Standard4

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The teacher understands and uses a variety of instructional strategies, including the use of technology, to encourage children's development of critical thinking, problem solving, and performance skills.
 * Teachers know how to teach. **

**Evidence 1: [|EDT674FinalProject.doc] EDT 674 Lesson Plan: Food Chains in Nature**

Rationale 1: This lesson was created for a third grade class. The main focus on this lesson was from our food chain unit in science. The students explored the idea of food chains and the different type by using various tools. We used everything from textbooks, Promethean Board, ActivExpressions voting tools, microphones, PhotoStory 3, and various websites on food chains. Through a mix of textbooks and technology, the students were able to understand how every living thing is a part of a food chain whether they know it or not. They were also able to understand why food chains are necessary and what would happen if a “link” were missing from that chain. The students also were able to create a food chain of their own through online research and presentations of their final projects. The overall impact on their learning came from their abilities to choose their final projects, to be creative, and to allow themselves to think outside of their normal parameters. With this being the first time that I presented the lesson in this format, I was able to see the impact that technology had on the overall understanding of the subject matter. The students were more engaged because the lesson was more of a collaborative style where I served more as the facilitator and allowed the students to create their food chains, read about various type of chains, and share their ideas in small groups. The use of the ActivExpressions voting tools also held the interest of the students and gave them the instant feedback about their knowledge that they desire and deserve. By seeing how questions were answered with the Promethean Board and the voting tools, students were aware that more study was needed or that they obtained what we needed to comprehend the food chain idea in nature. This excitement allowed me to see that technology does have a positive impact on our 21st century learners and that it is something that they desire to have across the curriculum.

KSD

4.K.3 The teacher knows how to enhance learning through the use of a wide variety of materials and technological resources (e.g. computers, audio-visual technologies, videotapes and discs, local experts, primary documents and artifacts, texts, reference books, literature, and other print resources). This lesson/unit involved a wide variety of materials and technologies to meet the needs of all types of learners. This lesson/unit had an interactive white board (Promethean Board), interactive voting tools (ActivExpressions), various interactive websites, videos, tools such as PhotoStory3, textbooks, magazines, construction paper, and student reflective journals. Having a variety of materials and resources ensured that every student would be able to participate and feel that there is something that they can involve themselves in and feel comfortable about it. The use of the multiple resources also allowed me to see what the students were most comfortable with and what should or shouldn’t be used in future lessons.

4.S.3 The teacher constantly monitoring and adjusting strategies in response to learner feedback. Through this learning process, I was able to monitor what the students were doing and what types of projects that they chose for their final showcase piece. As students worked together and individually, I made adjustments to what was required if I found the expectations were too difficult for the students or allowed them to do what they could within their own abilities. Also, if students were unwilling to do a project or felt it wasn’t relevant, we would talk about it and discuss as a whole what adjustments should or could be made. Finally, I monitored their technology use to see what I had to further teach them in technology to get them to a level of comfort with PhotoStory3 or Audacity for future projects such as this one. The students benefitted from a wide variety of technology use and adjusting what was allowed to be used. 4.D.2 The teacher values flexibility and reciprocity in the teaching process as necessary for adapting instruction to student responses, ideas, and needs. As I mentioned above, I allowed for flexibility in the projects that my students worked on. I allowed them to plead their case so to speak and tell me why they feel they shouldn’t have to do a project in a set way. If their rationale was acceptable, I would allow them to make adjustments as long as the overall outcome still aligned with the intended learning goals. By allowing the students to respond, share ideas, and express their needs during the learning process shows that you value their opinion and efforts. Students should not only learn, they should also have the opportunity to teach and facilitate in the learning process.