Blooket!!

This website is a fun, exciting, interactive, and engaging way for students to join in and learn while doing it. Blooket is a website that I had never heard of before until halfway into my internship. If you have ever heard of Kahoot! this is a step up from it. One thing that stands out from Kahoot is that Kahoot is based on being the first person to answer will win. Which in turn we know not all students learn like that and struggle with the pressure of the ticking clock. Blooket on the other hand gives you a variety of game modes to play and assign for homework (My students love the tower defence). Blooket focuses on getting the answers right and being rewarded from that, throughout the fun, fast pace game students will get the right answers and have the opportunity to “steal” points from another! It is completely random so safe for students to feel a fair environment.

There is a subscription payment if you would like additional features. For me, the price is worth it, because one of the features is that you can record and observe what questions students struggled with individually and as a group. With it, you can upload Data and collect it into a Google Sheet for record or assessment opportunities. See Below

Interactive Approach

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What’s In my pocket?

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Christopher Roney

ECS 303

Nov. 17th, 2020

What’s in my Pocket?

This student is named John, and he is a 18 year old with autism and a speech disability. They use an app with sight words to communicate but seem to comprehend very well when asked to do something, when they are being cooperative. They have a one on one assistant with them almost all the time,  they are very noise sensitive but at the same time love making noises and recording sounds themselves and can be very distracted and uncooperative if they are amused by it. They are a large person so it can be difficult to get them to cooperate. They are also a flight risk and will try and swallow small objects if they can so they need to be watched. They 

They are intelligent and are able to follow instructions and understand what you ask of them, it only is they do not speak other than some few mumbles of words other than that they communicate through the sight word app, which they will not use with someone until they are comfortable with them. I have only known them to write a few words in short form with not a lot of grammar or full sentence points. They have not been aggressive or physical with anyone that I have known of, and seem to like doing activities with their hands and sequence games.they have certain goals set by the school to work on and complete like for one example they have a tenancy to move their hands to an inappropriate area, and another is they have to use the app to communicate. While doing the goals they had certain grades “PD,SI,I” which is physically dependent, Semi independent and independent. They are educated and they just have trouble communicating, and social aspects. My thoughts are how do we have someone like john feeling included and on the same page when he is requiring so much care. Everyone learns differently and he may need more help than others to do work but from what I have observed he learns better by visual cues and learning by watching. 

Planning for Differentiation

Learning Environment:

For my student John, he is someone who can be very sensory sensitive and sound sensitive so I feel as though that is an environment where they will be able to get away from the busy classroom and feel comfortable and safe for them to be in. Another option to help this student would be “Provide an area free from distractions for students” (The Adaptive Dimension for K-12 Students (2017) pp.11) Like I said in the profile they can be very distracted by noises and things that can make sounds, so they will need an environment in which they can be alone and focused on the work that they are doing. Because of the way the student communicates through sight words and through his phone so we can use those visual sight words throughout the classroom to grow their knowledge and expand their vocabulary, and help with the communication in the classroom. 

Instruction:

“Instruction builds on the students prior knowledge” (The Adaptive Dimension for K-12 Students 2017, pp. 8) meaning that we need to cater our instructions to what the student knows and what they have experienced, for my student they will most likely need a different type of instruction due to their comprehension capability. For them they will need more in depth and slower instruction, as I said their comprehension is good when told to do something verbally, so their instruction would be given verbally and task based, we could also use the sight words on a page to step by step the lessons or their tasks, but we could make it so that the whole class learns the task verbally but then John can take it step by step with a sight word sheet and help from the teacher or EA if he has one at that time.

Resources:

Again this student uses an app on his phone to communicate with people and the teacher, so they will use that in the classroom. They also use noise cancelling headphones to drown out the distractions and noise of the classroom, as I have said above we will need the in the list on the document there is  Provide assistive technology such as speech to text, text to “speech, word prediction, talking dictionary and highlighter. Encourage students to use visual dictionaries to verify meanings or spellings of words.” (The Adaptive Dimension for K-12 Students 2017, pp.11) and that is what I would add to my classroom for this student so that they can use all of these things to help them complete the work and feel comfortable in the classroom to work

Assessment:

For the assessment for my student, I would give additional time and help to complete assignments and make time to walk through with them the steps on how to do an assignment, and for my student who has higher needs then some I believe their assessment should be a daily ongoing assessment on their participation and effort. Another thing that is big for this student’s assessment is the involvement of the students’ parents and family, so that they can be part of their learning experience. This student has higher needs which is why they need higher differentiation in their studies, and more ways that they can be assessed due to their ability to complete tasks at a similar level to their colleagues. If this student is fortunate enough to have an EA with them then I think that would be another way they will better their learning and the Teacher and EA can discuss how to assess and how they can help each other for the better of the student’s success and assessment. 

