Week 7- Evaluation and Assessment

Multimedia Assessment: For the multimedia assessment I created a video quiz for my first grade students. This video is one I currently show throughout our weather watchers unit and I believe it would be a fun way for students to watch it independently and complete the simple beginner questions that go along with the video.
Video credit: Seasons Song Video [Video file]. (2015, May 18). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/ 

     watch?v=8ZjpI6fgYSY

https://www.playposit.com/play/612715/the-seasons

Rubric: For the rubric project I decided to create a poster project that students would use in a 2/3 classroom. If I were to use this activity in the classroom, I would have a packet for students that contained directions of the activity, the vocabulary I would be looking for as well as other types of resources. For this class I only decided to create a rubric.
https://app.luminpdf.com/viewer/2yPk6R5mCw8T2sK9e/share?sk=a67d9dd6-3b0e-4cdd-940d-22b355490e6b

Poll or Survey: For this activity I created a multiple choice poll that students would complete before beginning our weather watchers unit. This would allow for me as a teacher to see if my students had a general idea of what the seasons looked like, and where I needed to focus for the year.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdvcDjUwoCXopeo6knaXsAy-1_YwgC7gQlaWpqZMSTdVOy8Rw/viewform?usp=sf_link

Application:
When creating these different documents I focused on a variety of principles. One principle I focused on when creating the poll was the Temporal Contiguity Principle. By having a picture and then words to choose from showing up at the same time, students are able to use their processing skills much better than if they were to see the picture and then the multiple choice questions. For creating the rubric, I focused on Coherence Principle to ensure that the rubric was easy to read and free of difficult vocabulary.

Reflection:
I have always wanted to create a classroom that is based more on project based teaching rather than book teaching. I love the creativity it allows students to have while still making sure they understand the material. I think this week was a fun way to test out new technology that is simple to use and I could use it in my classroom next year when teaching the same lessons. I also really enjoyed creating my own rubric. I often use ones found online that don't always contain the same criteria I'm looking for in the classroom. By creating my own it allows me more practice for when I want to create a rubric in my own classroom.

Week 6- Concept/Mind Mapping

https://prezi.com/hwep1fuxlh8z/present/?auth_key=00us2ha&follow=nj3j4ots7e2x

Use in the classroom: For this activity I decided to focus on a 4th grade classroom. Fourth grade curriculum focuses on the 5 regions of the united states. I would take table groups (or divide room into groups of 5) and have each student determine which region they would want to research. When researching I would have them focus on the states included in each region, the climate of the region as well as major physical/human characteristics. I have done this activity in my student teaching classroom where we had students each fill out a slide in a powerpoint. I chose to use prezi as another presentation tool for students to use as well as see how the regions connect to each other and how they create the United States. At the end of this activity students will be able to recall the climate, human and physical characteristics of the region in study. Students will also be able to clearly teach their classmates about their findings.

Application: During this activity there were a few different principals I focused on. The first principal was the spatial contiguity principal. By keeping all of the information within a little bubble, students are able to recall information much more quickly than if the information was spread out throughout the screen. Another principal I focused on was segmenting principal. When students create the regions into 5 separate chunks and further break the region down, the information is able to be retained much easier than having the regions information in one large paragraph.

Reflection: I found this weeks activity something I would use within an older classroom on a daily basis. In the school I'm at we focus on Kagan cooperative learning and working collaboratively. While it would be difficult for me to implement this type of activity into a first grade classroom, I could see myself using this type of strategy in an older classroom. I especially enjoyed working with prezi more and exploring what this site has to offer.

Week 5-Augmented Learning

Lesson: For this lesson I have created a mini activity book including QR codes for students to learn and develop their understanding of butterflies and their life cycle. I started the activity book with a brief description of what the students will be completing and then I would have the students work on these during centers in the classroom. For activity 1,3,4 I would have the worksheets printed out and students would have to walk to supply bins to gather materials. By the end of the centers (which could take a couple days depending on the student's working ability) students would be able to correctly identify the stages of a butterflies life cycle.  (Sorry the pictures aren't in the correct order.)

Application: When working on this project there were a couple principles I kept in mind when designing the QR codes. One principle was the segmenting principle. By having each QR code contain unique information on various pages, students are able to work at their own pace and complete activities as they see fit for their own learning. Another principle I focused on was the multimedia principle. By having each QR code contain images and text, students are able to better recall the information.

Reflection: I really enjoyed working on the projects this week. I had a great time trying out augmented learning (although I couldn't figure out the website!). I have used QR codes in the classroom before when I taught technology my first year. I think this would be a great thing to incorporate more inside the first grade classroom that would allow students to use technology more and become independent when working and controlling the pace of their learning. Many of these resources are ones I use in the classroom already it just enhances the experience. I look forward to perfecting the mini activity books and using them within my classroom next year.