Up's and Down's

The ASSURE lesson planning process is a fairly new process to me. I was introduced to this type of lesson plan last semester, Fall of 2009. I was introduced to the basics and was required to turn in one example of a “made-up” lesson plan. The requirements and process for this class have been a bit different. I have been challenged; seeking ways to introduce and incorporate technology into a lesson is not easy. Although this process has been challenging; it has also been fun and a bit frustrating.

The first part of the lesson plan seemed to be easy. I remembered the lecture that was given about creating this model and spent some time filling out the different sections. I had never seen the NETS*T standards before, so I had to spend a little time researching them online. I decided to use the NETS*T standard III A (NETS for Teachers 2000,2000). I chose this standard because it uses technology to enhance learning. When I began writing the section about Learner Participation, I began to realize that this lesson was going to be a bit more challenging that I had thought. The visual bar graph was going to give the students a visual representation to enhance their learning, but I didn’t want it to be too challenging for them. I decided that fourth grade students should have no problem filling out a chart, but would need specific directions for filling in a spreadsheet. I had created bar graphs many times and although it seemed easy to me, I decided that I would have to give them step by step instructions. My students are in 4th grade, so they should be able to read and follow these instructions with minimal assistance.

When I was finished, I inserted some example bar graphs into my paper and added some graphics. I spent some time adding some flourishes. I knew that this lesson was going to go on a blog and I wanted it to look great. I have never blogged before. I enjoyed adding the graphics and making it “appealing” to the eye. I visited a USDA website and discovered an online game for kids that could have fit into my lesson plan if I had chosen a younger age group (USDA, 2009). At this point, I decided that lesson planning could actually be fun and not such a headache, like it has been many times before. I started to think about the different ways of incorporating technology into my classroom and had fun thinking about the things that I could do in the future.

The next step of this process was very challenging to me. I spent a lot of time creating this document in Microsoft word and was very proud of the product. I knew I needed to copy and paste it into my blog and it sounded easy when it was described in class. I opened my blog and this is where the frustrations began. I copied my entire paper, went to the blog, clicked on the text section, and then clicked paste. Nothing happened. I did this multiple times. Nothing happened. After several attempts, I called my fellow classmates and asked if they were having this trouble and they were not. How frustrating! I ended up driving to UOG where a fellow classmate assisted me in the copy and paste process. It turned out that my computer was the problem and I was doing exactly what I was supposed to. When I followed the same exact process on her computer, it pasted. We then spent time saving some of my graphics and graphs to pictures and importing them into my blog. I spent a significant amount of time editing the document after this endeavor. After copying the document, it did not transfer over using the same font. Although it was frustrating, I ended up with a finished product that showed up online. Wow, I’m now a blogger! This introduction of technology will be something that I will change after this class is finished, to update family and friends back in the states.

This process was challenging, fun, and frustrating all at the same time. I now feel that I am better prepared for future lesson plans incorporating technology. I was challenged to think outside of the box and utilize standards that I was not familiar with. I had fun surfing the USDA website and finding other ideas for technology in the classroom. I discovered that blogging can be frustrating and is also going to take a bit of practice. This experience was definitely a learning one.

Resources

NETS for Teachers 2000. (2000). Retrieved February 19, 2010, from ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) website:
http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2000Standards/NETS_for_Teachers_2000.htm

United States Department of Agriculture. (2008). Retrieved February 19, 2010, from (MyPyramid) website:
http://www.mypyramid.gov/Kids/kids_game.html

Colorful plate!
By: Lynn Morris

The students in the class will be introduced to the food pyramid and food portions. The students have just completed a unit about physical fitness and how to stay physically healthy. They will now be introduced to ways of staying healthy by the things that they eat. At this stage the students should have been introduced to classifying. In the third grade they learned how to categorize fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy, and meats into the proper areas.

Analyze Learners
This is a fourth grade class. There are 18 students, 11 boys and 7 girls. All of the students are from military families. The students have just completed a unit about physical fitness. We have had informal discussions about eating healthy food in our classroom. The majority of the students are well behaved, but sometimes I have to refer to my stop sign behavior chart to remind them to stay on task. There are two deaf students in my classroom. I have an interpreter who interprets for them during the entire class time. Both of these students are very intelligent and enjoy working in groups and participating in hands on activities. This class has a mix of low SES to medium SES. All of the students in this class enjoy working in groups. They tend to be more creative and responsive when I present lessons in this genre.


State Objectives
Students will:

*List all foods consumed for a one day period.
*Analyze worksheet with different serving sizes.
*Develop a graph that indicates one day’s food consumption.
*Develop a graph that indicates the recommended daily food allowance for the food groups.
*Compare their daily graph to the recommended daily allowance graph that they created.
*List areas from the food pyramid that they need to eat more from.