Work Cited:

 The Adaptive Dimension for K-12 Students (2017)

Learning Plan Practice

Link to the Learning plan Practice:

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Subject/Grade:   Social Studies 8             Lesson Title: What is Culture              Teacher: Christopher Roney
Stage 1: Identify Desired Results
Established Goals: (Learning outcomes)IN8.1: Investigate the meaning of culture and the origins of Canadian cultural diversity.Indicators: (a) Create an inventory of cultural elements people throughout the world have in common, regardless of where they live (e.g., transmission of values through education, spiritual systems, ways of governing themselves, ways of satisfying needs and wants, family structure, means of self-expression, strategies for recreation and play).(b)Formulate a definition of culture from responses to the question, “What is culture?” (e.g., A group’s beliefs, norms, institutions, and communication patterns; a learned way of living shared by a group of people).CC8.2: Create and present a group inquiry project related to a topic, theme, or issue studied in English language arts.Indicators: (b)Formulate relevant questions on a topic to establish a purpose for gathering information.(d)Collaborate with others using technology to plan inquiry.
Understandings: (can also be written as ‘I Can’ statements)Students will understand what goes into defining a culture.  I can see how other cultures fit into Canada’s Mosaic. I can build off of my personal experiences and background to help understand Canadian culture. I can answer the question “what is culture?” I can present to my class my findings by myself or with a partner.	Essential Questions: What is Culture?What goes into defining a culture?How is Canada known as a “mosaic” of cultures?
Students will Know Students will be building on their prior knowledge of their own experiences from their background, Whether it’s that they have lived in Canada their whole life or if they have recently come to Canada.  Students will have understanding on how to build a slide show presentation.	Students will be able to do Students will be able to research and gather information on an inquiry question posed to them. Will be able to define what goes into a Country’s culture Will be able to use technology to assist them in their inquiry presentation and research. Students will be able to formulate a response to the question “what is culture?” Students will be able to present their inquiry project.
Instructional Strategies:The main Instructional Strategy is Inquiry based learning, I am concerned about the Process of their inquiry question to answer what is culture? and what parts of a culture make it up and makes it up to what it is. they should show evidence of resources and thought provoking questions behind their learning and exploration into the subject and to better understand other cultures so that they can look at their own background and experiences in Canada. As it is an inquiry project most of it will be independent study and research gathering by themselves or with their partners. Using the teacher as an overseer of the class and to come to if they are struggling to find certain aspects of their journey to what is culture? The students should be using their own experiences and background when looking to Canadian culture and supplementing their idea of Canadian culture with research and resources supporting them or adding to their understanding.
Stage 2: Determine Evidence for Assessing Learning
Formative assessments, there will be the assessment of their classwork by observation of the teacher. The students will be following a rubric based on the key questions of the inquiry and a rubric on their presentation as well, stating if they have correct grammar, format, and have a slide for every aspect of the cultures they are comparing. The students will be assessed on the process of their learning in the research and inquiry by observation and a list of their information and resources. And assessed on the product of their presentation. The students should be able to clearly answer their understanding of the key question, “what is culture?” they should be able to answer it and provide examples to their understanding. As well they should be able to provide what goes into defining a culture and the aspects to looks for when researching their culture and comparing it to the Canadian culture that they live in and have experienced and using research and resources to supplement their understandings of Canadian culture, whether it is supporting their claims or adding to their understanding of the complexity that is Canadian culture. There should be evidence of learning that Canada is a multicultural country (First one officially in the world).  0-1. Students have shown very little to no evidence to answer the question “what is culture?” they have not answered the question.2. Students did little to answer the question “what is culture?” They show little research and evidence supporting their answer.3. Student has answered the questions posed “what is culture?” But, has left some aspects out, they have not completely answered the question.4. Student has answered the question “what is Culture?” Fully and thoroughly has expressed learned knowledge from the inquiry research. 0-1. Students have shown very little preparation and resources to finding aspects of culture.2. Students have covered few aspects of finding cultures answering few. 3. Students have covered the majority of finding cultures but are missing a few. (beliefs, social norms, communication patterns)4. Student has covered all aspects of finding culture (beliefs, social norms, communication patterns) 0-1. Students have shown very little evidence showing comparisons between cultures and have either one or no contrasts between the two cultures.2. Students have compared their chosen culture and the Canadian culture, showing few comparisons and contrasts. 