. but occasionally these detract from the presentation content.	Use of font, color, graphics, effects etc. but these often distract from the presentaion content.
Oral Presentation	Interesting, well-rehearsed with smooth delivery that holds audience attention.	Relatively interesting, rehearsed with a fairly smooth delivery that usually holds audience attention.	Delivery not smooth, but able to hold audience attention most of the time.	Delivery not smooth and audience attention lost.

Field Experience Observation and Interview

I observed Mrs. S .who is the Technology Integrator/Library Media Specialist at Beaver Meadows Elementary School in Concord N.H. I spent several hours over two days, September 17^th and September 24th with Mrs. S and learning what she does.          This is the third year Mrs. S. has been in this position, and was previously a classroom teacher in another school district. She received her certification from Plymouth State University.

Mrs. S works along side classroom teachers integrating technology into everyday classroom work and projects. Beaver Meadows is a 1:1 ratio for iPads so every student as well as every teacher has their own. Each classroom is equipped with a smart board. In each room I observed Mrs. S was working with the students using the iPad. 

I was able to observe several classrooms using their iPads for very different things. The first class I observed was a group of fifth graders. Each year the fifth grade research a country a family member immigrated from. This year fifth grade would be using their iPads to research their countries and making books as their final project using Book Creator. Mrs. S. first showed a sample book she had made using her great grandmother as an example for this project. Mrs. S. displayed her example from her iPad onto the smart board. I found it extremely interesting during my observation there was a technology glitch and the iPad froze and had to be restarted. While Mrs. S. was restarting the classroom teacher did a great job of keeping the lesson going so the children continued to be engaged. Once everything was back up and working Mrs. S. explained today they would be researching their countries and discussed the search engines they would be using for their research reminding them that these sites were chosen because they were safe to use in the classroom and that students need to only use these sites for their research. They used pic4learning, picsabay, and kidrex. The second class I observed that day was a second grade class that would be putting the apps on the iPad into folders. Mrs. S. using her iPad and the smart board walked the students through making certain folders and putting certain apps into the folders as the classroom teacher walked around the rooms helping any students who needed assistance.

During my second observation I observed a 4^th grade class. The fourth grade was working on a project about birds of prey and each child was researching their own bird. After their research they would be using this information in a pic collage. During my observation the class was doing an image search on the Internet they could use for their project. Again Mrs. S. used her iPad with the smart board to discuss how the class would find pictures and save them to their iPads. Again the class used the same search engines as were used in 5^th grade the prior week and again they talked about Internet safety and why these were sites that were safe for them to use. The second class we observed that day was the same 2^nd grade class we were in the prior week. This week they were using book creator to practice writing their word wall words. The students wrote each word three times on a page before creating a new page for a new word. I found this a different interest engaging way for the students to practice these words.

Below is my formal interview with Mrs. S.:

Do you feel your school is supportive of integrating technology?

            For the most part yes.  The administration definitely are, some teachers who have been classroom teachers for a long time are not quite as receptive but most teachers are willing to learn and excited to integrate the piece into their classroom.

Whose responsibility is it to teach safe research and social media practices to students in your school?

            We are always discussing safe practices. Each time we use the iPad for the Internet I always start off with reminding them of Internet safety and that the apps we will be using are all safe for their use.

How often do you collaborate with others in your school in regards to technology integration?

            When I go into classrooms and work on projects I am really co teaching with the classroom teacher. We work together on projects so its not like I’m coming in for a “special” like art I come in and work with the teacher on projects they will continue to work on without me there. There isn’t a scheduled time I come into classrooms every week to work with students like a “special” does. I work with the teachers to talk about what they are working on and how I can help to integrate technology into this. Sometimes I would spend an hour in a classroom other times only half hour.

What does a normal day look like for you?

Busy! I’m everywhere during the day, always moving. Having a half hour in between classes is rare for me. Because I’m doing so many different things in all the age groups there is a lot of prep work prepping and working with each teacher so the students get the most out of my time with them.

I know there is a 1:1 ratio for students with iPads; does this include all grades including Kindergarten?

            It does include Kindergarten but because Kindergarten is only half day their work with iPads is limited as there are other things that need to be squeezed into such a small amount of time.

What does a student’s accessibility to their iPads look like when you are not their working with them?

