Collaboration

For our final project of the year we wanted something that would allow students to apply the 21st century skills they have learned and also provide a sense of closure to our school year. With two months left we still had to cover the Social Studies standards addressing American symbols and knew this would be our launching point. So, after covering basic facts about several American symbols and how they unite people, our class began to investigate our driving question, “How are we represented through symbols?”  

Our students, supported by the teachers and several experts in the field, studied symbology and explored different types of symbols and icons in order to understand how common interests, values, and beliefs are represented. Students then applied these abstract concepts to the real-world when they determined that “collaboration” was a common value at our school that could be represented by a symbol. Students were excited that they would design a symbol for collaboration that could highlight our school’s commitment to the 21st century skills.That was when the real work began. As a class we decided to collect evidence on how different groups of people collaborate at our school by creating a video of interviews from students, teachers, administration, parents, and board members. In addition, we wanted to document our class’ collaborative experiences by publishing a book. The class was broken into six different teams consisting of the Symbol Design Team, Interviewing Team, Video Recording Team, Video Editing Team, Writing Team, and Publishing Team. Every student participated in each part through continual feedback. This week we will be presenting our symbol, which has been incorporated into a wall hanging, at our school's Town Meeting.

I was so impressed by the students’ level of interest and engagement throughout this project. In addition, it was a wonderful learning experience for myself. I found that by creating teams in which tasks had to be completed at separate times made it much easier to manage and support each team. This final project was a true reflection of students’ development of critical thinking, problem-solving, self-management, communication, and collaborative skills. Here is a little from the last page of our first grade book.

“Well here is what we have learned.  What you need to do to collaborate is share ideas with your teammates.  Responsibility is important when collaborating.  You need to set goals in your team.  And the last thing is you have to be able to work in a team.” -Reid

“This is what we have learned about collaboration:  do not be off task and practice being in a team.  We have to work together in a team, do not goof around, do not fight, set goals with your team, participate and listen to your teammates.” -Coco

“I learned that sometimes it can be hard to collaborate with others.” -Reagan

“What I learned about collaboration is to never give up and keep focusing on what you are doing.” -Landon

“It is hard sometimes to collaborate because it is hard to think of ideas to share, but it is also fun to collaborate.” -Will

Help Save our Oceans

It has been a long time since I posted to my blog. Way too long! I spend so much time following what other's are doing via Edmodo and Twitter but I thought I should finally share the cool things my first graders are up to. Here is a brief snapshot of our latest project. We will be presenting to the public at the Festival of Whales next month. 

My first grade students are really fired up about our current project where students are  investigating how we can protect our ocean and encourage our school community to create less trash. For this project, our class is using a project calendar to ensure that everyone is aware of our project goals and deadlines. We launched it just over a month ago with our entry event. Students came into class and encountered a carpet littered with trash! Immediately they were intrigued, and wanted to know how we could have so much trash end up on the ground instead of in the trash cans. Students formulated hypotheses of what they believe happens to trash that does not make it into the trash cans. The following week, students took photos during a nature hike of everything that was man-made and not a part of the natural environment. Then they sorted, organized, and graphed the data. This past week, our class took a field trip to our local beach that is directly affected by our watershed. We put students' ideas into actions and spent some time cleaning up the beach. We also did scientific testing of the water. Students tested the dissolved oxygen level, ph level, nitrate, and phosperus. In teams students are working on a variety of products such as informational pamphlets, a song, a PSA video, Keynote presentations, a watershed model, a pledge form, and posters. Each product was selected by students in order to create high levels of interest. We also brought in experts from OC Waterworks, The Ocean Institute, and The Surfrider Foundation to present. 

Day of Discovery

Yesterday I was able to attend Discovery Education's Day of Discovery conference. Although I had to start my day extra early, drive an hour and 45 minutes, and give up a beautiful, sunny Friday I was not let down. This conference had a lot to offer and it was all for free! Thank you Discovery Education, USD, and Lindsay Hopkins for organizing a wonderful event.

