Week 9 Technology Inventory

My experience in the practicum so far has been amazing! I love my mentor teacher and my school. As I was doing this inventory, I was very surprised at how much my classroom had. There are 4 computers in the classroom, but I haven't seen them used very much for teaching. I have only seen a few students use the program Waterford and play some educational games. We also have a TV and VCR/DVD player that we have used once to show a short movie. Other than that, I haven't seen too much technology used in this particular classroom. They don't have a projector or a SmartBoard. My particular teacher doesn't use PowerPoints. I have only been in the classroom for a few days and I haven't seen much technology used yet, but there may be some that are planned for the future weeks. 

I think that the computer time for the classroom is really important and my class gets to go once a week to the lab to work with the teacher that is in there. I haven't been able to observe what they do in their yet, but I am sure that it is very useful and will help them become more tech savvy. 

My Virtual Tour

Here is a link to my virtual tour! Enjoy!

Virtual Tour Link

Social Constructivism Lesson Plan

Objective: Students will be given 6 different colors of paper and will make fraction strips of paper representing whole, 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/6, and 1/8 in 15 minutes.

This lesson is an example of a Cognitive Apprenticeship

Hook:

The students will walk into the room and find a tray of brownies at the front of the classroom. They will wonder what they are for and be very curious. Once everyone has taken their seats explain to them that you are going to break them into different pieces to represent fractions of the whole. Show the students how you would break them in half. As you are showing them, be sure to speak out loud and explain what you are doing and why. Once the brownies have been cut, let each student have a fraction of the brownie. (Modeling: the first step in cognitive apprenticeship)

Instruction:

At the end of this activity, students will have explored their fraction strips and will understand what a numerator and denomenator of a fraction represents. They will also see the relationship between whole, 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/6, and 1/8. They will also understand that the larger the denominator, the more parts the whole has been broken into.

1. First students will be given 6 sheets of different colored paper. Tell them that these pieces are whole pieces of paper. Model for them how to write whole on their piece of paper. Have them write whole on one of the papers.
2. Next, show the students how to cut one of the pieces in half and write 1/2 on both pieces of paper. As you are doing each step, be sure to model for the children. After you have showed them, talk them through doing their own. Be sure to remind those that may be struggling. 
3. Do these same steps with each piece of paper. (make strips that are 1/3, 1/4, 1/6, and 1/8)
4. As they cut the pieces of paper, tell them to talk themselves through each step. Also, remind them to write the fractions on the paper. After watching the teacher model, and coach them through the steps, they should be able to use self talk and talk their way through the steps. Eventually they will be able to do it with inner speech. (Scaffolding: step 3)
5. After all of the pieces of paper are cut, guide them by asking them questions about each piece of paper? Why are the pieces of paper with the largest number on the bottom, smaller than the rest? As you are asking each question have them articulate their knowledge and put it into their own words. (Articulate: Step 4)
6. After students have explored their strips of paper by them selves, have them write down why they think the largest number on the bottom is the smallest piece of paper. (Reflect: step 5) 
7. At the end of the discussion all of the students will understand that the bigger the number on the bottom, the more parts the whole has been broken into. Ask them to explore new ways to apply what they are learning. Give them an assignment to go home and find different ways that fractions are used. ex: cooking measurements. (Explore: step 6)

This lesson plan is an example of Cognitive Apprenticeship. In this lesson, the students are learning skills and gaining knowledge from a more knowledgeable other, who is the teacher. The cultural tools used in this lesson are the symbols used for fractions (number system), and the language that the teacher is speaking. Cultural tools play a very important role in cognitive development. As they are learning fractions they are developing their "cultural tool kit". The teacher is within the Zone of Proximal Development as she teaches the children about fractions. Most of the children have most likely never dealt with them very much. The children are doing a task that they are able to do because the teacher is there helping them. If the teacher wasn't scaffolding and working through the steps with them, then they would wouldn't be able to accomplish the task. The steps the teacher takes to scaffold in this lesson are: first they model and work through the task with the brownies. Second, the teacher coaches them through cutting their own strips of paper. As they are cutting the strips she is encouraging private speech. Last, eventually the students will be able to accomplish the task using inner speech. They will be able to apply what they have learned and find other examples of fractions. The dialectical relationship between the learner and the teacher (more knowledgeable other - MKO) is constantly happening. As the teacher is modeling she is the one speaking. Later in the lesson she models and talks them through the task. After that, they walk themselves through the steps by themselves. At the end they have a discussion. The teacher is asking the questions and directing the discussion while the students participate in a conversation with the MKO. 

TPACK QUESTIONS

CONTENT: The content I used in my virtual tour was 4th Grade science Standard 5, Objective 1a, 1b, and 1c. The students will be able to describe the physical characteristics of wetlands, forests, and deserts. They will also be able to describe them and look at an example of each.

PEDAGOGY: Children will have the oportunity to explore an example of a wetland, forest and desert in Utah. They will be able to move around and make observations. They will also be able to compare them to each other. It also helps them because they can visit websites and view pictures.