3. Students have found multiple things in common with their chosen culture and the Canadian culture they have experienced.4. Students have found many things in common with their researched culture with the Canadian culture they have experienced, finding both comparisons and contrasts between the two.0-1. Students have struggled to be on task and are not following classroom guidelines, have distracted other students in their work. 2. Students have been distracted and caused distractions throughout the learning process, having trouble following classroom guidelines. 3. Students have been majority on task and following classroom guidelines with very minimal distractions.4. Students have been engaged and on task for the entire time the teacher has been observing and following classroom guidelines. 0-1. Students have very little to no resources on their slideshow.2. Students have 3-5 resources on their slideshow with the use of wikipedia3. Students have 5-7 resources on their slide show 4. Students will have at least 8 resources they used on the slideshow none wikipedia0.1. Students have very hard to follow presentation with little communication2. Students have a hard to follow presentation with little eye contact and hard to understand.3. Students will have an easy to follow presentation with some struggle presenting with little eye contact.4. Students have a very easy to follow presentation with clear speech.0.1. Students have answered very little questions in slideshow and is not clear at all.2. Students have answered little questions in the slideshow, and presentation.3. Students have answered most of the questions in the slide show.4. Students Have answered all questions clearly in the slideshow
Stage 3: Build Learning Plan
Set (Engagement):                            Length of Time: 1 class (60 min)What is Culture? can we answer that before this inquiry based assignment, so we will be looking at the Canadian Culture and what even is that? Canada was the first official multicultural country in the world and we are known to have a “mosaic” of cultures that make up our own, so for this assignment the students will take a culture whether is it their home country or they just pick a random country or even a culture within Canada that is different to their own, they will then follow a series of questions to find what their culture is and what makes it their culture, in the second half of their assignment they will be building off their own experiences and knowledge that they have seen in their time in Canada and supplementing it with inquiry research and comparing it to the other culture and if they are represented in Canada’s Mosaic.  Development:                                              Time: 3 classes (180 min)They will be working alone or with their partners answering the questions and finding research on their chosen culture, using technology to find their resources and adding to their presentation, The students will be following the rubrics provided by the teacher, they will together or alone start finding and researching their inquiry culture and finding their social norms, family ties, language, and all other aspects that make up one’s culture. They will be relating their findings to what they have experienced in their time in Canada and will be supplementing their knowledge with information that they research during class. They will be making a slideshow on their findings by working with the rubric and answering the key questions and keeping track of their resources. Closure:                                                    Time: 1-2 classes (60-120)Students will be presenting their findings in a slideshow form answering the key question “what is culture?” and will be showing their work and research during the slide show. They will be assessed on their answer for the key questions and will be able to show knowledge in how to find what is part of a culture and how is Canada known as a multicultural country, and how do these other cultures compare to the background and personal experiences that the students have had. They will also have a list of resources on their slideshow that will prove that they have researched and followed their inquiry. They will show that they have learned about cultures of other countries compared to Canada and what they have personally experienced. They will present their learnings to the teacher and the teacher will be assessing their answers and presentation.	Materials/Resources:Students will be using technology to find information and drive their inquiry projects and to build their presentation by themselves or with a partner. They will use one of powerpoint, prezi, or google slides to create their presentation. Possible Adaptations/Differentiation:If students may not have access to technology to use for research purposes may use written material, or if students struggle the teacher might assign partners so that they can have a stronger students work with them. Management Strategies:It is an inquiry based learning so the teacher will manage the class from observation and be there for them if they have questions or need help.  Safety Considerations:There should be no need for safety considerations.
Stage 4: Reflection
My professional development goal is to be able to drive a successful inquiry based project and be able to correctly assess them from rubrics that I have made, I would like to be able to do the project within the time that I have stated but for a lot of people we have all experienced the attention span of a grade 8 classroom so we might need one more class period to work at it and have the students more time to present their findings. This is a cross curricular assignment and we are working to two outcomes and four indicators so it should be a longer learning plan.