EDIT 2000

How quickly a semester passes! I’ve truly enjoyed getting to know each of you and I wish you luck in the future. Today, we're showing off our work. Pick one assignment from your portfolio or a story about class that you want to share with everyone.

Don't forget:

1. Complete the course evaluation
2. Send an email to me if you have questions about your final grade*
3. Good luck on your finals and have a fantastic summer!

*All outstanding assignments must be submitted to me by 5:00PM on May 6.

While SMART Technologies isn't entirely new, it may be new to some of you. Today, you're going to spend the first 30 minutes of class exploring different SMART Activities. (Hint, here's a great list to check out.) Then we'll spend the next 30 minutes taking turns showcasing what we've learned. For this in-class, group activity, you may pair up into groups of 3 or 4. Each group will have 5 minutes to present their exploration findings. Note that this is your final Exploration Task for the course. Attendance is required to receive full points.

Preparing for the Showcase

What is the showcase?

The showcase is an opportunity to see and be seen. Take a look at what your classmates have done this semester and share the work for which you are most proud. We’ll eat, talk, visit, and reflect on the work we’ve done this semester. Think of a creative way to decorate your workspace. At minimum – you’ll need a creative name tag. Former students have printed out sample work from portfolios, brought refreshments, or had some clever reason why students should visit their workspace.

Review the portfolio checklist – make sure you have everything completed. I have shared individual checklist reports with you so that you know what you're missing.

For Thursday

1. Post a short description of your SMART exploration on your portfolio as "Emerging Tools;" include a link and short paragraph about how you would use the lesson or tool
2. Thursday is our last day of class; be prepared to show off your portfolio

Course Evaluation

The Course Evaluation Form is now open. Be sure to complete it when you have a chance.

TLAT #3 is almost finished! Spend as much time as you need working on the main sections of the WebQuest today. These last two sections can be completed any time before Tuesday, Apr 26.

Writing the Credits

“We all benefit by being generous with our work. Permission is hereby granted for other educators to copy this WebQuest, update or otherwise modify it, and post it elsewhere provided that the original author’s name is retained along with a link back to the original URL of this WebQuest. On the line after the original author’s name, you may add Modified by (your name) on (date).”

Don't forget to include links to resources you used: images, etc.

Teacher Section

Here your target audience is teachers. In this section, you will be sharing ideas on how your WebQuest page can be used. Also, provide instructions on what resources/tools the teacher will need, and how they could support learners during the process. In your teacher section, at least indicate the followings:

1. Recommended teaching strategy and scaffolding for the process section
2. Resources that teachers can use to guide students’ WebQuests project
3. Georgia Performance Standard including subject information
4. Target learner information including grade level

For Tuesday

1. Have a good weekend! Make sure your TLAT #3 link is posted to your portfolio.

Once you have an idea for your WebQuest, it’s time to get started writing it. We’ll start with the Introduction and Task Sections. If you’re stuck and can’t think of an idea, check out WebQuest Design Patterns.

Planning Your WebQuest

The following tasks can be done either in a Google Doc and later transferred to a "new" Google Site or built directly into your "new" Google Site.

Writing your introduction:

1. Building Blocks of a WebQuest provides a nice overview about writing introductions
2. Remember, make it engaging and talk directly to the student

Writing your task:

1. Building Blocks of a WebQuest also provides insight into writing tasks
2. Remember, the task should be short: 2-3 sentences; don’t give instructions on how to complete the task – just describe it

Writing Process

One of the main parts of a WebQuest is the Process section. The Process section is composed of the specific steps a student should take to accomplish the assigned task. The Process section also provides age-appropriate resources for students to use to complete their task. Finding useful resources requires more than just a Google search. Using vetted resources from reliable sites is important. Find some useful web resources for your students to use from Thinkfinity or any of the other tools/sites we've explored this semester.

