This week in CEP 811 was a favorite of mine. We spent time exploring infographics and I was SO inspired as I was working through a fun infographic of the process of making. I couldn’t stop thinking of how this tool could be used in a million different ways in the classroom. As an added bonus, it was really fun to make! I enjoyed exploring the graphic that Piktochart had to offer and I was able to find symbols that represented each of the steps I outlined on my map. I love that they offer so many graphics for the kids to choose from and it ties in very nicely with a visible thinking activity that many teachers struggle with called Color-Symbol-Image. I can see this being a tool that could open up some doors for us with that powerful routine. I can’t wait to use this for retelling in Language Arts, life cycles in Science, and to represent the steps my mathematicians use to solve problems! As I move up a grade level next year, I am really excited to see how the kids take on this new program. I have a strong feeling that they are going to love it and this will be a highly requested project/tool throughout the year!
I was playing around with the features of Piktochart and I ended up creating the infographic that is featured below. I was thinking about the steps that I took while working on some of the projects in this class and I tried to represent the process with images and text. I liked the road map template that the site offered as I felt it fit the idea that making is a journey.
While reading Halverson’s article entitled, The Maker Movement in Education, I thought it did a nice job of introducing what this whole movement is about. I have found that many of the teachers in my school haven’t heard much about the maker movement, so I thought I would take the basic ideas from the article and put them into an infographic. I also included a few of the things the maker movement can create because I feel that it could be a motivating factor for teachers who are on the fence about the maker movement to see what some of the benefits are!
References:
Halverson, E.R. & Sheridan, K. (2014). The maker movement in education. Harvard Educational Review, 84(4), 495-465.
I was excited to see that this week’s assignment was focused on designing our classroom spaces to encourage and support the learning goals we set for our students. This has been a topic that always catches my eye while I read through educational blogs. I am always curious to see how other teachers have organized their space and I am constantly thinking about how I could change my room around to benefit my students. My room is organized in what I would say is a pretty typical fashion. The desks in my room are pretty large so they take up most of the space in my room. I group them together in pods so it is easier for the children to work together. I have floor space available for whole-group instruction and I also allow my students to sit on the floor whenever they choose. The other seating options in my room include stools, camp chairs, rocking chairs, movable cubes, and large pillows. I have read a lot of blogs and articles that advocate for flexible seating options for students. I try to allow them to choose where they sit for most of the day, but that also brings up a lot of management questions for me. There are the students who will always try to take the “cool” seats or rush to the rocking chairs first. This leaves my more reserved students not getting the opportunity to sit where they would really like. I have done a number of things to solve this problem, but then I hesitate to over-manage the seating because it seems like that defeats the purpose of allowing for flexible seating. Another issue I have with the layout of my room is that it is all directed to the front of the room which puts the focus on the teacher and minimizes the importance of student-directed learning and group learning. You can get an idea of what my room looks like right now from the pictures below.
Now, when I think about an alternative layout for my room (see the SketchUp design posted below), I want someone to walk in and not know where the front of the class is. I like the idea of having a central table that I can pull students to or that they would have the option of moving to on their own to collaborate with others. Some of my students have a really difficult time sitting at a table with others all the time so to give them a space to work independently without having to go out in the hall or be sent to a table in the very back of the room, I have included two desks at the side of the room that would provide some privacy. I chose to use kidney bean tables because the rounded edges give a more flexible feel to the table and students could sit at any part of the table and be comfortable. Ideally, I would have rolling chairs to allow for easy movement at a table and around the room. I also like that all of the tables are situated so that the kids could all be sitting down and still be able to see everyone in the class. It would send the message that every voice is important, not just mine! This layout would promote whole-class collaborative learning in a way that just isn’t possible with my current layout. (Check out one of my previous posts about the benefits of collaborative learning!)
There are a number of other seating options available including a rug, benches by the Smart Board, bean bags, and chairs at a back table. You may have noticed in the pictures of my actual classroom that I love having bright colors in my classroom. I have been hearing about more research that supports the need for more soothing colors and areas of the room that provide visual rest. The color scheme in the room below has taken the soothing colors and visual rest a bit too far back into the 70’s for me, but I do think that offering a space that is simple, plain, and soothing for students to relax in would be a great addition to my room. Many of these items may be available already in the district warehouse, but if they are not available, the different tables and rolling chairs would be very costly. The benches could be handmade over the summer and the bean bags could be bought for about $20 each. I would have to run the seating arrangement by my principal and get the new furniture approved and providing the parents with a rationale for this unique setting would be important. The switching out of my desks for the tables would have to wait until the summer when the custodians clean and switch out the furniture. The other seating options could be implemented immediately.
The picture below is an alternate view (and one of my earlier designs).
Tech Note: This is such a cool tool! I was just chatting with a student about how she really wants to be an architect when she grows up and then I discover SketchUp- it’s just too perfect. While this is not something that she could start working on alone right now, it could be an awesome thing to do with mom and dad! I also love that, with a bit more practice, I can use this to create possible designs for the renovation projects I’m planning for my new house.
