Preparing - 2 days to go

So, I am still preparing prior to starting my teaching residency.

These are the things I have finished...

• Introduction Powerpoint. I created an introduction powerpoint that has a quick overview of me, my expectations, and some additional procedures: Fist-To-Five, Shoulder Buddies, and Think-Pair-Share.
• Bio-Poem (first assignment) is completely done. I have copied all my copies. I have created the screen cast & added a powerpoint presentation to go with it. Totally Finished ready to teach!
• Lost & Found Flyer (second assignment) is mostly done. I have copied all my copies. I have created a screen cast. I just need to create a powerpoint presentation to go with it.
• Post Card (third assignment)  & R U Smarter Game (fourth assignment) is mostly done. The Assignment sheets and rubrics are created, they just need printed and copied. The screen casts needs created still, as well as a powerpoint presentation to go with it.

These four assignments will get me through to the 7th of February. 

I am going to a conference on the 3rd & 4th of February - it is the ASD CTE Conference. I am also going to the ASTE annual conference on the 25th & 26th of February. I am really excited to go learn about new and exciting programs and teaching methods.

I am working really hard on getting to know students names as well as their skill levels and personalities. I have  been greeting students at the door on a daily basis, and have been a T.A. in the class since it started, everyday. I have been watching my mentor and the way she teaches and the relationships she is building with her students. I hope to be as competent in my teaching as she has been.

Preparing - - 4 days to go

So today & this week, I am really focusing on being prepared to start my teaching residency next week. The stages which I am using for preparing are: Scheduling, Lesson Plans, Handouts, Screen cast, and Copying.

Scheduling:

 I have already  laid out the assignments/projects I will be teaching for the entire residency.  The tenative schedule, in order, is as follows:

• Bio-Poem (using Microsoft Word)
• Lost & Found Flyer (using Microsoft Word)
• Post-Card (using Microsoft Word)
• R U Smarter Game (using Microsoft Power Point)
• Career Exploration (using several programs: On Your Own, AKCIS website, and Keynote)
• Fast Food (using Microsoft Excel)
• Weather Graph (using Microsoft Excel)
• Newsletter (using Pages)
• Comic Book (using Comic Life)
• Animation (using Stykz)

Each assignment/project will have a length of 2-10 days, depending on the difficulty level of that particular assignment/project.  

Lesson Plans:

Research shows that students learning follows a specific order. I have chosen to follow the style created by Jane Pollock. That style is as follows:

• Goals Stated
• Access Prior Knowledge
• New Information
• Application of New Learning
• Goals Re-visited 

I have created rough draft lesson plans for the following assignments/projects:

• Bio-Poem
• Lost & Found Flyer
• Post Card

Hopefully this week I can work on the next two unit: Presentations (teaching starting on Jan 30) and Spreadsheets (teaching starting on Feb. 16th). The remaining two units are being taught after Feb 25th, so hopefully I will be able to get to them before the end of January.

Handouts

For each assignment/project, an assignment sheet and rubric are required so students have a written document to follow stating the requirements of the assignment/project. The assignment sheet is a step by step direction on how to complete the assignment. A sample of an assignment sheet is as follows:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lost & Found Flyer

Instructions

Design a flyer for a lost and found item on the list to the right. The goal is to make the flyer colorful and interesting.

1. Open a WORD document. Save it as YOURNAME-LOST.DOCX in your tech folder.

2. Make your own PAGE BORDER. Use auto shapes and group them to create a page border. To get auto shapes go to your drawing toolbar (be creative). To group auto shapes together select all shapes --> right click --> grouping --> Group.

3. Add a HEADING. Such as  "Dog Lost". Go to the Word Art Tab, then select a type of word art that you like best.

4. Use at least 4 TEXT BOXES to add the following areas of text from the drawing toolbar. Explore tools for text boxes by right clicking on text box and selecting format shape. Change text box fill color, outline, etc.

        a. Description of item lost. (Included defining features, like spots or limp or other identifying qualities).

        b. Date and Location where last seen. (Be creative - like "Last seen on July 4th, at 5th Street and Vine")

        c. Contact Information (for example: If found, contact YOURNAME @ phone number - no real phone numbers, make them up).

        d. Reward or interesting fact about topic.

5. Add a picture of what is lost (from the internet). Don't forget to cite your source (where the picture came from).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A sample of a rubric is as follows:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lost & Found Rubric

Use the information on this sheet to make sure your work is complete. When you finish, put this rubric in the basket on my desk and then hand in your assignment through the class folders on your dock.

