MobyMax is an online tool to pinpoint student knowledge gaps, create an individualized learning structure, and offer differentiated practice. Math, Reading and Language are all aligned with Common Core Standards. I have only used MobyMax for its math content. Initially, students were excited to be presented with a new learning tool, but after some time, that excitement wore off. Students complained about how much practiced time the modules required before they could move on to a higher level. With this in mind, I only have some students continuing to use this digital tool for learning math. I have not made time to go back, and assess the possibilities in continuing to use this learning tool with my students. I do think I was using the right tool for the right job, except I have not pursue to make the modifications to fit my current math population. It was easy to sign up and add students to MobyMax. The benefits about using MobyMax are the ability to print progress reports, including standards and missing standards and beginning and ending proficiency. MobyMax creates an independent learning plan and a learning process for each student so they can learn at their own pace. This program was introduced to me by the executive director in our Special Day Class.
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As teachers at any grade level, our days are full with planning lessons, gathering materials, making copies, writing and implementing IEP plans, meetings, and not to mention being in the right frame of mind before our Teaching day begins. With all this in our forefront, I have been reflecting on how to make time to include teaching digital literacy to my students with emotional disturbance.
I plan to set time aside during 1st period, every other Friday, to teach lessons on digital literacy. The students in this class are not as experienced using the internet as the students in my other classes, for this reason these students are more likely to follow and explain instructions, if it means having more access to the use of Chromebooks. At this point, I plan to borrow or “tweak” the lessons from Common Sense Media (9-12), in conjunction with the implementation of other useful educational sites to help me prepare for the upcoming lessons on digital literacy. I have been feeling more energized and inspired to present new and unique lessons to inspire my students to learn, even if it means having to venture outside of their comfort zone. I have been exposing my students to Google Classroom for math instruction, planning lessons on creativity, and digital communication to provide a technology-based learning approach. The more confident I feel about my Innovative Learning journey, the more content I want to introduce to my students. The instructors, cohort 13 and the coursework have made me reflect on how I can improve my teaching methods, strategies and skills.
As the second semester progresses, the more I reflect on how to design, expand or personalize lessons to fit the learning styles of my students with the support of technology. I feel more at ease with my technology-based knowledge and skills, but I still have a long ways to go before I have a clear sense of proficiency. My ultimate goal is to teach my students how to create a screencast with audio to make a class presentation. This is only my second year working with high school students at a Special Day Class. I have encountered many challenges, and currently the biggest problem on the top of my list is supervising students on chromebooks. My students want to listen to music, play video games, or watch Youtube videos, while doing class work. According to the Nine P’s of Digital Citizenship by Vicki Davis, I have only presented the first 4 P’s, I have lots to catch up on. I am definitely going to have a discussion with my students regarding the article on “How to Keep Your College Admissions Letter: Start with Digital Literacy by New York Times. Due to offensive Facebook postings, at least 10 incoming freshmen have been turned down from Harvard. The article states that digital media literacy is now just as important as financial literacy. Who we appear to be online can significantly impact earning power. Hard lessons to learn for first generation of digital natives. The last resource I will be implementing in my classroom is the KQED Mindshift Digital Citizenship, the information is explained in easy to follow format. There is so much I want to present to my students, I am looking forward to see what the next couple of weeks generates in my classroom.
At first, I found Brenda Dervin’s article to be complex and unrelatable. I read half the article before realizing there was a link to a video with an overview explanation to sense-making. After viewing the video, I went back and finished reading the rest of the article. Along with the process of reading, I took notes, highlighted important or unknown information, paused and reflected on what I was reading. The visuals in the video and the visual representations in the article, made it easier for me to wrap my brain around the process of sense-making as an approach to studying the constructing that humans do to make sense of their experiences. If I were to teach this same reading content to a high schooler, I would add graphic organizers, such as story map or use Google Slide to make a powerpoint presentation of the content.
