I made a WebQuests for my Early Childhood Education students to learn about Diversity in the classroom. In order to explain how I'm using the ipads I need to share with you a bit about my philosophy of teaching, how I teach, and why I do things. I won't go into this much detail in future blogs, but until you get to know me better...here it is:
There
is a huge learning curve when implementing ipads to the classroom. I needed to
learn to use an ipad (so I made my husband get me one for my birthday...Thanks Honey!), I had to find out what the ipad is capable of, then evaluate my objectives (that
are aligned with my standards), and find apps to help students practice or meet
the objective. After all that exploration I still had to write a lesson plan, then finally I had to actually teach my students (both about the lesson AND how to use the ipad (not all of them knew so don't assume they know how to use one). Whew! That's a lot of work! You also need to realize that I need
to do this for three sections a day...every day. It's no small task! I'm going slowly because I want to do this right, I want to get comfortable with the tablets. I have a huge task ahead of me and it is even more difficult because
this technology is so new there aren't many resources for
teachers to look for ideas, there are a few, for example I really like Tony Vincent's Learning in Hand http://learninginhand.com/. It's been invaluable in getting me off the ground.
I've
created a few projects for my students using the ipads and one of my favorites
is a WebQuest about diversity that I created for my Early Childhood Education
class. WebQuests were created by Bernie Dodge, a professor at San Diego State
University. "A WebQuest is an inquiry-oriented activity in which some or all of
the information that learners interact with comes from resources on the
internet, optionally supplemented with videoconferencing," which was taken from: http://webquest.sdsu.edu/about_webquests.html
I
send my students on a scavenger hunt on the Internet. Ask them to go to this
website, obtain certain information, answer reflection questions, then watch a video
and reflect on the video, finally I ask the students to summarize the information.
Here
is my first WebQuest using the ipads. It meets my standards:
SP2.17 Student creates
an environment that provides for the inclusion of all children, including
children with disabilities, and children with diverse language, socioeconomic
and/or cultural backgrounds
*This assignment will build a knowledge base in
student about WHY this standard is so important
SP4.21 Student will
evaluate and adapt a variety of curriculum models
*I'm preparing my students for future units by
having them look at lesson plans on tolerance on-line, while they are
evaluating the content they are seeing a lesson plan, which will build
background knowledge on the components of a lesson plan.
My biggest concern about this web quest is that this assignment
uses the ipads as just a computer but I'm going to have to do that
because my kids need to see the many possibilities this tool presents to them
so they can use it that way on the job in the future. The reason I have these
tablets as a CTE teacher is to demonstrate to students how technology can be
used in their future place of employment, because it will be! Kids today use
ipads, kindles, smart phones, or other devices as toys. It is hard for them to
make the switch to using these devices appropriately, but the classroom is the
perfect place to start practicing. I have to use apps, the internet, and the tools on the tablet. This assignment uses the internet more than other apps. In the future I would like to explore apps I could add to this, they could be one of the sections for kids do work with.
The lesson below starts with information from me to my students, I
always create my own lessons so it's like me talking to my kids as they read it. Then I break my assignments up into sections, it's just a logical
way to present information to my kids. I've
selected websites intentionally that are easy to read so no matter what the
reading level of students in my classroom they can be successful (this is also
the reason I give them more than one link to gain information from). I want my
kids to learn go evaluate information on the internet and not just consider
what they see in black and white to be fact. There are so many levels to the
lessons I create (as you can see). I'm sharing this lesson to show you one way I use the ipads.
This is just a glimpse of one lesson, one unit, a few days, ipads are capable
of so much more. I'm trying to make them a normal part of the classroom before
we get into using apps because some students are not familiar with this
technology yet. I have to remind myself regularly..."baby steps!"
*Note: I plan to work with a Social Studies teacher to fine tune this assignment and make it better, I have not done that yet. I change every lesson every time I give it, I always make things better. Due to the fact that this is the first time I've ever done this lesson I feel like it is in it's infancy and will be so much better as time goes on.
