3.1 Classroom Management & Collaborative Learning
Candidates model and facilitate effective classroom management and collaborative learning strategies to maximize teacher and student use of digital tools and resources. (PSC 3.1/ISTE 3a)
Artifact: Engaged Learning Project
Reflection:
The Engaged Learning Project was created for ITEC 7400 21st Century Teaching and Learning in the summer of 2019. As I created the Engaged Learning Project, I focused on the Levels of Technology Implementation (LoTI) and the Engaged Learning Indicators to ensure higher-order thinking, collaboration, student roles, teacher roles, authenticity, differentiation, and culturally-responsible pedagogy. I completed the Engaged Learning Project individually, although the previous project (being revised) had initially been a collaborative effort among 3 AMDM teachers. My goal for the Engaged Learning Project was to revise a budgeting project designed to coincide with the Finance units for AMDM. While the previous Budget Project utilized pre-designed scenarios and costs, and could be completed almost entirely on paper, I wanted the student experience to be more relevant, authentic, and technology infused. For the Engaged Learning Project, I worked to create an online experience, linking forms and digital resources for students to research and study to complete their project.
Standard 3.1, Classroom Management and Collaborative Learning, establishes expectations to model and facilitate effective classroom management and collaborative learning strategies to maximize teacher and student use of digital tools and resources. When implemented, the Engaged Learning project allows me to model and facilitate effective classroom management using digital resources and activities that promote engagement and authentic learning. Within the Budget Project Plan, there are specific guidelines for collaborative versus individual student work expectations and there are embedded check-in timeframes for each component of the project. This was beneficial for time management and providing necessary feedback to students during the learning process. During the project, students took on adult roles of career choice and financial stability, as they learned the mathematics of finance and budgeting. The students would assume the roles of adults after high school, entering the career world, having to find housing, transportation, pay common expenses, and budget appropriately. Collaborative learning strategies were embedded within the project, providing students opportunities to collaborate in small groups to discuss project components (such as choosing a bank/savings plan or estimating monthly fuel costs based on vehicle’s gas mileage). Students also worked with partners (or, roommates) for the housing and utility costs portions of the project.
The Engaged Learning project was one of the first artifacts that I created for this program. As I implemented it, I learned how creating collaborative learning experiences enhances instructional activities and engages students. Students showed immediate interest as I introduced the first aspects of the project. By hooking them with their own personal interests (career choice), I was then able to expand upon the expectations for the remainder of the project. Students were excited about the experience, but worried about pacing and not becoming overwhelmed. By providing check-in dates for project components, I was able to alleviate some of this stress. If I were to change something about the project, it would be to create an engaging website with each task, rather than a document. I would also like to create an online form for the application for employment, rather than using a fillable pdf. Because the AMDM units take 6-8 weeks to complete, the project- although approximately 10 days of work- could actually be completed over several weeks, allowing students additional time as available/needed.
The creation of the Engaged Learning project impacted student learning the most. When students become engaged in the learning process, they tend to be more positive about the experience and retain a better understanding of the concepts. The authenticity of the Budget Project, enhanced with the technology tools and resources and collaborative learning experiences, helped to create a powerful engaged learning experience. This impact is assessed through the level of engagement and achievement during the experience in class, in comparison to previous years when the original project was used.
The Engaged Learning Project was created for ITEC 7400 21st Century Teaching and Learning in the summer of 2019. As I created the Engaged Learning Project, I focused on the Levels of Technology Implementation (LoTI) and the Engaged Learning Indicators to ensure higher-order thinking, collaboration, student roles, teacher roles, authenticity, differentiation, and culturally-responsible pedagogy. I completed the Engaged Learning Project individually, although the previous project (being revised) had initially been a collaborative effort among 3 AMDM teachers. My goal for the Engaged Learning Project was to revise a budgeting project designed to coincide with the Finance units for AMDM. While the previous Budget Project utilized pre-designed scenarios and costs, and could be completed almost entirely on paper, I wanted the student experience to be more relevant, authentic, and technology infused. For the Engaged Learning Project, I worked to create an online experience, linking forms and digital resources for students to research and study to complete their project.
Standard 3.1, Classroom Management and Collaborative Learning, establishes expectations to model and facilitate effective classroom management and collaborative learning strategies to maximize teacher and student use of digital tools and resources. When implemented, the Engaged Learning project allows me to model and facilitate effective classroom management using digital resources and activities that promote engagement and authentic learning. Within the Budget Project Plan, there are specific guidelines for collaborative versus individual student work expectations and there are embedded check-in timeframes for each component of the project. This was beneficial for time management and providing necessary feedback to students during the learning process. During the project, students took on adult roles of career choice and financial stability, as they learned the mathematics of finance and budgeting. The students would assume the roles of adults after high school, entering the career world, having to find housing, transportation, pay common expenses, and budget appropriately. Collaborative learning strategies were embedded within the project, providing students opportunities to collaborate in small groups to discuss project components (such as choosing a bank/savings plan or estimating monthly fuel costs based on vehicle’s gas mileage). Students also worked with partners (or, roommates) for the housing and utility costs portions of the project.
The Engaged Learning project was one of the first artifacts that I created for this program. As I implemented it, I learned how creating collaborative learning experiences enhances instructional activities and engages students. Students showed immediate interest as I introduced the first aspects of the project. By hooking them with their own personal interests (career choice), I was then able to expand upon the expectations for the remainder of the project. Students were excited about the experience, but worried about pacing and not becoming overwhelmed. By providing check-in dates for project components, I was able to alleviate some of this stress. If I were to change something about the project, it would be to create an engaging website with each task, rather than a document. I would also like to create an online form for the application for employment, rather than using a fillable pdf. Because the AMDM units take 6-8 weeks to complete, the project- although approximately 10 days of work- could actually be completed over several weeks, allowing students additional time as available/needed.
The creation of the Engaged Learning project impacted student learning the most. When students become engaged in the learning process, they tend to be more positive about the experience and retain a better understanding of the concepts. The authenticity of the Budget Project, enhanced with the technology tools and resources and collaborative learning experiences, helped to create a powerful engaged learning experience. This impact is assessed through the level of engagement and achievement during the experience in class, in comparison to previous years when the original project was used.