Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Monitoring My GAME Plan...


Monitoring My GAME Plan

This past week I have begun to implement a grammar lesson that I created with the Honors English teacher in my department.  I have observed him several times, and I am fascinated with his ability to make activities on the SMART board aesthetically pleasing.  We met and discussed the idea of expanding students understanding and implementation of figurative language devices in their writing.  Cennamo, Ross, and Ertmer support this type of interaction stating that it can be motivational for students (2009, p.93).  This last week, I had students begin learning different figurative language devices.  Once they understood the definitions, I began having them incorporate them into their writing by having students use images—all of the images were taking from Reuters—to elicit stronger writing.

My students had been struggling with expanding their writing, and after the activity, students were more comfortable in implementing figurative language devices into their writing.  Most of my students were struggling with when and how to implement figurative language into their writing.  By introducing the definitions and providing examples, students were able to view the images and apply figurative language devices into their writing.  This skill was strengthened by the SMART board skills the teacher showed me.  I was able to manipulate the clauses and phrases on the SMART board and rearrange them into coherent sentences.

Next week, I am looking to have my students use the same concepts of figurative language, but learn how to break the rules of grammar to make their writing stronger.  I will be using the same SMART board techniques, but will also be implementing the use of the HoverCam as a tutorial device to demonstrate to students how to properly break the rules of grammar.

Cennamo, K., Ross, J. & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach. (Laureate Education, Inc., Custom ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

4 comments:

  1. Mark, I am very interested in this plan and I would like to know a little more about it. My district is buying SmartBoards for teachers, and I have resisted accepting one because I do not know what I would use it for:) I could play jeopardy with it or show a movie:) But I have not had any PD with it, and so I asked not to be included in this round. I do not think I will be able to avoid it for much longer. What is Reuters? Do you mean http://www.reuters.com/news/pictures? I really think this sounds like a great plan. So many students are visual learners, and this sounds like it would be a very interesting class for them. Are you writing poetry?

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    1. Rachel,

      My opinion on the SMART board is very different from my peers. This grammar lesson is the only time I ever have something on the SMART board and that is because I am able to place all of the grammar examples on each slide and move them into the proper spot in the sentence. However, every other time I use the SMART board it is with a blank page and I fill up the page with my students. I am able to save the page and print it out for my students so that they always have the information. I have learned that students learn better this way instead of having information already loaded on the SMART board.

      No, we are not writing poetry. I am attempting to get my students to write grammatically correct 200-word sentences. It is a difficult process because I have to teach the rules of grammar and then demonstrate how to break the rules of grammar. I do not often have my students write poetry, because I tend to write poetry at about a 2nd grade level and I write with my students. Over the past six years, I have embarrassed myself enough with attempting to write poetry.

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  2. Mark,

    I enjoy using SmartBoards in my classrooms especially for interactive websites. I think they really can engage students when used properly.

    I use the Hovercam in my classroom to peer critique my student's AP Biology free response questions. We use a rubric and then I show them how I would score the essay. Students can then peer evaluaute each other's essays once they have done a few as an entire class. I know it would be a great tool in an English class when evaluating writing samples. Hope this helps!

    Angie

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    1. Angela,

      I like the idea of demonstrating your requirements for an essay to your class before you have them peer evaluate. I will definitely steal this idea. I have struggled with creating purposeful peer evaluations in my classroom.

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