Foundations Artifact #2

Student Creativity Project

Artifact #2

   The second artifact that I choose to reflect on is the student creativity project. This was an assignment where we were supposed to design a project for students that allows them to be creative while demonstrating mastery of the concepts. This project should encompass the ISTE standards for students and model best practices for creative thinking. 

          I wanted to include this artifact because as a teacher I am always trying to come up with new ways for students to be engaged and excited about the content that I teach. Most often students automatically hate math because they say it's boring. I am hoping with the project to change their mindset and bring a little fun into the classroom. 

        This project is designed for Algebra 1 students in High School. This project will follow the lesson on graphing stories, meaning students can interpret a real-life situation as to what it would look like on a graph. It’s important to pay attention to the unit of measure. The same story could have a drastically different graph based on if the graph focuses on the distance from something vs. time, the speed vs time, or the altitude vs. time.

Creating this project helped me grow as an educator because it forced me to think outside the box beyond worksheets and digital homework. Students are being asked to create and collaborate which are essential skills in today's world. I am providing students with options to better fit their comfort levels with technology. Students may choose to use WeVideo (a video editing program that our school has a license for) or they can simply use their cell phones and upload the video to YouTube. I am excited to try this project and I can't wait to see what my students come up with!

Link to Paper

Target 4 Graphing Stories

Group Project

Directions: Each group is responsible for creating a 15 second video where someone is doing something. Decide as a group if you will focus on distance vs time, speed vs time, or altitude vs time.  Check out this website for some ideas and examples of what I am looking for!

Examples: Graphingstories.com

1. Film your 15 second video either using your cell phone or WeVideo on your Chromebook. WeVideo is located on your single sign on portal.
2. You can edit your video using WeVideo or just upload the video to YouTube. You will have to submit a link to your video.
3. Create a graph to go with your story. Make sure to label all axis. You may draw the graph by hand and just upload a picture or you can use an app called Vernier Graphical Analysis (Link).
4. Fill out all parts to receive credit and turn back in this form!

*If you need technology help outside of the classroom you may stop by the LMC or see me before/after school*

Members in you group	1. 2. 3. 4.
Link to your video
Which measurement is your story about? Distance, speed, altitude, or other
Graph

Rubric

	Excellent 7 points	Proficient 4 points	Unsatisfactory 1 point or less
Video	The video is at least 15 seconds in length and the link works. The story is creative and make sense	The video is shorter than 15 seconds/ or does not make sense	Link is missing or there is less than 5 seconds
Graph	All parts include, axis labeled, and the graph correctly represents the story.	Missing some parts or the graph does not represent the full story.	Missing parts and/or not included. The graph does not match the story at all.
What is the story measuring?	2 Points for including the measurement		0 Points: Did not include measurement

_________/15 points

Foundations Artifact #1

Foundations of Educational Technology

Artifact #1

Digital Lesson Paper

              The first artifact that I wanted to include was Digital Lesson where we had to create two different versions of the same lesson. One version was designed with on target learners and one version was designed for learners who were struggling and needed more reteaching/guidance. I used Google Slides as the platform for this lesson because I can give a copy to each student using Google Classroom. Then every student has their own notes and can change/add information to their own personal slides. I am trying to provide opportunities for my students to experience note taking in the digital era.

I choose to include this artifact because I felt as though this is one of the most valuable things that I can do as a teacher. Technology has provided teachers with easier ways to adapt lessons to better fit the needs of every student without making it public to the entire class. By providing students with level appropriate material, they will be more engaged with the lesson and more likely to be successful in the course. The best part is that students self assess themselves prior to picking the lesson and this brings in a level of ownership and responsibility to the learner.

The hardest part about creating these lessons is TIME as well as fairness. I had to decide what is the bare minimum that I wanted my students to know and make sure that those topics were addressed in the struggling learner targets. The hardest part was deciding how to increase the topics for students who were ready for a challenge but still be appropriate for them to solve. Some topics are easier to differentiate or enhance than others.

Check out these lessons that I put together!

Struggling Learners/Reteaching Lesson: Link

On Target Learners/Ready to collaborate: Link

Update on Blog

          My name is Jen Bokermann and I am at math teacher at Waubonsie Valley High School, District 204. I am married and am a mom to an active little boy.  I have been teaching for 8 years now and I currently teach Algebra 1 as well as Honors Precalculus. I got my Master's in instructional technology from Northern Illinois University only 4 years ago and I already feel as though my Master's is outdated. Technology is constantly changing by the second so I am always trying to stay current and keep up with the technological changes. My district is going 1:1 with Chromebooks and I am seeking ways of implementing into a High School math classroom!

       My goal is to use this Blog to help move technology forward specifically for the high school math classroom. I have found that some of my best lessons have incorporated a variety of technology tools.  The main issue that I have run into is TIME. It takes so much TIME to create one 45 minute lesson, and while that went awesome, now what am I teaching tomorrow...? AHH! That is why I hope that we as teachers share the awesome things that we are creating and then we don't all have to start from scratch!