Here are some things to remember about the Process section:

1. This should be a step-by-step description of what students will do
2. Students should be assigned roles (journalist, editor, astronaut, politician, etc.) and given specific information on their “job descriptions”
3. Students should be able to access links to at least 5 age appropriate resources that will help them to complete their task. This should not be a list of 5 long web addresses. It should be a title that links to the website and a short description of what students will find there.
   • For example: Currency Converter: As you plan your trip you will need to determine how much money you need to take. Use this currency converter link to determine how many pesos you will need.
4. Students will likely need some type of printable form to help them organize the information they are finding online – particularly if they are elementary or middle school students

Here are the essential questions to ask while you are working on your project:

1. Does your WebQuest help your students’ critical and deep thinking instead of mere comprehension?
2. Does your WebQuest help your students improve their research skills and problem solving skills?
3. Is your WebQuest topic authentic in order to engage your students?
4. Is your WebQuest task challenging and doable?
5. Do your learners need to think independently and critically during the WebQuest activity?
6. Do your tasks involve collaboration/cooperation/peer interaction among students? Is collaboration between your students important for the successful completion of the WebQuest?
7. What scaffolds (visual organizers, software tools, prompting questions and suggestions) are provided in your WebQuest?
8. Is your process clear enough that your students would know exactly where they are at each step of the process and what to do next?
9. Do your Evaluation criteria align with the given tasks?

Evaluation

When crafting your Evaluation section:

1. Don’t evaluate what is not assigned. Don’t assign tasks that are not evaluated.
2. Your evaluation rubric should have 4 or 5 different criteria that you are evaluating.
3. Make sure your rubric is written so a parent could understand it. In other words, will a parent know why his/her child made an “F” on the project? an “A”?

Here are resources that you can use for the Evaluation section:

1. Rubrics for Weblessons
2. Creating A Rubric for a Given Task

You will be using this template for your rubric The only thing that is missing on this template is a row indicating the maximum possible points that can be earned. You will add a new row to this template. Copy and paste the rubric into a word document. When you have completed your rubric, it is to be linked so that it opens as a word document.

For Thursday

1. Work on Introduction, Task, Process, and Rubric sections
2. Thursday is an absence make-up day and WebQuest workday; if you do not plan to attend class, be prepared to submit your TLAT#3 on Tuesday, Apr 26

What is a WebQuest?

WebQuests are a teaching tool that use web-based resources and other sources to support students as they work through an inquiry or problem-based activity. They are web-based lesson plans written for the students that support and scaffold student understanding of a set of curriculum standards. Generally, students are asked to work collaboratively to answer a question or solve a problem and then present the answer or solution in a technology-supported format.


You can find many examples of WebQuests at the WebQuest page maintained by Dr. Bernie Dodge from San Diego State University. Dr. Dodge is the creator of WebQuests and WebQuests have been around for more 10 years. We’ll spend some time looking at example WebQuests by clicking the “Find WebQuests” button on the left navigation bar on the WebQuest page.

Creating Your Own WebQuest

For your TLAT #3 you will create a WebQuest that supports student critical thinking and problem solving. You’ll create an original WebQuest that includes all 7 of the following sections:

1. Introduction
2. Task
3. Process
4. Evaluation
5. Conclusion
6. Credit
7. Teacher Page

Possible Resources:

1. View the WebQuest Taxonomy of Tasks to help you with an idea for your WebQuest
2. View the Building Blocks of a WebQuest page to know what do for each section
3. check out these Inspirational WebQuests for ideas
4. View the TLAT #3 Rubric so you can be sure you’re meeting or exceeding expectations

For Tuesday

1. Review examples of WebQuests at the WebQuest page
2. Think about a subject/standard and your students’ grade level
3. You should have an idea for your WebQuest project when you come in
4. Create a NEW Google Site for your WebQuest (refer to Creating an Online Presence if you need a refresher)
   

Remember, your Enrichment Kits are due on Thursday!

Problem Solving Discussion

The NETS for problem solving (and other related areas) state:

Students use critical thinking skills to plan and conduct research, manage projects, solve problems, and make informed decisions using appropriate digital tools and resources. Students:

a. identify and define authentic problems and significant questions for investigation.
b. plan and manage activities to develop a solution or complete a project.
c. collect and analyze data to identify solutions and/or make informed decisions.
d. use multiple processes and diverse perspectives to explore alternative solutions.

What does your book say about problem solving?