TECHNOLOGY: The technology I used for this tour was Google Earth. This program allowed me to teach about wetlands, deserts, and forests in an interactive way. They students can explore each location and make observations. They can also click on additional pictures and links to learn more. This lets them view the different sights. It isn't possible to visit each one, but it is possible for them to experience the next best thing.

Virtual Tour Table

Location	Activity	Google Earth Content
1.State of Utah	Today we are going to explore the characteristics of wetlands, forests, and deserts in Utah. What do you already know about each of these?Explore Utah and look at all the different physical characteristics.	Children will explore and click on many different pictures and sights about Utah.
2. Pariette Wetlands	This is an example of a wetland. What are some of the characteristics that you can see? Write down some of your observations. Click on the link to learn more.	Write down observations. visit link http://www.utah.com/playgrounds/pariette_wetlands.htm
3.Dixie National Forest	This is an example of a forest. Describe what you see here. What do you notice? Don't forget to write down some of your observations! Click on the pictures to find out more about Utah Forests.	Be sure to have your Geographic Web checked and click on the blue boxes to look at pictures.
4.Great Salt Lake Desert	This is an example of a desert. What do you notice? How is this different from Pariette wetlands? Write your thoughts down. Click on the W to visit a sight about the Great Salt Lake Desert.	Click on the Great Salt Lake Desert and read the information. They will also click on the Wikipedia link and read additional information.
Details of image overlay / path / polygon:	At locations 2, 3, and 4 I will outline them with a polygon so the students can see the boundaries that they will explore for each location.

Developmental Cognitivism Lesson Plan

 Objective: Students will be given 6 different colors of paper and will make fraction strips of paper representing whole, 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/6, and 1/8 in 15 minutes.

Hook:

The students will walk into the room and find a tray of brownies at the front of the classroom. They will wonder what they are for and be very curious. Once everyone has taken their seats explain to them that you are going to break them into different pieces to represent fractions of the whole. Have someone come up and cut the brownies in half. Repeat this step until the brownies are cut into enough pieces for the whole class. Once the brownies have been cut, let each student have a fraction of the brownie. 

Instruction:

At the end of this activity, students will have explored their fraction strips and will understand what a numerator and denomenator of a fraction represents. They will also see the relationship between whole, 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/6, and 1/8. They will also understand that the larger the denominator, the more parts the whole has been broken into.

1. First students will be given 6 sheets of different colored paper. Be sure that everyone knows that these pieces are whole pieces of paper. Have them write whole on one of the papers.
2. Next,have the students cut one of the pieces in half and write 1/2 on both pieces of paper.
3. Do these same steps with each piece of paper.
4. As they cut the pieces of paper, be sure that they are exploring writing the fractions on the paper.
5. After all of the pieces of paper are cut, have them explore the different sizes and the numbers that are written on the paper. Which piece is larger?
6. Explain what numerator and denominator are.
7. Why are the pieces of paper with the largest number on the bottom, smaller than the rest? Have them explore and answer this question.
8. After students have explored their strips of paper by them selves, have them write down why they think the largest number on the bottom is the smallest piece of paper. Then discuss as a class. 
9. At the end of the discussion all of the students will understand that the bigger the number on the bottom, the more parts the whole has been broken into.

This lesson is stage-based learning because it is part of the preoperational and concrete-operational stage. Some of the student will be able to solve hands-on problems while others will not be able to think them through yet. Each child is unique in the way they learn. The teacher will model a little to help those that may not be able to think them through yet. There is also more than one activity so that students can identify with at least one. Piaget believes that to know an object or to gain knowledge, you have to act on the object. In this lesson plan, the students are able to manipulate their own pieces of paper. The lesson involved action and not much teacher intervention. Social interaction isn't necessary for students to gain knowledge, but it is sometimes necessary to guide students away from egocentricism. In this lesson, the students didn't work in groups very much, but at the end they had a discussion about what their discoveries. 

Accommodation and assimilation are both apparent in this lesson. When students are cutting up the papers and realizing that the bigger the number on the bottom, the smaller the piece of paper, they are most likely experiencing disequilibrium. They have always thought that a bigger number will mean a bigger piece of paper. After experiencing this disequilibrium they will have to accommodate their existing schemes and make sense of the new situation. Assimilation is also happening has they are exploring their pieces of paper. They are using what they already know about numbers and trying to make sense of the fractions. Piaget believed that children gained knowledge on their own and with little teacher interference. This lesson was more of a discovery learning lesson because it didn't have much teacher intervention. The reason there is a little is because some of the children are still in the preoperational stage and need assistance working through tasks. Other than the little intervention, the students are working on their own and making their own hypothesis. The students will also be mastering the operation of classification while they are performing this task. They are learning how to focus on the characteristic of how big the strips are and comparing them to each other. 

Peanut Butter Sandwich

Our sound didn't turn out quite as loud as we had planned, but here is the finished product!