UDL and Assistive Technologies using the iPad

     Assistive technologies have been around for a very long time, as have numerous strategies for reaching all learners.  Universal Design Learning has put a new focus of how to effectively reach learners at all levels and abilities.  The Apple iPad has provided numerous tools to help teachers and learners accomplish this tremendous task.  I have yet to gain the opportunity to use an iPad in my personal classroom, but I have been an Apple iPhone user for many years now and can definitely see the benefits it could bring to at-risk students of all kinds. Teachers work extremely hard to find ways to pull struggling learner up and push gifted students forward.  Individual classrooms tend to have a range of abilities wider than the grade levels in the entire school.  I searched for iPad applications that could assist students in the classroom and out move their learning to higher levels.

Please take a look at the following Google presentation.




For more apps for education see: 65+ iPad apps for Elementary Education

A New Kind of Safety

Today's children are growing up in a digital world. They are learning of the tremendous resources that are available to them through digital tools and the internet.  However, in this digital age, it is even more important for them to know how to stay safe while using these resources and how to be a good digital citizen in this new and ever expanding digital world.  We can start in our classrooms with our colleagues, students and their parents.  There are many topics and resources available to tackle this important task.  I have gather several for a beginning lesson on internet safety for my classroom.  Below is an overview with links, however I am creating a more user friendly Wikispace for my actual use. 
netconclave.com

Digital Citizenship

3^rd grade teacher team, students, and parents

Common Sense Topic: Internet Safety

Resources:

Teacher Resources:

K-5 Curriculum:  http://www.commonsensemedia.org/educators/curriculum/k-5

Staying Safe Online Lesson:  http://www.commonsensemedia.org/educators/lesson/staying-safe-online-2-3

Parent Letter: http://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/safety-security/K-5-SafetySecurity-ParentLetter.pdf

Educating Parents: http://www.commonsensemedia.org/educators/parent-media-education/educate-parents-about-internet-safety

http://www.netsmartz.org/Educators

Students Resources:

http://pbskids.org/webonauts/

http://www.safekids.com/kids-rules-for-online-safety/

http://www.safekids.com/quiz/

http://www.netsmartzkids.org/

Parent Resources:

Parent tip sheet: http://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/k-5-safety-tip.pdf

Parent Tip Sheet: http://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/internetsafetyelem-tip.pdf

Internet Safety for Elementary Kids (video):  http://www.commonsensemedia.org/advice-for-parents/internet-safety-elementary-school-kids-tips

http://www.digitalcitizenship.net/uploads/ParentContract.pdf

http://www.cyber-safety.com/parents.html

http://www.netsmartz.org/Parents

Teaching Schedules:

3^rd grade team: 45 min during shared planning time period

3^rd grade students and parents: Together 45 minutes, Family Togetherness Night

Content:

Teachers will:

• Understand the importance of teaching internet safety to their students and parents

• Learn how to locate and access commonsense.org resources and lessons, as well as other resources

Students & Parents will:

• Understand that being safe when they visit websites is similar to staying safe in real life

• Learn to recognize websites that are good for them to visit

• Recognize if they should ask an adult they trust before they visit a particular website

Teacher Outcomes:

Will prepare the CommonSense.org lesson on Staying Safe on the Internet to present to 3^rd grade students and their parents on Family Togetherness Night.

Parent & Student Outcomes:

Match statements about websites to colors of a “website traffic light” that symbolizes various levels of online safety

Play an interactive game to judge which websites are best for them

Extension: Students make a website traffic light poster in groups with tips about how to identify “just right” sites

Homework: Students find new “just right” sites to visit with their family members  

Wiki:   http://elliottsdigitalcitizenry.wikispaces.com/

Welcome to the 21st Century

Jami’s MNW Walkthrough Form and Technology Infusion Data

Characteristics of Core Instruction: The following topics and items were taken from Iowa Core Curriculum sessions and reflect the Characteristics of Effective Instruction outlined by the Iowa Core.