The exemplar studies showed the use of the approach to yield data in qualitative terms, such as case studies. In this studies, the exemplars present studies which have been for the most part, close-ended, asking respondents to describe their situation either through a series of gap-bridging and gap-defining. Overall, my understanding of Dervin’s article is to present sense-making studies that have been conducted with a wide sample of populations, pertaining to their information needs in several situations and their interactions with a wide systems of communication systems. One of the curriculum’s through which, educational technology can support competency-based learning in my specialized school setting, is with the use of Mobymax, a free individualized digital curriculum. It is a digital learning environment that provides practice in math and language skills. Mobymax provides placement tests to start students at their current skill level. It also collects data to show how engaged, motivated and successful each student has been during the lesson. Mobymax finds and fixes learning gaps with the help of personalized learning. I am gradually introducing Mobymax to my special needs students. The students have not had positive learning experiences in mathematics, therefore, slowly transitioning them to this method of learning will take time. At this point in time, the students who have been introduced to this method have been receptive and are slowly making progress. Another personalized learning platform for my special needs students has been the introduction to Google Classroom, a free online platform where I can create, distribute and grade assignments. I am still not as comfortable using this platform as I would like to be, but I am confident with the instructor’s guidance and my cohort I will reach this goal. I had no idea what I was getting myself into when decided to enroll in the Innovative Learning Program. Since then I feel I have grown leaps and bounds in my thinking, knowledge of technology, comfort and attitudes. Initially I felt uncomfortable interacting face to face with peers and instructors. As time progresses, I feel more at ease having direct contact and 1:1 meetings. So far, I am more intrigued with the idea of how I can expand my “creativity” aspect as a person, educator and as lifelong learner. My comfort level with the usage of technology keeps expanding week by week, I definitely have a long way to go before I can proclaim myself technology proficient. Overall, my attitude has changed in the way I used to view technology and its purpose in the classroom. I have more respect and admiration for the teachers who have made the jump into 21st century teaching skills and are implementing this skills in their classrooms. At this point in time, I feel challenged, inspired and supported by my professors and cohort. One semester down, a couple to go!! Within the three types of teaching methods presented, my preferred teaching method is flipped over CBL and PBL. Currently, the flipped teaching practice aligns more appropriately with the type of learning my students are more capable of doing. All of my students have multiple emotional and behavioral deficits not to mention low tolerance levels. Hence, a curriculum geared for independent learning, such as CBL or PBL would be too challenging for the majority of my students. The flipped teaching approach is more accessible in that students can view instruction online outside of class and move “homework” into the classroom. Many of the students at my special day class, who have a difficult time attending school, would greatly benefit from making up class work outside of class. This non-traditional teaching practice would provide more flexibility in the student’s schedules and perhaps keep them motivated to stay in school to graduate. Students would have an easier time earning high school credits without spending summers making up the credits. The flipped teaching practice may become the way of the future, especially for students who face serious emotional and behavioral challenges and cannot succeed within the confinements of a traditional teaching setting. In the flipped teaching practice, teachers would have time to help students and explain difficult concepts on an individual basis. Students would spend more time in class, collaborating and doing interactive activities to minimize frustration levels before going home to do homework. Although this teaching practice would not work for all students, it definitely would be a step up from what we currently offer at my school site. As we approach the end of this Fall Semester, I am enlightened and inspired with new ideas, ideologies, and teaching practices. The two speakers I found most compelling were Daniel Pink and his presentation on The surprising science of motivation. One of the reasons I appreciated his message was this idea of intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation. In my particular teaching setting, students are offered multiple rewards to succeed in school such as, Fun Friday (classes are shortened to participate in fun activities), breakfast is provided for all students, and school hours are reduced. Still, students lack motivation to attend school, participate and/or complete class assignments. Many of our students’ mindset is on the immediate reward, instead on the long-term benefits of education and learning. One of the major factors attributed to this cause are the chaotic, unstructured home environments. This semester has been full of emotional and behavioral challenges, in comparison to last school year. In general, students are not intrinsically motivated to be in class, even when they have carrot sticks dangling right in front of them.
The next speaker, John Seely Brown, talked on A new culture of learning. The one point that resonates with me is the idea of study groups. He said, “what’s the best predictor of how well a student will do in college.” It’s not their GPA or SAT scores, it is the ability to join or make study groups. Unbeknownst to me, I have been actively practicing this studying strategy this semester with my cohort. I regularly meet with my peers at least 3 to 4 times per week. We talk about current, pending, problem-solve, and give input when asked. John also said, “there’s no better way to learn, than to try to explain it to others.” And in our case, as teachers, we learn to improve our teaching practices based on student high performing outcomes. How well can students apply previous lessons to solve math problems, science questions, quizzes, and statewide testing. As instructional leaders, I plan to help my students think creatively by having access to educational math games. I will use Youtube videos as a learning tool to find the effects of prescribed medication, or a similar topic of interest. My third idea is to engage students with hands-on activities such as making a quilt, christmas ornament, or design a logo. I will tell my students ahead of time to perform as creatively as possible without paying attention to perfection. I have read the following articles, Leveling the Digital Playing Field, Challenges in Linguistically and Culturally Diverse Elementary Settings with Math Instruction using Learning Technology, and Teaching Mathematics to Secondary Students With Emotional and Behavioral Disorders: Challenges and Practical Suggestions for Teachers.
Even though, I read the articles a couple weeks ago and took notes, I had forgotten the main points and reread most of them. The articles explored teaching practices to use with students lacking fundamental math skills. To make problem solving skills more accessible for special needs students, the articles promote hands-on activities and technology to reinforce retention and engagement for math students. I found the third article to be more relevant and practical to apply because it focused on the same population of students that I currently teach. The implementation of technology with math are the common themes throughout these articles, along with the challenges of teaching students with disabilities or disadvantages. These articles offered multiple perspectives but mainly from a teacher’s and what the district’s policies puts on math instruction. In many ways my driving question was address which is: What effect will a digital math classroom have on student engagement? I am still interested in researching articles that will tie in digital math instruction on student engagement or add something new to the field of special education knowledge. |
AuthorI am a special ed teacher at Vintage High School. Archives
July 2018
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