Post #6: Self-Assessment

TBTE 415Fall 2007Hammond NAME:            Matt Wolf                                                                      Blog work self-assessment #1: How have I done over the first half? Please fill in the table with the following marks, as appropriate

• Quantity: Did you complete the required post?
  • þ = completed
  • ý = incomplete
• Quality: Is your posting thoughtful?
  • ] = thoughtful
  • è = not-so-thoughtful
• Timeliness
  • ‰ = on-time
  • ’= late

 Feel free to add comments, if you wish… 

			Quantity		Quality		Timeliness
Week	Blog	Postings	Complete	Incomplete	Thoughtful	Not-so-thoughtful	On-time	Late
1	Class	Opening survey	þ		]		‰
		Volunteer for tool topic	þ		]		‰
	Personal	Start your own blog	þ		]		‰
2	Class	(nothing required)
	Personal	Access to K-12 classroom	þ		]		‰
		Brainstorming about your project	þ		]		‰
		Comment on classmate’s blog	þ		]		‰

 

3

Class

Tool presents: wikis, audio editors, iTunes

þ

]

‰

Personal

Recording your project activity for the week

þ

]

‰

4

Class

Volunteer for lit topic

þ

]

‰

Tool presents:  Captivate, del.icio.us, SmartBoards, concept-mapping

þ

]

‰

Personal

Recording your project activity for the week

þ

]

‰

5

Class

Lit presents: Digital divide, digital disconnect

ý

Tool presents: iMovie, Movie Maker

þ

]

‰

Personal

Recording your project activity for the week

þ

]

‰

6

Class

Lit present: Web 2.0

þ

]

‰

Tool presents: CRS, RSS, GIS, Skype, Google docs

ý

Personal

Recording your project activity for the week

þ

]

‰

Comment on classmate’s blog responding to test podcast

þ

è

‰

 

Post #5: Podcast

Check out the podcast I made: the audio is synchronized to a highlight video of the Philadelphia Phillies.

http://www.lehigh.edu/~mbw5/podcast.html

Post #4 Narrative Project Unit Plan

Matt Wolf

Drew Benson

Shawnee Site Unit Plan 

Week 1: October 4, 2007

After welcoming the students into the classroom, we will begin with an icebreaker activity to introduce ourselves.  Next, we will review our site rules and structure.  Finally, we will introduce the project assignment and show a teacher-created example to give the students an idea of what they will be creating.

 

Week 2: October 11, 2007

We will begin by brainstorming various cultures (both present and ancient) as well as different aspects of culture such as religion, music, and clothing.  Next, we will introduce weblogs or blogs and guide the students in creating their own personal blogs.  Once each student has set up his/her own personal blog, we will assign the first blog post the students will write in class.  The students will be required to choose a culture and an aspect of culture they would like to learn more about.

 

Week 3: October 18, 2007

Students will be assigned cultures/aspects of cultures and will participate in a WebQuest to help guide their research.  The students will be given time at the end of the session to write a second blog post which focuses on the ease of their research and their findings so far.

 

Week 4: October 25, 2007

Students will finalize their research using the WebQuest as a guide.  As a third blog post, students will brainstorm different ways to creatively present the material they have researched (PowerPoint presentation, skit, iMovie, etc.).

 

Week 5: November 1, 2007

Students will create their presentations and finalize the planning they need to present in the next few weeks.  In addition, they will write their fourth blog post that will focus on the materials they will need for their presentation such as costumes, props, and technology.

 

Weeks 6-8: November 8, 2007-November 29, 2007

During the final three weeks, students will present the information they found during their research and we will tape these presentations using a digital camera.  A compilation of these presentations will be created in iMovie that will be burned to CDs to be given to each student.  After the final presentation, students will be prompted to write their final blog post that will be a reflection on the process of brainstorming, blogging, and researching.