Course/Classroom Being Analyzed:  
3rd grade classroom

Image: Creative Commons

Student-Centered Classroom

• Students at center of learning, teacher facilitating process
• Cooperative or collaborative learning taking place
• Teacher leading students to the answer not giving it out
• Students have choices
• Students are engaged in challenging work
• Teacher questions and probes
• Not visible during walkthrough

Specific comments about the Student-Centered Classroom:
Our training and focus on the Gradual Release of Responsibility framework and more specifically with productive group work and inquiry this past year has helped to move my classroom towards being much more student centered.  We’ve really been working on what productive group work looks like for the students through modeling and specific expectations. Through inquiry, students are engaged in thinking and sharing fostered by prompts and probes from the teacher.


Teaching for Understanding:

• Problem or project based learning
• Hands on, minds on
• Students think and demonstrate understanding
• Visual learning (conceptual models, graphic organizers, webs, etc.)
• Factual knowledge is transferred to usable knowledge
• Students involved in designing, problem solving, decision making, and investigating
• Summarize targeted concepts and skills
• Multiple means of presenting information
• Not visible during walkthrough

Specific comments about Teaching for Understanding:
We definitely do alot of problem and project based learning tasks, especially through math.  Students are continually demonstrating their understanding and creating and completing visual models.


Assessment for Learning

• Formative assessment is used as a tool to adjust teaching
• Essential concept and skill is clear and evident to the students
• Teacher provides criteria of quality work
• Teacher provides examples of both high and low quality work
• Self or peer assessment is evident
• A collaborative classroom environment
• Assessment for learning takes place DURING instruction
• Variety of feeback to students (web, tapes, oral, written, video, etc)
• Not visible during walkthrough

Specific comments about Assessment for Learning:
I definitely use formative assessments to adjust teaching according to what the students’ needs are.  I also have students self-evaluate and peer-evaluate.



Rigor and Relevance (We have not studied this so you do not need to include this section if you don’t know about the Rigor and Relevance concept.)

• Quadrant A
• Quadrant B
• Quadrant C
• Quadrant D
• Opportunity to set goals
• Expands on prior knowledge
• Not visible during walkthrough

Specific comments about Rigor and Relevance:
Iowa Core urges tasks and activities to be in Quadrant D, these types of tasks seem to require significant planning out side of the box.  As I continue my teaching I hope to move closer to having more tasks closer to Quadrant D.


Teaching for Learner Differences

• Plans for variance in learning
• Assesses the interests and needs of individual students
• Learning goals are clearly stated
• Flexible grouping (supplemental and intensive)
• Engages students in self reflection, collaboration, and learning choices
• Works in variety of settings (large group, small group, individual)
• Engages students in self reflection
• Not visible during walkthrough

Specific comments about Teaching for Learner Differences:
As part of our school’s differentiated instruction committee, I’ve learned to incorporate many strategies to reach learners where they are.  We also give interest surveys and “interviews” to students and assess where they are numerous times throughout the year with summative evaluations and daily through formative evaluations.  


Technology Infusion

• Web 2.0 tools being used
• Technology used as a reference
• Technology used as a textbook
• Technology used to differentiate learning
• Technology used for collaboration or communication
• Using technology to create a "product" or "project"
• Technology was not being used during the walkthrough
• Other

Specific comments about Technology Infusion:
I try to incorporate technology as frequently as possible to simply get the students using it.  By the time students have reached third grade I would love for them to have more experience with using technology so that we can start focusing more on using technology for learning, but reality is they just aren’t there. So within the restraints of our classroom and school, we do as much as we can with the limited resources.


