Week 1

My name is Carley and I have recently been promoted to full time Mommy. Although I am not working outside the home at present, I have taught both domestically and abroad. I reside in Oklahoma City where I taught 5th grade in the Putnam City school district. Prior to, I taught a variety of ages in Sydney, Australia both in formal and informal settings. I have lived and traveled in other countries as well. My future professional goals are to create a culturally responsive classroom in any instructional setting I find myself in. I aspire to open the eyes of eager learners to a beautiful world and integrate diverse concepts into the learning standards. I especially find students in grades 4-6 at an impressionable time and desire to teach them a better understanding and appreciation of all peoples, which is very needed in the world today. I also aspire to teach ESL domestically or internationally someday. While I am fully aware how cliché this sounds, it is a true calling and look forward to the day I can be back in the classroom.  

The ISTE Standard Creative Communicator 6c states students communicate complex ideas clearly and effectively by creating or using a variety of digital objects such as visualizations, models, or simulations. Students in a 5th grade science class could extend their explanations of standard 5.LS2.1 by describing their animal, plant, or decomposer of choice and how its role affects the ecosystem's function. After students research their chosen organism they would describe and explain the effects it has on the environment by presenting their findings through a quick video clip, much like the short, informational advertisements seen in social media. The presentations through this outlet may mimic zookeeper talks or animal caretaker posts. Students could use a green screen background to display the ecosystem as they present the information. The short clip will encourage students to use summarization skills as they focus on the main details most significant to communicate to their intended audience. Students are communicating their ideas through visual means similarly to what they see every day using social media apps like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, etc. Some digital tools students might use are a phone or iPad and an app like iMovie for simple editing.   

Students will primarily use technology toward the end of the activity to extend the learning goal, allowing some time for retakes as they practice speaking in front of the camera. Kolb (2020) mentions how many many schools move to ever-present technology use, especially if there is 1:1 access (p. 10). The activity above, however, only uses tech toward the end of the project and the clips are intended to be as short as a commercial. Students can primarily focus on the learning task, which is to develop a model to describe movement of matter among plants, animals, and decomposers in the environment, by gathering information from traditional sources (e.i. Textbooks, Dictionaries, encyclopedias). The instructor can display examples of the kinds of video clips for inspiration, allowing students to take their own spin on it – encouraging the creative process (Gura, 2016, p. 27). The technology is meant to highlight important information for presenting while adding visual aids (Kolb, 2020, p. 36). Compared to the “live stories” of Instagram or Facebook, students will be able to tell their “live stories” about their chosen organism and ecosystem. Since many students already use social media, this connects their use of real-world technology to present and create original work (Kolb, 2020, p. 36).  

References

Kolb, L. (2020). Learning first, technology second in practice: New strategies, research and tools for student success. International Society for Tech in Education. 

Gura, M. (2016). Make, Learn, Succeed: Building a Culture of Creativity in Your School. International Society for Tech in Education.