“Students apply critical and creative thinking skills to prior knowledge during the problem solving process. The end result of problem solving is typically some kind of a decision: choosing a solution and then evaluating it.” (p 155)

“Problem-based learning (PBL) is a teaching approach that combines critical thinking, problem-solving skills, and inquiry as students explore real-world problems. It is based on unstructured, complex, and authentic problems that are often presented as part of a project.” (p 156)

A few characteristics of effective technology-enhanced problem-based learning tasks:

1. Give students control of their learning
2. Include communication and collaboration
3. Emphasize the process and the content
4. Lead to additional content learning
5. Have a measurable, although not necessarily correct, outcome

Group Problem Solving Activity

Using these shapes, create a capital letter 'T' with no jagged bits, no gaps, no overlaps, etc.

There are 2 types of problems: open-ended and close-ended. Which was the shape activity? Was the shape activity an inquiry activity? Could the shape activity be considered a problem-based learning?


When have you experienced the problem-based learning approach in your classes? How is this connected to critical thinking?

For Thursday

1. Read Chapter 6 and complete the reading guide

Don't forget! We're not meeting face to face today, but TLAT #2 is due (I'll be grading tonight!) and you'll complete today's activities on your own. We're starting the last major section of our class over Problem Solving & Critical Thinking tools.

Exploring Thinkfinity

One of the uses of technology that many of us are very familiar with is the use of online resources for research activities. This task will help you to locate online resources to use in your grade/content area. First, we will preview several reliable educational resources. Don't forget to refer to the Georgia Performance Standards for your subject/grade level before moving on with this task (it will make it easier in the long run.)

There are many online resources that teachers use to collect tools and information. Today, we'll explore Thinkfinity. Here, we'll find resources for all content areas and all grade levels. So everyone in our class should be able to find something they can use. First, let's watch this overview of Thinkfinity. Then we'll watch the detailed tutorial that really explains how to incorporate web resources in classrooms.

Using what you learned from the video to explore the resources within Thinkfinity, spend about 15 minutes exploring the site to see what you can find. Try and focus on student interactive materials like the ones demonstrated in the detailed tutorial.

Creating an Enrichment Kit

One of the problems in education is the issue of “summer learning loss.” As a teacher, parents will look to you for ideas on how to prevent this “learning loss”. To help solve this problem, your task is to locate 8-10 exceptional web-based resources that a student from your grade/content area could use over the summer to enrich (NOT remediate -- look at what they'll be learning the next year after you've taught them) what they have learned in your class during the school year. You can focus on one topic or a multitude of topics. If you are focusing on elementary grades – you can focus on multiple subjects. These resources should include games and other interactive resources. Your resources should not be a set of webpages that contain only text. The Thinkfinity site is a great place to find interactive activities for any subject or grade level. (Hint – on any of the partner sites – look for words like “student interactive”).

As you locate your resources, add them to a new webpage on your portfolio called “Summer Tool Kit.” For each resource, provide the title of the resource, the web link, and a short description of how this tool can be used (make sure to decide if your audience for your descriptions is students or parents).

Once you have finished collecting your resources, write a 2-3 paragraph letter to parents describing the summer enrichment kit that you have developed. Give them highlights of what they will find in the kit, suggestions for how they might use it, and a link to your Summer ToolKit webpage. (If you are teaching high school students you might want to talk to them in the letter instead of parents). You can attach the letter to the webpage. Here’s an example for an elementary Spanish student (the parent letter is attached at the bottom of the linked page). Here is an example of the same assignment for elementary language arts. In this example, the student used a social bookmarking tool called Delicious to collect and organize her resources – then, of course, she attached the parent letter to the bottom of the page. If you’d like to organize your resources using this tool (instead of simply listing them with descriptions on your website) – you can learn how to use it here.

For Next Week

1. Complete your Enrichment Kit; it is due on Thursday, April 12.

Today is an absence make-up workday. Make sure Steps 2 & 3 of TLAT #2 are completed ASAP. I'll be reading these during class today.

Elaboration & Reflection

Now that you've brainstormed activities and evaluated each idea, it's time to elaborate. Follow the instructions in the yellow box to craft a narrative about your activity. Once you're finished, reflect on the activity in Step 5.

