Field trip Discussion

If you are unable to attend class, please send me a description of what you saw and learned on your field trip.
Your mission is to FOCUS ON how people use technology to learn, and what is really out there being used.

You must visit the following two of the three locations.

• A toy store (Kaybee toys, Toys-R-Us, etc)
• A technology store (Best Buy, Circuit City, the Mac Store, etc)
• A place where people go to play games (Dave & Busters', GameWorks, etc)

At each location, you most do the following:

• Spend 20 minutes watching kids, teens, and adults at the store. What are they playing with? How are they using the equipment/toys? What are they learning? Write down your observations in a journal.
• Spend 20 minutes playing with the toys/equipment yourself. You MUST spend 20 minutes - no cheating. Write down observations about what you learned/discovered in a journal.
• Think about it: write down how these toys/pieces of equipment could be used in the classroom to enhance teaching and learning.

Daniel Pink

I would like to briefly share another theory of learning.
Daniel Pink has authored of a great book; A WHOLE NEW MIND Why Right Brainers Will Rule the World.  Daniel Pink writes business books and is a motivational speaker to encourage others to choose their career paths and their futures. We as educators are interested in his view of the future and what will be expected of our students in order to succeed.
Please watch the following video.  Our discussion board will have more specific questions this week in response to Dan Pink, Adundance, Asia and Automation . 

How does this relate to teaching elementary school? 
With so much attention focused on THE TEST, it is easy to lose site of our true focus.  We are preparing our young students for a successful future.  Our students need to learn to become brilliant adults who invent and create and move our culture into a new generation.  So what is that future we are preparing them for? Watch Did You Know

The first video is Daniel Pink sharing some of this thoughts on what our world is becoming and what we and our students need to be to be successful.
The second video is Daniel Pink discussing how this applies to education.  Daniel Pink: Texas senate hearing on education. (You can fast forward to 1:51)

I strongly recommend adding the book, A WHOLE NEW MIND to your summer reading list.

Capstone

Your capstone is MANY, MANY, MANY things but it is usually based around a curricular unit.  You have already brainstormed over 35 ideas (Bloom/Gardner Grid) and completed a lesson plan as well as an assessment rubric on one curricular area.  Let's use all of this information to create the Unit plan. Your plan should cover about three weeks. Hopefully, you have or will have additional projects to this unit plan from your other classes.  Feel free to include these other projects in your unit plan.  This unit plan will be an incredible jump start to your CAPSTONE. I would like to share my Capstone with you!!

I share my capstone, not because I believe it is a great example of what a capstone should be, but because I want you to be aware of all that goes into the final  product.

The capstone is really two pieces. 
The first part of the capstone is what I like to prepare my students for.  The first part of the capstone includes a growth study, vitea, list of classes and research action.  These are assignments that will be explained and completed in the last class of the program.

The second part of the capstone is the real "meat" of the project.  You unit plan needs to a complete plan that includes lesson plans, worksheets, powerpoints, vodcasts, etc.  EVERYTHING a teacher would  need to complete the unit from your plan.


The last assignment is to complete a unit plan.  Below is the template and a sample.  The unit plan is due next week on March 29th.

Next week (March 29th), please read the blog for assignments.  We will not be meeting in class.  I will be in the classroom if you feel you need any assistance on anything.

The last week of class is April 5th.  Please read the blog the last week as well.  We will have assignments on the blog the last week of class but we will not be required to meet.  I do not plan on coming to class that evening but if you need me for anything, I will be there if you let me know.

We will be looking into research concerning our left and right brains.  We will begin by watching a video about a woman who had the opportunity to study the brain from the inside out.  Watch Jill Bolte Taylor's Stroke of Insight  

Rubric Lesson PowerPoint.
The original document is located at the end of this blog as a PDF.  If you missed class I suggest you read this.  I have also included my powerPoint which is a summary.
Due March 22 - Rubric
We will create a rubric for one of the assignments in your Bloom/Gardner Grid.  It may a rubric for the lesson plan you just completed.  It may be a rubric for any other assignment in your Grid.  You may use any rubric generator to create your rubric, although I suggest Rubistar
Your rubric will be posted on your website/blog as well as emailing it to me.  Please label it "RubricYourNameSpring1". 
Your rubric will be graded using Aunt Olive's Rubric on Rubric


Ready for a field trip? Well, actually it's field trips! Your mission is to FOCUS ON how people use technology to learn, and what is really out there being used.

