Lesson planning can be difficult for a teacher. We want to create engaging lessons that have obvious desired outcomes. I agree with Marilyn Rhames in her article “Lesson Planning: The Task I Love To Hate.” She explains that the hardest part about the teaching profession is lesson planning and that she must make her lessons clear and engaging (2012). Luckily, we have technology on our side to make lesson planning more bearable. Integrating technological resources also creates a more efficient and interactive classroom.
I agree with the point made in the “Voices from the classroom” section of the text that technology enhances learning. Anyone can read text or listen to a lecture to understand the lesson given. Technology requires hands-on learning and therefore engages students. In my hypothetical social studies class, I would use an interactive world-wide map to enhance learning. My students would be able to locate and learn facts about any chosen country. For an assignment, I would have my students get into groups of two and choose any country they would like to research. Students would need to find what the flag looks like, language, culture(s), traditions, etc. After their research is completed, I would have them put their information into a PowerPoint presentation. My students used technology to enhance their learning, worked in cooperative groups, and advanced their tech skills.
There are two types of lesson plans: student learning objectives and Understanding by Design (UDB). Lesson plans revolve around three types of learning: whole-group, small-group, and one-on-one instruction. Student learning objectives is where the outcomes of the lesson are planned and described, rather than explaining the activity itself. Student learning objectives describe who, what, when, how much, and how it will be evaluated. The ultimate goal of this type of lesson plan is to describe what the student can do after the lesson. Understanding by Design (UDB) is a reverse process of student learning objectives. First you recognize the desired learning outcomes, then determine what strategies are used, and last is to plan the experiences and methods being used.
In the “Tech Tools 4.1” section of the text, there are many resources that help make lesson planning easier. National History Education Clearinghouse (NHEC) can be used for my social studies class. NHEC is a great resource that has open discussion boards, lesson plans that you can customize, and state-by-state history standards. I especially like Annenberg learner because it has lesson plans, videos, and interactive activities. When you click on Interactives you can see all of the interactive activities. The audiences are for both students and teachers. I also found that some links lead you to other useful links. My lesson plan is an app that allows teachers to customize pre-made templates and modify them to fit a school’s requirements. iBooks is a convenient and easy app to use because teachers can download any book and other reading materials. I like iBooks because of the easy-access and I could let my students read from it if they had spare time, instead of going to the library.
Yes, creating lesson plans can be stressful, and even more stressful because our classroom revolves around them. We want to make creative and attention grabbing lessons that satisfy every students different needs. The lesson should be clear and you should be able to identify the desirable outcome of that lesson plan. Technology allows easier lesson plan making with websites that contain videos, pre-made templates, discussion boards, interactive activities, and other helpful links.
Resources:
Alaimo, Avery (1 November, 2015). Digital Blog Post #I. Made with https://prezi.com/your/
Maloy, R., O'Loughlin, R., Edwards, S., & Woolf, B.
(2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston,
MA: Pearson Education Inc.
Rhames, Marilyn (2012). "Lesson Planning: The Task I Love to Hate." Editorial
Projects in Education. 1November, 2015.
Retrieved from http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/charting_my_own_course/201
2/05/lesson_planning_the_task_ i_love_to_hate.html
Nice job on applying your chapter's concept to this week's assignment and lesson planning in general. Love that you developed an example Prezi to show how your students might use in a lesson (do note that you will want to try new tools for the remaining blog posts as this is your third Prezi). Awesome post! :)
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