5 E's and Inquiry Methods

The 5 Es help teachers to create engaging lessons as well as recognize when their students are engaged. Learning is much more easily facilitated when students invest their interest and attention into a lesson. For that reason, the Inquiry Models of teaching are some of my favorite. They allow students to take charge of their own learning while still being guided by the teacher. The Inquiry Models allow teachers to pose broad, open-ended questions for students to explore on their own or in groups.
While I am a big fan of this kind of teaching, I understand that there are difficulties and downsides as well. If students don't feel like the classroom is a safe environment, the exploration of the provided learning material will be overshadowed by the fear that the students will do something wrong and be punished for it. It's very important for a teacher using the inquiry models to create a strong class community of respect and an environment in which students feel comfortable. If this is done correctly, students will be able to engage with the lesson and experience the joy of learning. When appropriate, teachers can offer a course correction if students are missing the mark completely. This should be done sparingly and with as much tact as possible. Tactfully spinning an "incorrect" answer to make sure the class as a whole is not mislead is a useful skill when teaching using this method.

Learning Styles and Multiple Intelligences

In my experience with "Learning Styles" and "Multiple Intelligences," these theories are often used by students to make excuses for why they can't do something. I've heard things such as, "I'm failing that class because I'm a visual learner and the teacher only lectures" or "I'm really talented in Math, but not in Language." I feel these theories, rather than assisting teachers in reaching their students, have done harm to students by making them think that learning should come easy. If learning doesn't come easy, the problem is not with the student, but with the teacher.
This is a backwards approach to education. While it is very important that teachers make every effort to make their content accessible to students, it won't matter if the students don't put in the effort to learn the content. The most thoughtful and engaging learning activity could capture the attention of that one hard-to-reach student, but unless the student makes an effort to internalize the content, the student will still fall behind the other students in the class.
On that note, I'd like to discuss direct instruction as a teaching method. While I certainly think that it has its place in education, I believe it should be used with great care. Direct instruction is the kind of teaching that "trouble students" dread. It is difficult to create an engaging lesson with this teaching method. However, it requires less planning than many other instructional methods. For this reason, teachers should feel free to make use of it. With a burn-out rate as high as what is experienced in education, teachers should keep in mind their own mental health when crafting their lessons. Direct instruction lessons can be used to teach concepts that the teacher is confident the students will grasp easily. It can also be used to provide scaffolding for a more engaging lesson later down the road.

TodaysMeet - Point of View

Reflection

TodaysMeet is a no-frills collaboration tool that is easy and intuitive to use. I really like that you can embed it in its "live stream." Because of this, if you already have a blog or similar page that your students visit frequently, you don't have to give them a different website to navigate to. They can just visit the blog that they normally visit and participate from there. As I mentioned earlier, there are no extra bells and whistles with this tool. Some students may find it boring and not very engaging. I can imagine some students joining the conversation just to go through the motions to get their grade rather than actively participating and following the chat.

In this example, I am trying to prompt student discussion and analysis of the point of view in the book "Out of the Dust" by Karen Hesse. I would hope that different students would contribute different insights and at the end of the conversation, the students will have expanded their understanding of the book as well as of how authors develop characters and points of view.

Standards

UEN
Reading: Literature Standard 6
Explain how an author develops the point of view of the narrator or speaker in a text.
EdTech
Standard 7
Use telecommunications and on-line resources (e.g., email, online discussions, web environments) to participate in collaborative problem-solving activities to develop solutions or products for audiences inside and outside the classroom. (4, 5)
ISTE
Global Collaborator
I strive to broaden my perspective, understand others and work effectively in teams using digital tools.

