Initial Learning Environment Plan

Initial Learning Environment Plan



Design Team:

Jane Henley

Metaphor/Theme Presented in Learning Environment

Read All About It!

Targeted Grade Level for this Plan:

8th Grade

Initial Goal for the Learning Environment

Critical reading skills are a necessary life skill. Students should possess critical reading skills such as skimming, reading for detail, comprehension. Students should also become aware of increasing vocabulary through the use of context clues. I hope this lesson will reinforce to students the necessity of mastering these skills for a successful life.

Sample QCC’s to be Addressed by this Plan:

Reads a variety of material for information
Expands reading vocabulary
Applies word recognition strategies (e.g. roots, affixes, and compound words) to acquire new vocabulary
Uses context clues to determine meanings of unknown words
Analyzes explicit and implicit main ideas, details, sequence of events and cause-effect relationships
Analyzes relevance of data
Analyzes fact and opinion, persuasion techniques, bias, and stereotyping
Applies reading strategies (e.g. literal comprehension, context clues and main ideas to specific material and subject matter.

Initial Idea for this Plan:

Students will be divided into small groups and will be able to choose from a list of newspapers to read on a daily basis for a two week period of time. During this period, the emphasis will be on:

Learning to recognize different types of news by its location
Skimming an article
Developing new vocabulary by using context clues within the article
Reading for detail and comprehension
Summarizing an article and presenting it to other class members
Discussing articles within their group centering on the relevance to their lives.

Initial Reflection Paper

Having graduated from college in the 1970’s when mainframes, COBOL and Fortran cards were the staple of the industry and only the brainiest “geeks” understood the terminology of the computer, I am constantly amazed at the ability of all students now to understand and harness the ability of this machine. I have very little experience with using this technology in the classroom but am excited about being much more competent in this area by May.
Having watched my oldest child increasingly exposed to this new technology, I have gone from being skeptical about the place of computers in the classroom to wondering how many more discoveries can be made to excite these kids in a learning environment. To resist this revolution in our society by not keeping the best technology available in our schools would be foolhardy at best. My son just finished editing a digital film complete with sound, splices, and special effects. These skills will be carried forward into his workplace (and he is only 14 years old). Power Point presentations are the norm and graphing calculators are requisite at his school. To deny other children this same exposure would be tantamount to crippling them as they enter the work force.
I think technology should be incorporated into every facet of the classroom. The students in school today should be able to eat, drink and sleep technology because that is their future. Not only should it be used as a supplement to learning but it should be as basic as having a pencil and paper on one’s desk when one starts an assignment. The technology is advancing so quickly that to not immerse these students in it will cause it to be an overwhelming and anxiety-producing task for them later. It is too much to take in at one time (ask anyone in their forties such as myself who is trying to stay abreast of it).
Ideally, every desk should have a laptop, every student should have their on web locker, and every teacher should treat technology like a textbook—something that is basic to their lives yet opens the door to new knowledge. I have no idea how to pay for this but it needs to be addressed in the public school system.
In closing, I do not know what technologies I would miss if they weren’t covered in this course as I’m still trying to get up to speed in all areas. I’ll be more than happy to answer this question at the end of the semester.

January 20,2005

Inauguration Day and inauguration of my blogger page. I've read a blog from a fifth grade student and posted a reply to him. It was interesting to read his opinions on good teachers.

Hi! This is my first blog.