NAME: _____________________________________________   Period: ____________________________

COMMENTS: 

Did you like the assignment?  Why or Why not? _________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________

Name One thing you learned and how you can use it in the future. ____________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________

Requirements:                                                                                                                            Check Mark:

Document is Saved in your Tech Folder                                                                               __________

Document is titled: YOUR NAME-LOST. DOCX                                                                __________

You created your own border using auto shapes and grouping.                                       __________

You've added a heading using Word Art                                                                               __________

You have 4 textboxes including description, last seen, contact, and fun fact.              ___________

You've added a picture of what is lost.                                                                                 ___________

Everything fits on one page.                                                                                                 ____________

You gave this assignment your best effort even though it may have been hard           ___________

******************************************************************************************

Final Score: (Teacher Use Only)

Attitude & Effort (8)                                         _______

Border (2)                                                           _______

Text neat, easy to read and finished (2)        _______

Good Picture (3)                                               _______

Good Graphic designs (2)                              _______

Completion (3)                                                 _______

Total                                                                   _______ ______________

Comments: __________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

*********************************************************************************************

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Screen Casts

A Screen Cast works well in a Business Technology classroom, because instruction is done on a computer. It is hard for a teacher to have good classroom management skills if they are looking at what strokes are being made on the computer instead of observing the classroom. Therefore a screen cast works well. Screen casts can be made with audio files or without. I prefer with, but then when instructing I mute the audio. The reason I find this works well, is I make the video available to other students  - specifically if they were absent the day of instruction, or if they just need to review the assignment.  That way on the day I instruct, I can verbally state the instructions based on the class demographics each period, but that these students listed above can listen to it without causing any distractions to the rest of the class. The software I use for screen casting is Snapz Pro X. You can use others, but I find this a user friendly version.

I have created a screen cast of the first assignment/project, but have found that my personal computer software, being a newer version  than the one the students will be using is significantly different. Therefore prior to being able to do the screen casts for the other assignments/projects, I will need access to my mentor's computer which I will get on January 17th. In the event that a screen cast isn't done, it is not a problem, I will instruct the same style, but do it in a live format using a remote desktop software.

Copying

The final piece to getting ready is to make copies of all items I will be giving to students. This is tedious, but necessary. I have not made any copies as of yet, but will get the first two done this week.

Hopefully I will be two weeks or more ahead of the kids in getting everything prepared on time. That is the goal...

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Info Letter Assignment

So, my students are working on their info letter assignments. This is a letter to the teacher about what they know about the computer, software they have used, hardware they have used, websites they enjoy and something that I may not have known about them. It is fun to see some of the things that they are writing.


Here are some examples of what they wrote:

"I had a PC laptop, but my brother stole it."

"I have a pink and blue desktop, I don't really know what kind it is."

"Something you don't know about me is that I love Justin Beiber to death."

"I like youtube because it has really funny videos on it."

"I like facebook because I can keep in touch with my family."

"My mom is Samoan, and my dad is Tongan. But no one can say my mom's name right so they just call her Lao."


Something I am amazed at when reading the students letters are:

They are willing to share almost anything. Very few don't know what to write. An example is that one student told me that she had a brother who died, another talked about a medical condition that she will have to deal with her whole life, another said that sometimes his chores take a really long time, another stated that his parents are strict. It doesn't take much for students to write things that you (as a parent) may not want shared with the whole world. At this age, 7th grade, they hopefully will learn more about their selves and their lives and be able to use that information to become better social and emotionally.

They each have their own personalities and are individually different. Some are able to just take off and write page after page of information. Others have to be directed a little more. But each wants to write! I don't remember as a middle school student wanting to write anything. Hopefully this attitude of writing will continue into their futures.

Day two - - Training New Students

Day two of the new semester has gone very well so far. We are now into the training new students new tricks stage. Yes, that is a metaphor. Anyway, Today we focus on teaching them the "Do It Now" strategy or the daily keyboarding warm-ups, Setting up a "technology" folder, and starting the first project.

The "Do It Now" strategy is a time saver. It is what the students do everyday when they enter the classroom. In our business technology classes that activity is keyboarding. The keyboarding program we use is All the Right Type version 3. This is a very user friendly software that 12-14 year olds have very little issues with it. It is also very easy to set up - it takes about 30 minutes but is simple.

Students are using network logins, and they are able to access their desktop at multiple computers in the school. This means that they may need to have a place to save their projects from multiple classes. For our class we are calling it the "Tech" Folder. This is short for technology. Students will be able to recognize that anything in the folder is stuff used in business technology class. To create this type of folder, on a MAC computer, you go to the "Finder" menu bar. "Finder" can be found by looking at the dock and selecting the face icon, or by clicking on the desktop screen. Under "Finder" menu bar, go to File --> New Folder. This will give you an untitled folder on your desktop. You can click slowly on this icon twice to change the name from "Untitled Folder" to "Tech".

The project is ready to be started at this point. The first project for the new semester is an informational letter. This letter is in block style, and tells the teacher information about each student. The project is started by showing the students an example of what the letter should look like and what can be included in the letter. Then a screen cast is shown, which visually depicts exactly how to create the letter in block format, as well as goes over the assignment sheet and rubric. This has been a greatly debated way of presenting material, so I won't rehash the pros and cons however it was questioned in a prior post. The screen cast software we use is Snapz Pro X. This is a very user friendly software. This screen cast is shown on each student's computers individually - via a software called Apple Remote Desktop. It is a very useful spying/sharing software. The nice thing in this class is that the students can access the screen cast video at anytime. Students also have a hard copy of the assignment sheet to follow along with.

It worked really well in all the classes, and I would recommend using screen casts often in a technology class.

Rubrics

So I have been questioning what a rubric for a 7th Grade class should look like...

A Rubric is a means of communicating expectations for an assignment. It has been defined in several different ways. It can be used as a summative assessment or for a formative assessment. It is a good way to provide feedback on what can be improved, as well as it can be used to emphasize what is important.

I have been given several rubrics from different people on different topics. Each has it's own unique design and structure. The question I have is does formatting, and structure of a rubric matter? Should it be designed as a list of requirements or should it be based on targets? Is it better used by one group of students or another? Will students at a middle grade level even be able to do meta-cognative assessments?

Tell me what you think...

First Day Back - New Semester

So today is our first day back from vacation. I have had a wonderful break and am so excited to be back at school. 

The nature of the class I will be teaching during 3rd quarter is such that I received an entirely new group of students. The 4 elective classes, I will be teaching are Business Technology 7 & 8. I only have to do a 30 contiguous day residency, so I will actually not start teaching until January 17th. My mentor teacher is starting the new semester, to ensure when I leave they will know who she is and recognize that she is the teacher not a substitute.

The first day of class is structured as follows:

• ·      Welcome/Roll
• ·      Classroom Expectations, Syllabus, and Rules
• ·      Class Website – Student Projects
• ·      Pre-test/ Info Sheet

For the Welcome/Roll section, introductions were made and then roll was taken to ensure all students were in the proper class.

A keynote presentation was given on the Smart Board For classroom expectations, syllabus, and rules. The presentation was structured with a Go Animate video stating the rules and procedures in a creative and intriguing way. The presentation did a quick review of what was in the video, and then showed students examples of the type of projects they would produce this year. The syllabus is simply information about the rules and expectations, and a tentative schedule of software/projects. However on the backside is a sample rubric. This rubric is gone over with the students explaining each section of the rubric.

The Class Website is located on the schools website and is called, “student projects”. It then goes to a separate link, which has each of the first names of each of the student’s projects. A selected student’s website was showcased to enable students to see the types of projects they will be doing. This is a good way for students to be able to showcase their work. When creating the website, students were cautioned to not include any last names otherwise the site would not become active, this is to comply with FERPA requirements.

After the website was discussed, students were given a pre-test. Basically it asked what they knew about the computer. It also gave us key information about each student’s personal data and informed us their level of understanding of computers. While students were completing this pre-test, a seating chart was created by walking around checking schedules and writing down the seat location on a chart. After students were done with the pre-test, the class corrected it as a group, using a “No-Opt Out” technique.

The four classes I will be teaching are as follows:

Period 1: Business Technology 7

Period 2: Business Technology 7

Period 6: Business Technology 8

Period 7: Business Technology 7/8 (Mixed Class)

The period 1 class was very quiet. I think that students are excited about the type of projects they will get to do, and understand the rules and regulations well.

The second period class was a little more animated, and very eager to answer questions. They did well in raising their hands.

The sixth period class was more entertaining. These students are 8^th graders, and typically have more energy than the other classes. We have one special education student, and that will require additional differentiation. It will be a lively class.

The seventh period class was very boisterous. It is the biggest class at 32 students. It will need lots of engagement from the teacher, and will require the teacher to be more attentive.

Changes for next time/future:

• ·      Might incorporate a team building activity or getting to know you activity, which would hopefully not be as daunting as a pre-test, possibly a Smart Response activity.
• ·      Need to incorporate a way to do a “No Opt Out” project into first day of residency. This will help me to learn student’s names faster.

Christmas Vacation

So... being Christmas Vacation, I have very little to add, however I have been playing on some new websites. They have given me some great ideas.

pinterest.com

http://delightfulorder.blogspot.com/p/organizing.html

These sites are great! I even used an organizing tip from Delightful Order.