I would say that my classroom is more innovative, untraditional,
and technology saturated than a typical classroom. I have always found value in having my
students actively engaged in hands on experiences. I mean, the word technology is even in my course
name. I teach Media Technology
(broadcast journalism and film production) on a high school level. My students lead and produce a daily news
broadcast and a monthly cable access show.
They also compete in local, state, and national film and journalism
competitions. As I read the ISTE
Standards, I began to reflect on areas I could improve on even more.
Two standard indicators I wish to improve are “Promoting student
reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students’ conceptual
understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes” and “Collaborate
with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and
resources to support student success and innovation” (International Society for
Technology Education, 2008).
Goals
Goal 1: Implement a more
innovative and collaborative self-assessment system in my classroom. In the past, my students were required to
complete a written self-reflection. I
was the only person to read it. I would
like students to use technology and share their reflections with their
classmates and myself.
Goal 2: Collaborate and
communicate better with parents and the community. In the past, I posted announcements to
parents on the school website, communicated using a texting app, and posted our
shows on our schooltube.com page. I
would like to develop a program specific form of collaboration.
Actions
Goal 1: I plan to
implement each of my students to create a weebly website. It is essentially a personal website, blog,
and online portfolio wrapped into one. After
each news package or film project, students will post their reflections and
behind the scenes topics from the production process.
Goal 2: I created a weebly website for the
program. It is still in progress, but
the bones are complete. It will include
a blog produced by my producers, a link to our shows, list of awards and
honors, links to the students’ blogs, and a contact section.
Progress
For both goals,
the progress will be monitored based on a pasting schedule. Each student must post a blog weekly or
bi-monthly (depending on their production style). The producers must update the program blog each
month. The schooltube page must be
updated daily. Essentially, the upkeep
of the websites will show the progress.
Evaluation
I will evaluate the
progress based on rubrics for the blogs.
The websites will include view counts and our facebook page shows how
many people were reached. The website
views can show the success of reaching the community. The participation of students in writing
their blogs also determines the self-reflection and collaborative method. At first, students will not be required to
comment on their classmates’ blogs; however, by the second semester it will be
a requirement.
The link:
www.wavetvnews.weebly.com
Reference:
International Society for Technology in Education. (2008).
National education standards for teachers (NETS-T). Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-teachers
Andrew,
ReplyDeleteI just read Kelly Hanglow's blog post, and I commented about the use of blogs for self and peer-reflection. You may want to check out her blog post as well, since she focuses on the reflection piece.
I wanted to comment and let you know that I implemented blogging last year and it truly helped the students with their communication skills. They learned to respect one another in an online environment, which is much different than some of the inappropriate posts/comments they are used to seeing on other social networking sites.
Also, they enjoyed have their peers review their work. No longer were they writing things for my eyes only. They now have a voice, and this alone motivates students to try their best.
I really think you will see some positive interactions among students with your first goal, and I hope it is successful!
Best of luck!
Mandy Derfler
Andrew,
ReplyDeleteWe have something in common which is we are Career and Technology teachers. Our curriculum and the way we teach is very different from academics. We have our own standards and certifications students have to meet at the end of the school year. We are probably the only teachers who teach this subject for our campus or even our district, which makes collaboration with other teachers difficult. However, through your goals you can accomplish many of your class requirements and reaching out to other Media Tech teachers.
My goals were similar to yours because in our classes we create and what's the best way to use technology with creations is by showcasing them to as many people using blogs, websites, or social media.
Sorry I accidently published and I was not finished yet.
DeleteIn regards to your website and social media outlet, do your students receive permission to have their photos/videos on the web?
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAJ,
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned one of your goals is to communicate more with parents and the community, and it sounds like your weebly website is helping you to be well on your way! Students in my school's Digital Media Productions (DMP) class are constantly including teachers in their weekly produced news segments, and the DMP teacher sends the entire high school staff a direct link to the finished video, as well as posting it on the high schools website. As I am located right next to the DMP classroom and studios, I often get to hear the back stories of all of the students' ideas for the segments, and am often impressed with their creativity. You mentioned that your students will be blogging their reflections and some behind the scenes from each production; do you plan to encourage them to include how they came up with certain ideas?
After visiting the weebly for your classes, I was impressed by the extensive list of honors and awards and think the inclusion of this information is a great way for students to be recognized for their work, as they look like quite an accomplished group.
Thanks for sharing,
Brittany Pumphrey