Technology in the Classroom

  Lesson Plan The topic for the lesson is classifying quadrilaterals.  This lesson is intended for fourth grade.  After being shown the Nearpod assessment on classifying triangles, the students will be asked to create an assessment for classifying the five quadrilaterals: trapezoid, parallelogram, rhombus, rectangle, and square.  The students will use three activities on Nearpod to present the content.              Nearpod is a web-based assessment tool that has various ways to assess students.  It allows for students to interact with the content and implement resources from the internet.  Nearpod offers reports that record the students results on each activity.  The also offers premade lessons and virtual field trips.  Accommodations for students with special needs will take on various forms based on the individual student.  The students will be paired in groups.  The stu...

Lesson Plan             Within my reading curriculum is a list of vocabulary words that the students are to know each week.  Each day throughout the week the students work at familiarizing themselves with the words.  Although the there is an online component to study the words, after completing the same activity each week, the games lose their effectiveness.  In this lesson, Kahoot! will replace the daily vocabulary review. Reflection The program utilized in this lesson is Kahoot!.  It is an internet based program that allows teachers to engage their students in the lesson.  Through Kahoot! teachers are able to create review activities and share them with colleagues.  I have heard nothing but good about this program and it seems to motivate students.  In RATifying this lesson, Kahoot! replaces the independent studying that would take place before the assessment (Roblyer & Hughes, 2019, p. 66)....

  Farber suggests “for young people to be truly media literate, we, as educators, need to contextualize how and why games function and how they can be transformational to learning” (2020, para. 14).   Gaming in the classroom has become more popular as technology in the hands of students has increased.   Roblyer and Hughes (2019) have noted that benefits of using games in education can increase student motivation, give instant feedback, and reward students for their achievement (p. 179).   Some of the challenges with utilizing educational games in the classroom is having the money to have the necessary equipment for the games and the “school’s emphasis on standardized test results” (Roblyer and Hughes, 2019, p. 181). In order to make gaming productive in the classroom, the smaller the group sizes, the better individual involvement from kids.   Students should be actively engaged in learning.   In games where taking turns is required, it is best to limit wa...

Slide 1:  International Society for Technology in Education Professional Development presented by Elizabeth Rader. Slide 2:  Frederiksen shares his thoughts on the benefits of being a part of a professional organization (2016).  He believes that it is a great way to meet the basic need to stay current in the field.  The second benefit discussed was that it adds insight to current trends in education.  Another benefit is that individuals are able to meet and interact other professionals in the same field.  Within a professional organization individuals are given the opportunity to get involved and share their knowledge.  This could lead to a referral, which Frederiksen stated was the most important benefit to some individuals.     Slide 3:  One of the resources listed is the Professional Learning Networks.  Members are able to interact with other individuals in the field of education from all over the globe.  There are curr...

  Data Collection Elizabeth Rader   Collecting data is extremely important for all school districts.   Using data properly helps drive instruction.   In my school district the STAR Reading and STAR Math assessments are used as benchmark data to show adequate yearly progress.   Cohen and Spenciner believe “the assessment of individuals should never depend on the results of one test” (2015, p. 302). Developmental Reading Assessment, often referred to as the DRA, is used to identify students’ reading level.   Data from each test is also used to place students with similar reading ability in Guided Reading groups.   It is utilized when referring students for RtI services and special education.   I also use Freckle and Moby Max to help reinforce and enrich instruction.   These programs not only have placement tests, but they also provide lessons for the students.   In my classroom, the students chart their progress of the multiplicati...