As soon as we arrived we were greeted with lots of helpful DE staff, beautiful decorations, a nice breakfast, notebooks, and other goodies. The day started off with a general session meeting followed by the first two individual sessions. After the first two sessions, lunch was provided, and then we attended another two sessions. The day ended with a general closing and a prize giveaway. The only bummer was not being able to attend all the sessions that were offered. Although some of the tools and information may be repetitive for more advanced tech teachers, a lot of it was new for me. I had heard of some of these sites but have not used them in the classroom. In addition, I was blown away by all the things I could do with Discovery Education beyond just streaming videos and songs for students. Now all I need is the classroom to implement it all in. If any of my fellow teaching friends would like help developing lessons are implementing them in your class I would be thrilled to help! 

  

Tech Ed Tools Wiki   is the link to the Wiki page I used for note taking during the presentations. I wanted something that I could share, change, and add to as needed. I am more excited about all the training resources and links that they will be emailing out to us (those who attended the conference) within the next few days. If I can, I will share them as well.

Time to Celebrate

I made it through CSUF's Masters of Science program in curriculum and instruction! Graduation ceremonies and celebrations will be this Sunday, May 22nd. While I'm supper excited I am already wondering what I will do next. I always like to have something to challenge myself and should I dare say for fun? Yes, the master's program was both of those things for me. My husband knows me way too good, just the other night he said, "I can't wait to see what your next project is. You always have something going on." I love that he is so supportive. Of course, I have to hit the job hunt hard. Any cool leads would be much appreciated.

I also know I will look into volunteering. I found a local place that is looking for a volunteer instructor to teach Excel to unemployed adults every other Friday night. Sounds good but I also really want to find something that will allow me to add to my limited Spanish skills. I am also toying with the idea to get certified in scuba diving so I can enjoy some underwater adventures with my husband. We shall see what is in store for the summer!

Week Twelve

Wow, I got a lot done in a short period of time. Once again, I have tweaked my introduction and task. While this created additional work for me, it was well worth it. I'm feeling much more confident about each step of the WebQuest now. I have a very detailed Process writen out and created new organizational charts to correlate with it. I have also been building the actual Web site. I discovered that TeacherWeb has some WQ templates, similar to Quest Garden. Since I already have an account with them, that is what I am using. This way I'm not worried about signing up for a free trial period and having it expire. I would love my WQ to be out there for others, as well as myself, to use. However, I am curious as to possible disadvantages from using a WQ template as opposed to creating one from scratch. If anyone has feedback on that I would love to hear it. My lightbulb moment this week was when I actually pulled out the Rubric and begun comparing it to what I was designing. It struck me as crazy because I LOVE rubrics, both as a student and a teacher, and yet that had slipped my mind. I know the next three days are going to be busy for me but I hope to complete my WQ by Tuesday. I still need to create an online collaborative worksheet for students and find a few more kid friendly sites. I hope to pilot it with a group of students on Wednesday. I don't expect them to actually complete it because that would take multiple sessions but I would like them to read through the procedures and ask questions, as well as, read through the sites to record the information I am asking for. This will ensure that the sites are appropriate and provide me with an apporximate time that it will take to complete the research process. Let's hope it all goes according to my plan!

Week 11

Well, I think I am getting closer to my final WQ draft. After, some feedback I have recreated my introducation and task. I think I am on the right track.

Introduction: Have you ever wondered how your life would be different if you lived with a Native American tribe and had to be totally dependent on the land, environment, and resources in your area? Well, here is your chance to find out! As a California Distinguished School our students have been invited to share our talent and audition for an upcoming competition-Survivor: Tribal Live! If your team is selected to represent our school, you will have the opportunity to compete in a series of challenges, against other Distinguished School teams across the state, for a chance to win a $10,000 for our school. 

Task: Along with your team members, your task is to spend some time living in the past among the Gabrielino, Juaneno, and Chumash tribes in order to become familiar with their way of life and learn how to adapt to the environment around you. Once you have acquired as much information as you can, your team will return to the present day and create an original tribe that you believe will be the most qualified to represent our school. Your new tribe will then complete a written application which will be submitted to the Survivor: Tribal Live Casting Director, along with a two to three minute video introduction of your tribe, and the designs for a tribal seal, which represents your tribe and can be used if your tribe is chosen for the competition.

