Final Wicked Project

Problem:  I teach at an alternative high school where the students have high absentee rates.  Unfortunately, apathy is a major reason for this.  However, most of my kids do care but have to take care of their children, have no way to arrive at school, or live in transient households so I want to provide a platform that provides students an opportunity maintain good grades.

Solution:  To help solve this problem, I designed a website that allowed me to download copies of homework, assignments, completed notes, video tutorials, a blog and links to websites so kids can get extra practice. 

Parents:In addition to the features I already have on my site,  Rebeccah Haines points out in her article, “Keep parents in the loop with a class website” that classroom websites are great for keeping parents informed about assignments, links to educational websites, and calendars.  

 

 

 (TP):  The technology and pedagogy of my website is strong, and it supports my instruction in that it allows me to provide activities that will meet multiple learning styles.  Some people thrive seeing videos of how to solve problems and others are auditory so hearing the steps of a problem is valuable.  Also, I have sites that offer problem simulations which will give kids yet another option, and I intend on perfecting my ability to produce StAIRs, videos, blogs and podcasts so the kids get a personal touch.

 (TC):  For technology and content, I have to make sure that all students are comfortable with the technologies I give them to use.    A large percent of my students, especially the ones who have been absent from school, have a high level of stress when it comes to math so I don't want to add any more stress by not having them be familiar using the website, downloading assignments, finding videos, locating tutorials, accessing practice, and blogging.  It would be great if the kids do not have to troubleshoot problems and deal with bugs so technical issues need to be minimized.  In fact, I plan on spending much of the beginning of the school year teaching technology skills over teaching math.

 (PC):  The PC piece of the puzzle is covered because students will be able to enhance their reasoning skills, both inductive and deductive as there are a variety of activities that will give them chances to visualize and hear the content I want them to learn, to communicate with others and to discover things on their own.  My lessons will start off with the basics, but later the lessons will become more difficult and include analyzing solutions, describing how they came up with their solutions, and designing their own problems. am excited about the opportunities for my students!

Implementation:  The implementation of my website went well.  I received positive feedback from teachers and students.  The kids who took the time to check out the site found the idea that they could download assignments.  I was disappointed that more kids did not utilize the site.  Changes I would make include notifying more parents about the website, taking more time to show the kids how to use the site, providing more completed notes and embedding videos for each lesson instead of having the kids copy notes off of another student ,which happens infrequently, or having students search for their own videos.  In addition, I plan on making my own videos on Jing or Movie Maker to give lessons a personal touch.

Findings and Implementation:  I feel that my project was a success.  It was not difficult to implement and students simply had to remember the address which I wrote on my whiteboard and gave on a hard copy.  I am disappointed, but not shocked that more kids did not take advantage of the site, but apathy is a major issue amongst the kids I teach.  When I use the site next year I will organize it better, instruct on how to use the site and get information to parents on how to use the site.  In John White’s report “The Planning Stages of Creating a Classroom Web Site:  Where to Begin?”, he says, “Planning is a critical stage to creating a classroom website.” , and I agree with that analysis so I will make sure to take time to do so.

 

 

 

 

Citations

Haines, R.. (Year, Month. Day ). In Keep parents in the loop with a class website. Retrieved Jun. 23, 2011, from http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/6639 

White, J.. (2001, Month. Day ). In The Planning Stages of Creating A Classroom Web Site: Where to Begin?. Retrieved Jun. 23, 2011, from faculty.umb.edu/peter_taylor/610white.doc