SAMR

As was concluded from yesterday's virtual class it is very evident that SAMR is a hard but necessary model that should be followed in classrooms. As seen yesterday the S and A of SAMR are relativity easy to accomplish in the classroom but M and R takes actual work. It's scary to say this but the M and R of SAMR are where learning occurs. Also, many teachers say that they use technology in their classroom but as my experience was in school we never made it past S in SAMR. I have to remember that this is to help me as a teacher not to cause my demise.  Just trying to add a little humor to alleviate the thought that I am to be using this model in my future classroom while integrating effective uses of technology. It is absolutely essential that we apply SAMR model to our classroom in doing so we are demonstrating NC Professional Standard Four,Teachers Facilitate Learning. 

I found a wonderful blog that allowed me to deepen my understanding of SAMR, The blog is Education Technology and Mobile Learning. This blog explained...

Substitution

In a substitution level, teachers or students are only using new technology tools to replace old ones, for instance, using Google Docs to replace Microsoft Word. The task (writing) is the same but tools are different.

Augmentation
Though it is a different level, but we are still in the substitution mentality but this time with added functionality. Again using the example of Google docs, instead of only writing a document and having to manually save it and share it with others, Google docs provides extra services like auto saving, auto syncing, and auto sharing in the cloud.

Modification

This is the level where technology is being used more effectively not to do the same task using different tools but to redesign new parts of the task and transform students learning. An example of this is using the commenting service in Google Docs, for instance, to collaborate and share feedback on a given task task.

Redefinition

If you are to place this level in Blooms revised taxonomy pyramid, it would probably correspond to synthesis and evaluation as being the highest order thinking skills.  Redefinition means that students use technology to create imperceptibly new tasks. As is shown in the video below an example of redefinition is "when students connect to a classroom across the world where they would each write a narrative of the same historical event using the chat and comment section to discuss the differences, and they  use the voice comments to discuss the differences they noticed and then embed this in the class website".

The blog was also accompanied with a SAMR video that was also used in the SAMR breakout session of Keeping Learning Alive. 

Learning Experiences and Guiding Questions

In an effort to explore and deepen my understanding of learning experiences I went on a search. Fortunately, I was able to find the pdf of chapter 5, Concept Based Teaching and Learning. This article not only helped me to deepen my understanding of learning experiences is also helped me with developing my guiding questions for my CBI unit plan. This pdf is from a book, The Developing Concept-Based Teacher. This pdf explains

"A developing concept-based teacher evolves in multiple ways. 
The following three categories capture the essential areas of a teacher’s growing expertise:"

• Understanding Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction 
• Concept-Based Lesson Planning
• Concept-Based Instruction

There is a great explanation that is provided in the different parts of concept-based instruction and these three points are for when a teacher is developing his/her lesson,

In planning a concept-based lesson, there needs to be coherence among each of the lesson components. This means:
• the examples of factual content and skills exemplify the generalization(s) (conceptual understandings) students are expected to realize, 
• guiding questions are used to bridge students’ thinking from the factual knowledge (or examples) to the generalization (conceptual level of understanding), 
• the learning experiences (student assignments) are designed to support students’ learning of the knowledge and/or processes that exemplify the generalizations to be realized and understood, and finally, 
• assessments are aligned to the identified learning targets, knowledge, skills, and understanding(s), of the lesson.


This pdf helped me out greatly. In understanding that fact based instruction is no longer an effective way in which to reach my future students it is absolutely essential that I gain as much knowledge that I need to help my students to grow and understand social studies. If I neglect to put guiding questions in my lesson then students will not be able to connect the factual information to the concepts that I am trying to teach. Also, learning experiences are used to support students' learning and allow the teacher to see the understanding of his/her students. In connecting this with the NC Teaching Standards it is very evident that it encompasses, Teachers Demonstrate Leadership, Teachers Know The Content They Teach, and Teachers Facilitate Learning For Their Students.

Resource:
http://www.sagepub.com/upm-data/59988_Erickson_57_60.pdf

Performance Tasks in CBI

Today's class was quite informative, Of course we continued on our journey of unlearning and relearning. Activities are yesterday's old news and learning experiences and performance tasks are the new buzz. I can hear students cheering all over the United States where there is no longer a worksheet that has to be given to assess them or unclear guidelines for them to achieve.

In my search to deepen my understanding for developing performance tasks for my unit I found a pdf from learner.org. This document provided three steps to develop an authentic assessment.

Step 1
List the skills and knowledge you wish to have students learn as a result of completing a task. As tasks are designed, one should begin by identifying the types of knowledge and skills students are expected to learn and practice. These should be of high value, worth teaching to, and worth learning. In order to be authentic, they should be similar to those which are faced by adults in their daily lives and work.

Step 2
 Design a performance task which requires the students to demonstrate these skills and knowledge. The performance tasks should motivate students. They also should be challenging, yet achievable. That is, they must be designed so that students are able to complete them successfully. In addition, one should seek to design tasks with sufficient depth and breadth so that valid generalizations about overall student competence can be made.

Step 3
Develop explicit performance criteria which measure the extent to which students have mastered the skills and knowledge. It is recommended that there be a scoring system for each performance task

I do not know how many times I created my lesson before my performance tasks. I was taught just last semester that the summative assessment must be completed before my lesson or unit is created. As was explained in class when your assessment parallels with the lesson/unit we create a VALID assessment. If we create valid assessments we are helping our students connect with the information that is being taught and this also allows our students to reflect on their learning. I feel that creating an assessment that aligns with the lesson follows standard four of the NCPTS, Teachers Facilitate Learning for Their Students.


Resource:
http://www.learner.org/workshops/socialstudies/pdf/session7/7.PerformanceAssessment.pdf

Generalizations

What we did in class today, was a real brain workout. Honestly, a brain workout is a understatement. While I left wishing I had taken Tylenol I did however understand how to make generalizations a little better after class. 

I  did not realize that we were having to completely forget the way that we were taught in school and re-learn the effective and appropriate way. 

 I found a blog that discussed generalizations. In Bridging The Gap, there is a great definition for generalizations."Generalizations: a statement of a relationship between two or more concepts. It is believed to be true and applies to similar situations regardless of time, space, and culture. This statement may be used as a tool for prediction and is often framed as an if/then statement. 

Here is a quote taken from the blog that discusses the importance of generalization:
"Shively & Misco (2009) suggest that generalizations are a logical step in teaching kids to think critically about what they know and transferring that knowledge to a variety of topics within the social studies.After understanding the relationship between "fact" and "concept" students will be capable of producing high-quality generalizations that eliminate isolation of ideas and stimulate crossover and relevance to the social studies curriculum."

What we did in class today follows along with the quote presented in Bridging The Gap. We were able to make connections with concepts such as environment, society, regions,leadership, culture, diversity, and many of others. Bridging The Gap explains that lack of generalizations is caused by increased burden of testing and standards. 

Also, here is another great quote that shows the potential outcomes that can be seen by teaching generalizations in the classroom.
"Not only does a focus on generalizations have the promise to enhance vibrancy of classes and student interest, but it also as the potential to raise test scores through enhanced understanding of the content and improve the development of citizenship skills and dispositions."


For More Visit:
https://researchtopractice.wordpress.com/2010/04/25/the-importance-of-generalizations-in-social-studies/