Final Blog Post

Marisa, Meredith, and I did a great job on our lesson. By experiencing everyone else's lessons, we were prepared for anything that would be thrown our way. We wanted to make sure we had our class rules set beforehand so that each student knew ahead of time what to expect, and it seemed to work well because our class was really active during the entire class. My partners and I prepared the lesson around an interactive mindset. We wanted our classmates to be involved using as many of the senses as possible. Our preparations focused on technology and interactive principles. We realized that the podcasts did not work well if they were played for long periods of time, so we made sure that our podcasts were short and to the point to grab the students' attention. Our anticipatory set grabbed our students and put them in the mood for our lesson. Our lesson was executed in the way we wanted it to for the most part. We were a little behind during the reading/watching of the story because of the students' behaviors, but we got them back on track by asking questions. I wanted the students to be able to take what they read in the story and interpret answers for questions, and I think for the most part they understood what was going on in the story and for the questions. I learned patience from my students and how to word answers and questions that  would not spark an inappropriate comment or laughter, but it sometimes did not work. Joking with the students helped a little, I think, because it showed them the teacher can make a joke as well, and maybe she isn't as boring as they thought. I probably would only show a little bit of the movie the next time I teach this lesson because the students (and me at one point) dozed off a little because it was too much of the same thing for too long. I think the only thing I need to improve on is my mannerisms, because sometimes the way I talk is not appropriate or professional enough for the classroom. At first we wanted our podcast to be the whole story, but then we decided it would be better if we only played the questions, that way the students would not lose concentration. Some of the questions were not very loud so the students talked through some of the podcasts. I think I would use podcasts for homework assignments and homework readings rather than during class because I believe that it would be more effective outside the classroom. I could have added sound effects or made the podcast louder to make it work better. 
My other classmate's lessons went very well. I think that everyone had their moments with behavior problems, but each student took control over the class and fixed each problem. I think that some students' lessons could have been more developed. Some of the lessons were not cohesive and I think if they put more materials together to flow better, the lesson would have been a better success. I really liked how almost every group used technology to enhance their lessons. I learned a lot about using smart boards and how to keep my "cool" during a tough class. Everyone's lessons were a success and we all learned from each other during this time. 

Just Keep Swimming Just Keep Swimming

Despite the uncomfortable temperature in our classroom our group accomplished quite a lot! We outlined most of our lesson plan and are pretty set with everything. Now we just have to create the project, rubrics, and finalize all of our materials. We are going strong and will keep on swimming.

Life in the Fast Lane

I feel terrific about all the work we did on our podcast. Today we are going to start typing up our lesson plan (even though it is not due until March 30). By having everything done ahead of time we are able to keep moving at our own speed and continue to rock and roll with podcasting. Marisa added pictures to all our podcasts on podOmatic.com and made everything look spooky. I am excited to continue to work with Marisa and Meredith on our lesson plan and finish early so we can relax and even go back and change if needed. Today's class will not be as stressful as our previous class because all of the podcasting is finished. We are going to continue or lesson plan outline and keep driving in the fast lane!! Move aside because here we come!

Mission Complete!

We Did It!!!!

Our podcast of The Tell Tale Heart went extremely well! Each group member did a fabulous job recording her section and questions. Our podcasting experience went smoothly and wonderfully. We decided to podcast questions after each section so that our students would be able to pause and listen to the questions instead of simply reading them. For our lesson we plan to frighten our students (but excite them as well) with Edgar Allan Poe. The questions we asked were:

1. What is the setting and atmosphere of the story?

2. What is your first impression of the main character?

3. What is your prediction about what is going to happen throughout the story?

4. What evidence suggests the narrator is a mad man?

5. Describe the grotesque gothic elements during this section.

6. How does the man describe how he will dismember the body?

7. Where did the ringing come from?

These questions will enable our students to understand what is going on in the story while reading along. After the story we will start a group project titled, "Frightfest"...which you can imagine what kind of creativity will occur. We are excited to continue to work with this gothic short story to conquer our classroom and make reading Poe exciting, frightening, and faboulous!!! Til next time...We'll be watching you AH HAHAHA!

Here We Go...Again

So today we are going to attempt to complete our podcast of The Tell Tale Heart. Let's pray that no technological speed bumps come in our way. It's a rainy day (perfect for a scary story) and we are ready to rock and roll with Edgar Allan Poe (that was an attempt to rhyme). Marisa, Meredith, and I are thinking of podcasting two questions after each of our sections to incorportate comprehension during the reading. We were thinking of listening to the podcast and answering the corresponding questions during our lesson and then bringing The Tell Tale Heart to life by assigning a project that will enable our students to be creative in a design of character, plot, theme, and conflict. To be continued...

End of Day 2 Podcasting

Okay so my enthusiasm and optimism took a wrong turn during class. Marisa did a beautiful job reading Part 1 of The Tell Tale Heart. However, when we went to save and continue her podcast disappeared! Of course technology problems occurred (I might have jinxed it). Well, this just means we are extra prepared for Tuesday! Each of us has our assigned parts to read of the story and we are prepared to come in on Tuesday and conquer these computers! Even though today might not have been the most productive day in the computer lab, I have a good feeling that we got our technology problems out of the way and will be able to finish our story on Tuesday. Have a great weekend!

TGIF!

Thank God it's Friday! Tuesday's class was cancelled so today we begin podcasting again. Marisa and I have a new partner, Meredith, and we are excited to have her join us. This week has been pretty intense with lesson plans due and extra homework, so I am relieved to be in the computer lab working with my group and having some fun outside the realm of lectures. Maybe if things go as well as they did last week, our group will be able to post our entire story (though if I say that the computer might crash or something might go wrong). I read our story this morning before class and it is a pretty intense scary story. Plus, by adding scary noises and voices, this story will come to life. Bringing our story to life is just the thing we need in order to spice up the typical English class. By podcasting different types of stories, plays, poems, etc., we will be able to engage our students and take over the world. Let us see what today brings.