- Student Performance: Students were highly motivated and worked diligently on this project. Our weekly attendance average was a bit over 12 students or around 71% including five students who attended all sessions. Behavior problems did not arise throughout the semester and students treated each other and the instructors with respect and courtesy. These observations will be explained in our second and final Monthly Reports (see attached).
- Instructor Judgment/Reflection: I believe that I attempted to incorporate too many new pieces of technology into my unit plan. I had the students using blogs, a WebQuest, viewing online movies, and creating a presentation all in the span of eight weeks with one hour-long session per week. In addition, at the onset of the unit, I did not take into account the opt-in nature of the Summerbridge program in which students are encouraged, but not required, to attend after-school sessions. This attendance issue became a problem when students would inconsistently be present for sessions and would lose valuable time for working on their projects.
- Remedies/Changes: If I were to conduct this unit again, I would alter one important aspect. I would provide the students with a PowerPoint presentation template into which they could add the information they found during online research. This would ensure that each student has the appropriate data in his/her presentation. This scaffolding would also ease the creation process and place more emphasis on the accuracy and meaning of the information students find during research. The time saved by this change would be invaluable to the students, who found it difficult to finish this project in the allotted time. Additionally, this would erase the emphasis placed on diverse project presentations, which turned out to be an unrealistic aspect of this unit.
Four students presented their PowerPoints this past Thursday afternoon to wrap-up our technology based cutlutral project. One student completed a presentation focused on Mexican Food and she made a dish of yellow rice and beans which we were given to enjoy. Overall this set of presentations was excellent, although the students (due to absences) had less time to work on their projects and so had fewer slides.
One of my classmates projects that I found particularly interesting was Doug’s because he knew so much about technology tools and music theory/practice and seemed to combine the two very seemlessly. Unfortunately, I did not understand everything that he talked about (both musically and technologically) but it seemed like he had an extremely strong grasp of the outcomes he wanted to produce and the manner with which to go about the project. I was very impressed.
Last week six of our students presented their projects. Unfortunately all of the students used PowerPoint as their presentation tool (as expected). We were hoping more students would branch off away from PP and use more creative methods. The projects included Italian Fashion, Persian Military, Japanese Music, French Cuisine, Incan Way of Life, and Italian Music. We did get to hear some clips of Japanese Music, which was very interesting. However, I wish that our students had elected to do more “beyond PowerPoint” activities such as a runway show, cooking a dish, or bringing in some examples to illustrate topics. Overall, the PP presentations were very well done, especially considering the short period of time the students had to complete them. Next week we will have around eight students present their topics.
This past Thursday at Shawnee, many of the students completed their presentations. In addition, we compiled a list of the types/methods of presentations that students will be using. PowerPoint dominates the list, but a few students are branching out from this technology and cooking a dish or performing a skit or runway show. At the end of the period we assigned students presentation dates and we will call those students who will present the Thursday after Thanksgiving to ensure they are reminded of this assignment.
This past Thursday at Shawnee Middle School we resumed our project work and the students began their first day of creating their presentations. Many students have opted to use PowerPoint to present their information because they are familiar with this technology and feel comfortable with it. However, some students are also choosing other forms of presentations such as creating a food dish to talk about, writing a short story, or creating a skit to perform. So far the students have been working diligently on this project and they seem to have really become engaged in their topics. We have one more site session before Thanksgiving break and then we will begin viewing the presentations.
Unfortunately, our after school session at Shawnee Middle School was cancelled because the students had an early dismissal (11/1). However, our plan for the following 3-4 weeks is as follows:
Week 5: Students begin creating presentations
Week 6: Students finish presentations
Week 7-8: Students present
We look forward to seeing the final products of the 6 weeks of work the students have been completing.
In order to provide scaffolding for online research, I set up a WebQuest, which can be found at:
This WebQuest contains two main pages. The first is the project overview for students to refer to make sure they are completing the assignment correctly. The second contains individual student pages sorted by initials. These sites contain general websites for the students to conduct research (such as history.com) and also contains subject-specific websites. These websites are the first tools students will use to conduct online research.
At the end of the class period, the students had compiled a significant amount of information on their various topics. We reflected on what sites we used for our research and it appeared that, although the students used the WebQuest as a launch point, most searched on their own in Google for information. I am glad the students utilized the WebQuest and that they felt comfortable venturing into their own searches.
Last week in our afternoon session, I instructed the students on how to set up their personal blogs. We used this site (www.wordpress.com) because my tech class had discussed the educational benefits of this blog site. All 15 students successfully set up their own personal blogs. Some interesting things I noticed during the period:
1) we used student initials instead of names so that the students remained mostly annonymous, but this allowed easy access for viewing the blogs for myself and other teachers
2) some students did not have personal email addresses, which is requested when registering for a blog, but we found that typing arbitrary letters followed by “@google.com” worked
3) I am not sure how to comment on the students’ blogs and have it immediately show up for them rather than be emailed for them to approve
Check out this link with my project overview podcast:
Last Thursday was my first after school session with my students at Shawnee Middle School. The lesson plan I used is copied below. The students seemed very excited about the porject and had some great initial ideas for cultures and topics to present. Overall the session went very smoothly and the students enjoyed watching the movie I created in Windows Movie Maker. I look forward to next week when we set up our personal blogs and students have a chance to brianstorm their ideas.