Padlet - Class Discussion

Reflection

I really like the concept of Padlet and wish I had a real class that I could use it with! It is very simple to use and makes a class discussion effortless. I feel that students will be more likely to participate in a written discussion than a verbal one because they will have time to formulate their thoughts before posting them. They won't have to worry about finding the right words on the spot. I know that that is one reason that I have trouble with in-class discussions. I am afraid I won't be able to accurately convey what I am thinking. As a teacher, I would use this tool to carry out class discussions - in this example we would be discussing a book that we are reading as a class. I would ask each student to make a least one comment answering the main question or asking questions of their peers regarding the reading.

Standards

UEN
Language Arts Grade 5
Reading: Literature Standard 1
Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
EdTech
Standard 7
Use telecommunications and on-line resources (e.g., email, online discussions, web environments) to participate in collaborative problem-solving activities to develop solutions or products for audiences inside and outside the classroom.
ISTE
Global Collaborator
I strive to broaden my perspective, understand others and work effectively in teams using digital tools.

eMaze - Classifying Living and Non-Living Things

Reflection

I enjoyed using this tool. It was easy and felt kind of like a "one-stop shop" for presentations. I was able to search for the images I used right from the presentation. I feel like that is a lot more user-friendly than PowerPoint where you have to search on the internet and then insert the picture yourself. The project I had in mind for students would be that we would visit the computer lab as a class and students would work in partnerships as they go through the presentation. They would answer questions and engage with the presentation together. For a few of the slides, I included the same images so that students could add on to what they learned in previous slides and practice identifying different parts of the ecosystem in those images.

Standards

UEN
Standard 2
Students will understand that organisms depend on living and nonliving things within their environment.
EdTech
Standard 6
Use telecommunications efficiently and effectively to access remote information and communicate with others in support of direct and independent learning and for pursuit of personal interests
ISTE
Global Collaborator
I strive to broaden my perspective, understand others and work effectively in teams using digital tools.

Podcast - Conservation of Matter

 

Conservation of Matter.mp3

Observing physical change.mp3

Observing Chemical Change.mp3

Conserving Matter.mp3

Reflection

Making a podcast was a little nerve-racking for me. I really don't like recording myself and I feel like I am going to say something wrong and have to start all over. To overcome that, I wrote a script for each podcast and read it aloud. This worked well for the most part, except when I would stutter on a word I would get self-conscious. I think that these turned out well despite that. In a classroom setting, I would use a podcast as a way for students to have access to study materials that they can access when at home. I know that many students dread reading and having a podcast they could listen to instead might be a way of getting them to study without so much dread.

Standards 

UEN

Science, 5th Grade, Standard 1

Students will understand that chemical and physical changes occur in matter.

EdTech

Standard 8 Use technology resources (e.g., calculators, data collection probes, videos, educational software) for problem-solving, self-directed learning, and extended learning activities.

ISTE

Knowledge Constructor

I critically select, evaluate and synthesize digital resources into a collection that reflects my learning and builds my knowledge.

MindMap - Character Comparison

Reflection:

I used Popplet.com to create My MindMap. This project is an example project that I would use with students to show them what I expect from them. The assignment would be to compare and contrast characters from a book that they are reading individually or even as a class. The great thing about Popplet is that there is no limit to the space used. This project could be expanded to included many other characters and you could easily find a character and review their characteristics or add to them. 

I didn't really have any complaints about Popplet. It allowed me to easily create a mind map that looked clean. It is easily edited and I feel elementary students will be able to use this tool to brain storm and compare concepts and ideas.

Standards:

UEN Standard 5th Grade
Reading: Literature Standard 3
Compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or events in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., how characters interact).
Ed Tech
Standard 5
Use technology tools (e.g., multimedia authoring, presentation, web tools, digital cameras, scanners) for individual and collaborative writing, communication, and publishing activities to create knowledge products for audiences inside and outside the classroom. (3, 4)
ISTE
Innovative Designer
I solve problems by creating new and imaginative solutions using a variety of digital tools.