You must visit the following two of the three locations.

• A toy store (Kaybee toys, Toys-R-Us, etc)
• A technology store (Best Buy, Circuit City, the Mac Store, etc)
• A place where people go to play games (Dave & Busters', GameWorks, etc)

At each location, you most do the following:

• Spend 20 minutes watching kids, teens, and adults at the store. What are they playing with? How are they using the equipment/toys? What are they learning? Write down your observations in a journal.
• Spend 20 minutes playing with the toys/equipment yourself. You MUST spend 20 minutes - no cheating. Write down observations about what you learned/discovered in a journal.
• Think about it: write down how these toys/pieces of equipment could be used in the classroom to enhance teaching and learning.

Bring your notes with you next week.
Have fun! Take your family with you.

Due March 22 - Rubric
Due March 29 - Unit Plan

We have completed our Bloom/Gardner Grids.  They have been posted on our weebly blog as well as emailed to me.  It should be titled "GridyournameSpring1"
Please look at your rss feed and take a look at all the the other students hard work.  You are not required to look at everyone's grid nor are you required to comment on any but if you see anything that may be interesting or informative, please look and comment.

Please add Rene's correct address to your RSS feed and watch his presentation this week.

Multiple Intelligences Movie Night
Thanks to our fellow classmates, we have been introduced to all of the multiple intelligences.  Now, we will test how well we understand and can identify multiple intelligences in people (mostly our students).  This website has a separate blog, entitled Movie Night.  Please watch each video and use the document below (Multiple Intelligences in Life ..or movies) to record your thoughts and ideas.

If you were not able to attend class, please watch and complete this worksheet.
Due March 15 "Multiple Intelligences in Life ..or movies" worksheet.  This is really just a note taking exercise.  I want to see your impressions and how you have applied what you have learned about multiple intelligences.  This is not meant to be a formal assignment. 

Our next assignment is to choose one of those ideas on our grid and create a lesson plan.  It is your choice, if you choose an idea that is most likely to be used and successful in your classroom today, OR you may choose the idea that you wished you could do!!  Imagine laptops for everyone and unlimited time restraints.  Sometimes these crazy (if I could do anything ideas) lead to practical possibilities once thought completely through.  If you have a classroom, you may be more likely to choose practical. If you do not have a classroom, you may wish to dream big.
Use the one idea from the grid that you choose and complete a lesson plan using the template provided. At least 2 multiple intelligences should be covered as well as a technology component.
The template provided has a blank for "STANDARDS".  I would like both the California State Standards and the National Educational Technology Standards and Performance Indicators for Students. (NETS.S).  The NETS.S can be read online. Please read the NETS.S and add the appropriate ones to match your lesson plan.  (PLEASE NOTE: the sample included may not have NETS.S.  Your lesson plan needs NETS.S) It should be saved as "Lesson plan Your Name Spring1" When complete, it gets email to me ([email protected] ).  It also should be posted on your website/blog.

Upcoming Due Dates:
Due March 15- Lesson plan
Due March 22 - Rubric (more information to follow)
Due March 29 - Unit Plan (more information to follow)

Due March 15- Multiple Intelligence Lesson Plan.
Template and Sample to follow.  Choosing just one idea (one square) from your Bloom/Gardner Grid, you will create a lesson plan.  If the topic of your grid is related to your upcoming capstone, then this lesson will be one of many in your capstone.  You may use the lesson format from the template and the sample or you may choose any lesson plan format you wish as long as it includes all the components of the template and sample. It should be saved as "Lesson plan Your Name Spring 1" When complete, it gets email to me ([email protected] ).  It also should be posted on your website/blog.