Gu, X. g., Chen, S., Zhu, W., & Lin, L. (2015). An intervention framework designed to develop the collaborative problem-solving skills of primary school students. Educational Technology Research & Development, 63(1), 143-159.
This week, we were asked to create a lesson plan that would provide our students the opportunity to create and explore. After researching collaborative problem solving, I decided that this activity would be most beneficial if the students were able to work together and discuss their findings as they work.
2nd Grade Science: Sound – Pitch vs. Volume
Standards:
S.RS.00.11 Demonstrate scientific concepts through various illustrations, performances, models, exhibits, and activities.
S.IA.00.12 Share ideas about science through purposeful conversation.
S.IA.00.13 Communicate and present findings of observations.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.2.5Create audio recordings of stories or poems; add drawings or other visual displays to stories or recounts of experiences when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings.
Big Ideas:
Students will be able to independently use their learning to…
-Explain the various pitches that their instrument makes
-Explain the difference between volume and pitch
-Identify evidence that supports their thinking
Essential Questions:
How did creating your own instrument help you to better understand pitch?
How did creating your own instrument help you to better understand volume?
How did interacting with the instruments other students made help you to better understand pitch and volume?
How can working collaboratively with your peers help you to develop a deeper understanding of a topic?
Lesson Time: One Hour
Materials:
-Makey Makey makers kit
-Laptops
-A variety of conductive items (Ex: paperclips, marshmallows or other metallic items)
-The teacher may decide to include non-conductive items as well so the students have a chance to explore.
* EDUCREATIONS TIPS: It is helpful to have all iPads logged into the correct Educreations account before beginning the creation process. If you don’t have a class account set up, you can always use one account on all of the iPads. Keep in mind, that doing it this way prevents the saving of drafts as the kids work so they need to rehearse before they record. Educreations videos are easy to quickly send to the students’ parents and they get rave reviews.
The students were given time to explore the concepts of pitch and volume during various experiments and activities. They have also spent the year working on understanding how to work collaboratively and respectfully with one another. These skills are reinforced and there is an expectation that they complete their tasks as professional scientists.
Procedure:
Minutes 0-15
Engage students by playing banana bongos using the app on the Makey Makey website. Check out the video below if you want a little sampling of what the kids will see!
2. Inform the students that they will be creating their own digital instrument to use as they explore volume and pitch. They will use the
3. Explain the basics of the Makey Makey kits
Introduce each of the parts of the kit
Remind students of the expectation that they will be positive digital citizens throughout this activity.
Take the students step by step through clipping the alligator clips to the board & connecting the board to the computer. The Makey Makey quick start guide (click below to visit the full site) may be a helpful resource for the teacher to display as she is explaining the steps.
Students will then create their instruments using the provided materials in their science discovery groups.
Minutes 16-30
Students spend this time exploring and discussing the various sounds they can create with their instrument.
They will discuss their findings as a group throughout this time.
Display the following guiding tasks to help
keep their conversations on topic:
-Play a low pitch sound
-Play a high pitch sound
-How can you change the volume of the sound?
-Does changing the volume also change the pitch?
*Teacher should be visiting each group frequently during this time.
Minutes 31-45
Instruct students to spend five minutes collecting their thoughts and discussing their findings with their groups. We call this “Prepare to Share” time.
Invite students to carpet for a whole group discussion.
Discuss the findings the students came upon. Identify and clear misunderstandings.
Invite students to demonstrate as they describe their findings.
Minutes 46-60
Students rehearse and record their explanations using Educreations.
Video Requirements:
Identify a high pitch sound
Identify a low pitch sound
Change the volume of one of the sounds
Answer the question: Does changing the volume also change the pitch?
Bonus: Play a fun song for the audience!
Have students save their videos with the title “NAME Sound”
Ask for a few student volunteers to share their work.
Extension: Use the Makey Makey instruments to create a class wide band before you have the kids clean up! This could be a good transition into discussions about how sound can be helpful, pleasant, unpleasant, or harmful!
Evaluate:
Formative:
The students will have learned the basics of these concepts prior to working with the Makey Makey kits. During this time, the teacher will monitor their work during experiments and also the written work they complete in their science notebooks. The teacher will listen in to conversations that the groups are having during their Makey Makey instrument exploration to decide if guiding questions or re-teaching is necessary.
Summative:
Their final grade will be determined by the Educreations video they create. I expect that the students will provide an example of them using the Makey Makey instrument to show examples of a low pitch sound, high pitch sound, and how to change the volume. They should be able to explain that the volume of a sound can change without the pitch changing.