 

Post #3: Project Documentation

Learning Activities (below is our unit plan):

Session 1: October 4, 2007

• Ice breakers
• Overview of site structure/expectations of students
• Introduction to project/show example
• Brainstorm cultures/aspects of culture (ex: sports, fashion, religion, food…)

Session 2: October 11, 2007

• Introduction to Blogs
• Set up personal Blogs (collect URLs)
• Blog Post: What culture/topic would you like to research more information?
• HW Time

Session 3: October 18, 2007

• Assign cultures/topics
• WebQuest Activity: Begin research on topic
• Blog Post: Information gathered so far/ease of research

Session 4: October 25, 2007

• WebQuest Activity: Finish research on topic
• Blog Post: Brainstorm creative ways to present information (WebQuest, Blog, PowerPoint, iMovie, etc.)

Session 5: November 1, 2007

• Finalize Presentation Planning
• Blog Post: Materials needed for report (costumes, props, etc.)
• HW Time

Session 6: November 8, 2007

• Taping of Presentations

Session 7: November 15, 2007

• Taping of Presentations

Session 8: November 29, 2007

• Taping of Presentations
• Blog Post: Reflection (what did you do well, what would you have done differently, which presentation did you enjoy the most, etc)

Assessment:

Since our site is a member of the Lehigh Valley Summerbridge program, we are required to write two monthly evaluations for each student at our site.  To help us write these evaluations, we will use various rubrics to assess student activities such as blog posts and final project.  These rubrics will be given to the students before each assignment in order to guide their creativity. 

Tools:

We are very lucky because our site meets in the newly built library at Shawnee Middle School.  We have about 25 new computers at our disposal which we will be using for internet access in order to compile research materials as well as create personal blogs.  Other tools we will be using include WebQuests, PowerPoint, and iMovie. 

Standards:

8.4.6

A.      Identify and explain how individuals and groups made significant political and cultural contributions to world history.

·         Africa(e.g., Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, F. W. de Klerk, Pieter Botha, African National Congress)

·         Americas (e.g., Pizarro, Atahualpa, Aztecs, Incas, Montezuma, Cortez)·         Asia (e.g., Tokugawa Ieyasu,Toyotomi clan, shogun Iemitsu, Commodore Perry, daimyo)

·         Europe (e.g., Pope Leo X, John Calvin, John Wesley, Martin Luther, Ignatius of Loyola) 

 

  

Post #2: Meeting w/Co-teacher

I am co-supervising the tutoring site at Shawnee Middle School with a Moravian College student named Drew Benson.  We met earlier today and discussed a few ideas for our tech-based after school tutoring sessions.  Since we are good friends, we met at my off-campus house at Lehigh.  Our discussion was light and casual but we came up with some great ideas.

We decided that the news broadcast was not the best approach because it lacked content material to be taught to the students.  The only material we could have taught in that project would be the actual technology aspects.  Therefore, we brainstormed a new idea:

1) students brainstorm about topics they want to learn more about such as sports teams,
fashion, famous people, etc.
2) students research information/history about these topics (we can guide them through
this process using a WebQuest or other tools)
3) students brainstorm creative methods for presenting this material to their classmates
4) we will record the students presentations (about 5 minutes each) and cut them together
to make a movie (the students can be a part of this process)
5) the students will keep a record of their activities in individual blogs they will
create during the first session

This idea allows us to present more content material (specifically historical content, which is Drew’s area of expertise) and still lends itself well to utilizing technology.  Within the next week we plan on creating a brief unit plan that summarizes the events that will occur during each tutoring session.

Post #1: Brainstorm

This past weekend I attended a meeting with other Lehigh Valley Summerbridge faculty and coordinators and received information pertaining to my tutoring site supervisor position. I will be co-supervising the Shawnee Middle School site which is comprised of 22 7th and 8th graders.  I also discovered that this site is held at the newly constructed middle school buidling and thus offers many technologies for us to utilize.  This new information has given me a chance to brainstorm and elaborate on one idea for my technology based project:

A news report researched and created by the students with some guiding help from the tutors.  We would be able to use technology including digital video cameras, iMovie, online research tools, webquest guided projects, daily blogging of progress, and VCR/DVD devices.  With a class size of 22, this project should have enough facets to appeal to most students (sports report, fashion outlooks, current events, etc.).

I think the news report idea will be the perfect project for these middle school students.  It offers many posibilities for technology use and varied lesson plans including brainstorm and research activities.