Scratch Assignment

I find scratch a very useful and fun educational tool. I created a scratch depicting the Water Cycle that could be used for a school project to show that students understand the topic you are discussing but also is something that can make them more knowledgable about technology that they have available to them. In the 21st Century Learning Skills Article "Learning with Scratch," it says, "Scratch encourages creative thinking, an increasingly important skill in today’s rapidly changing world." I really like this statement because even as I look back at my years in school, the way I have done projects has drastically changed. Most classrooms and assignments have become more technology based and Scrach is an excellent tool for students to become more comfortable with the change and express their creativity. Each student has their own individual way of looking at things and Scratch is a great way to let them represent that.

Looking around on Scratch I found one about Telling Time. This scratch shows a clock and gives random times as it asks "What time is it?" Even for the teacher this is a great tool to use to get the students involved and excited about learning in a way that is different for how they would ordinarily do it.

21C.O.5-8.1.LS.2
Student interprets abstract visuals and creates products (e.g. digital storytelling) that reflect a growing understanding of visual language and require the effective use of tools (e.g. cropped photos, original charts and graphs, well-chosen images from databases, video clips).

• This CSO completely describes what the students are doing with scratch. They are learning how to piece things together to create a visual media presentaion.

Google Apps Lesson Plan on Prezzi

ISTE NETS -T Standard 2a: Design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity.

• This Google Apps Lesson plan allows students to take advantage of a free online resource and use the technology they have available to them. They are still working on their writing skills, but in a new and different way that lets them learn how to use new technologies.

Video Conferencing in the Classroom

Standard III: Model Digital Age Work and Learning B. Collaborate with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support student success and innovation.

• Video conferencing is a great tool to get students more involved in and out of the classroom. They get to see the world outside of the four walls that surround them as they are enjoying the learning process in that same space. It gives them new opportunities to interact with others that they do not normally have the chance to come in contact with and see opportunities they have outside of the classroom. 

This lesson plan by Tina Brown titled "Fun with Dr. Suess"  is something that I feel would bring a lot of fun into the classroom with many educational benefits. Two classrooms, one full of bilingual Spanish speaking students and the other English only speaking students, come together through video conferencing to talk about their similar love for Dr. Suess, read books together in both languages, vote for their favorite book, graph the results, and ask questions about the results.  At this age (2nd grade) kids are enthralled with Dr. Suess, as well as anything that is new and different to them. These two mixed together automatically become exciting and, I feel, would make the kids want to come in and learn everyday. They get the chance to interact  with students that bring them new cultural experiences, but are also able to see the similar interests that they share.

Lesson Plan: Choose Your Own Adventure Story


West Virginia CSO

• RLA.O.5.3.4 Students will reate an age-appropriate media product that demonstrates format, purpose, and audience.

Video Games in the Classroom

Before watching these videos, I really did not have a strong view one way or another about the use of video games in the classroom. It is something that I have thought little about. However, now I think that games can be used as an incredible tool to aide in the learning process. It is something that children in today's world are so familiar with in their everyday lives and is something that they enjoy, so using them to help teach can be a wonderful tool. Games instill the learning practices and social skills we see in the 21st century. Today, we don't only have to teach english, math, history, etc. but we now are expected to teach how to use technology, media literacy, and proper social media conduct that students will use in everyday life. Games are a great way to combine the teaching of these skills to make the student enjoy learning both subjects. Many people see a negative effect that games have on the younger generation, but that is not the case. Kids, rather than being harmed from their constant video gaming, are excelling in many areas. Kids are expected to have many different skills while playing the games, and their multi-tasking skills are showing great improvement as they juggle all of these. Instead of lacking the ability to focus, children have a greater attention span and are less distracted. All of these, along with many others, show that video games are mostly helpful to the kids that are considered as "gamers."

In this lesson plan, students use a video game to learn about the eleven different cities visited in the game and about nonprofit organizations, as well as skills developed by play. They use a video game that's already created to better relate to the students about the subject.

Video Games and Learning

Your Brain of Video Games

In this video, Your Brain of Video Games, the major argument presented is that video games, in reasonable doses, have many powerful and positive effects on our behavior.

Claims

1.  Action video games, rather than harming your eyesight actually helps to improve your vision.
2. Playing action games does not lead to attention problems or greater distractibility. All attention contolling parts of the brain are much more efficient in people that play video games.
3. People that play action video games are better multi-taskers and can switch their attention from one thing to another more quickly.

Are Video Games Making Your Kids Smarter?

In this video, Are Video Games Making Your Kids Smarter?, the major argument presented is that our world is too slow for our children to appreciate rather than them being too distracted by the world.

Claims

1. Kids are expected in video games to require many skills and high amounts of multitasking.
2. Games are wired to produce pleasure, and you keep seeking that activity.
3. Gamification, the process of using game thinking and game mechanics to engage audiences and solve problems, is being used by "generation G." 

Big Thinkers: Katie Salen on Learning with Games

In this video, Big Thinkers: Katie Salen on Learning with Games, the major argument is that games today are very important and influential in the learning process.

Claims

1. Games get at the kinds of learning experiences and social practices that we see important in the 21st century.
2. Games work in a way that good teachers work. Designers have to ask what does my player need in this moment in order to be successful.
3. Teachers should realize that the game does not need to be the entire curriculum, but just one aspect to better help kids in the learning process.

Picasso Head and Learning Styles

This is my Picasso head. I have musical intelligence.

As we have been discussing learning styles over the past week, I have had different views on how or even if they should be used in the classroom. However, looking over all the information we have been presented with, I think that they are valuable for helping students engage further into the learning process so that they get all they can out of the teaching, but that they can not be used in every lesson you teach. This is because grasping some concepts have to be solely based on the content of the subject matter rather than how a student learns best. "[W]e are all capable of learning under almost any style, no matter what our preference is," (Clark, 2012). What matters more than the way you learn best is the nature of the subject that is being discussed. For example, for a student to know what a song sounds like, it is better for them to listen to the song than to look at the sheet music. "[T]eachers should worry about matching their instruction to the content they are teaching. Some concepts are best taught through hands-on work, some are best taught through lectures, and some are best taught through group discussions," (Glenn, 2009). All students have the ability to learn in whatever way we present the information. It is true that some might learn better in a different way then how it is taught, but in that situation, I feel like it is best to individually present the information to that student differently rather than present the same information to the entire class for every different learning style. Where I feel it is best to integrate learning styes, make learning fun, and keep students engaged, we need to change the style of our teaching in different subjects and not teach for, as an example, visual learning all the time. Teach for all of the different learners you may have in your class.

Music Media Lesson Plan

• Have students creatively examine the role that music, sound effects, special effects and editing techniques have in holding our attention while watching TV or movies. Break the class into small groups and assign each of them to record a movie scene. Each group must do the same scene twice while varying one element. For example, one group should do the same scene with different music each time, while another groups tapes the same scene using differerent camera angles. After viewing each video, discuss the differences that exist between the two scenes.

David Glenn (2009, December 15). Matching Teaching Style to Learning Style May Not Help Students.

     Retrieved from http://chronicle.com/article/Matching-Teaching-Style-to-/49497/

Don Clark (2012, March 6). Learning Styles and Preferences. Retrieved from 

     http://nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/styles.html

Media Literacy Lesson Plan Ideas: TV and Movies. Retrieved from

     http://www.cmch.tv/mentors_teachers/lp_tv_movies.asp