** In order to create a better 21st century environment in my classroom, I will begin by definitely pushing for more technology resources within the classroom and in the lab. Steve Hargadon stated "You can’t ask teachers to teach 21st century skills if they aren’t in a 21st century environment themselves." I hope that administrators can see that teachers do need more control over the technology that is available to them in the classroom and invest in ways to enrich the resources as well. Second, I will focus more on assessments for learning and the feedback that students need to be more successful. Finally, I will invest the time in moving tasks from Quadrant A towards Quadrant D for stronger rigor and relevance.

Technology Integration Matrix

In returning home from the ITEC Conference tonight, I am boiling over with even more ideas of how I would like to see my classroom evolve into a 21st century learning environment.  Students are capable of expressing themselves in a variety of ways and I intend to work my hardest to engage them in opportunities that allow them to do so.
Dr. Leigh Zeitz assigned a task through our Selection and Integration class, part of the Instructional Technology Master's Degree program, of identifying technology integration activities and classify them using the TIM Matrix.  The five activities I chose are all activities I have used in my 3rd grade classroom.  In reviewing these activities, classifying them, and thinking about how to take them up a notch on the matrix and incorporate Punya Mishra's TPACK theory involving technology, pedagogy and content, I created a chart of my own.
After attending many of the sessions at ITEC this year, I feel even further behind than before.  I know where I would like to see my instruction, what I am not sure about is how to get there. It is hard to not focus on the tools, when students are coming to my classroom without any knowledge of Web 2.0 tools.  Therefore, when the content and pedagogy is identified, I have to teach the technology before we can proceed. The additional barriers brought on by the lack of support in the district and working technology brings on even bigger frustrations.  This morning, Steve Hargadon stated that you can't ask teachers to teach 21st century skills if they aren't in a 21st century environment themselves.

Studies in Media ~ Intro Blog

Happy New Year!

 As we enter the Chinese New Year, there are many things I’ve been doing to prepare for our upcoming trip to China.  I’ve been researching the country, travel tips, touring ideas, and shopping.  I have also been searching for other elementary participants to connect with, integrating multicultural activities into my classroom and having my student prepare projects about our culture to share.  My mind has been so consumed with all things Flat Classroom, China and getting ready to go, I never even saw the train coming until it smacked into us.  My 15 year old daughter had been complaining of being really thirsty for the past few weeks and we discarded it as the dryness in the air, accompanied with basketball and volleyball workouts.  That is until last week when she came home sick from school Monday with a headache and then again on Tuesday with the same symptoms.  She was very tired and having some dizziness, so we made a doctor appointment at our local family practice.  They tested her for several things, thyroid, mono, etc and her blood glucose came back at 653 and her A1c was 13.7 along with large ketones in her urine.  They gave us a copy of her labs and asked that we get in the car and drive her to the emergency room at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics about an hour away because they had the best pediatric endocrinology department in the area.  They admitted Dayton and she was diagnosed with type 1 Diabetes.   So now we are in the process of adapting to a new lifestyle, or life support system as they call it, of counting exact numbers of carbohydrates for each meal, checking blood glucose levels, and giving insulin injections.  It has been extremely overwhelming and I’ve had to stop at several instances and just take deep breaths.  Dayton has been absolutely amazing and is adjusting so well and I am so proud of her.  However, with the beginning of this Chinese New Year, the life of this full-time teacher, graduate student, and single-mom just got even more interesting and we will be starting a new life along with this new year. 

The Juvenile Diabetes Reseach Foundation is close to a cure and you can help with this by donating on Dayton's behalf at the following link:  SUPPORT ME!

Shop til We Drop?

      A group of us from the University of Northern Iowa Instructional Technology cohort is taking a trip to Beijing, China for the Flat Classroom Conference next month.  We have been recieving lots of information about all things China, but of the most interesting so far are the shopping markets.  We have been told that our Dollar is going to go pretty far on our shopping excursions and I am truly looking forward to this.  Below are some of centers in Beijing that might be of some interest to us.

The Hongqiao Market
The Silk Market                                                  
Other shopping in Beijing

photo: ilookchina.net