Week 3: Task 2 - Technology Standard Evaluation

For my evaluation, I chose the strand 8.1.12.B.1 - "The use of digital tools and media rich resources enhances creativity and the construction of knowledge". ( The New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards)  The cumulative progress indicator (CPI) for this strand says that students will be able to "design and pilot a digital learning game to demonstrate knowledge and skills related to one or more content areas or a real world situation".

The expectation at this point, is that students have already had extensive exposure and experience using different medias and are now at the point where they can actual create their own forms of media.  Students are expected to have already analyzed and critiqued different media as well as have learned the legal and ethical issues that surround the use of that media form.  Creating something, according to the 2001 revised version of Bloom's taxonomy (see link for more info!) is at the top of the cognitive domain.  Students are also expected, based on the 21st Century Skills framework that shaped the technology standards, be able to choose the appropriate media and use it effectively.  The learner is expected to have already analyzed and critiqued different media types,  as well  learned the legal and ethical issues that surround the use of that media form.

In my Biology and Anatomy and Physiology classroom, I am constantly trying to expose, integrate, and implement technology into my own pedagogy as well as into the work of my students.  I do have a Smart Board in my room that I use on a daily basis.  An activity I have brainstormed that aligns itself with this standard would be to have students design a review game for their next test in Anatomy and Physiology (Ch. 5 The Skeletal System).  The students would work collaboratively and use the Smart technology and Smart Board for their game.  Each person in each group would have a designated role, and the group would be responsible as part of the evaluative rubric for dividing the work equally and appropriate, and letting the class know the process by which they made their game.  A part of the rubric would also score the students on their participation and role as a respectful audience member for their peers' presentations.

Students would be given many other media forms to use for the game.  Rather then use computer generated or text book images of skeletons, students could use a digital camera to capture themselves posing as the skeleton or pointing to different bones on their own bodies.  Students could use video to capture different skeletal movements, for example, a dancer (I teach at a High School for the Arts), and integrate it into their review game questions.  Students could create a skit, make a song, etc. and incorporate it into their game.  Although I would leave the specifics of the game, i.e. the format, questions, media types used, etc. I would require them to use at least two different forms of media in their presentation.  I would also give them suggestions, show them examples, and encourage their own personal creativity. 

I am continuously impressed with my students' creativity, and this type of assignment would really showcase their talents and ingenuity.  I believe this type of activity would allow students autonomy and the opportunity to make the assignment their own while also requiring them to engage with the content and the big ideas of the chapter.  Each groups' presentation of their games would serve as a review and study session for the entire class.  Talk about killing two birds with one stone!  The process by which each group creates their game and engages with the technology and other medias improves both their knowledge of the content and their technological literacy.

Week 3: Task 1 - Aligning Pedagogy with Curriculum

As a current teacher, I have had some experience in using the standards designated by the state to guide my pedagogy.  I believe the standards are extremely helpful in that they keep me focused during my lesson planning, providing me with a clear goal for what I want my students to take in terms of content from my lessons, units, etc. By having an end point in mind, I am able to work backwards and really think creatively about how I am going to get my students to that point intellectually while also keeping them motivated and engaged in the classroom.

  Often I hear teachers complain that the standards are limiting and force teachers to teach the same material year after year.  While the content across years does not change significantly (a criticism of mine that I will save for another time!), teaching should change substantially as each year educators have a new set of unique students. By being reflective, trying new ideas, implement new technologies, and improving their own pedagogy over time, the teacher does not have to sacrifice creativity and engaging, student-driven activities in the name of following a set of state standards.

After watching the "Hydrology" video with the teacher from Catalina High School and upon reflecting how I personally feel about the state standards that I am required to use in my lesson planning, I immediately thought of the constructivist theory of learning promoted by John Dewey.  In his famous 1902 work, The Child and the Curriculum, Dewey likens the curriculum to a finished map, and equates the learning process of the child to a mapmaker's arduous journey of trekking through and taking notes on a new, unexplored territory.  Although the map is well organized, structures, and will help others to better navigate their way Dewey warns that "the map is not a substitute for a personal experience".   I agree with Dewey in that although we may have facts or a body of knowledge (i.e. a curriculum, a set of standards) it is the process of exploring, engaging with, and uncovering that body of knowledge that helps students make deep connection.

  At the Catalina school, although the teacher is required to teach Geology, nothing in the standards says that he must have students sit in a classroom and copy notes in a traditional fashion.  Rather, this teacher has students activitely engage with the content in ways that are meaningful to them because they are actually dealing with actual issues that are a part of their lives and their school.   By having students partake in real, meaningful activities, not only is the teacher showing the students that he has high standards and believes that the kids are capable, but he is also following the guidelines and standards set by the state to which he must ascribe.  Students are excited about their own learning and about getting involved in their own communities.

I would love to teach science in Catalina High School and the video has sparked new ideas in my head about how I can implement some of the teaching styles that this teacher uses into my own classroom.  What was most refreshing about this school is that it seems to value making connections between content areas and stresses how disciplines are interrelated, for example geology, mathematics, data analysis, etc.  No content area exists in a box seperate from the rest of the world's knowledge, yet we teach it as if it is so.  In order to prepare students to be more equipped for the world they will be living in, it is essential that they make connections and link information to other information.

Personally, I find the standards helpful in that they keep me guided and on track as a practitioner. It is a way for me to be sure that the activities and components to my lesson are aligned with the underlying big idea I am trying to teach.  My issue arises with the excessive testing that is not only mandated by the state but also seems to plague my district.  Testing students via a traditional, chapter test is only one way of assessing their knowledge and only certain students skilled at taking these types of tests are able to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding.