Context. What is the IA?
At the International Academy in Bloomfield Hills, I teach mainly 9th and 11th grade French. Most students who attend my Okma Campus are from the surrounding areas, which means that they come from many different fiscal and educational backgrounds. Though the majority are American or at least first-generation American, there are some international students scattered into the mix as well. At our other two campuses, the student populations are different because they pull from other school districts. But our goal is the same: to teach French as the Language B, Group 2 so our students can earn their International Baccalaureate Diploma through the IBO as well as a high school diploma.
For this project, I am going to focus on my 11th grade students in my IB1 French class. In the past, I have tried to encourage all of my students to be more vocal and to participate more in class. We established a "No Hands" classroom, where it is more of an open discussion forum during our whole-class lessons. We also established a start-of-the-class routine where students would all stand, I would ask questions, and they would all respond at the same time. Though these options worked in some ways, it was difficult to ensure that those who were being “quiet” were still participating and trying. I also heard many students answering after their peers, thus ensuring that they were answering correctly. Even though I tried to encourage them to answer truthfully and at their own speed, they are very competitive and afraid of being wrong. So I’ve tried small-group discussions. Again, it ends up being those students who speak the most in class who then lead the discussions in their small groups. As I walk around the class, the most outspoken/outgoing will be the ones who start talking in the discussion, with no guarantee that the rest will speak at all when I walk away.
On a daily basis, my students are speaking, reading, and writing in French for about 85-95% of the class. They bring their own devices, but we do not always use them unless the students ask. In the past, when I have asked students ahead of time to bring in a laptop, iPad, iPod, or smartphone, every single one of them will participate or will talk to me in advance if it is not feasible. As one of the only teachers incorporating technology as a support system outside of the classroom, the students jokingly call me "Mrs. Moodle" or the "Best Moodler" out of the teachers. Even though there are other teachers using technology, and even though there is a class that all sophomores must take involving technology, sometimes I do feel alone. So taking the MAET classes has helped me build a support system for my trials and errors with technology.
For this project, I am going to focus on my 11th grade students in my IB1 French class. In the past, I have tried to encourage all of my students to be more vocal and to participate more in class. We established a "No Hands" classroom, where it is more of an open discussion forum during our whole-class lessons. We also established a start-of-the-class routine where students would all stand, I would ask questions, and they would all respond at the same time. Though these options worked in some ways, it was difficult to ensure that those who were being “quiet” were still participating and trying. I also heard many students answering after their peers, thus ensuring that they were answering correctly. Even though I tried to encourage them to answer truthfully and at their own speed, they are very competitive and afraid of being wrong. So I’ve tried small-group discussions. Again, it ends up being those students who speak the most in class who then lead the discussions in their small groups. As I walk around the class, the most outspoken/outgoing will be the ones who start talking in the discussion, with no guarantee that the rest will speak at all when I walk away.
On a daily basis, my students are speaking, reading, and writing in French for about 85-95% of the class. They bring their own devices, but we do not always use them unless the students ask. In the past, when I have asked students ahead of time to bring in a laptop, iPad, iPod, or smartphone, every single one of them will participate or will talk to me in advance if it is not feasible. As one of the only teachers incorporating technology as a support system outside of the classroom, the students jokingly call me "Mrs. Moodle" or the "Best Moodler" out of the teachers. Even though there are other teachers using technology, and even though there is a class that all sophomores must take involving technology, sometimes I do feel alone. So taking the MAET classes has helped me build a support system for my trials and errors with technology.
Content. What do I teach?
The first unit that I teach in IB1 is one of the IB Core Topics: Social Relationships, subcategory: relationships (friendship, work, family); though there is some overlap with other IB Options and Core Topics. Especially due to the diverse student population, my students do not all think the same or have the same definitions for relationships, as we learned from Feynman's It's As Simple as One, Two, Three.... My goal is to give my students a voice both in and out of the classroom. This is done through communicating, and it is done in French. So the most important thing that I can give my students is the useful vocabulary. In this way, I am similar to Mr. Smith from the reading “Teaching for Aesthetic Understanding” by Mark Girod.
Even though we have conditioned our students to think that there is ONE right answer, there isn't in real life. I want my students to know that these discussions are meant to boost their vocabulary, to share what they believe, to listen to others, and to possibly change their outlook on life. It is also an opportunity for me to ignite the creative spark in my students. I want them to support their arguments through research and to present their opinions in creative ways all through using technology.
Some secondary benefits that I would like to teach my students are: how to listen to each other, how to give quality feedback, how to communicate in French in writing and speaking (in a natural manner), how to self-reflect/evaluate, how to peer reflect/evaluate (in a friendly manner), how to present their opinions in a creative manner, and how to become open-minded.
As we discovered in the forgetting curve by Ebbinghaus, students are more likely to remember information when it has meaning attached to it. I want to provide opportunities for my students to attach meaning to these big questions, and for them to use their vocabulary over and over again. The more they use it, the less likely they are to lose it.
Even though we have conditioned our students to think that there is ONE right answer, there isn't in real life. I want my students to know that these discussions are meant to boost their vocabulary, to share what they believe, to listen to others, and to possibly change their outlook on life. It is also an opportunity for me to ignite the creative spark in my students. I want them to support their arguments through research and to present their opinions in creative ways all through using technology.
Some secondary benefits that I would like to teach my students are: how to listen to each other, how to give quality feedback, how to communicate in French in writing and speaking (in a natural manner), how to self-reflect/evaluate, how to peer reflect/evaluate (in a friendly manner), how to present their opinions in a creative manner, and how to become open-minded.
As we discovered in the forgetting curve by Ebbinghaus, students are more likely to remember information when it has meaning attached to it. I want to provide opportunities for my students to attach meaning to these big questions, and for them to use their vocabulary over and over again. The more they use it, the less likely they are to lose it.
Technology. How will I incorporate technology?
I’ve been using Moodle for several years as a vast resource for my students; everything from notes to supplemental materials is linked from my page. Though this has worked to hone in on the "long-tail" of learning differences between my students, I know that I need to take my use of Moodle to the next level. My goal, again, is to give each student a voice, not just to teach to them as individuals.
In the future, I would like to use Moodle Discussion Boards as a way to start our conversations. Students would be able to post up their thoughts after they have a chance to reflect on a big unit question, either before or after we’ve discussed it in class. I can imagine using this discussion board as a place to also gather vocabulary terms before a discussion. The most beneficial part about using Moodle Discussion Boards to gather vocabulary is that the students can input a link to a website where they can listen to the pronunciation and/or give a sentence example.
Students will also keep an online blog where they can gather a running list of vocabulary terms organized how they want, and where they can reflect. In my mind, reflection plays a large part in learning. The more students go back to something, the more that they will internalize that information. By having students write in their own words, I can see if their background knowledge has been expanded or changed throughout the lessons and unit. Having an online blog will also make commenting on each other’s reflections very easy, since they are accessible from any device with Internet access; I see this as a possible homework assignment. As opposed to writing every time, I could allow my students to use audio recording devices as a mode of expressing their reflections. I would still require them to post the clip to the blog, so that they could keep all of their thoughts in the same spot and also allow comments from their peers.
In the future, I would like to use Moodle Discussion Boards as a way to start our conversations. Students would be able to post up their thoughts after they have a chance to reflect on a big unit question, either before or after we’ve discussed it in class. I can imagine using this discussion board as a place to also gather vocabulary terms before a discussion. The most beneficial part about using Moodle Discussion Boards to gather vocabulary is that the students can input a link to a website where they can listen to the pronunciation and/or give a sentence example.
Students will also keep an online blog where they can gather a running list of vocabulary terms organized how they want, and where they can reflect. In my mind, reflection plays a large part in learning. The more students go back to something, the more that they will internalize that information. By having students write in their own words, I can see if their background knowledge has been expanded or changed throughout the lessons and unit. Having an online blog will also make commenting on each other’s reflections very easy, since they are accessible from any device with Internet access; I see this as a possible homework assignment. As opposed to writing every time, I could allow my students to use audio recording devices as a mode of expressing their reflections. I would still require them to post the clip to the blog, so that they could keep all of their thoughts in the same spot and also allow comments from their peers.