Process:

Step 1-You will be placed on a team with four other classmates and assigned a specific area to study while living with each tribe. The areas include: Village Life and Shelter, Food and Clothing, Tools and Transportation, Arts and Crafts, and Religion and Celebrations. Your team will be given a folder containing a copy of the Performance Task, a Rubric, and an Organizational Chart. Your job is to read the performance task and rubric together. Next, the class will discuss the rubric and expectations and each team will be given an opportunity to ask questions prior to getting started.

Step 2-You are now ready to travel back in time to live among the three tribes and familiarize yourself with their way of life. While visiting the recommended sites, each team member is responsible for completing his/her portion of the Organizational Chart.

Step 3-After all five members have completed their portion you will discuss your findings with your teammates and fill in the remaining areas of the Organizational Chart. At the end of Step 3 each team member should have a completed Organization Chart and a good understanding of how each of the three tribes has adapted to their environment. Once your team feels ready you can return to the present day. No need to be sad, at any time you may chose to revisit any of the three tribes for additional information.

Step 4- Time to get creative! If you want to be casted on Survivor: Tribal Live you will need to get creative and work together to create YOUR tribe. Use the Planning a Tribe Chart to begin to make choices. Your new tribe should incorporate what you believe are the strongest elements from each of the original tribes, however, they also should be adapted to our local environment. (For example, beaver would not be a sustainable diet in Orange County).

At this point, I would also have some online resources for the local environment.

This weekend I hope to complete my process and then I can actually start creating the WQ. I am also going to be teaching my internet lesson.

Week 10: Survivor: Tribal Live

So here is a draft of my Intro and Task. The wording has already changed serveral times and I'm sure it will change again once I get some feedback. Now that I have the idea I can really see how the task guides my resources and organization. I have started developing orgainzation charts for the students to use while gathering data and designing their own tribe. I also filled in the chart I created as I went through the resources I had already found. This was very helpful. I was able to eliminate some sites because they did not provide relevant information. I also wanted to ensure that the information is distributed throughout multiple sites. I don't want to make it too easy. Finally, I discovered that there was information I could not find and will have to find at least one or two more Websites to add to my resources. I hope to start building my actual WebQuest this week.

Introduction: Have you ever wondered how your life would be different if you were 100 percent dependent on the land, environment, and resources in your area?  Sure it sounds cool, almost like you are competing on the well known show Survivor! Or perhaps you are one of the long ago Native Americans who had to adapt to their environment and survive off the land around them. How did the Native Americans adapt to their environment? What influences cause people to adapt to their environment? You are about to find out!

Task: Congratulations! YOU have been selected to be 1 of 30 cast members to participate in the upcoming Survivor: Tribal Live!  You have been placed in a tribe of five members and will soon be competing against five other tribes in a series of six challenges. Your task is to prepare for the upcoming challenges by collecting information on the Native Americans of California. Specifically, your tribe will want to know as much as possible about the location, villages and shelter, transportation, diet and food, tools, and arts and crafts of the Gabrielinos, Juanenos, and Chumash. While collecting information, your tribe will make choices based on what you believe are the strongest, most adaptable, elements from each of the original tribes. Once you have chosen one item from each of the six elements, you will chose an original tribe name and create a tribal flag to be displayed during the competition.  Together, your tribe will prepare a written bio to be printed in a ceremony program and introduce your tribe to a live audience. Since all competing tribes will have access to the same information, your success will depend on the choices your tribe makes and how you are able to adapt to any given situation. Good luck- may your tribal flag be the last one standing!

Questions & Thoughts:
-I'm not sure if part of my task would still be considered the introduction.
-I am still a little confused how to ensure my intro and task show that high levels of critical thinking will be taking place. I beleive it will but will have to compare with the rubric.
-I plan on reseraching and comparing some of the WebQuest on the Google doc that scored high.


Process:
Currently, I am thinking that all five group members will go through the WebQuest and complete the research together. Everyone will be responsible for ALL the information but researching jobs will be assigned as the following: Task manager, Navigator, Reader, Note taker. (I still need 1 more job if they are teams of 5. Maybe two notetakers or a Communication expert who asks the questions and gets approval, ect.?) I would like the challenges to be imbedded in the research but played out as a culminating activity once the Webquest is complete. I still have to figure this part out!