For my 20% project I started out hoping to find teacher blog resources that would give me ideas for my two curricular areas, reading and social studies. After hours of searching I found a few and added them into my Google Reader account. Throughout the next week or so I visited those blogs and found a few ideas, but nothing earth-shattering. That pushed me towards using my 20% time to find and create resources that would impact my classroom right now. The next week I created various online lesson plan books and tried them out with my job-share partner. We decided on the one that was the best fit and now use it for all of our lesson plans. Now we can link all of our online resources to the planbook so everything is in one spot, our standards are listed next to each lesson to remind us of our goals and the planbook also includes an area for notes or reflections. It has made an overwhelming difference in our level of communication and ability to co-plan our lessons much more effectively. The following week I spent my time hunting for various short National Geographic videos to support my social studies curriculum. Finally, I spent the last week of our 20% time searching for online geography testing tools. Our students have to learn the vast majority of countries within the school year and the tests were taking up quite a bit of instructional time. We wanted a testing tool that would support practice and testing so that kids could finish it on their own time. Overall, my 20% project ended up being a collection of 5% projects that impacted both my own long-term growth as a teacher and my day-to-day classroom needs.
After finding the online geography testing tool we had a pretty significant philosophical shift regarding our map tests. Prior to using this tool, students studied for the test and came to school on a specific day ready to show us what they knew. After finding the tool, we gave the students three weeks to study and then a week to test themselves at home. They knew that if they didn’t like the score they received during that testing week, they could retake it as many times as they wanted until they reached their goal. They were essentially studying even more as they were testing and trying to get a better grade. I think this idea matches up with the NETS*T standard 2 “develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress”. Students determined the score that they wanted and could work towards that goal throughout the testing week. Both parents and students indicated that they felt like this method was a great learning tool.
The first week I hunted for reading blogs – the two I enjoy the most are The Book Whisperer and The Reading Zone – I had to give them a little bit of time, but both of these blogs have given me some great teaching ideas. One big idea was from the Reading Zone, she discussed a book that is a compilation of essays from established authors that analyzes popular novels. One that really jumped out at me was The Girl who was on Fire: Your Favorite Authors on Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games Trilogy. The blogger had used this format as an example of responding to literature. I love the fact that it takes a current series that kids are devouring and pushes them to think of it as literature worthy of analysis. I ordered the book on Amazon right away and will be using this idea (somehow!!) this year. Our students love the Hunger Games series and I know this will help push some of our reluctant readers and writers to a new level. (NETS*T #5 c. evaluate and reflect on current research and professional practice on a regular basis to make effective use of existing and emerging digital tools and resources in support of student learning.)
NETS*T Standard #3 pushes teachers to model and facilitate effective use of current and emerging digital tools to locate, analyze, evaluate, and use information resources to support research and learning. Prior to this class I used some videos for our social studies classes but for whatever reason I thought it was “lazy teaching” to use videos often. One evening I found myself watching a fascinating movie on the National Geographic channel and I thought about how the visual imagery adds so much to history. Sometimes history, especially ancient history, can be so abstract. I found some great short videos on National Geographic’s website and have used several in lessons since then. I’ve found that it isn’t lazy to put on a quick movie; it is a great as an anticipatory set or as a supplement to a reading.
Resources:
The Reading Zone
The Book Whisperer
Example of my online planbook
National Geographic – short videos
Online Geography testing tool
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