Pedagogy. How will I teach?
I believe that students are NOT blank slates. I believe that their background knowledge is valuable and should be used as a great jumping off point. David Ausubul put it best when he said:
"If I had to reduce all of educational psychology to just one principle, I would say this: The most important single factor influencing learning is what the learner already knows. Ascertain this and teach him (sic) accordingly."
-David Ausubel
Scaffolding happens as soon as students start school. The biggest thing that we need to instill in the lower grade levels is the fact that the skills they learn in one subject should be transferred to all subjects. When my ninth graders step into my classroom, they have background knowledge on language but they do not necessarily know how to successfully learn a new language. What I teach them (repetition, picture the word and say the French, etc.) can be transferred to all of their classes as successful study skills.
During IB1, it is my job to take what they learned in the past two years, to review it (passing it into their long-term memories), to build upon it, and to teach a more natural flow of the language while expanding their understanding of the world and its vast cultures. How I do this is through the same ways explained in "Teaching that Sticks" by Chad Heath and Dan Heath. I try to keep it simple, concrete, and credible, while attaching students' personal emotions to the lessons, sometimes through story telling and/or unexpected introductions. As a teacher, I am there to guide my students in their discovery of the language; and as an IB teacher, I am there to help them uncover their personal opinions on core, real-life topics while still exposing them to other's viewpoints and ensuring that they are balanced, caring, knowledgeable inquirers (among a few others on the list of the IB Learner Profile characteristics).
During IB1, it is my job to take what they learned in the past two years, to review it (passing it into their long-term memories), to build upon it, and to teach a more natural flow of the language while expanding their understanding of the world and its vast cultures. How I do this is through the same ways explained in "Teaching that Sticks" by Chad Heath and Dan Heath. I try to keep it simple, concrete, and credible, while attaching students' personal emotions to the lessons, sometimes through story telling and/or unexpected introductions. As a teacher, I am there to guide my students in their discovery of the language; and as an IB teacher, I am there to help them uncover their personal opinions on core, real-life topics while still exposing them to other's viewpoints and ensuring that they are balanced, caring, knowledgeable inquirers (among a few others on the list of the IB Learner Profile characteristics).
Total PACKage. How will I seamlessly combine the content, technology, and pedagogy?
The way that I would like to use technology means that I will have a more hands-off teaching approach. I want the content to be discovered by the students, so they can become emotionally attached to their work and take pride in it. I keep it interesting by providing credible reasons to study it and by attaching one of my personal stories to the unit, but I will not be “handing” them the information. Students learn it through exploration, through discussions, through readings, and possibly through research. They will retain the discussions and the vocabulary by reflecting on it, thus moving it to their long-term memory from the repetition and personal connection. One thing that I want to condition my students to do is to reflect on what they've learned, hopefully on a daily basis.
SAMR Model. How does my Dream It! fit in?
The audio recorders, blogs, and discussion boards will substitute pen & paper and in-class discussions, but that's not the main function of the technology. The various technology will actually modify the assignments in the beginning, and then (hopefully) redefine the unit.
My thought is to eventually set up pen pals with my friend who teaches English in France and/or with other IB1 French classrooms. In the past, I had my students connect one-on-one with French students studying English through email, Twitter, and Facebook. With the blogs and discussion boards, I can see more of a peer group evaluation on the individual and group reflections, and maybe some participation directly into the discussion boards across campuses. Thus the unit would be redefined by the world connection.
My thought is to eventually set up pen pals with my friend who teaches English in France and/or with other IB1 French classrooms. In the past, I had my students connect one-on-one with French students studying English through email, Twitter, and Facebook. With the blogs and discussion boards, I can see more of a peer group evaluation on the individual and group reflections, and maybe some participation directly into the discussion boards across campuses. Thus the unit would be redefined by the world connection.