It's Over

The end of 2010. The first quarter has came to an end. School was out for 3 days due to snow and ice. It took a toll on students and teachers. It meant that some things had to be cut so that students could take finals. A lab and the graphic organizer were cut from the respiration unit.
Next year the unit will continue to change. The videos clips that I added into the presentation will be used to create questions about the processes taking place and will also be used as review. They will be the main part of the unit, linking everything together.
Overall creating something for someone else is very hard. Not because of the work, but because some people are not very good communicators. It was hard getting someone else to work with me because they did not see the urgency or think about the amount of time it takes to create such a substantial technology based unit. It was not the kind of unit I would design for myself, but ultimately it is not for me, so my consultee must like it and be satisfied with it. That she was.

G.O.

The last part of the unit that I designed is the graphic organizer or energy flow chart. I am unsure at this point if it will be integrated into the unit. We have had one snow day and if we have anymore some of the unit will have to be cut due to time. The graphic organizers were designed to help students review how energy flows throughout the unit. The culminating graphic organizer is designed to use Inspiration software where students will be able to create their own unique flow chart. They can add pictures or links to video or whatever they want as long as they do include the words available for them and show the direction of energy flow. I guess we will have to wait and see.

Oops... I Forgot

I added a very good video showing open alcoholic fermentation. I thought the students would understand it and they would be able to relate to it. It was a streaming video (see title) and unable to be downloaded. Since it was a steaming video it was blocked by the school server. Of course, its a beer fermentation video. I can't believe I did not think about it when I was adding it to the notes. I will continue to look for the video available somewhere so it can be downloaded.

First of the Reflections

The first few days of the new unit on respiration has begun. There have been some good and some bad.
First the good: According to the consutlee, "the new notes are going great." The students really like the integration of the videos that go along with and help describe the notes and processes. "The two videos used on glycolysis and pyruvic acid conversion really helped the students to understand." My consultee even told me that students that were not always paying attention and less interested in the class, seem to be more interested and paying more attention. The videos are doing their job.
And for the bad: The linked video did not work, probably because the internet connection at the school is very slow and takes videos a long time to download and play. I did show my consultee how to download the video to the computer and play it from a file. She used the one I saved on the desktop for her. My consultee tried emailing and saving some videos to her jump drive but neither method worked for her. I need to trouble shoot her methods again. This means more time working with her and showing her again how to use www.keepvid.com. Another issue my consultee told me about was that when she used the YouTube video converter, she did not know where her videos were going after she converted and saved them. She is going to bring her laptop by this week for me to look at to see if I can find the videos. I am going to make her show me how she is using the converter and then we can work through it again. I will make her a step-by step plan of what to do so that she can have it saved on her computer and be able to do it without my assistance, even though I don't mind.

Off to the races...

Yesterday was the first day of the new and improved unit on Respiration. My consultee wanted to begin with notes. I encouraged her to revamp her current notes. She agreed. They were way to detailed (wordy) and did not have enough examples for students. I suggested she embed some pictures and diagrams from the internet into a PowerPoint presentation for notes. I advised her that she could use the photos to help explain content to her students. One picture that was included showed the insides of a mitochondria. The photo showed the folds of the cristae. The importance of the cristae is the many folds that are inside. It allows for more surface area to make more ATP. It is sort of like human DNA and intestines, which have a lot of material included in a small space.
My consultee also included 7, yes 7, new videos (or short clips) to show her students during notes. I showed her how to use keepvid.com to download YouTube or other videos. Our school does not allow anyone to use YouTube, but students and teachers have found ways around it. We are told we are not to use those means either, so I have had to find other ways to use the great education videos included on YouTube. Keepvid.com allows the user to download the video and then it can be saved. I chose to save it as an mp4. The video can then be hyperlinked within the PowerPoint presentation so the teacher does not have to close one application and open another. I think it makes for a smooth transition and one does not need a DVD or VHS player. So, my consultee created her new presentation with a little help from me. I reviewed it. It looks pretty slick. I think it will be more interesting for the students. I also think it will create deeper student understanding as they can see what the teacher is talking about.
My consultee had all the necessary equipment: computer, mounted overhead projector, screen, even a presenter mouse, but we did not check her speakers. I guess she had always shown videos on a cart that had a DVD/VHS with speakers. Well when she began her first presentation and video she noticed that the mounted projector speakers were not very loud. I went down to look at the projector it is an older model projector and is not directly hooked up to any other speakers. It made it more difficult for her students to hear the video, but they made it through ok. She put in a tech request to have it fixed, but in the mean time I found and extra set of speakers for her. Another instance of things not going as planned, but that is the life of a teacher. You must be good at working on the fly. Other than that all went well and she really is enjoying her new and improved PowerPoint notes that include multimedia.