REMEMBER! We will not be meeting face to face on Thursday. However, you WILL have an activity to complete (instructions will be posted on Thursday morning) and your TLAT #2 is due on Thursday. I'll be grading these on Thursday evening. If I cannot access your document via Google Docs or your Portfolio, it will be counted late.

For Thursday

1. Finish TLAT #2 and post to your portfolio as a link or embedded document
2. Read Chapter 4 and complete the reading guide

Your Step 1 should be completed before today’s class (I'll be grading while you work on Steps 2 & 3 today).

Find a partner with a similar teaching context (e.g. similar subject areas and/or grade levels, not just your neighbor/friends). Discuss Step 1 with your partner and help each other check off the items on the checklist – the blue box on the lesson design guide (especially those included on the grading rubric).

Innovation-in-Action

Now you’re getting ready for Step 2 – it’s time to use what you know from Step 1 and come up with ideas for teaching. You don’t need to do this alone. Use ideas from the Strategy section of Step 2′s big yellow box. You can find lots of sample lesson ideas here. Make sure you know what components to include for each of your ideas (it’s all explained in the big yellow box!)

Decision Making

Once you have your ideas generated, it's time to make some decisions. Re-examine Step 1 for good decision making criteria. Then have your partner from earlier evaluate your 2-3 activities. Don't forget to evaluate your own, too! Based upon these evaluations, finish out Step 3. Both Steps 2 & 3 are due before class on Tuesday. Tuesday will be another make-up absence work day. If you do not come in on Tuesday, make sure you finish out Steps 4 & 5 before class on Thursday, Mar 7 as well.

For Tuesday

1. Finish Step 2.

Getting Started with Creativity

There are many different ways to look at creativity. We’re going to look at a part of creativity called divergent thinking. Divergent thinking is made up of four components: fluency, flexibility, originality, and elaboration. We’ll divide up into 4 groups and each group will do an activity related to one of these four areas. As you do some brainstorming for your activity, consider using Bubbl to record your group ideas.

First, let's explore these four ideas a little further. As a group and as an individual, how did you perform on the examples? How did your performance match up with how you did on the creativity quiz from a few weeks ago? What does this have to do with your subject area? With technology? What does Chapter 5 in your book have to say about these four components of divergent thinking?

Thinking Like a Teacher #2

Make a copy of the TLAT #2 Design Guide so that you can edit it (name it Lname-TLAT2; ex: Dousay-TLAT2). You’ll notice that this assignment is very similar to TLAT #1, but there are checklists at the end of each section to help you keep track of the components. Everything you need is in the document, but focus on each section as you get to it. We’ll be working on Section 1 today, and it’s due on Thursday. I'll be grading this assignment in segments using this rubric. So, be sure to get the sections complete as each due date is announced.

For Thursday

1. Complete all parts of Section 1 in the TLAT #2 Design Guide

Today is your day to bring your digital story to life. We'll be working all class period, so bring your thinking cap and let's get to it! Attendance in class is optional. By working on your story in class today, you can erase 1 previous absence. Otherwise, you are free to work on your story at home, in another campus lab, or the Editorium (check out a key from OIT on the 2^nd floor).

For Thursday

1. Make sure your story is posted to your portfolio

Before we get started, take a minute to watch some some digital stories from the past few semesters:

• 5th grade mathematics
• High School Chemistry

As we continue brainstorming ideas for our digital stories, let's look at how you'll make it. There are so many tools available for you to use. In the past, EDIT 2000 students have used PhotoStory, MovieMaker, VoiceThread, Storybird, and iMovie. Use the chart below to help you select your tool. Select a tool you’ve never used before, but will also be the best to tell your story. Note that each tool name links to tutorials and info about how to use it. You can select a tool not on this list – just check with me before you start.