**The Objective is listed in the assignment below (for the kids to see since studies show they do better when they are aware of the objective and it is in student friendly language so they can actually understand it...I don't need to use big words to feel smart, my kids don't learn that way!).
Discrimination
in Education WebQuest
Early
Childhood Education
The United States has a history of discrimination and the
overcoming of it. We've come a long way but hate is still a part of the world
we live in. When you work with kids you have the opportunity to teach them acceptance
and tolerance every day. Show them that differences are a positive thing and
that we are better people when we learn about others and celebrate our
differences.
The information below is a part of the Civil Rights movement
of the 1960’s. Throughout history different groups have been discriminated
against in every country, on every continent, the groups that are discriminated
against change, but sadly the hate seems to stay the same. As a teacher you
need to know what happened in the past so that you can help kids in the future
and prevent the spread of hate towards others.
Teaching kids to celebrate differences and accept others for
who they are is how you change the world one child at a time. We've just
finished the Disney movie called, Ruby Bridges a true story of an African
American little girl who was the first in her town to attend an all white
school. Her family struggled with their decision and ultimately taught many
people about acceptance. Ruby Bridges is proof of the impact one person; one
child can have on the world.
This assignment will show you how other students have
changed the world with their actions, like Ruby. How will you change the world
for the better? Knowledge is a good start!
Objective: After doing this assignment
you should be able to say the following statement (and have it be true),
"I can describe what happened during the Civil Rights movement of the
1960's. I can explain who the Little Rock Nine are and describe what they did
to change how we see schools today. I can evaluate actual lesson plans on
teaching tolerance and explain what kids will learn about tolerance from the
lesson. After building all this background knowledge I can evaluate what I have
learned that I didn't know before and explain how I will use it in the
classroom to make a difference for kids.
Part
I: Change in the
Courtroom
Many things that are normal in schools today were decided in
a court room not too long ago. The following court cases were monumental (huge)
in change in education. Remember: Just because people say that is “just the way
it is” doesn’t mean it is always right, do the right thing and change can
happen, as someone who works with kids it is your responsibility to make sure they
are treated fairly and that you teach them to accept all people and celebrate
differences.
Look up each court case below and answer the questions that
follow in complete sentences. Please do this on a separate piece of paper.
Court
Case #1: Plessy vs. Fergusun
1. What
is this case about?
2. What
did this case change?
3. What
does separate but Equal mean?
4. Why
is Separate NOT equal?
Court
Case #2: Brown vs. the Board of Education
1. Describe
what this case is about
2.
What
is Segregation?
3.
What
is Desegregation?
4. What
would the world be like if this court case never happened?
Part
II: The Little Rock Nine
Watch this Video to build background knowledge about the
Little Rock Nine:
1. What do you think about The Little Rock Nine and what
they did?
After you watch the video please look at the information on
the following two websites and answer the questions below in complete
sentences.
- http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/civilrights/ak1.htm
- http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=723
1. Describe
why The Little Rock Nine are an important part of History?
2. How
did they change schools, people’s viewpoints, and/or America?
3. What
should the teachers of The Little Rock Nine have done?
Part
III: Discrimination and Equality today
As a teacher you will come across kids with many different
backgrounds. You need to teach tolerance and acceptance because hate is
learned. Kids may learn things at home but you will have the opportunity to
teach about acceptance. Do not assume kids don’t need it, they do. Please look
at this website, read the article, and answer the questions that follow (Please
use complete sentences and write at least one paragraph for each question):
1. Summarize
this article. What is it about?
2. Why
is it important to teach tolerance and diversity?
You
are going to look at lessons that teachers can do to teach diversity,
acceptance, and tolerance. Then you will describe the importance of each.
Looking at lesson plans will also give you background knowledge for when we
learn about lesson planning.
a. What do kids learn from this lesson?
b. What do kids learn from this lesson?
a. What do kids learn from this lesson?
Part
IV: Reflection
Please write a one paragraph reaction to this assignment.
What did you learn that you didn’t know before about diversity, acceptance, and
teaching kids about acceptance? How will you use the information you have
gained in this assignment to impact students in your early childhood classroom
in the future? Why is this important?
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