Curricular Project

1.  Who is the audience?
• My 2 classes of 10th grade learning support students. The classes range in size from 12 - 16 students.  The majority of students have been identified with a specific learning disability (SLD).  However, there are also a small group of students identified with other health impairments (OHI) and intellectual disabilities (ID).
2. What do they need to learn?
• Students will classify angles with 90% accuracy
• Students will measure angles within 3 degrees with 90% accuracy.
• Students will construct given angles within 5 degrees with 90% accuracy.
• Students will solve for unknown angles on parallel lines with 90% accuracy.
• Students will solve for unknown angles using angle relationships with 90% accuracy.
3. What are the delivery options?
• Edmodo
• SMART board
• SMART notebook
4. What constraints exist?
• Class periods are only 44 minutes long.
•  Most students lack basic math skills needed for angle relationships.
• Students do not have individual use of technology.
5. What will the students do to determine competency?
• Angle Classification: Students will take a picture of each type of angle, create a poster for each type of angle, and play an angle classification game.  Each with 90% accuracy.
• Angle Measurement: Students will measure given angles, construct angles with given measurements, and play a partner challenge game.  Each with 90% accuracy.
• Parallel Lines:  Students will construct parallel lines with a transversal and then solve for the unknown angles with 90% accuracy. 
• Angle Relationships:  Students will find angle relationships in the classroom and then solve for measurements with 90% accuracy.
• Summative Assessment:  Students will take an  angle test and complete it with 90% accuracy.
6. What is the time line for project completion?
• 15 days for lessons and projects
• 1 day for summative assessment
7. What are the classroom/Web learning differences?
• Various projects used to demonstrate competency
• Students use technology as well as paper/pencil
8. What are the pedagogical considerations?

• Verbal learners receive instruction orally.
• Visual learners receive instruction visually.
• Tactile learners complete hands-on activities.
• Students work alone, in groups, and with partners.
• Progression to next lesson will only happen after demonstration of competency of current lesson
•  

Tablet Computing

After reading the Horizon Report: K-12 Edition, I can't help but get excited about the use of tables in an educational setting.  In the spring of 2012, I was required to research emerging technology for a class I was taking.  I chose iPads and spent a semester get well acquainted with all the amazing ways I could use an iPad in my high school learning support math classes.  This publication renews my excitement for many reasons because as a special education teacher in an inner city setting, I am faced with numerous challenges each day.  A few of the challenges that the iPad can help combat include increased class sizes, budget cuts, and competition with personal electronic devices not being used for academic reasons. 

When I started teaching at my school 5 years ago, my largest class was 14 students.  This year my largest class is 34 students where I am providing instruction in both Algebra I and Geometry during the class period.  If each student in my class were to have an iPad, I would still be able to provide the very individualized instruction I was able to provide 5 years ago to small groups.  If they had iPads  each student would be able to work on skills that have previously identified as areas of need as well receive different assignments based on their strengths and needs.   Students would also be able to work at a rate closer to their own pace instead of the needs of the general class dictating the pace.

In my school district, budgets are being cut and supplies are not being distributed.  I must now buy my own copy paper for everything from handouts and homework to IEPs, IEP invites, and reevaluations.  If each student had the use of an iPad, paper would no longer be as large as an issue.  Students would be able to receive and submit work electronically.  It would also allow me to share work with parents and guardians via email. Students would also be more prepared to compete with their peers at the college level if given the use of an iPad.   The students in my school have access to very little technology and therefore are not very fluent in things that are not social networking.   iPads would enable them to improve their technology skills so that they are better prepared to face the world that meets them after high school. 

The final challenge that iPads could help alleviate is competition with personal electronic devices not being used for academic reasons.  My students love to try to text, browse facebook, and listen to music during class because they are 21st century students who crave the use of technology.  iPads would allow my students to use the technology they love, to learn.   

National Technology Education Plan

Questions for Karen Cator:

1.  Are there strategies in place for dealing with administrators and teachers who are intimidated by technology and therefore aren't eager to use and explore it in their classrooms and schools?

2.  How will the plan be affected if the republicans gain control of the White House or Senate?

3.  Are there plans in the financial budget to update and replace current technology being placed in the classroom, when it becomes outdated?

While watching the video of Karen Cator speaking about the National Technology Education Plan I couldn't help but become excited about what the government wants for our schools.  However, I also experience a bout of skepticism which will be discussed later on.   Karen Cator discusses how important technology is for the United States to once again  compete with the top countries in the areas of innovation and achievement.   For many years the United States has been slipping down on lists that rank countries for innovation, achievement, and educational gains.  Technology can be the idea that helps bring the United States back to the top, however it must be implemented correctly and it appears the National Technology Education Plan tries to outline how to do just that.
              I read the plan and watch the presentation with some apprehensions for a few reasons.  Three of those reasons are funding, the present, and college graduation rates.  I work for a school district in that is in the top ten largest in the country.  However we are cutting budgets, increasing class sizes, and decreasing professional development and planning time. The National Technology Education Plan appears to need money and time for professional development and planning but they don't seem to exist.  Which ties perfectly to my next point, the present.  The National Technology Education Plan was written two years ago, so we are essentially already working on the plan and have been for quite some time.  In the last two years, I haven't seen a single piece of new technology enter my school and believe me we could use it.  We have also ended contracts with companies (due to budget cuts) to fix and update technology we already own, rendering it outdated or out of service.  Lastly I am skeptical about this plan because it seeks to increase the graduation rate of 2 and 4 year colleges by 2020.  The students who will graduate from a 2 or 4 year college in 8 years are already in middle school.  They already have their educational foundations which they received in elementary school before this plan was created and therefore may be below the expectations of the plan.  In order for the projection to be accurate the time line should be of students who have not yet entered school and therefore would be in school the entire length of the plan and the expectations and goals of the plan.