HS+Benedict,+Marc

I don't really have a specific entire lesson to post that represents how I will use some of the things I have learned in today's PD. However, the Google Docs session provided some tools to help me improve some of my current lessons. For example, just this week I had students measuring their height and wingspan which we are going to graph as an entire class set of data. I had made a spreadsheet on my computer that students had to come up and enter their data into. Now we can make the same spreadsheet on Google Docs and they can each enter it themselves as they get the data. Similarly, from now on when I have groups making presentations, I can insist that they simultaneously build a single presentation in Google Docs (instead of each making separate pieces and pasting them together later). The added bonus to all Google Docs is being able to see exactly which student contributed what to the final document/presentation!
 * October 10,2011-****Integrating Technology Lesson Plan**


 * February 18 - Integrating Technology Lesson Plan**

I continue to integrate as much of my classroom into my PBWorks pages for each class as possible. This includes course syllabi/expectations/grading, bell ringers, lesson/plans/objectives, assignments, and digital copies of almost all assignments. Thus, my "lesson plan" for this professional development session will actually be the entire activity (which took several class days) as it appears on my PBWorks page for chemistry. I think by including the assignment itself (which incorporates technology such as the internet and Keynote presentations) along with how it was presented to students via the PBWorks page, I can better demonstrate the extent to which I am attempting to incorporate technology into my teaching.

The lesson (and its presentation) addresses the following characteristics of effective instruction: teaching for understanding, assessment for learning, and rigorous and relevant curriculum. After completing a unit on the periodic table, students must use their understanding of the patterns/trends in the properties of the elements in the real periodic table to create their own "Periodic Table of Common Objects". This involves the student choosing a minimum of 20 items that they can arrange in some way so that there are three patterns and at least one exception that are analogous to the patterns in the real table. They use Keynote/Pages to create a table with pictures and various information about their objects. Then they write a report in which they explain their patterns and exception, and how they are analogous to specific patterns/trends in the real table. Through the PBWorks course page ([] see 1/28-1/28), the students were supplied with the original assignment document and examples of previous quality student work. The completed assignments were handed in using the "dropbox" for chemistry.

This assignment (and its presentation via the internet-based classroom) integrated technology into my classroom in an effective way. In addition, it forced students to a deeper understanding of the material by making them create their own product and find analogies between their product and the real world. Thus, the assignment also proved to be a rigorous and relevant part of the curriculum. By providing examples of prior quality work, students were able to assess their own learning by comparing their work to a established standard.


 * November 15** - **"What Is Your Sentence?"** He strived to influence the futures of as many students as possible...using science as a vehicle.


 * September 13** - **What is one thing you learned today that you plan to implement within your classroom?** (Due Friday at 3:30)

This seems really insignificant, but I do plan to use the random picker on the Notebook software to pick lab groups. I currently randomize students by having them pick colored glass beads and grouping students with like colors. Using the picker will speed up the process greatly and increase class time for lab work. Honestly, I couldn't help but think that most of what the SMARTboard can do, I would prefer to have individual students do for themselves on their laptops!! It almost seems that the SMART technology is outdated for high school now?!?

I plan to use Skills Iowa, but since I teach using an inquiry approach, it would be counter-productive to use it until after a topic was covered in class. My inclination is to use it close to the spring testing as a way to both reinforce concepts already taught and to quickly cover concepts we haven't yet covered prior to the tests.