Tool	OS	Access	Still Images or Video	Narration	Music	Ease of Use
iMovie	Mac	Installed	Both	Y	Easy	Intermediate
MovieMaker	PC	Installed	Both	Y	Difficult	Intermediate
Photostory	PC	Download	SI	Y	Difficult	Beginner
StoryBird	Both	Web-based	Stock	N	N	Beginner
VoiceThread	Both	Web-based	Both	Y	N	Beginner

You’ll be using original still images or video that you’ve captured for your story. If you select Storybird, remember that you're limited to the stock illustrations within their website. Please avoid using images from Google and other sources if at all possible. Cite your sources if you are using them from other locations. If you don’t have access to a digital camera or video camera, you can check them out from OIT in Rm 232 Aderhold. The checkout period is for 5 days and you’ll need to present your Student ID.

Enjoy next week, but keep in mind that the assignment will be due the Thursday following Spring Break!

For Tuesday

1. Class will be open work time so attendance is optional. If you have missed more than 2 classes so far this semester, it is expected that you will attend to make up an absence
2. Keep in mind that Digital Stories will be due at the beginning of class on Thursday, March 24

Do you think that schools kill creativity? Maybe it's time for a learning revolution.

But, what does this have to do with technology integration? Are there tools available that enhance students' creative thinking? Are there tools that will enable students to share their divergent thoughts to a broader audience? What types of activities might be possible in your grade/subject area?

One of the NETS addresses creativity and innovation:

Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology. Students:

1. apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes.
2. create original works as a means of personal or group expression.
3. use models and simulations to explore complex systems and issues.
4. identify trends and forecast possibilities.

Brainstorming tools are used frequently to support creativity in K-12 classrooms. Since you’ll be tasked with coming up with an idea for a digital story this week, we'll be exploring a brainstorming tool first to help you get some ideas.

Digital Storytelling

For this next assignment, you need to create either:

1. An educational video for use in your subject/grade level.
2. A video that showcases a personal talent.
3. A commercial for your major.
4. A TED talk about something you are passionate about. (What is a TED talk?).
5. A new video about UGA to replace this one.
6. "Director's choice" – send me your idea for approval on or before Tuesday, March 22.

Your video should:

1. Tell a story – not simply instruct
2. Have a beginning, middle, and end
3. Identify the age of your audience (within the story or preferably on your Creativity and Innovation page that will go on your Portfolio)

You can produce fiction or non-fiction, but remember:

1. If you are writing fiction you need characters and conflict.
2. If you are writing nonfiction – your readers need to know why they should care about your topic.
3. Regardless of fiction or nonfiction – your reader should learn something.
4. The story will likely be 2-3 minutes long. Nothing bad happens if it’s a little shorter or a bit longer.

If you want to be able to create a visual of your brainstorming, try using Bubbl. Spend a few minutes getting used to the tool and then begin a brainstorming web for your story ideas. Your web might be a large cluster of different ideas for a story or you might already have an idea so your web is just laying out what you want to include in your story. However, if the technology gets in the way of your creativity – don’t use it! You might also consider using Kidspiration, Inspiration, Xmind, or Edistorm.

Today we’re looking at tools that can support personal, professional, and K12 creativity.

To help reinforce the importance of creativity and to show you how fun it can be, we're going to do a little project together. We're going to call this "Dear, Me." Have you ever thought about how much you've changed since coming to college? What events and decisions have led to you where you are today? We're going to make a video that tells a story of who we are. To do this:

1. Write, in HUGE handwriting on a large sheet of paper or poster, one piece of advice you would tell yourself when you were a high school senior.
2. Take a picture of yourself with your sign at a location on campus.
3. Read this R&B article and refer to the UGA Fact Book. Pick one of the facts to illustrate.
4. Take a picture of your illustration.
5. Send me your photos via Troovi by Thursday, Mar 10.

I’ll create a video of our pictures to share with you after Spring Break.*

*This is a participation assignment.

Digital Storytelling

Let's look at how the University of Houston explains digital storytelling. In addition to this resource, researchers at UH recently completed a survey on how educators are using digital storytelling. They found that roughly 45% of the respondents felt that digital storytelling allows students to improve their understanding of subject area knowledge, writing skills, technical skills, and presentation skills. Specifically, an overwhelming majority of educators said that digital storytelling can be used with students to allow them to construct
their own meaning, facilitate collaboration, promote discussion, learn problem solving and critical thinking skills, understand complex ideas, and become familiar with new content. With that in mind, let's look at some examples of digital stories.