Videos

I have been working on providing my client with videos to make her PowerPoint presentation a multimedia presentation. My client said she like to show videos that go along with the content to help with students understanding of respiration, a fairly difficult topic. She stated that many times the videos are long, boring, and only parts of the video are valuable to student learning. I suggested she embed small short videos within her PowerPoint (PPT) presentation. I showed her some examples of what I have used in the past. I look for videos already made on YouTube, TeacherTube, or just out on the internet somewhere that are appropriate to the content and understandable. Of course, one could make their own videos, but I tend to like ones that are readily available. She does not know how to download videos, especially from YouTube. At our school we have to download videos ahead of time, because we are not allowed to stream videos. We technically we can stream videos but they are very slow and we are encouraged not to "slow down the server for videos". I showed my client how to use www.keepvid.com to download YouTube videos at home. Yes we have to download them at home because we do not have access to YouTube at school and the tech department will not open it up even for teacher use. I still need to work with her on how she can embed them into her PPT to make her presentations more professional, look nice, and flow seemlessly from information to video.
I also suggested we need to sit down and she needs to create her own flow chart, like the ones she wants her students to make with Inspiration. I have found that it is much easier to explain what you want students to do when you have done it yourself first. I am waiting for when she has time to get together with me. My client has been busy with organizing and attending baby showers and still has more to come.

One thing

Today I spent about 2 hours talking to my client. I had to make her narrow down what she really wants. She is like the rest of us, wants about 12 days worth of content and activities, shoved into about 5 days. Of course that won't happen. After looking at her objectives for the unit, I asked her what is the one thing you want your student to know about respiration. She stated, "I want them to know about the flow of energy." Flow, flow, I know. Why don't you have your students develop a concept map (flow chart) using Inspiration software. It is pretty intuitive and students will be motivated to use it. I showed her some examples of of flow charts or concept maps from inspiration and she thought it would be a good idea to have her students develop one after she has taught the content. She also thought it would be a great way to bring all the concepts she has taught together and would be useful for studying. I told her the mobile computer cart does not have Inspiration software so she would have to sign her classes for the computer lab. I suggested she make a list/rubric of what she wants the students to place (link) on the flow cart. I will also suggest that she makes one for herself. I will work with her on this.

My client usually starts every unit with vocabulary. The students copy the definition out of the book. Research has found that this strategy does not work well. I suggested that she continues what she has been doing but try adding two sections to her current structure: one for students to write the definition in their own words and two for students to draw a picture that represents the definition. She said she would give it a shot. She is resistant to too much change at this stage in the game.

She is working on making a PowerPoint(PPT) presentation for her notes to show to the class on her overhead projector. She has had notes on PPT before but needs to modify them. She usually shows videos on CD that are long. I suggested that she find some smaller video clips and we could embed them within her PPT. She was very excited. She like the idea and said she was willing to learn how to do this. GREAT!

We also discussed using the Personal Response System(PRS) to quiz the students on important concepts either as a review throughout or at the end of the unit. I think the PRS is a great asset that can be used everyday. I told her I would show her how to develop a few questions that she could use throughout. It can even be embedded within the PPT if she wanted.

