EEND713

EEND713 Engaging E-Learning Artifacts

1) Unit Plan 

The first artifact I chose to include here was my Unit Plan for a 3rd grade recorder unit. While this was a ton of work, I am very proud of the unit plan that I created. The plan forced me to think about backwards design, which I had not really done before in my lesson planning. This unit plan is something that I can definitely use with my students in the upcoming school year. I really liked the setup of this unit plan so much that I was inspired to set up a 4th grade unit plan continuing where this plan left off for recorders which I will use in the upcoming school year. Even though it takes time, I will probably also continue this for other grade levels, as it really makes sense for me to do! I liked the organization behind the unit and the way that its structure required that I consider multiple learning styles in its design. I am really proud of the digital resources that I created to fit in with this plan. The above link includes these resources in the shared document. 

2) Genius Hour Recipe Index

The second artifact that I chose to include here is the collection of my Genius Hour recipes that I created as a result of this project. I chose these because I am really proud of the fact that I was able to create somewhat of a finished product of recipes that I can ACTUALLY use. If I decide to continue using these in the future, I can always expand on these because I already have the recipe and nutrition documents set up. I actually hope to be able to add some additional recipes to this list so that I have at least a few weeks' worth to use during school. 

I have never completed a Genius Hour type project. In doing this, I now have a better idea of what the students might experience if they had the opportunity to create something like this. To see my process throughout, you can check out my posts on the Home page. 

Class Reflection

How Have I Grown?

This course has shown me how to plan lessons following a backwards design, which I really had never done before in my lesson planning. Yes, I had ideas about what I wanted students to achieve, and of course I was following our district curriculum goals, but in designing the unit plan I really had a chance to reflect on what tools would help me tailor my lessons to specific student learning objectives. By having this focus, I feel like I understand better now how to plan around student learning goals. Strange, right? You'd think all along I would have been planning for student learning objectives being in my 17th year of teaching. This course has taught me how to truly think about the best tools that will help students achieve specific learning goals.

The experience of completing my own Genius Hour passion project has really helped me understand the concept of Genius Hour. Previously I had read about this idea and had known some teachers in my school who had used this approach with their students, so I was somewhat familiar with the idea. In completing my OWN Genius Hour project, however, I now understand better what the experience is  like for students. The concept makes more sense to me having gone through the experience. 

I love the idea of Genius Hour! I was very impressed with my classmates' projects and part of me felt like I should have done more or chosen a different project. I really liked the home improvement projects that many of my classmates chose to focus on (the finished products looked fantastic)! While as adults I think many of us chose to focus on things we had never had a chance to accomplish, like learning a new instrument or finishing that home improvement project, which require SOME creativity and thinking outside the box, I think this idea is brilliant for kids, because it engages them in something they are passionate about or have an interest in. Isn't this, after all, what education is supposed to do?

While I love the idea of incorporating Genius Hour into my classes, right now the way my classes are structured I really can't envision a way to include this full concept into my teaching. I will probably use some ideas, like the idea of student choice, reflection, and continued feedback in larger unit projects like student compositions. Beyond that will take a little more thought on my end...

Overall, I have really enjoyed this course! I never thought I would have gotten so much out of online classes, but this class has been a very cool experience!