EDpuzzle - Fossils

Reflection:

Creating this EDpuzzle was simple and intuitive. There are guides for each step of the process as well as information on why each tool is useful. There are four tools that EDpuzzle uses - Crop, Audio Track, Audio Notes, and Quizzes. Cropping allows you to shorten the video so that only the relevant content is covered. Audio Track allows you to insert your own audio over the video to give explanations or commentary. Audio Notes supplements this by allowing you to give written remarks or questions to the audio track. Quizzes gives you the ability to insert questions that correspond to the video and will pause the video to allow students to answer.

I really enjoyed this tool and feel it will be a great addition to my future classes. This specific project would be used to teach a class about fossils and give a general idea about how they are formed and how they help us understand dinosaurs. It would be assigned to the students and we would discuss the questions and answers as a class afterwards.

Standards:

UEN Standard

Grade 4 Standard 4

Students will understand how fossils are formed, where they may be found in Utah, and how they can be used to make inferences.

Ed Tech Standard

Standard 8

Use technology resources (e.g., calculators, data collection probes, videos, educational software) for problem-solving, self-directed learning, and extended learning activities. 

Knowledge Constructor

I critically select, evaluate and synthesize digital resources into a collection that reflects my learning and builds my knowledge.

Pinterest - Static and Current Electricity

Card

Reflection:

Pinterest is a tool that I have used for a few years. What I like about it is that its very easy to curate information. What I don't like about it is that it is very easy to curate so much information that it becomes difficult to find the information that you really liked. That is however, the only thing that I have against Pinterest and it is fairly easily solved. As long as you are judicious in choosing which things to pin to your board, you won't have to sift through hundreds of different items to find the stuff you really want.

You can access the board that I created here.

I feel like this would be a good tool to have my students use so that they can collect ideas for a science project to place in the science fair. I have create a sample board using static and current electricity as my topic. I have compiled a few ideas on how to incorporate electricity into easy-to-accomplish experiments. I would encourage my students to do the same thing to help them to prepare an experiment for a science fair.

Standards:

UEN
5th grade, Standard 4
Students will understand features of static and current electricity.
ED Tech
Standard 6
Use telecommunications efficiently and effectively to access remote information and communicate with others in support of direct and independent learning and for pursuit of personal interests.
ISTE
Knowledge Constructor
I critically select, evaluate and synthesize digital resources into a collection that reflects my learning and builds my knowledge.

Tiki-Toki - Exploration and Colonization of North America

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Reflection:

Tiki-Toki was a new tool for me - I had never heard of it before this class. In trying to create my timeline, I was a little frustrated that I couldn't just select a year. I had to select a day in the year as well, even if my sources only listed a year. While I understand that it is good to be as specific as possible, it can be misleading to those that view the finished product if the sources are not able to provide a specific day within a year. Those viewing the timeline will be under the impression that a certain event happened on a particular day when I only entered what was easiest for me to enter to meet the demands of the Tiki-Toki.

You can see my timeline Here

Other than that, I feel like Tiki-Toki is a great tool to convey information to students in a chronological matter in an interactive way. It allows you to embed videos and images directly to the timeline which can provide a more immersive experience for the students. My idea for this particular project is to provide information for students that could help them learn key details about the colonization of North America that could help them prepare for a test. I imagine it being used similarly to a study guide.

Standards:

UEN 5th Grade, Social Studies

Standard 1

Students will understand how the exploration and colonization of North America transformed human history.

Objective 1

Describe and explain the growth and development of the early American colonies

EdTech Standard

Standard 9
Determine when technology is useful and select the appropriate tool(s) and technology resources to address a variety of tasks and problems
ISTE Standard

Knowledge Constructor
I critically select, evaluate, and synthesize digital resources into a collection that reflects my learning and builds my knowledge.