• Van Gogh's Letters to Theo
• Stones in My Pathway
• Race to the Moon

Exploring Creativity Tools

“Making Teachers Nerdy” is a blog that has a number of creativity resources. Look to the right-hand navigation bar (Latest Headlines) and investigate some of her suggestions. You’ll be sharing what you find – so be prepared!

Thinking Like a Teacher

Now that you've completed your first TLAT activity, let's reflect on what went in to the assignment. What was the most challenging part of the activity? What was the least challenging? What did you like the most? Who would like to summarize the activity they designed?

What Does Creativity Mean to You?

We’ve talked about the importance of communication and collaboration. Could the tools we looked at also foster creativity and innovation in your students? Or are there other tools better suited for that job?

What is creativity? Why are creativity and innovation important to your subject/grade level? Let's see how one teacher is using videos to learn 5th grade math. How about this video made with Xtranormal?

When was the last time you had the opportunity to be creative? Do you consider yourself creative? Evaluate yourself based on the Creativity Fluency Rubric.

How did you do?

Inventive Thinking

Let’s complete an activity in small groups to see how creative we are.

1. Brainstorm problems that are pretty universal to all UGA students taking Spring semester classes.
2. Select one problem to work on.
3. Think of as many ideas as you can to solve the problem.
4. Use some of Alex Osborn’s creativity strategies listed on page 130 in your text: combine, rearrange, adapt, reverse, substitute, modify, magnify, and minimize to improve your ideas.
5. Choose the best idea and create a solution. Be ready to advertise your solution to the class. The group with the best solution (voted on by the class) gets one GooJ!

You’ve thoroughly analyzed your instructional situation, you’ve selected the GPS that you want to address, you’ve brainstormed possible problems with teaching that standard and set appropriate goals, and you’ve brainstormed possible instructional solutions to the problem (Steps 1-3).

Today we’ll share your possible solutions with one another and then select and apply criteria to determine the “best” solution to your instructional problem (St).

Here are some criteria that you can use for your decision in Step 5:

1. Does the solution promote student communication and/or collaboration in an innovative way?
2. Are the teaching and learning tools selected well-suited for promoting communication and/or collaboration?
3. Is the solution age appropriate?
4. Is the solution the best way to teach the standard?

Your book has guidelines as well. (pp. 72-75)

1. Consider the context – what is it that you want students to learn?
2. Safety first – with whom are students communicating?
3. Teach group dynamics and team building skills
4. Provide students with a reason to listen (or communicate).

What other criteria are important for you to select the best solution? Make sure to consider as many aspects as possible that are important to your learning activity (Step 5), take your solution ideas from Step 4 and grade them according to your criteria. Then, choose the top-scoring solution to use for Step 6.

Reminder

Your final write-up for TLAT #1 is due at the beginning of the class on Tuesday, Mar 1 (we will not meet on Thursday). You will submit your work by writing up your learning activity and posting it to a TLAT #1 page on your Portfolio. Make sure you describe your activity and talk about the importance of promoting communication and collaboration for your grade level/subject area.

For Tuesday

1. Complete the rest of your TLAT #1 Design Guide
2. Post TLAT #1 to your Portfolio by the beginning of Class on Tuesday
1. Write a story about your planned lesson considering all the questions listed that describes your activity and talks about the importance of promoting communication and collaboration for your grade level/subject area
3. Read Chapter 5, complete the reading guide, and post a word or phrase about tools for creativity

By now you’ve identified the curriculum standard you want to address (Step 1) and you’ve listed several problems that could occur while teaching this standard (Step 2). Then you selected one of these problems to work on (Step 3).

Once you have narrowed down the instructional problem, it is time to brainstorm ways to teach the curriculum standard while ensuring minimal instructional problems. The most important thing you need to do is use all of your available resources to come up with as many ideas as you can.

Generating Solutions

What are you thinking about doing for your lesson activity? How is your solution going to encourage communication among your students? What type of communication does your instructional solution encourage – one to one, one to many, or many to many? Are students just talking to each other to get work completed? How is technology assisting communication? How can you create a solution that will encourage students to communicate with people outside of your own classroom?

