The more variety of content representation an instructor offers, the more students they will reach. I used gamification, videos, WebQuests, and Guided Notes to present the content to my community. I also created Think-Alouds and provided videos and games that were closed captioned and translatable for ESL learners.
Students crave choice, and by providing choice, educators produce invested and engaged learners. Students will retain more, have higher levels of productivity, and create products that accurately measure their newly acquired skill or knowledge. So, I chose to use a Choice Board as my final assessment.
The concept of chunking material breaks content down for better knowledge retention and concept learning. Many pedagogical strategies can be used universally and are just overall best practice. But knowing your students and their interests are the stepping stones to individualization.
Not knowing my “true” students, gamification was a must. As I learned in this course, a high percentage of boys thrive in the gamification realm. Padlet is also beneficial, but statistically, more geared toward girls. The use of a classroom Twitter would have been a great addition to this unit!
I didn’t have a class to test my lesson on, so I used 3 High School Freshman that were at my house on a snow day. They commented on how easy the site was to navigate and how they couldn’t stop laughing at my Bitmojis. They loved the idea of choice. They said they aren’t given choice, and wished they were. They also liked playing the game, saying it broke up the lesson and gave them a chance to have fun with their learning. The Guided Notes were something new to these High Schoolers as well, they didn’t even know what they were.
I think I may add another virtual field-trip, maybe to a fossil find. I think that might add to the real-world experience I am aiming to give the students. I would also change my lessons to PAGES vs. links. This would keep the students on Canvas, and not always relying on the back button. As I continue to learn Canvas, I would like to integrate Pathways into my lessons, to provide a more individualized experience.
The more variety of content representation an instructor offers, the more students they will reach. I used gamification, videos, WebQuests, and Guided Notes to present the content to my community. I also created Think-Alouds and provided videos and games that were closed captioned and translatable for ESL learners.
Students crave choice, and by providing choice, educators produce invested and engaged learners. Students will retain more, have higher levels of productivity, and create products that accurately measure their newly acquired skill or knowledge. So, I chose to use a Choice Board as my final assessment.
The concept of chunking material breaks content down for better knowledge retention and concept learning. Many pedagogical strategies can be used universally and are just overall best practice. But knowing your students and their interests are the stepping stones to individualization.
Not knowing my “true” students, gamification was a must. As I learned in this course, a high percentage of boys thrive in the gamification realm. Padlet is also beneficial, but statistically, more geared toward girls. The use of a classroom Twitter would have been a great addition to this unit!
I didn’t have a class to test my lesson on, so I used 3 High School Freshman that were at my house on a snow day. They commented on how easy the site was to navigate and how they couldn’t stop laughing at my Bitmojis. They loved the idea of choice. They said they aren’t given choice, and wished they were. They also liked playing the game, saying it broke up the lesson and gave them a chance to have fun with their learning. The Guided Notes were something new to these High Schoolers as well, they didn’t even know what they were.
I think I may add another virtual field-trip, maybe to a fossil find. I think that might add to the real-world experience I am aiming to give the students. I would also change my lessons to PAGES vs. links. This would keep the students on Canvas, and not always relying on the back button. As I continue to learn Canvas, I would like to integrate Pathways into my lessons, to provide a more individualized experience.
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