Thursday 10/4/07 Matt Wolf
Shawnee Site Drew Benson
Lesson Plan #1
Culture Project Introduction
1. Grade Level: Grades 7 and 8
2. Length of Lesson: 45 minutes
3. Materials and Equipment Needed:
- Taco Movie in Windows Movie Maker
- Student/Computer Assignment sheet
- Weblog Permission Slips (1 per student)
- Culture Project Overview (1 per student)
4. Instructional Objectives:
- Principal Objective: Students will be able to define the characteristics of the culture project we assign.
- Subordinate Objective 1: Students will be able to recognize and follow the structure and rules of our site.
- Subordinate Objective 2: Students will be able to identify his/her classmates.
5. Anticipatory Set:
Ice Breaker Activity (see attached)
6. Description of Learning Activities:
- Administrative Activities: Take attendance and late bus count
- Anticipatory Set
- Activity 1: Review rules and structure of site
- Activity 2: Introduce Culture Project: Pass out the Project Overview sheets and review the instructions with the students. Assign students to specific computers and record these pairings on the Student/Computer Assignment sheet. Instruct the students to go to http://www.lehigh.edu/~mbw5/onlinevideo.html to access the project sample movie. Instruct the students to view the sample movie and begin to formulate ideas for his/her own project.
- Lesson Conclusion
7. Lesson Conclusion:
Pass out the Weblog Permission Slips and ask the students to give them to their parents and return them with parent signatures next Thursday.
8. Discussion Questions:
- Question: What level of comfort do you have in using technology as a learning tool?
- Question: Have you used technology in any of your other classes?
- Question: Is anyone familiar with weblogs or blogs?
9. Assessment:
Informal assessment will occur during the session while we analyze student behavior and motivation.
Lehigh Valley Summerbridge
Weblog Permission Slip
Dear Parents and Guardians,
This fall students participating in the Lehigh Valley Summerbridge program at the Shawnee Middle School site will be utilizing technology to enhance their learning experience Our after-school program will be using the newly constructed school library as our classroom. This new facility has many new computers which will allow us to access online resources for research purposes. As students conduct research they will be assigned journal entries that require them to assess their current work as well as make plans for future action. To increase student motivation and engagement, our team will utilize online weblogs, or blogs, to record these journal entries.
A blog is an online resource tool that allows participants to record their thoughts, ideas, and any other information they choose. This information will then be published on the web for others to view and comment upon. Our students will be creating their own personal blogs through the website: http://wordpress.com. These blogs are free, easy to set up, and very easy use.
The student-use of these blogs will be very structured and will focus primarily on the student’s research and planning for his/her project. Each blog assignment will be clearly described and will guide the student’s writing in the direction that will most benefit the student. These blogs will also be used as an assessment tool for the instructors to monitor progress and help students achieve project goals.
Since student work will be published on the web via these weblogs, we ask the permission of each parent and guardian to allow their children to use this online tool. Student’s names will remain anonymous and will not appear on the blogs. In addition, students will be limited to writing about their academic project; they will not be allowed to write entries about any other topics.
Thank you for your consideration in this matter.
Shawnee Site Supervisors,
Matt Wolf
Drew Benson
————————————————————————————————————
I give permission for my child to sign up for a weblog and use this online tool to write journal entries that track his/her project. I understand that my child’s name will remain anonymous and that journal entries will be limited to topics relating to his/her project.
____________________________
Student Name
____________________________ ________________
Parent/Guardian Signature Date
Lehigh Valley Summerbridge Name: ________________________
Culture Project Overview Instructions:
Each student will choose a culture (ancient or current) and will conduct research on one aspect of that culture (music, food, religion, sports, fashion, etc.). Students will organize the information they find and create presentations and handouts which will be given to their classmates. Progress throughout the project will be tracked using online weblogs or blogs.
Goal:
To increase our multicultural awareness and appreciation through research and presentation of cultural information.
Final Product:
You will create two final products: a presentation and a handout. It is up to you how you choose to present the material you have researched. You may create a skit, develop a PowerPoint presentation, write a song, poem, or story; there are endless ways to creatively present your material! Your handout should be informative and contain the main idea of your presentation as well as add value to it.
Grading:
Your presentation and handout will be graded on the following aspects:
- Creativity: Did the student’s final product present the material in an interesting and engaging way?
- Accuracy/Knowledge: Was the student’s information accurate? Did the student show knowledge of his/her subject?
- Motivation: Did the student work on his/her project with enthusiasm?
- Blogs: Did the student put time and effort into answering the blog assignment?
Blog/Journal Assignments:
Session 2: October 11, 2007
On what culture would you like to research more information? What aspect of this culture would you like to focus on?
Session 3: October 18, 2007
Detail the information you have gathered thus far and explain the ease or difficulty in conducting this research.
Session 4: October 25, 2007
Brainstorm creative ways to present the information you have researched (WebQuest, Blog, PowerPoint, iMovie, etc.)
Session 5: November 1, 2007
What materials will you need for your final product? (costumes, props, technology, etc.)
Session 8: November 29, 2007
Reflect on what you did well, what would you have done differently, and which presentation (other than your own) did you enjoy the most.
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