Multimedia challenge

Krystle DeVera
ED 451 – Audio Visual
Dr. J. Cyrus
Novemeber 20, 2009

Lesson Plan #2 REFLECTION
Creating my second lesson plan made me realize again that there are so many things we can do in integrating technology. For this particular lesson plan, we had to have the students use at least two multimedia and also the teacher has to use at least two multimedia in teaching the students. It was a challenge in coming up with ideas and what was age appropriate for fifth graders because I haven't created a lesson plan for older kids. I gear towards kinder to second grade when I do my lesson plans for practicum. I wanted to get out of my comfort zone. I wanted to make it a challenge and at the same time gain the experience in creating a lesson plan for older children such as fifth grade.

For this lesson plan, I had many ideas. It took me a while to decide on what unit or theme I should do. I decided to create my lesson plan dealing with "The Water Cycle" because I remember during my Elementary school years, I had a difficult time in understanding that particular topic. I wanted to create a way in which my students will not have a difficult time in learning such an important topic, make it interesting, and also have fun. Integrating technology into the lesson plan is the best way to go!

In coming up with ideas, I used some technology tools we learned in class, such as the delicious website. This website really helped a lot. It narrows down topics in a way that it is really easy for the researcher. Delicious helped me find websites which gave me many ideas about teaching "The Water Cycle" (Gray).

In every grade level, using technology in the classroom is an expectation in any school curriculum. Some teachers are at a loss as to how to do this. My advice to teachers and future teachers is that if you make the experience fun, children will want to participate. It can be your secret that they are learning as well.

The program, Microsoft PowerPoint is a really easy to use multimedia tool to enhance your lesson plans. Students can also acquire computer skills in these software where they can create presentations, web pages, slideshows, plus so much more. Once they learn the basics, they can further their skills in other multimedia which I can introduce to them because in taking ED 451 allowed me to learn many technology tools!

The content area for my lesson plan is science, and integrates technology, fine arts and, computer science. Again, we had to use the ASSURE model in creating our lesson plans (Heinch, 1999). It wasn't really a challenge for me anymore because we used the ASSURE model for our first lesson plan. But for more information to guide me though the ASSURE model was this website: www.coe.uga.edu/~gthomas/summer/assuretemplate.doc, it gave me a format of how to do the lesson plan and details on what to put for each category.

The NETS*T standard that mostly applies to this lesson plan that I created is standard 2A - Design developmentally appropriate learning opportunities that apply technology-enhanced instructional strategies to support the diverse needs of learners. The NETS*T standard 2A relates to my lesson plan because students view short video clips of the water cycle in action, investigate the processes of evaporation, condensation, and precipitation online, create their own circle diagram of the water cycle using the circle plot creator online, and so forth. In doing this, the students are applying technology to further their understanding and comprehension of the activities, presentations, and projects.

I learned a lot about planning lesson activities. When planning a lesson plan, it’s imperative that you know what your topic is all about. You would have to plan and have an understanding on the topic you are going to teach. There is a lot of research you have to do and you have to look at all the resources available. You then need to figure out what you want your students to learn. The students’ objectives are very important. Planning on how to deliver your lesson is important because instruction should be clear to your students. The lesson plan should be detailed enough with precise instruction for both you and the substitute teacher. It should also be fun for students to enjoy so it will keep students’ interest going.

In addition, there is definitely not just one way in doing a lesson plan. There are so many ways. It all depends what you are comfortable with. I will without a doubt use the ASSURE model in my future lesson plans. It is really helpful in planning detailed lesson plans, and allows integrating technology into course materials.

The technology tools and the many multimedia out there helped me in creating this lesson plan. It gave me ideas which in turn made me create my own ideas into the lesson plan. I would love to do this lesson plan with my future students.


References
Heinch, M. (1999). The assure model. Retrieved from
http://www.unca.edu/education/edtech/techcourse/assure.htm
Gray, M. (n.d.). Presenting the water cycle. Retrieved from
http://alex.state.al.us/lesson_view.php?id=9884