Weekly Summary:

I have been working on getting my course developed on CourseSites. Luckily, I have some things already saved to my computer that I can use. I am just trying to get my quizzes and other imperative information to include in my module.

Item(s) of Interest:

I am trying to figure out a creative way for my students to post in the blogs and discussion boards. I would like for them to post any questions and concerns pertaining to their poetry in the discussion area and then post their final poems to their blog so that their peers can assess them on the format of their poetry.

Problems or Concerns:

I feel like having the students post to both areas will be too much. I want them to have a blog but I don’t want them to be overwhelmed with what information goes where. I have been apart of classes before when I got frustrated when the same assignment was supposed to be posted to three different areas. I always felt like this was cumbersome and slightly ridiculous in my classes!

1. Name of the Assignment: Engagement
2. Summary of the Work Conducted Since the Last Blog: Since the last blog, I completed my rough draft to my course outline assignment. This assignment has been very engaging and actually, really fun for me. I finally felt like I have been put into a real teacher role as I have developed my course.
3. Item of Interest: Engaging my students with poetry is going to take some time and effort. I want this class to be fun and worth their time. I’m hoping that I can engage them through certain prompts on what to write about. Some can be serious, some funny, and some just telling a story. I also want to engage them by using instructional videos and lectures about different types of poetry and why poetry is important and relevant to their life.
4. Problem or Concern:
   I am concerned that my students will lose interest in learning about the poetry. My modules that I have set up are very similar in nature with very few differences. Essentially, each module is set up to introduce the type of poem and then put the students to work by forming their own poem. What else can I do in my modules to engage my students?

Constructivism is a theory that I believe will be the most beneficial to an educator’s classroom. This theory is based around the students learning and thinking critically for themselves. The teachers do less lecturing and more assignments and projects where the students can apply their knowledge to their education. Teachers spend time having more discussions with the students and having question and answer time. This allows the students to brainstorm and begin to think for themselves. The teachers give the students the information and the resources needed to learn, but the teacher becomes part of the learning process with the students. Students are allowed to think in  a way the promotes positive self esteem because there are not right or wrong answers. Students are more excited about learning because they are taking control of the learning process and the teacher is more of a facilitator than a teacher. I love this theory and plan to use it in my classroom! I believe that our students are our future. We need to have them thinking more critically for themselves and really enjoying LEARNING! A traditional classroom is so boring! We need to liven up our classrooms and bring fun back to the educational system!!

Summary:

This week, I have continued working on my Course Outline assignment plus watching the video of the Crest + technique. The Crest + technique helped me gain effective information on how to construct discussion boards. Students may become bored with discussion boards and may not want to be involved so it is important that the instructors implement the 5 step process of the Crest + technique… the purpose, literary elements, experiential elements, determining the types of questions and constructing the discussion questions.

Item of Interest:

I am wondering what would be the best way to incorporate a discussion board into my Course Outline. I think students could use the discussion board to evaluate other students’ work. It would also be a good area for students to post their work in order to get feedback from others.

Problem or Concern:

I feel like a discussion board would be good for collaboration among the students but, getting them engaged and wanting to do a discussion is the hardest part. I don’t want them to feel like it is “just a part of their grade”. I want them to see the importance of it. What would be a good idea to get them to use the discussion board area without being “made” to do it?

Design (Assessment)

This week I have continued working on my Course Outline. I also read the associated readings with this module to gain a better understanding of the Design and Assessment process. As I have been coming up with what I wanted each week to be geared towards, I have been thinking about what assessments I could use in my course.

Item of Interest

I plan for my students to meet once a week during this 6 week course. I’m still debating on whether or not to extend this class by a couple of weeks to allow more time. I want the class time to be used to help each other and even use as part of assessment. I would like for my students to look at their peers’ work and “grade” them based upon technique and it the students are following the specific formats of poetry. Assessments that I plan to use are multiple choice tests to assess general information about poetry and also using their poetry as weekly tests. Students will have to create two poems per type of poetry discussed. They will turn in the one they feel is best to be graded. For the overall assessment, students will create a poetry book. They will demonstrate what they know about each type of poem as far as form and style and also include information of poets who wrote/write in that style. They will provide their poem as an example of that type poem.

Problem or Concern

I am concerned that I will not have enough variation of assessment. I need more ideas for assessments for this class. I’d be open for ANY suggestions!

There are so many things that we could discuss about skills and what it takes to lead a world full of technology….and technology that, most of the time, consumes us. Can you honestly answer how many times you’ve used technology today? Have you been on your phone? Your tablet? Your laptop? These are just a few simple pieces of technology that most of us use on a daily basis but there are many more.

We are going to focus on the question:

What are 21st Century Skills?

There are three different categories that these skills fall under. 1. Learning and Innovation Skills. 2. Information, Media, and Technology Skills. 3. Life and Career Skills. Under the learning and innovation skills falls critical thinking and problem solving; communication and collaboration; and of course, creativity and innovation. I think some of the most important skills that our students need to have is critical thinking and problem solving. If we can push our students to strive to better these skills, we will have a world of great leadership one day. As well as many people who know how to take care of themselves no matter what the situation is. Communication and collaboration is also a key factor. With communication and collaboration, our students learn to respect other people’s opinions and ideas. Our students learn to work together to form one solution to a problem that has all of their ideas put into action.

With Information, Media, and Technology skills,  these are skills our students will learn to be able to access information efficiently and effectively and also evaluate information more critically and competently. Our students will be able to use information accurately and creatively for the problem at hand and manage the flow of information from a wide variety of sources. Students will be able to take media and understand both how and why media messages are constructed and why they are created. Our students will be able to examine how individuals interpret messages differently. While using media, our students will be able to understand and utilize the most appropriate media creation tools. Our students will begin to learn how to apply technology effectively. Students will learn about digital technologies and how they work and understand the ethical and legal issues surrounding digital technology.

Under Life and Career Skills, our students will be learning to be more flexible with their time and with the way they learn. Our world is changing around us each and every day and we all have to be ready for change and be able to adapt to it. Students will also be learning to take more initiative for their education and life. They will be learning to direct themselves in the direction they want to go in life. They are the ones who determine their future! Our students will be learning how to socialize not only with their peers around them, but by communicating with peers their age all around the world. It is so imperative that our students learn this skill because the USA is exchanging with and learning from other countries on a daily basis! Our students need to learn how to communicate properly from people all over the world because they get out in the real world, and their careers, they will be facing communications of all types. Productivity and accountability from our students is going to be crucial. Our students are being pushed to be held accountable for their learning and their education. Students will learn to be more productive in their work by producing more thorough and in depth work where critical thinking took place. On top of all these skills, our students are learning to be leaders. Our students are learning that they are our future! They will be the top dogs one day and it is so very important that they step up and learn how to lead and not just sit back and follow any more.

P21 skills are skills that our students need to have and learn to have in order to make it in our ever so adapting technology world!