Rationale:
The sound concepts of pitch and volume can be extremely difficult to explain effectively which makes a hands-on approach a necessity. The activities leading up to this final activity were strongly rooted in inquiry-based learning techniques along with direct instruction to help reinforce and focus their discoveries. While researching collaborative learning, I was interested to discover that there are differences in the effectiveness of group work as a tool for encouraging academic growth for different kids based on their achievement (Sears, 2013). Low and average academic performers benefit academically from the discussion and being able to take in other ideas that they had not previously thought of. For this reason, it was most appropriate to assign this assignment to groups rather than to individuals. Beyond the academic benefits, the ability to collaborate and work with others will help them to figure out how the technology works and they can work together to solve any problems that arise. As I stated in my previous post, one piece of research found that higher achieving students do not experience the same academic benefit from collaborative learning (Sears, 2013). While this is a thought-provoking statement, I wouldn’t take the experience of working with others away from any of my students. Being able to work collaboratively and putting these children in a situation in which they need to explain their thinking and interact respectfully even when they think they are right is critical to their future success and students and people. For these reasons, I believe that creating the opportunity for all students to explore and discuss their findings is a crucial part of the discovery process and will be beneficial to all students whether it is an academic benefit or social benefit.
References
Sears, D. d., & Reagin, J. (2013). Individual versus collaborative problem solving: divergent outcomes depending on task complexity. Instructional Science, 41(6), 1153-1172.
Many of the staff meetings and professional developments sessions I have attended this year have focused on collaborative and inquiry based learning. One of the criticisms that some of the teachers have brought up was also echoed in the literature review section of the article, An Intervention Framework Designed to Develop the Collaborative Problem-Solving Skills of Primary School Students. The article states,“Scholars have also discussed challenges of collaborative learning, including, for instance, it is often off-task, uncooperative, arbitrary, and of little educational value.” (Gu et al., 2015, p. 145). While I do agree that at times, managing collaborative talk and work can be exhausting and it can be tempting to skip the whole process and just do it the old fashioned way, the benefits of collaborative learning definitely outweigh the stress of the management. The study outlined in the aforementioned article focused on the role of teacher intervention in collaborative work and the skills that students need in order for the collaborative work to be successful. The study found that the “students gained mainly through the intervention of ‘‘setting up rules for discourse’’ and the strategy of ‘‘question prompts”” (Gu et al., 2015, p. 156). From this study we can see that in order for the collaborative work we plan for our students to be successful, we need to model and help our students understand the expectations for working in collaborative groups. These collaborative skills should be taught from day one in classrooms and be a daily expectation in the classroom community. Once we have the classroom community and expectations in place, the academic value of collaborative problem solving can begin to emerge. Although, the academic value of collaboration for all students isn’t a topic that is completely agreed upon.
One of the most interesting findings that I read about came from the Sears’ research on individual versus collaborative problem solving. The researchers found that, “..for students who were able to solve the problem successfully alone, collaboration was more of a hindrance than a benefit to performance.” (Sears, 2013, p. 1167). Now, this raises interesting questions for us as educators. Is collaborative learning always the best choice for our students? Is is actually a positive thing for our high achieving students to experience this disequilibrium and learn how to adapt and struggle? When I think about this last question, I think back to getting math help from my brilliant older brother when I was much younger. I never wanted to ask for his help because he was so brilliant that he had actually reached a place in his learning that it had become difficult for him to remember the steps that had become automatic for him. Breaking a math problem down to my novice level was extremely difficult for him and, back then, teaching students to explain their thinking wasn’t as much of a focus. This idea that the collaborative work could be a great way to challenge our high achieving students to break down their thinking processes in order to successfully communicate is very intriguing to me. The findings of that same research also state that the average to low performing students performed better when collaborating with others (Sears, 2103). Using this research of an activity based on collaborative problem solving, what we see is that all students benefit in some way from collaborative work. It is a way to challenge our students to see beyond their own ideas and be flexible with their ideas and learning.
The maker movement fits perfectly into this discussion of collaborative problem solving. Maker Education exemplifies the whole premise that students should be working collaboratively to create something new, persevere through challenges, and develop perspective-taking skills. The quote stated earlier in this paper regarding the challenges of collaborative learning reminds me of the struggles that Richard Culatta’s TED talk about the ‘digital divide’ outlines. He discusses how so many teachers are falling into the trap of replacing the traditional way of teaching with a piece of technology rather than using the available technology to do something otherwise impossible (Culatta, 2013). Being an educator can be taxing and thankless at times, but we all decided to be educators because we love to create lessons for our students and see our students succeed. Collaborative problem solving and maker education are risks we can take as educators to see our students succeed and be motivated in a whole new way.
As we think about the benefits of collaborative work and its positive impact on problem solving skills, it is clear that giving students the opportunity to be makers certainly provides them a space to develop these skills and interests. Of course, we think about time and how we would integrate these types of activities into our classroom schedules. The question that this dilemma raises for me is, “Can we afford not to find the time for our students?” The new superintendent in my district encouraged us at the beginning of the year to ‘give something up’ to allow for the introduction of something new and great. To me, the collaborative problem solving and maker education are worthy of being the new and great things that I bring to my classroom!
References:
Sears, D. d., & Reagin, J. (2013). Individual versus collaborative problem solving: divergent outcomes depending on task complexity. Instructional Science, 41(6), 1153-1172.
Gu, X. g., Chen, S., Zhu, W., & Lin, L. (2015). An intervention framework designed to develop the collaborative problem-solving skills of primary school students. Educational Technology Research & Development, 63(1), 143-159.
Tech In Lower El 