Week 1 Blog Assignment- Debra Graves

 

1. My name is Debra Graves. I currently teach 5th grade English Language Arts in a North Texas school district. This year marks my 14th year in education. I have taught grades 3, 4, and 5, all in Texas. I received my undergraduate degree in education from Southeastern Oklahoma State University, and I am currently enjoying the graduate program there, as well. 

    This year, my professional goals include assisting my students in closing gaps created by the last two unusual years of teaching and learning during a pandemic. My future professional goal is to use my master's degree and classroom experience in a capacity that supports teachers in the classroom. 

2. Empowered Learner indicator 1C. asks students to use technology to seek feedback that informs and improves their practice and to demonstrate their learning in a variety of ways. Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills 5th grade ELAR objective 12(A) requires students to compose literary texts such as personal narratives. Also, objective 11(C) asks students to revise drafts to improve sentence structure and word choice. Students could address both the ISTE standard and the TEKS objectives by sharing a teacher-created Google doc. The students would be divided into groups of 4, and each group would complete the lesson over "Revisions" on Nearpod.com. Then, teacher would share a 4 page Google doc with each group of 4. Each student in the group would write two paragraphs sharing their favorite memory of a family gathering such as Thanksgiving, or two paragraphs describing a typical family holiday gathering. Students would be encouraged to use sensory language and figurative language in their narrative. When the students have completed their narratives, they would be invited to read the other group members' narratives, and make revisions to at least 3 of the 4 compositions. The revisions should improve sentence structure or word choice. Then, the student making the revisions will leave a "comment" on the narrative (Google doc) explaining something outstanding about the narrative. The students would be reminded before the assignment that they should be respectful and encouraging.

3. Enhancing learning through technology means that students are presented with opportunities to generate text, not only consume text. The technology should also provide support in mastering concepts. Further, the technology should offer a way for students to demonstrate their understanding in a new way (Kolb, L. 2020). This lesson takes advantage of word processing using Google docs as an avenue for students to generate their personal narrative. The Nearpod.com lesson gives students a chance to learn the content, so they can practice making revisions. Finally, Google docs offers a technology-boosted way for students to demonstrate their writing skills, and revision skills, in a new and collaborative way. 

450 words

References:

 Kolb, L. (2020). Learning First, Technology Second in Practice: New Strategies, Research and Tools for Student Success. International Society for Technology in Education.