Google Earth

Keeping with the whole authentic problem thing, I couldn't really think of anything authentic to introduce the Rocky Mountains and the Appalachian Mountains to my class with. I had some ideas, but really nothing I could use as few of my students have really ever been out of the immediate area. The only thing I could think of was using Google Earth for them to adventure through the two mountain regions. Using the smart board we were able to really get a great perspective of the two ranges. Students were able to interact with the site by zooming in and out as well as traveling in all directions within the mountains. There were several pictures linked to areas on Google Earth that provided images of the actual mountains. Students were easily able to compare the two ranges. Not only were we able to identify the location of both ranges, but students were able to gain an appreciation for the terrain. I may now be able to incorporate some authentic problems to go along with these mountain ranges for different curricular area.

Authentic problems

I have been trying to incorporate more authentic problems as I am introducing and carrying out my lessons. I have found students to be more responsive and motivated to what the lesson was all about, I am yet to see results in assessments, but it should all come to light very soon. Stay tuned.

Making it real

I designed a lesson today for a large group of my lower math students involving place value. The past few days I have found a group of students that were just not comprehending the place value blocks. While continuing the lesson the next day (today), I used familiar objects like pennies and dimes to represent tens and ones. I also used small noodles and large noodles as well. Students were able to associate the the differentiated materials with the standard materials used for identifying and associating tens and ones. By the end of the lesson my lower the majority of my lower achieving students were able to positively use tens and ones blocks to assist them with place value. More differentiating will be needed to help those not getting it. Live what you learn, learn what you live.

witnessing others approach to design

As a result of mandatory LEARN model in planning team lessons, It has been interesting to see how my colleagues approach their designing of their plans. As a team we are required to keep a collection of LEARN plans. We write them as we make plans for our classroom lessons. We then share the plans during our weekly collaboration meetings. It is kind of interesting to see what is important to the different teachers and their style of teaching in their LEARN lessons.

Comparing Design to the LEARN model of planning

I am looking forward to making the correlation to what I am learning in my Instructional Design Cohort to the LEARN approach to lesson planning. I am anxious to discover how what I recently learned in class (Lesson Designing Strategy) will shape my approach to organizing the over arching planning of 2nd grade curriculum. As our school's 2nd grade team leader, I look forward to sharing design strategy techniques that I will learn with my colleagues and our school's commitment to implementing the LEARN model to classroom lesson planning .

Blog Ignorant

I can't believe I am producing my first blog. Never done it, never thought I would. I am writing this to express my ignorance in this area and to laugh about it when my masters degree has been earned. I look forward to expanding my use of this tool and eventually participate in others across the web and in our cohort.