Prezi - Characteristics of Prose

Reflection:

I like the concept of Prezi - the layout encourages presentations to include minimal text and to get straight to the point. One thing I didn't like is how images interface with the program. Each section or "slide" has a circle within which your content should fit. This isn't explicitly stated, but it makes sense aesthetically. When using pictures, it is hard to get the image to not look out of place with the background. I wish the circles on each slide would automatically crop the image as you make it bigger so that the image cannot appear outside of the circle. There is a cropping tool within Prezi, but it is still limited to square images.
The image thing was really the only complaint I had about Prezi. I think it would be very easy for students to use to create short presentations. If I were teaching 4th grade literature, I would use this project as an example for group projects that I would have the students create. They would use this presentation as a guide for what I expect from them as they identify characteristics of other types of literature. As a class, we would take time to share and participate in presentations on the different types of literature that we are studying.

Standards:

UEN Standard
Grade 4 Reading: Literature Standard 5
Explain major differences between poems, drama, and prose, and refer to the structural elements of poems (e.g., verse, rhythm, meter) and drama (e.g., casts of characters, settings, descriptions, dialogue, stage directions) when writing or speaking about a text.
Ed Tech Standard
Standard 5
Use technology tools (e.g., multimedia authoring, presentation, web tools, digital cameras, scanners) for individual and collaborative writing, communication, and publishing activities to create knowledge products for audiences inside and outside the classroom.
ISTE Standard
Knowledge Constructor
I critically select, evaluate and synthesize digital resources into a collection that reflects my learning and builds my knowledge.

Youtube - Reshaping Earth's Surface

 This video explains simply how weathering and erosion play a part in shaping the Earth's surface.


 

This video shows how earthquakes happen and how that changes the appearance of the Earth.




This is a short video about different types of landforms and how they are created.




This video is a little bit more in depth than the other videos. It explains a few contrasting ways that Earth's surface changes, focusing on tectonic plates.




This video is a simplified explanation of plate tectonics.

Reflection:

Youtube is a site that I have used for many years and is very straightforward. By using keywords, you can search for video content for most topics. Topics covered range from music to explanations of complex engineering concepts to how to fix things. Because there is so much content and it is all user-submitted content, it does require a bit of sifting. By sifting I mean that it is important to recognize quality and filter out the lower quality videos. Sifting is especially important when compiling a playlist for use in teaching children. Not only must the video explain the content well, but it must also be age-appropriate (in both the way they explain the content and the content itself).

This particular playlist is designed to help teach 5th graders about earth science. The students would be able to access the playlist while at home. Instead of having them read a science book, they would be able to watch these brief videos and see as well as hear how the Earth is affected by geological activity. I would hope that having videos to watch would be more engaging for students than reading from a book. Because the videos are short, the students could re-watch them quickly if they needed to refresh their memories.

Standards:

UEN Standard

Grade 5, science, standard 2
Students will understand that volcanoes, earthquakes, uplift, weathering, and erosion reshape Earth's surface.
ISTE Standard
Digital Citizen
I understand the rights, responsibilities and opportunities of living, learning and working in an interconnected digital world.

ED  Tech Standard

Standard 8

Use technology resources(e.g., calculators, data collection probes, videos, educational software) for problem-solving, self-directed learning, and extended learning activies.

Publisher - Utah Peoples and Cultures Brochure

Card Utah Peoples and Cultures
This is an example brochure I created with basic information about groups of people that have had an influence on the state of Utah. As a teacher, I would have students create similar brochures to demonstrate their knowledge on certain topics and to experience working in groups to complete a project.

Reflection:

Asking students to create brochures is a way to have them determine what the most important concepts or facts of a given topic are. It also allows students to easily share what they have learned with their classmates and collaborate in groups. I would like to use brochures as a group project in the future. In this example, I would have the students create brochures on each of the states. I would use the brochure that I created as an example of what I expect from them. After finishing the project, we would display the brochures in our classroom.
I was able to create my brochure very quickly and would expect that, after researching their states (or other topics) they would be able to create their own quickly as well. However, I know that projects can be stressful for me when I know there is a deadline. I imagine my students might feel the same way about this. A project like this may require a lot of one on one help as students are figuring out how to format a brochure and how to use computer programs to do it.

