Reflection of Teaching
Description
For my lesson, students were asked to read a story, identify story elements in their story such as character, setting, problem, solution, plot and author’s purpose. After students identified these elements of their story, they organized them in a graphic organizer. The students were then taught how to make a Glogster poster. Students transferred their “scripts” into the Glogster and designed their poster to reflect their own personality and story. This was scaffolded. It started with a whole group activity, identifying these story elements, with a group, then individually. All of this was done, reflected on, revised. Finally, students picked their own story and used this story to complete their graphic organizer, and finally Glogster. A few changes were made from my original draft after reading about Attention, Memory, Development and Metacognition. Students were given immediate feedback on their “practice” rounds and then used this feedback to practice again, whether it be writing plot or writing in complete sentences; the two items that needed the most work. I also decided to have our 4th grade buddies help the students type their Glogsters and manipulate the mouse. I wanted the attention and memory to be related to the objective and not lost in translation trying to spell words and find letters on the keyboard. My students did all the front work, and the 4th graders helped to type what they wanted to say. This made the technology appropriate and accessible for my students.
Narrative
The lesson was done with a group of first grade students during a week of their literacy block. The lesson started off on Monday and expanded over the week. I made a few changes to the original lesson, adding in more plot revision time, and inviting our 4th grade buddies to help us type our Glogsters. Both of these decisions helped to make the lesson run much smoother. I also needed to create Glogster templates ahead of time, making it easier for my students to manipulate and understanding the program. Because I took the time to do this, the ease of use was must greater. However, it added more prep time for me, which I will consider again when choosing technologies. The lesson went well and students were excited and engaged. They were giddy with excitement working on their Glogster posters and loved that they could add graphics, change their wall background and manipulate the text boxes. They learned skills from their 4th grade peers on how to use the computer more accurately. This off-loading strategy turned out to be highly successful for my first grade students.
Reflection
The students learned how to identify story elements in a story they are reading themselves and how to articulate those elements in writing using complete sentences and important vocabulary from the text. Students learned how to sort information in a Glogster in order to make it easy to understand and display for others. I had to assume that students already had a basic understanding of story elements from our time spent in reading groups. The Glogster had to be explicitally taught to the students in order for them to use it. The affordances of knowledge included the scaffolding, feedback and revisions. Some of the constraints were the usability of the Glogster program in a developmentally appropriate way. The 4th grade students helped to make this technology more accessible for me and my students. Learning took place as a I modeled the skill to students, had them work with peers to apply the skill, then work on their own to apply the skills. They learned from their peers as well as from me. The learning was set to enhance an already taught skill in the curriculum and show students how information can be displayed for others to read and understand. We talked about real life examples of book reviews and I showed students plot summaries on the sleeve and back of books to help them make real life connections to the purpose of the Glog.
Different kinds of learners were taken into consideration when planning and implementing this lesson. Students picked books that were appropriate to their reading and comprehension level. Those students that needed support with identifying and writing these story elements, worked in a small group with me to get a repeat “crash course.” Then support was leant out as needed. I have one student who has difficulty with writing. She dictated the different elements to the iPad video camera. Then we used the iPad video camera with her 4th grade buddy to type up her Glogster. Same objective was met with each student, just in a way that was most accessible to their greatest learning.
The Glogster technology produced a few demands on me as a teacher. I had to prepare templates for each student ahead of time. I had to record their Plot Summary and upload it into the Glogster poster because the computers in the lab did not have cameras. I also had to create student accounts and passwords for all my students. This took time away from planning and other activities and should be considered when choosing technologies for teaching.
I assessed my students through constant feedback and revisions as they worked through responsibilities. I assessed them formally with a rubric and their Glogster. The students were held accountable because they were unable to make their Glogster unless they had completed their script. While working on the Glogster they weren’t allowed to add graphics of wall art until the writing and plot was complete. Both of these factors were motivating to students.
Overall, the technology was a great way for students to display their new knowledge. This technology did not cause new learning, but instead enhanced the new learning so that it can be shared with peers. It was motivating for students to identify the story elements and helped them provide ownership over their own story. When they had the freedom to customize their own Glogster to fit their story, they took more from the experience. I would teach this lesson using Glogster again in the future. Using the information gained from this experience and evaluation, I can make sure to constantly revise to make it the most effective and engaging for my students.