The students will be put into groups with three in each group. The students will work together to compile their data. Each group will work together to fill out their worksheets. They will also work together to create their graphs in Microsoft excel. The classroom has 5 computers so the students will have to take turns creating their graphs.

Select Instructional Methods

Methods

Group Learning
The teacher will introduce the new food pyramid to the classroom using an overhead projector. The teacher will then have a group discussion about portion sizes. The teacher will explain the new food pyramid and the importance of knowing how food looks as ounces and cups. Plastic foods will be provided along with other items that the students will be able to pass around, in order for them to see a visual representation of the approximate ounces and cup sizes for the different foods. The students will be broken into groups to complete the worksheet regarding portion sizes. The teacher will then discuss the group results with the class. The class will discuss why or why not they agree with each other’s answers.

Individual Learning
The students will list foods that were consumed during their lunch period, during breakfast, and from the previous night’s dinner. The students will indicate the amount they consumed for each item.

Media
· The food Pyramid will be projected onto the wall using the overhead projector.

Materials
· Overhead projector, transparency with food pyramid, worksheets, excel instructions page, pencils, plastic food items to be passed around the classroom, computers, printer, computer paper.

Utilize Media and Materials

Preview the Materials: The teacher should be fully aware of all aspects of the food pyramid.

Prepare the materials: The teacher should ensure that all of the materials are available before the lesson. The plastic food should be easily assessable and ready for the lesson. The overhead projector should be out and operational. The worksheets for both activities should be copied and ready to pass out to the class. All materials should be in an easily accessible area to minimize waiting time during the lesson.

Prepare the environment: The computers should be turned on and ready for use. They should be checked to ensure that they all have access to excel.
Prepare the learner: The teacher should give the students a few moments to calm themselves and prepare for the lesson. The students will be returning from lunch and will require a few minutes do decompress. The teacher should give the students a brief review of classifying foods from the previous year of learning. The students should be allowed to ask any questions they may have before the teacher goes into the lesson of the afternoon.


Require Learner Participation

Serving Size worksheet – Each student must discuss the worksheet within their group. Each student will be required to state at least one opinion about a serving size activity on their worksheet. Each student will be required to fill in at least one answer in their own handwriting.

Food Consumption Worksheet – Each student will write their daily food consumption onto a group worksheet. They will be required to write down the amount in ounces and in cups.

Group 2



Graphs

The students will go to the computer and open an excel worksheet. They will then type their group member’s names into cells A2, A3, and A4. They will then type the 5 food groups into cells B1, C1, D1, E1, F1. The students will then take turns entering their data into the cells that correspond with their name and food items. When the students enter an amount for ounces, they should enter it using a decimal (0.03)
The students will then select one student to click on A1 and drag it to F4, which will highlight all of their data. This student will then click insert, then click bar, then select which bar graph that the group would like to select for their report. The graph will then be automatically generated.

The students will then create a new graph to represent the MINIMUM recommended daily allowance. They will create this on the same page. They will click on A20 and type in RDA. They will then enter the food groups into B19, C19, D19, E19, and F19. A different student will then enter the minimum RDA from the food pyramid that will still be projected onto the board. The third student will click on A19 and drag it to F20. The student will then click insert, then click bar, then select which bar graph that the group would like. The graph will be automatically generated.

The student will then press and hold the shift button and click on both bar graphs to select them. The student will then press and hold the control button and press c. The student will then open a word document. The student will then press and hold the control button and press v. This will copy the two bar graphs into the word document. The students will then print their document. The students have printed many documents before and should be proficient at this.

The students will then compare their two graphs to see if they have eaten the recommended daily allowance for the day. The students will then be told to write in their homework journal about their results. If the students did not meet the RDA, they should explain why they did not. If they did meet the RDA, they should talk about how they learned about healthy eating habits. If they ate too much in a category, they should explain how this could impact their health.



Evaluate and Revise

Content: Were the students able to list the foods that they consumed over a one day period? Did the teacher have to pull the information out of the students while walking around the room checking on the groups? Students will turn in their group worksheets.
Were the students able to complete the serving size worksheet without difficulty? Did the teacher have to spend a lot of time answering questions while she walked around the room? How did the class do as a whole on the worksheets?
What was the difficulty level of the excel bar graph? Were the students able to work together to complete the activity? Were the students able to follow the written instructions to step by step create the graph? Did the students work well within their groups? Did they take turns on the computer application?
Were the students able to compare their data to the FDA data? Were they able to verbalize their opinions about the differences with their groups? Were the students able to write about the comparison that they observed between the two graphs? How valid was their comparison? Did their graph show the true results?



References

http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usdahome
http://www.mypyramid.gov/
http://www.fns.usda.gov/TN/Resources/mpk_level2intro.pdf

Practice for ED451

This is my first blog. I am not sure what a blog is, but I am sure that I will know very soon!

Georgia
Times
Webdings
Treb
University of Guam

University of Guam
http://www.uog.edu/





Can you read this font?