Service Learning Project

    Lincoln Academy is a Charter school in Pleasant Grove, Utah.  We have been working with Mrs. Larsen in her health class.  The class is fairly small compared to other classes.  The number of students is 24, making it convenient for teaching purposes.  The class is not too big, nor too small.

    Mrs. Larsen has been an excellent teacher to work with.  She has been helpful at providing ideas of what she would like for the classroom.  We all get along well and have never felt uncomfortable to ask her questions and get feedback on the digital story that we are working on. 

    Our digital story was an introduction to her unit on drug use and abuse.  Mrs. Larsen loves our video.  She likes that we were able to show pictures of what a particular drug looks like and then what it does to a person.  She was glad that we created the video for her classroom use.   Mrs. Larsen was impressed with our work and thought it was very well done.  She expressed that it was a great piece of material for her classroom.
    The lesson that we completed fit perfectly with what she was looking for.  It was a great introduction to her unit.  I think that she enjoyed that she was involved in the process of creating the video.  It enabled her to tailor the video to her needs and what she wanted.  Mrs. Larsen was able to gain new ideas for making learning exciting and received new materials that will capture her students’ attention.

The training session did not go so well.  She was not very interested in learning how to create such media herself.  She was able to see how media can be incorporated to enhance learning but felt like it was too much time and effort.  She appreciated the media and was interested in having media in the future but felt that it was not worth the extra time and effort.  We showed her some very simple ideas such as Photo Story, for quickly creating digital media for the classroom.  She was impressed with how simple it was but I don’t know that she will use it in the future.  Not because she doesn’t see the value, but because she feels the short amount of time is not worth it.

We felt that this experience was a little time consuming and it was hard to be able to get together with each other to collaborate and put the digital story together.  We liked the having Mrs. Larsen give us feedback on ideas that we have had on the project.  We enjoyed working with her and how observing how she may incorporate these technology-based lessons into her health class.

From this experience we were able to see other ways of teaching a lesson through technology.  Although we are both unsure if we are going to use this information that we are learning in each class in our future lessons, working with Mrs. Larsen has helped us with trying to see how technology can be used to introduce a lesson.  By being creative in lesson planning and bringing different teaching styles into the classroom even though she wasn’t really interested in it herself is a great learning tool for students.

We both had mixed feelings about this project.  Me as a PE teacher, I don’t find this information useful for my future lessons because we will be participating in physical activity pretty much every day.  Taylor thought that this project would be beneficial to her for her future lessons.  We did like working with another teacher to see how it could be used in an actual classroom setting, but we both are still a little unsure as to how often we will use technology lessons, like these digital stories in our classrooms.

Week 9

This week we continued working on our key assignment for our portfolio and learned about Creative Commons.  We are making a video that we can use for instruction in our classrooms and creative commons allows up to copyright our work.

This project will benefit me as a teacher to have media materials.  However, in creating media materials I need to be aware of copyright laws.  As we have been learning about obtaining permissions and finding out where to obtain "free" information I realized how much stuff is out on the internet illegally.  These videos are a great resource for our students and a quick, yet different way to get them the information they need but it is important to make sure that we are getting the proper authorization for the material. 

I want to make learning enjoyable.  This technology will enhance my teaching and make me a better educator because I am able to teach in a way that relates to me students.  Students enjoy technology and any way that I can incorporate it into the classroom will be beneficial to them.  It will also be beneficial to me because I am keeping up with technology and taking advantage of what it has to offer but doing so legally.  The last thing I want is to get in trouble with the law.  Not only for the complications for me but also the poor example it will set for me students.

Week 8

This week we started working on our key assignment for our portfolio.  We are making a video that we can use for instruction in our classrooms.  We will also be sharing these videos in the classroom that we are providing materials for.  The teacher we are working with is excited for our video.  We are doing it as an intro to the drug unit.  She is really excited about our idea (it is a surprise).

This project will benefit me as a teacher.  I was intimidated about making videos because I thought that it would be extremely difficult.  Now that I am learning how to make them through PhotoStory and Microsoft Movie Maker, I have come to understand that it in fact is not that difficult.  These videos are a great resource for our students and a quick, yet different way to get them the information they need.  I believe students will be more interested in these videos than they would if we were to do just straight lecture.

As I stated above, these videos will help me to reach another type of learner.  After some of the examples given in class, I like the idea of being able to show one and the beginning of the yet to get students excited about what they will be learning.  I want to make learning enjoyable.  This technology will enhance my teaching and make me a better educator because I am able to teach in a way that relates to me students.  Students enjoy technology and any way that I can incorporate it into the classroom will be beneficial to them.  It will also be beneficial to me because I am keeping up with technology and taking advantage of what it has to offer.

Vidcast

            Vidcasts are excellent tools in education.  For the purpose of this assignment, we chose to do a series for Standard 4 of the Health core curriculum.  We created a vidcast using PhotoStory about how to perform Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR).  When in a situation where CPR is to be performed, it is easy to freeze up but by remembering our video “Dr. ABC” the steps can be easily recalled.

            Standard 4 states: Students will demonstrate the ability to apply prevention and intervention knowledge, skills, and processes, to promote safety in the home, school, and community.  Proficiency in CPR is an indicator for the second objective; recognizing emergencies and responding appropriately.

            CPR is a necessary skill for everyone.  This is a video that I will use in my high school classroom. The students can follow along with it and perform the steps on a mannequin so that they aren’t just watching the video; they are able to get actively engaged.  The best way to learn CPR is to do it but you have to be given instruction on how to properly perform it.  By doing this it connects to the INTASC Standard 2.  Students will be demonstrating what they have learned and appropriate resources will be used to facilitate their learning.

            This lesson also allows for differential learning for many students, meeting Standard 3 for the INTASC Standards.  The video will accommodate the visual learns.  The bodily learners will enjoy and be engaged by hands-on performance of the activity.  It will also meet standard 3 by being available on my classroom site, this will also the student to share with their families what they have learned and teach their family members.

            Vidcasts are materials that I will be using in the future.  It is a great technological tool for teachers and many do not take advantage of the resources available to them in the classroom.  It is great for “How To” instruction and tutorials as well as other areas.  My students can also use this to present to the class.  Vidcasts is something that I am looking forward to implementing in my classroom.

Reflection-Week 6

What?
This week in class we began working on Vidcasts.  At first I was nervous with Vidcasts.  I was nervous to use the technology.  We are doing it in sections so it is not as bad as I first thought.  We are making a Vidcast through Photostory about CPR for Standard 4 which is about Safety. 

So What?
This is an easy way to to teach, especially things with steps such as tutorials.  My students will enjoy it more because there are images they can look at and music, along with audio instead of just being lectured.  My students will also enjoy the use of technology.  Students are able to relate to technology and enjoy it when it is incorporated into the curriculum.  We are doing this to give us additional resources so that we don't have to lecture all the time, students have a resource to find information, and so that students don't get bored by being lectured to all the time; it adds diversity.  


Now What?
This means a lot to my future students.  This technology is definitely a resource I will use in my classroom.  I will use this vidcast in my classroom for the students to follow along with when learning about CPR.  It will help the visual learners and by following along and participating in the activity, kinesthic learners will be addressed.  This is also a great tool that I can use in my other class or that my students can use for reports or projects.  It will give them a new way to present materials and I think the students will enjoy it.