All in all, I finally feel like I am getting somewhere. I think my client is willing to try new things. I feel like she needs my help to bring it all together for her and tell her that we cannot do everything. There is just too little time

Long time coming....

Wow! It seems as if I have been trying to narrow down the focus and needs of the unit for a long time. I have had many conversations back and forth between my client and myself. My client has not be able to narrow down exactly what she would like me to "do" for her. I have been working on what I could do with her photosynthesis unit. That was the last thing that we had talked about. I was making a PowerPoint presentation for her for the unit. I was looking at a couple of different WebQuests she could use also for the unit. Then I find out that she really wanted me to work on the Respiration unit, which is what she asked for in the first place. I guess she got a little confused. So now I will begin working on the Respiration unit. Per client request, it will be a unit consisting of 6 days(blocks). A final assessment will be given on the 6th day. The plans, as of now, are to begin the unit approximately on November 29 and finish the unit on December 14. As of now I have the state standards and am beginning to gather the new information so that I can provide her with a nice unit, based on inquiry and that integrates new technology. She would like to use a personal response system (PSR) and PowerPoint(PPT). She feels comfortable with the PPT but has not used the PSR. I will work with her on how to use it and upload the software to her computer. I will also really be discussing with her now exactly what she would like. I need to know more. I have asked questions almost weekly of her from September but have received very vague answers. We need to work "together" I have told her. This is as much about her, or her needs, as mine. It really is about her, what she would like to do, and what design would she like. I really hope to have much of the unit planned by this weekend or a good chunk.

Survey Results

Some interesting results were discovered. After analyzing the results from 101 students in grades 9-12, the following results were found: (click Survey Results for complete analysis) 54% of students reported they were visual learners, while 34% reported kinesthetic. Most students in my experience think they are kinesthetic, so I was somewhat surprised. 47% said they preferred to work with a partner on assignments while 35% said they like to work alone. I would have thought that most students like to work in groups. They usually tell me during class that they prefer this method. I was shocked by how many people like to work alone. It is nice to see that we have so many students that have a working computer (94%) and internet (93%) available at home. The lack of using a computer for podcasting and blogs by students is eye opening. 71% of students report never using Excel, yet 78% of them reported using a computer to make a graph. I wonder what program they were using to make a graph, did they not know or did they just copy a friends? I was not surprised that 46% of students say they use their phone over 6 hours a day. I have a teenager at home and she would probably report the same. I was happy to see that students reported that their teacher always uses technology 65% of the time and 31% reported some of the time. I was glad to see that only 2% of students reported their teachers never use technology. It makes me wonder what students consider technology. Did they think of projectors,computers, or Powerpoint? I know all of our teachers have computers and many of them use Powerpoint to give notes on an overhead projector. Overall some of the data collected was different than I would have thought, yet other data was just as expected.

All of my planning, preparing, and work has been a trying experience. I really wanted to work with another teacher that I know is unsure of her skills with technology. Well, she basically avoids it, except her laptop which she uses to store grades, surf the web, and shop. I wanted to work with her to show her how beneficial technology could be in her classroom not only for her students but also for her. But it was not going to work out. This teacher is always gone right after school do to family commitments and we do not share a common prep time. So on Friday, I asked another teacher, Mrs. Mertes, if I could work for her. She was very excited. She had been hoping that I would ask her, even when she heard me ask the other teacher. We met immediately after school to start discussing how I could help her. She began looking over what units were coming up in her classroom. We decided on a unit for her Biology I class focusing on photosynthesis and respiration. She would like to focus on problem-based and inquiry-based learning. This will be something new for her, but she is willing to learn and try. Two good skills needed in a good teacher. I told her I would start looking at some possibilities and she told me she was going to get some objectives ready for me. We will meet again later this week. We hope to being working on some details soon and I hope to start designing a lesson plan for her right away. I will be using the NTeQ method.