Gina+Sabo

Gina Sabo

**ISTC541** **Summer 2012**

**Responses/Reflection to Learning Styles and CAST Website Resources**

I had always known that I was a kinesthetic learner. I would have to do it and watch other people do it at the same time before I could fully understand the concept (especially if it was science or math). I don’t think that I learned anything new about how I learn best, but I am also a little further into my “learning career” so to speak than my students are in theirs. I usually take notes (even on the unimportant information) to help me learn, and the suggestion to use word processor to help reinforce what I have learned is something I had not considered before. Color coding my notes is something I also thought about doing for my students. I know in middle school they do a lot of cutting and pasting notes into notebooks (although this is a waste of paper, I think some students need this and learn well using this method as well).

After looking at the CAST website, I really found it interesting and informative. Just recently hearing about UDL, the website broke the information down easily making it simple to navigate and take in the information at my own speed. I really enjoyed looking at their sample lessons, and their section entitled “Teaching Every Student” hits home with me. Although right now our district is in the middle of concentrating on data and testing, we are slowing making the move to this type of research.

After exploring different areas of the electronic version of the book, I found the section “Curriculum Check” interesting. I like that it is a free tool for educators to use and to help them build options into their curriculum to engage and enrich the learning of all students. I think that I would be able to use this to help check myself as well when creating lessons and units for the upcoming school year. Good - I hope you will find time to consult this to help you with your lesson planning.

Also, I think the book builder tool was also interesting. Although I teach 9th grade, many of my students are slow and low readers. Many of them read at a 4th grade level (maximum) at the beginning of the year. This tool would be helpful for my students to help them read and identify things in the book/text. I also think that if I incorporate some of the same strategies used in the tool, would help the students as well in an everyday lesson in my classroom.

The second activity that we were asked to complete (looking at a picture and identifying things in it) was very interesting to me. I knew people looked at things differently, but I never thought about why. It was interesting to me to find out the things that I was associating with and identifying first (the way the women were standing and what the man was holding in his hand). I come from a military family (my husband’s side), so to me it looked as though the man was coming home from leave or something like that. I will most definitely consider this when making my lesson plans in the future. Your comments are interesting here - another student found herself drawn more to the females in the picture. See how students can interpret material the way it relates to their lives and/or prior learning?

Although the CAST website was very informative, I found the UDL toolkit the most useful of all the information presented. I have looked into many of those websites before, but now that I know there is a place that they are all together, this will make my searching much easier. I will probably share this information with my colleagues as well. They would find this information interesting and informative.

As far as the website is concerned, I would like to explore more into the differentiation of lessons. Although I feel that I do a fairly good job at doing this, I would like to reach more of the different types of learners in my classroom. I think my students struggle a lot with some of the information I present, and being able to provide more differentiation in the classroom would not only alleviate my stress, but also provide more opportunities for my students learn the material better.


 * Voki Assignment**

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 * Response to Virtual Field**


 * Bowline knot with ribbon (it's all I had in the house)** Such a pretty sample!

I have always loved the thought of doing a virtual field trip. My experience with this one was very positive, especially the videos I was able to watch. I found it very interesting to see video of the actual workers using and making the tools used for whaling. I think students would have a similar experience through the use of the multimedia features. This not only allows students to easily find and access the information but will also keep the students attention using the different types of media. I have used virtual field trips before in my classroom, but they were very basic. I think if I was able to find the time and a decent site, my students would benefit greatly from an experience similar to this site. I know that students have little to no patience, so I would also need to make sure that the websites worked and that there was not too much information. This way, the students can stay focused and not worry about becoming overwhelmed.

I really liked how you started out the beginning of this field trip. It caught my attention, and I think the students would also like this sort of introduction instead of the normal here are your directions, now go. I would definitely use this sort of framework for a field trip for a class I would teach. Thank you for your comments here - I wasn't sure how to introduce the experience, but I'm glad it worked for you.

I looked at the Memorial Hall website, and thoroughly enjoyed myself. I loved the voice/sound feature of the dress up link. I think this would help all students despite learning disabilities. I didn’t know how to pronounce some of those words, and I think that students will learn a lot more my reading along with the speaker. I think the speaker does well and reads at a great pace. I also thought the animation on the home page was very eye appealing. The other section that caught my eye was the “Magic Lens.” Being someone who LOVES history, I really enjoyed looking at all of the primary sources. I think students of all ages would enjoy this page. You might get some apprehension as you get into the older grades, but I could see this being used for elementary all the way up to high school.

While thinking about ideas on how to incorporate this into lessons, I ran into GoogleLitTrips. This is a fantastic site that uses Google Earth to show the path taken by characters in a specific book. Not only does it show you the places, but the maps also contain artwork, videos, and scale models. For example, a majority of the 10th graders of Harford County have to read //Night// by Elie Wiesel. With this lit trip, it takes portions of the novel and shows you pictures and gives you information about specific places and events that took place. Some of the pictures show you then and now preservation. I think students would benefit from this experience so they can get a better visual of what is happening in the story. In the future, I will definitely think about integrating a virtual field trip into my curriculum. Didn't even know about this resource, Gina. I'm going to check it out!


 * Teaching Cartoon**
 * Toondoo.com**



I have seen "inspirational posters" very similar to this, so I decided to make it into a cartoon. This is very creative, Gina, and a good comment about how we see ourselves as teachers.


 * Glog**

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I really enjoyed this assignment. This program was not something that I had used before, so it was interesting to get to know the options and functions. Glogster was also something that I had to get used to, but once I got the hang of it, I was able to present the information I wanted in an interesting manner.

While I was creating my Glog, I noticed I spent a lot of time working on what the "poster" looked like. The background had to match the displays for each fact, and the layout had to be just right, etc. In the end, I stopped myself from changing things every five minutes and ended up liking how it was displayed and the information that I provided. That's a problem for those who may be a bit "obsessive" about design - you need to put limits on how much you will allow yourself (or students) to edit - it doesn't have to be perfect, right?

I think my students (9th graders) could definitely use this with maybe with an independent reading project (IRP). Students could use this to present their information to the class. This provides the students the opportunity express themselves in a different form. Although I am sure the would be able to learn a lot about this program on their own, I would definitely want to walk them through the basics, from the editing tools, expectations, and layout options. I wouldn't want to set real strict guidelines, however I would want to make sure that they know what to include.


 * Final Project**

media type="custom" key="20274142" http://gsabo1.edu.glogster.com/dick-van-dyke/



//Students continuously do an Independent Reading Project (IRP) each year in my class. They have to choose a book, keep a reading log, and then create a final project. I thought that if students had a specific author that they were particularly drawn to, they could also create a Glog not only about that author, but also about the other books (including the one they read) the author themselves wrote.//

//My English students are 9th graders. They are very tech savvy, and I think that the Glog would be a great project for my students. They will still have the ability to create a “poster” but with the ability to link other websites, highlight the major works by the author, as well as describe the author’s life. I think that this is very appropriate for my students, because they will have the ability to choose their author and book as long as it is approved by me, and I don’t have a ton of posters to take home and grade!//