Online learning

Here is the link to my screen cast presentation about online learning. Just copy/paste it into your browser.

http://www.screencast.com/t/ZGEwNTU2Nm

Reflection on Differentiated Instruction and Universal Design for Learning

I have recently taken a class that involved a lot about differentiated instruction (DI) and the universal design for learning (UDL). UDL involves implementing instruction that is appropriate for all and DI involves modifying instruction to adapt to specific learners (or at least that is my interpretation of it). I still have a lot to learn but I feel as though I have a pretty good understanding of it. I think that is due in part to the differentiation station that I participated in as part of this class. On this resource, we were required to post specified pieces of information to share with one another. I found this to not only be helpful, but very interesting as well. It is so great to know that there are others with the same problems as me and that there are some people with solutions or at least helpful advice. I think that in the future I will check it out from time to time to see if anyone is still posting to it and if so, help out if they need some pointers. I will also post to it if I am stumped and need some assistance.

As far as technology goes, I still have a lot to learn. However, this class has given me a lot of ideas on how to use it effectively in my classroom. I think that I basically need to find a way to regularly implement technology into my classroom. I need to figure out a specific part of my day to implement a specific piece of technology. Entering this school year, that is what I am going to try to do. Once I get comfortable with one type of technology, then I will try to add on to that.

Reflection on my game plan

Over the past several weeks, I have been creating a GAME plan for technology usage in my classroom. First, I wanted to create a slide show presentation to show my students how to act appropriately in a restaurant. Since they have significant special needs and difficulties in social situations, I felt like this would be a great way to teach them without taking them to an actual restaurant. However, I have not created this presentation yet. I suppose that since I know that I will not see my students for months, I am in no hurry to complete it. I still plan on working on it and completing it by the start of the year as I know that it will be a good benefit to my students. I guess that is what I have learned over the past several weeks is the importance of technology and the benefits it can have on my students.

I have also had a plan of communicating with parents via my school website. Again, due to my summer break, this has not been started either. I understand the importance of communicating with parents and I feel that using my website is the best way for me to do it. My parents will be able to see any assignments, view presentations, and view special events happening in school. I plan to get it organized this summer and set a certain day and time every two weeks to update it. Hopefully with all of the technology I plan on using, my students and their parents will get the most out of their school experiences.

Students' Game Plans

I think that teaching students to use technology is key. They need to learn these skills in order to survive in today's technology-rich society. Lately I have been creating and following a GAME plan to better my own technology skills. So why not involve my students in a similar process? I think that allowing my students to develop their own plans will help them to initiate their own learning. By doing this, students are able to enhance skills that they need to. If I were to pick a certain skill to work with students in class and a few students already have it mastered, then it is pretty much pointless.

More on the Plan

As of now, I think I am going to keep my game plan the same. I still want to work on my communication with parents via my website. I also still want to produce a power-point presentation to show my students how to act in a restaurant. The thing is, I haven't really gotten started on these things. I just finished with school this week and I just needed to catch my breath before I jumped into another project. I didn't want to do it unless I could do it right. I think that I would really need to get involved with my plan before I could decide if I needed to change it. Hopefully I will have more to evaluate on my plan the next time I post about it.

My GAME Plan, continued

For my game plan, I want to keep better contact with parents via my school website and I want to produce a powerpoint presentation explaining how to act in a restaurant. Unfortunately, there is not a whole lot to report. With it being the end of the year, it just hasn't been a priority at the moment. I would like to do more on this when my schedule is less complex. Over the summer I plan to collect pictures or video for my powerpoint presentation and set a schedule for working on my website (such as 1:30-2:30 on Thursdays). I think that if I do this, I will be more successful at completing my plan.

GAME Plan...part 3

The goals I set for implementing my game plan were to create a slide show presentation to show proper behavior in a restaurant and communicate with parents using my teacher website. I haven't truly started to implement my plan. The intention is there, but it just hasn't happened given the fact that school ends next week and I can't even imagine everything that needs to be done. I have all of the resources and know-how to accomplish these things...I am just lacking in time. I think that in order to accomplish the goal of updating my website, I need to assign myself a time (plan period on Thursday, for example) to sit down and work on my website. Just like I make sure I complete my assignments for class, I need to make sure I complete my assignments for my website. Anyone else having similar issues?