    My go-to resource for utilizing Chromebooks in the math classroom is Desmos and more importantly Desmos Activity Builder. Link. You can search for premade content by Desmos or other teachers and either use their activities or edit what is already created. Students then work through slides at their own pace and use manipulates, discover, answer questions, and even card sort (matching). As a teacher, I can sit back, put my feet up(ha I wish), and watch exactly what slides my students are on and what they are answering. You can anonymize and pause the activity to instruct students further to draw their attention to questions or fix some errors. So if you aren't familar with the classroom activity builder I highly encourage you to check it out!

Engaging e-Learning Artifact #2

Create a Multimedia Resource

Artifact #2

Resource Target 5: Intro to Solving Word Problems Video https://youtu.be/bx3uh8RqOr8

         The second resource I wanted to highlight was the week that we created a multimedia resource. This was an opportunity to create something digital that would benefit students and that was a "gap" in any of the resources that were already available. The “gap” that I found was for Target 5: Solving Word problems. The Khan Academy resources with word problems show students how to solve them using tables. While I think that using tables and guess and check are a valid way to solve problems, it isn’t the only way. Since we are in a unit on equations, I think it’s important for students to get practice writing equations to solve a problem.I decided to create a screencast using the SMARTboard recorder. This was the perfect opportunity to use my teaching style, my voice, and explain math problems how I would explain it to students if I was standing in front of them.

       The challenge of creating this screencast was trying to find a way to write down steps on the board while recording my voice. I wanted to have all the problems ready to go and already typed out. While I wanted to showcase many different types of problems I also wanted to keep the video short and engaging. Videos should be no longer than 7 minutes in my opinion.

      Creating multimedia resources is extremely beneficial to the classroom. With my students getting Chromebooks and going 1:1 I needed more experience creating digital resources for them. I will continue to use multimedia resources this upcoming school year!

Here is the link to my full perspective on creating multimedia resources: Document

Engaging e-Learning Artifact #1

Course Road Map/ Site Map

Artifact #1: Course Road Map

    

        The first artifact that I wanted to include was the course road map that I created to help students and parents learn the important aspects of the online course. Within the Road Map I created 3 video tutorials that walk students through the main components of the course(The Google site, Khan Academy missions, and how to access Mathxl which houses the assessments). Each of these 3 items have a quick explanation as well as a video so students and parents can read directions and watch the directions. I felt that these 3 components were the most important to explain. 

       This artifact was not difficult to create it just took some time to make it clear and concise. The videos took the longest part but I think are the most beneficial. Students and parents can access the videos at any time and can always revert back to them if they forget how to access classroom materials. I think this artifact was probably the most important to create because it sets the tone for a successful class. It was designed to answer questions and make sure that all students know exactly what is expected and where to find things. 

      Regardless if the course is traditional, blended, or all online, students need a roadmap and tutorials. In the traditional model you can verbal tell students your expectations or pass our a generic syllabus that has all the information on it. For an online class, you need to make sure that your students actually READ the syllabus so one way to do that is through this road map that is more engaging and exciting than a normal syllabus. 

*Below is an example of the introduction to my course!

Course Reflection - Engaging e-Learning

Reflection on Engaging e-Learning Course

           The main thing that I learned is that creating online units take SOOOOOOOOOOOOO much time! I wanted to try to make an entire unit that could be used entirely online and I quickly realized that I set myself up to spend a lot of time trying to create, find, and organize resources and materials for students to learn math on their own. I created a Google Site to house everything and it took awhile to compose everything! 

Here is an example of one of the lessons that I want my students to work through. Each lesson has 3 things to do (1: the material/examples to learn, 2: practice, 3: assessment)

      After this course, I do feel as though I have a better idea of what it takes to create online courses. and in turn have grown as an educator. I know that this is where Education is going so it was important to learn more about it, and one of the reasons I wanted to take this course. I will continue to take more education and technology course to help improve my lessons which can only benefit my students!

Multimedia Tools Artifact #2

Screencasting - How to Use Flip Grid

         This artifact is from module 7 when we were asked to create a screencast for students on how to use a tool. In my opinion, a screencast is one of the most useful tools as a teacher. I started screencasting last school year as a means for when I was going to be absent. Since I teach high school math, I could never expect my substitute to be able to teach my students so most often I would just give them a worksheet to practice problems and we would lose a day of instruction. Now with screencasting, I can create short videos for my students to learn from and students can watch them at their own pace. They can rewind, pause, and it really caters to their pace of learning. They can even go back and watch the videos before any tests or quizzes. 

         I liked this assignment because it made me think about how I would teach students how to use a tool rather than to solve a problem. All the other screencasts that I made were more instructional on problems. This screencast allowed me to demonstrate where to click and navigate a certain tool. I feel like these might be useful at the beginning of the year to compile. I could make quick little tutorials for my students in how to use our online math program called mathxl as well as where to find everything on my website. This might even be beneficial for parents to access. I plan on continuing to screencast using screencast-o-matic and make a bunch of short videos for the beginning of the year!