How is your solution going to encourage collaboration among your students? Are they just working in groups? How is technology assisting collaboration? How can you move past traditional (and not always effective) group work?

Don't forget to consider the communication technology examples in your text on pages 78-81.

Something to consider: if your solutions are really just different versions of students working in groups to create PowerPoint presentations to communicate information to the class, are you really doing anything interesting? Are your students? How does this activity meet the needs of the students you described on your “in my classroom” page?

Once you’ve come up with ideas, you’ll trade topics with a partner and brainstorm as many ideas as you can in the allotted time.

Peer Review

Now what you need to do is get feedback from a classmate or two about the instructional problem you selected. Using this class roster, find two classmates who have selected the same subject and/or grade level and have them review your Design Guide. Make any adjustments to your plan based on the feedback you receive.

For Tuesday

1. Complete Step 4 in your TLAT #1 Design Guide to review your solutions and eliminate 2 that seem unreasonable or don’t make any sense
2. Add 2 new possible solutions by asking other people how they would teach your curriculum standard (note these 2 new items with a * next to them in Step 4 of your Google Doc)
3. We’ll work on Steps 5 and 6 in class on Tuesday

Today we begin our first Think Like a Teacher activity (henceforth referred to as: TLAT #1). TLATs are intended to help you think about how you can implement the tools you identify during the exploration tasks. For this project you’ll need to refer back to the Georgia Performance Standards, think about the communication and collaboration tools we learned, and information from Chapter 3. The final product will be a 2-3 page report that details a learning activity that you design for your grade/subject. This learning activity MUST incorporate a communication and/or collaboration tool (not necessarily the tool you used in the Exploration activity).

Usually, when planning a lesson, you must identify the end goal, steps to meet that goal, and what tools are necessary at each step. For instance – let’s suppose that you want to teach your roommate how to bake. In order to teach this lesson, you’ll need a recipe, cooking materials, and ingredients. Typically, you find that you make one cake with your roommate and they'll make the next one on their own. So, you'll have to:

1. Identify a skill (baking)
2. Determine how you will when the skill has been acquired (your roommate successfully bakes a cake on his/her own)
3. Identify necessary resources (recipe, ingredients, baking materials)
4. Model the skill (bake a cake with your roommate)
5. Have the learner demonstrate their understanding of the skill (your roommate bakes a cake with little or no assistance)
   
6. Assess the learning process (Does the cake look good? Does the cake taste good?)

Whether you're teaching in a classroom or you're teaching friends or co-workers about a new tool, the process is essentially the same. Regardless of the group of learners, they all have different experiences, levels of motivation, and abilities to be considered when designing the lesson. It's very likely that you've already taught someone how to do something. This activity will simply help you document a process that comes naturally.

Imagine that you have been asked to submit a proposal to do develop learning activities that use technology to improve the opportunities for communication and/or collaboration. Remember, NETS encourages students to use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others. Thus, lessons should encourage students to:

1. Interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media.
2. Communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats.
3. Develop cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with learners of other cultures.
4. Contribute to project teams to produce original works or solve problems.

Your proposal should consider the following points:

1. The activity should engage students in content learning by addressing GPS or other learning standards.
2. Technology should be used to promote one or more types of communication and/or collaboration described by the NETS.
3. The activity should allow every student to participate in and contribute to their group work with clearly defined roles.

Make sure that the proposal addresses all areas mentioned and reflect clarity of thinking as the lesson activity is developed.

We’ll be working on this project in class for several days, but it is due on Thursday, February 24 at 1:45PM  as a new webpage on your portfolio. To see how you'll be graded on this project, refer to the TLAT #1 Rubric.

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Let’s get our materials ready so you can start thinking like a teacher. Make a copy of the TLAT#1 Design Guide in your own Google Doc account to help you with this stage of the project. For today, we're only concerned with the first 3 steps in the doc.

For Thursday

1. Complete the first 3 sections of the Design Guide
2. Share your Design Guide doc with me
3. Explore samples in the textbook to come up with ideas for this project