            Teachers use them without me in the classroom. Like the 2^nd grade class you observed we were putting apps she will use into folders to it will be easier for the students to find them. The older students working on bigger research projects can use their iPads without me their to continue their research. Right now the iPads do stay at school though, students are not allowed to take them home. Administration is working on a way to possibly make that a reality though.

As I’m observing each class I heard both you and the classroom teacher use the term apple up to the students. What does this mean?

Apple up means that the students should have their iPads screen down on their desks. The back of an iPad shows an apple and the old cases we used to have showed the apple. We have new cases now and you can’t actually see the apple but the term stuck and students know what we mean.

Connections and Conclusion:

            I found my time observing Mrs. S. in the classroom to be extremely eye opening for me. I had no idea technology was such a huge part of the every day class with something like a smart board completing eliminating the use of a chalk or dry erase board. The fact that every child had access to their own iPad amazed me, and that fact children in 2^nd grade could so easily navigate and embrace it as just another tool in their classroom like a pencil or notebook. It gave me insight on what my future in the classroom will look like and truly gave me more meaning to this technology class.  I know not all school systems are lucky enough to have this type of technology at their finger tips but I can see the benefits children are gaining from having these tools at their finger tips and how it will help them in future as they will be more familiar and comfortable with the technology in front of them.

            Some of the connections I made from my time at Beaver Meadow and with Mrs. S was constantly talking with students about Internet safety before they began any type of work that required them to go onto the Internet. The other piece that really connected for me was just how much technology is truly being integrated into the classroom. As I sat in this graduate class watching and learning about different tools it was hard for me to envision this truly being used every day until I was able to go to a school and spend time in many different classrooms all using this.  

A Vision Of Technology Integration

When I first began my journey into the field of education I had a preconceived idea of what a classroom looks like. It had been many years since I had stepped foot in a public school classrooms and I still envisioned them to be the traditional classrooms I received my education in. Students sitting at desks as teachers taught their lessons as students followed along in textbooks and notes were written on the chalkboard.

I still thought of computers as a tool in the classroom children were allowed to take turns using to play approved games. Most adults my age will have fond memories of Oregon Trail, but using a computer or any type of technology as a tool for learning in the classroom did not cross my mind. Recognizing the potential of technology as a teaching tool can be found as far back as the 1960's. After Seymour Papert a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology collaborated with Swill psychologist Jean Piaget he developed the Logo programming language and began introducing it to children. This program was designed to be simple enough for those who do not yet have sophisticated mathematical understanding. With minimal instruction students were able to write programs that controlled the movements of a turtle robot. Since the 1960's to today nearly every public school in the United States has been connected to the Internet making it possible for students to now connect with the world (Boss 2014). 

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/d59eG1_Tt-Q" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe>

Just having computers in the classroom does not mean you have integrated technology into your classroom. As I walked into a elementary school last week in Concord NH I was shocked to learn each student had the use of iPads on a 1:1 bases and each teacher as well. Every student in the school was using an iPad! Not only did students have access to theses tool but they were using them in their every day learning. In a report done for the foundation Cable in the Classroom James Marshall found that technology “complements what a teacher does naturally…With ever expanding contents and technology choices, from videos to multimedia to the Internet, there’s an unprecedented needed to understand the recipe for success, which involves the learner, the teacher, the content, and the environment in which technology is used” (Boss 2014). Fourth graders were researching Birds of Prey and making Picture Collages, Second Graders were practicing spelling writing their spelling words, and there was everything in between. It really was an amazing thing to observe. In November 2010 the latest National Education Technology Plan was released by the Department of Education entitled Transforming American Education: Learning Powered by Technology. This plan outlines a vision to “leverage the learning sciences and modern technology to create engaging, relevant, and personalized learning experiences for all learning that mirror students daily lives and the reality of their futures. In contrast to traditional classroom instruction this requires that we put students at the center an empower them to take control of their own learning by providing flexibility on several dimensions.” The plan also calls for “connected teaching” in which educators connect to “resources and expertise that improve their own instructional practices and guide them in becoming facilitators and collaborators in their students increasingly self directed learning” (Boss 2014). Teachers were truly providing their students with an opportunity to work with tools that will only become more important and necessary and they turn into adults and enter the work force. The use of this type of technology will only be more a part of the work force for them then we can imagine and it is important we give these students the opportunity to truly be able to understand everything you are able to use them for; writing, researching, programming and so much more.

Work Cited:

Boss, Suzie "Technology integration: a short history" April 13, 2014  www.edutopia.org/technology-integration-history 

WW