Developing this course for an elementary classroom had me questioning what kind of information, besides the activity, I need to share in my introductory module. In our classroom, we discuss learning objectives and develop success criteria so once I considered where my students need to be and looked at some of the previous Google Classroom examples, I felt more comfortable about the direction I wanted to take. I really like using Padlet so I created one for this activity to allow students to contribute to the success criteria which I would establish once students have had the opportunity to participate. Like ETEC 565A I also developed some learning expectations based on the Ontario Curriculum. I feel that students who are in grade 8 should have the opportunity to discover what the government is expecting of them. I then provided information about the modules students would be engaging in with a timetable of key dates. Putting this together helped me with determining the flow for the rest of the content.
The introductory activity will be asynchronous in nature. Because the expectation is for students to create a mind map sharing their knowledge of poetry and a little bit about themselves, the students need time to consider what they know while using a tool that they may not be very comfortable with so asynchronicity provides them with the time they need. I have used Mindomo in the past and I find it is a nice diagnostic assessment tool as it is not too difficult to use as well as being integrated with Google, so students don’t need to sign up using any information other than what is provided to them through GSuite. The activity also allows me to guide my teaching based on student needs while allowing students to make it personal using pictures, words and/or emojis should they wish to. I also added a short survey to see how the class feels about poetry. Poetry is an emotional subject and seeing how everyone feels about it enables me to consider activities to further engage students if necessary.
As well, I have developed a short quiz using Google Forms as per Option 2 of the assignment. Because of this experience, I’m not sure that this would be my first choice based on the criteria. For example, I’m not sure how well the multiple-choice question I have developed will work and if I’m working with special needs students, this question may need to be modified.
The culminating task for my students will be a poetry research assignment and to ensure they don’t plagiarize, they will need some tools to assist them in this regard, therefore, I have posted a video and slideshow to help them and feel that this is an area which would be good to discuss in class. The students can choose the format for their final product which will hopefully generate more engagement and respects the different learning styles within the classroom as well as providing multiple means of expression (Bates, 2015).
Lastly, students will be developing a portfolio of poems that they will be sharing with me through Google Docs. This will allow me to provide them with feedback on a regular basis. I believe that this feedback will be a key component to their success as per Gibbs and Simpson “the most powerful single influence is feedback” (2004, p. 9). Also, having two assignments and one short quiz may assist students in achieving greater success. Based on Gibbs and Simpson’s paper, “Students tend to gain higher marks from coursework assignments than they do from examinations” (2004, p. 6).
References
Bates, T., 1939. (2015) Teaching in a digital age. Chapter 8: Choosing and using media in education: the SECTIONS MODEL. Retrieved from http://opentextbc.ca/teachinginadigitalage/part/9-pedagogical-differences-between-media/
Gibbs, G., & Simpson, C. (2004). Conditions Under Which Assessment Supports Students’ Learning. Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, (1), 2004-2005, 3-31. Retrieved from https://www.open.ac.uk/fast/pdfs/Gibbs%20and%20Simpson%202004-05.pdf .