Standards:

UEN Core Standard
Grade 5, Social Studies, Standard 1
Students will understand how the exploration and colonization of North America transformed human history.
EdTech Standard
Standard 5
Use technology tools (e.g., multimedia authoring, presentation, web tools, digital cameras, scanners) for individual and collaborative writing, communication, and publishing activities to create knowledge products for audiences inside and outside the classroom.
ISTE Standard
Knowledge Constructor
I critically select, evaluate and synthesize digital resources into a collection that reflects my learning and builds my knowledge.

Google Docs - Ecology

Card

Reflection:

Although I have a lot of experience using Google Docs to write essays for classes, I have never attempted to use it to create an educational tool catered to children. I was interested to see that there were quite a few different templates that look to be created for children. I decided to use a template that I felt interesting without being overwhelming.
In creating my Google Doc, I tried to focus on providing information that would be easy to access and absorb. I didn't want the Doc to feel intimidating to children or like it would take a long time to read all of the information. I feel like the template I used made this goal a lot easier. Because of the template, I was able to focus on content instead of on design.

Some of the positive qualities about Google Docs:
It is easy to use
Leaving comments is simple
Collaboration is quick and painless
Any changes are automatically saved

Some negative qualities about Google Docs:
The tools and formatting options it has are very basic
It requires internet access which isn't available to every student at home

Overall, I feel that Google Docs is an effective tool for teaching and collaborating with and among students. Any content can be easily shared and altered or updated. Any course content can be supplemented by Google Docs.

Standards:

3rd grade science standard 2, Students will understand that organisms depend on living and nonliving things within their environment. UEN Standard
Global Collaborator
I strive to broaden my perspective, understand others and work effectively in teams using digital tools. ISTE Standard
Standard 5
Use Technology tools (e.g., multimedia authoring, presentation, web tools, digital cameras, scanners) for individual and collaborative writing, communication, and publishing activities to create knowledge products for audiences inside and outside the classroom. EdTech standard

Thing Link - Basics of Music

Feel free to visit the thinglink page to view and interact with the image there.

Reflection:

Making this thinglink image was easy and intuitive. When I first set out to use thinglink, I was a bit intimidated. I had never even heard of it! After viewing a couple of examples from previous students, I immediately saw how useful this tool could be.
Although the old adage (a picture is worth a thousand words) maybe true, it is still helpful to have some explanation when viewing images that may be difficult to understand or that students may have to refer back to multiple times. Thinglink allows users to place explanations, descriptions, and labels on top of an image without obstructing the entire image or cluttering the image with text.
Despite my initial concerns about using thinglink, I found the tool very easy to use and learn. I didn't even have to use a tutorial. I'm sure that using tutorials or getting tips from more experienced users will help me add more finesse to my thinglink images and make them easier to use for my future students.
I could see this tool being helpful in teaching a variety of subjects. As I already demonstrated, it can be used to aid in music instruction, but it can easily be applied to math, reading, writing, science and really anything that would ever use an image or text. It could be used in math to correct a students work and show them exactly where they made a mistake and how to fix it. The same can be done for writing. In reading, it could be used to add notes to an assigned reading excerpt or to ask questions at relevant spots in the reading instead of only at the end or beginning of the reading exercise. In science it could be used to label equipment in an image to help students familiarize themselves with the equipment and its uses or purposes before getting to a hands-on activity.
I think imagination is the only limit to the variety of applications this tool can have!

Standards:

UEN Standard 4.m.p.2: The effects of various dynamic levels, tempos, and articulations.
EdTech Standard 7
Use telecommunications and on-line resources (e.g., email, online discussions, web environments) to participate in collaborative problem-solving activities to develop solutions or products for audiences inside and outside the classrom.
ISTE Standard:
Knowledge Constructor, I critically select, evaluate and synthesize digital resources into a collection that reflects my learning and builds my knowledge.