So far I have had great success finding the resources I need. The Promethean Planet website has been extremely helpful in providing lessons to use with my students, as well as, resources packs so that I can create my own lessons. This summer I plan to dig a little deeper into this website and look at the message boards and tutorials to see if I can find anything new and exciting to use when creating my lessons. The end of the school year is just too hectic to do any real searching! I am also attending an Autism training the first week of June. I am hoping that this training might give some insight on ways to help these students in the classroom. Hopefully I will learn some helpful tips and will be able to work on creating lessons that will help these students to be engaged. Since one of my goals was to individualize my lessons, I feel that this is a good start.
As far as the resources for connecting with teachers in another country, I have found the ePals website helpful. I have begun looking at the site and setting up a profile, but again, I have not had the time to really look around. I have looked at a few of the project ideas and have found some that interest me. Hopefully within the next few weeks this will be a possibility. I have also been talking with other teacher friends of mine to get their feedback on using pen pals and to see if any of them have done this type of activity before. Sometimes other teachers can be the best resources.
I do not feel that I need to modify my action plan at this time. I think that I have 2 good goals, and I think I will be able to accomplish these goals in the upcoming school year. Once the school year starts back up, I will reevaluate my plans to see if any modification needs to occur.
I learned that a lot of time and effort need to be put into creating individualized lessons and connecting with other teachers around the world. It is very difficult to accomplish these things with the limited amount of free time in the school day. I have found myself doing most of my research on the topics and creating these lessons at home after the school day is over. There really isn’t any way to accomplish these in school when you have 15 children who need your constant attention. You really have to take the time to plan out when you can sit and work on these things to make sure they get done. If not, you will end up with a To-Do list a mile long!
Right now I am pretty comfortable with creating individualized lessons. No new questions have arisen so far in this area, but this is not to say that they won’t. As far as my second goal of connecting with a teacher in another country, I do have a few questions. What happens if I find a teacher willing to collaborate and then they do not pull their weight? Should I plan a back up teacher to work with as well? Then I run the risk of not being able to hold up my end of the bargain if I am trying to collaborate with too many teachers at once. I am trying to figure out a way to start small with this collaboration and work up to bigger projects. Any suggestions?
References:
ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) (2008). TheISTE National Educational Technology Standards (NETS-T) andPErformance Indicatiors for TEachers. retrieved fromhttp://www.iste.o-Trg/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf
Posts
Lindsay,
ReplyDeleteI understand your concern about another teacher not being responsible enough and holding up their end of the deal. I do not think you will be putting yourself in a difficult situation if you have a backup plan. If you find an individual on ePals, I do not believe they would go through the entire process and not follow through. Before beginning anything with the teacher and another class I think you should prepare your students that at some point it may not work out and you may have to discontinue communication.
You mentioned that you are attending a Autism training. I am trained and have taught students with autism for two years. If you have students with autism in the classroom I think preparing them ahead of time will only make the situation a little easier for them to understand and experience. Best of luck!
Julie,
ReplyDeleteI would hope that you are right. If you are going to take the time to go through everything on the website it wouldn't make sense to not follow through with the project. I would definitely be sure to let my students know that at some point it may not work out. This way, it will ease the disappointment if it does happen.
How did you like your Autism training? Did you find the information helpful?
Lindsay,
ReplyDeleteMy Promethean Board has only been in my room for the tail end of the third quarter and the entire fourth. I too feel that with the close of the school year it is difficult to find the time to make and develop lessons. With 15 days of school remaining, and deadlines quickly approaching, I am feeling a bit overwhelmed to complete report cards, PTD folders, and Portfolios for 30 students. My hope is to attend the summer Promethean training at my school to be able to start the ball rolling for next year. Do you like the Promethean Planet web site? What have you already used?
Kristin,
ReplyDeleteI LOVE the Promethean Planet website. I have already downloaded countless flipcharts to use with my students. Some are better than others, but the students have loved all of them so far. I have also downloaded a few resource packs in order to create my own flipcharts. The website has lots of great things.
Lindsay,
ReplyDeleteI love your idea to collaborate with a teacher in a different country. I think you'll need to set out your wants and needs when you first begin working with this teacher so they know what you are hoping for. I suppose if you set it up like any other relationship you will find success or the courage to say that it just isn't working.
As far as individualizing lessons for students goes, I find that creating lessons that are tailored to my students are much more time intensive but they help me to be more prepared as far as content and any surprises during a lesson would go. Meaning, I have always found the time to be worth it. I know many teachers who do not see this positive end of things. With your Promethean Board, I would suggest creating a place where you and your colleagues can share your resources. We have a server through the school that we save and share the documents that we create for this year and for future years.
Lindsay,
ReplyDeleteI too have joined ePals and created my profile. I have gotten tons of e-mails from people wanting to be pen pals. I am also worried about picking the wrong group incase they don't hold up their end. How do you pick a group to pen pal with? Have you had any luck talking with other teachers that have used ePals? I have been asking teachers at my school and others that I know and none of them have ever used ePals. I would love to hear any comments you may get about the site.