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6.1/6A OWNERSHIP OF LEARNING
Candidates foster a culture where students take ownership of their learning goals and outcomes in both independent and group settings. (PSC-IT 6.1, ISTE-E 6a)
6.1
The artifact I have selected to demonstrate mastery for this standard is a summative Rock Cycle RAFT project that I created for 6th grade Earth Science students. RAFT stands for Role, Audience, Format, and Topic. The RAFT link contains the project description, directions, and student choices. I have also linked the project rubric, a prewriting graphic organizer, project checklist, and peer feedback forms.
This artifact demonstrates how I foster a culture where students take ownership of their learning goals and outcomes in both independent and group settings. I designed this activity to provide students with a lot of choice of creative possibility, but there were also very clear guidelines and requirements. Students were given the tools and resources that provided them with a stable foundation that allowed them be more independent and able to take ownership of their learning goals and outcomes successfully. Students provided each other with peer feedback before officially submitting their projects. This helped them take even more ownership of their product and most set goals to make their work even better. They fixed mistakes and they taught themselves and each other how to make their products more elevated with animation, images, font selection, etc. Students were very proud to share their final products and they loved this project.
I learned that not all students get excited when given so many choices and that much creative freedom. It was a little overwhelming for some students, so I just told those students with their role, audience, topic, and format. I would update and improve the quality of this artifact by creating and including a spreadsheet to help me better manage and monitor student progress along the way. This would help prevent anyone from getting too far behind.
The work that went into creating this artifact improved student learning. Students were very engaged as they learned new ways to present information they learned. The impact could be assessed through my daily classroom observations, by the products the students generated for that project, and by other projects and activities done during that year.
6.2/6B MANAGING TECHNOLOGY & LEARNING
Candidates manage the use of technology and student learning strategies in a variety of environments such as digital platforms, virtual environments, hands-on makerspaces, or in the field. (PSC-IT 6.2, ISTE-E 6b)
6.2
The artifact I have selected to demonstrate my mastery of this standard is a video of me teaching a class period of virtual students during the pandemic. Students were allowed to return to school, but some students were not able to so they were strictly virtual and never came to school. The class met virtually and ran completely through Microsoft Teams.
This artifact demonstrates how I manage the use of technology and student learning strategies in a variety of environments such as digital platforms, virtual environments, hands-on makerspaces, or in the field. I was able to manage handling virtual and face to face instruction simultaneously during the pandemic using Teams, two monitors, a projector, a lot of patience, and flexibility! In this artifact, I am seen teaching a 6th grade Earth Science class. The presentation I'm showing is done in PowerPoint. We completed an independent timed activator activity, reviewed the activity by having students volunteer to share their answers by raising virtual hands. Next, I presented air pressure demonstrations to help students see what we had been learning about. Then, students all participated in an online review game called Quizlet Live. Lastly, we discussed heat transfer and students used a Nearpod to practice viewing examples of heat transfer in pictures. Students shared their thoughts and ideas at the end of class. Through all of this, I am managing and maintaining the virtual learning environment. I am going back and forth between different screens and modes of presenting as seamlessly as possibly.
I learned that I am pretty good at juggling and managing many things at once and I kind of enjoy it. I guess I do work better under stress! If I could go back and do something differently, I would have students prepare materials ahead of time so that they could participate in the some of the science demonstrations too.
This work had an impact on student learning. I was able to deliver science instruction in an engaging and meaningful way. Students had access to tools and resources in Teams. Students were exposed to a wide variety of activities involving technology. The impact can be assessed in those students' achievement and performance. They were able to continue getting an education even though they could not attend school during that time period.
6.3/6C DESIGN & COMPUTATIONAL THINKING
Candidates create learning opportunities that challenge students to use a design process and/or computational thinking to innovate and solve problems. (PSC-IT 6.3, ISTE-E 6c
6.3
The artifact I selected to demonstrate mastery of this standard is an AMP-IT-UP lesson I received from Georgia Tech on experimental design that I have used with my 6th grade science students. The original lesson link shows how I break the lesson up over time and it has pictures of student data from their experiments. The other links are the AMP-IT-UP lesson materials for the teacher and student.
This artifact demonstrates how I create learning opportunities that challenge students to use a design process and/or computational thinking to innovate and solve problems. Students engage as earth scientists to develop a procedure for measuring lava flow to help a town adjacent to a volcano develop evacuation plans in the event of an eruption. The module covers some basic concepts regarding volcanoes, lava, and igneous rock formation. It also really covers how to design and produce a reliable experiment that has repeatable results. Students design models, write and test their procedures, and compare data and models with others etc. Students are required to be innovative as they learn scientific concepts while trying to solve a real world problem. This challenge is all about design process and computational thinking.
I learned that students hate reading. They love the design and experimentation part of the process, but students always seem to struggle when it is time to read and gather information and knowledge. Many students get off task when we read out of the student packet. I could improve the quality of this artifact by creating another way to present the needed information to the students instead of just having them read out of the packet.
This lesson had an impact on student learning. This activity is done at the beginning of the year. It sets the tone and creates an amazing scientific classroom environment and community. The impact can be assessed through classroom observations and assessments. Students are able to design models and write their own procedures. Students learned that science is a very collaborative subject and they learned how to work together to solve problems accordingly.
6.4/6D CREATIVITY
Model and nurture creativity and creative expression to communicate ideas, knowledge, or connections. (PSCIT 6.4, ISTE-E 6d)
6.4
The artifact I am demonstrating mastery of this standard with is a summative meteorology project I created for students to complete using Adobe Express. The original lesson link shows what I display in class for student directions. I also linked the project rubric that lists the topics available along with the graphic organizers for each topic. There is also a link to a document of Adobe Express tutorials that I share with the students along with an example of something I created to show them what they would be doing.
This artifact demonstrates that I model creativity and creative expression when communicating ideas, knowledge, or connections to learners. I could have just had them show their knowledge through a paper and pencil test, but I took the time and created an activity like this because I wanted my students to see the importance of creativity too. I also model creative expression in my daily slideshow presentation just with the images and memes I select. This is evidenced and seen in the original lesson link. I also made a work sample in Adobe Express to show students that I did what they were being asked to do.
This artifact demonstrates how I nurture creativity and creative expression in learners when communicating ideas, knowledge, or connections. I gave the students a choice in topic, but they did not have a choice in media this time. I required all of them to use Adobe Express because I wanted to expose them to this tool and show them how fast and easy it is to use. Students were scared at first, but I made them all watch a quick tutorial first and I provided them all with a document of fast tutorials for essential skills. I even allowed students to Google to see how to do other things in Adobe Express if they were more advanced and ready to learn more. I really wanted the students to explore the capabilities and see what they could do with the time they had.
I learned that students are incredibly creative when given the opportunity and they love to share their knowledge with others too. I would go back and improve this artifact by adding an official peer feedback piece in and have all students critique others' work. I would also improve this artifact by adding a checklist for students to look over before they submit their project. There is a rubric, but many students work better with a checklist.
This artifact impacted faculty development and student learning. I shared this project with my PLC members, so all 6th grade students completed the activity for a summative grade. Teachers learned a new tool for themselves and they learned how to incorporate it into their classroom instruction. Students learned a new design tool. The impact can be assessed by observing how many more faculty members and students there are that are now able to use Adobe Express.
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