For the PEDS project, there wasn’t a significant aspect in which I was assigned to do and be responsible for it because majority of the onside work was done collectively since this project was assigned. For instance, the initial surveys were done in pairs, where I worked with a partner to complete it. When creating the Poll Everywhere edition of the powerpoint lesson, we all contributed to the questions equally. We all collaboratively worked on the final survey made for students to determine based on their opinions whether or not this project was successful. However, I did feel that my contribution to this project did not match to those from my group. This is because I wasn’t always included in their conversations and decisions made for this project. It was a bit unfair. The first time when we were responsible to go afterschool to communicate with the teacher and layout our project, a few members including myself were not able to come for some reasons. So, we concluded that any two people should go, and communicate with the teacher to introduce this project and our plans. Hence, only two people went.
Overtime, this became a major barrier of communication within our group. Just because I couldn’t commit myself to the meetings the first time, I was not notified for the future ones as they had already planned. I was unaware of many of these meetings which were the most important part of this project in order for it to bring successful results. In addition to that, they did not update me with any new plans they had planned with the teacher, instead I was blamed sometimes for not being involved enough. Furthermore, the day on which the in-class lesson was organized to teach the class the lesson using Poll Everywhere, was the day that I was absent due to a field trip. This was the significant element of this project and I missed it, which is also why I feel that my contributions too little. Moreover, sometimes a couple members were unwilling to do the tasks and finish things up. They lacked motivation and did not put enough efforts. Personally, I never lacked willingness to get tasks done especially for this project, meaning Biology was not an issue for this project. It was because this project was flexible and since every part that I contributed to was collaboratively done, it was all finished during class and consumed less time. For these reasons, I was not able to contribute much and this is why I believe our PEDs project was unsuccessful. All in all, the major issue was the gap of communication in our group (between a group of grade elevens and one grade twelve). As I mentioned before, the biggest cause of this unsuccessful project was the lack of communication (at least on my side it was). So, if I had to change anything, I’d make sure I talk to my group members firmly and discuss with them our next steps properly and also ensure that the meetings with the teacher is not just with two people, but with all members. This way, the issue of communication will be eliminated within the group as well as with the teacher. Transparency would solve a chunk of the issues that I believe caused this project to be unsuccessful. Another minor thing I would change about this project is organizing more in-class lessons with the teacher because we in fact only had one meeting where we received the chance to teach the class a lesson. Having more of the in-class sessions would mean that we have more data and more data is better when drawing conclusions. I feel that with only one lesson done in class, the results cannot be conclusive enough to confirm whether this PED is a success or not. One suggestion I would give is that maybe have the teacher organize these groups instead of creating our own that way no distractions can distract the friends and let them off-track. What I discovered while working with my group is that when friends go with friends they are more likely to get themselves hooked to something and go on a completely different track. They tend to distract themselves in useless talks and not get the work completed in time. So, having the teacher to organize the teams would be suitable and beneficial to the students because they are forced to work with each other and contribute so that if one does not, they are being covered-up by their friend.
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Distinctive PED tools were presented in class to enhance student learning and the instructor’s teaching. From the list of presented PED tools, it was difficult to narrow the wide range possibilities with just two as they were all genuinely beneficial and possessed its own advantages and disadvantages. Each tool demonstrated was quite enticing and drew attention. However, a select few were repetitive in terms of concept. I wouldn’t want to specify them, but I assume you know them very well. As a regular high school instructor, the two foremost tools that I would consider effective for student learning and teacher practice comprise of Block and Focus as well as Poll Everywhere.
One of the two tools selected contribute towards improving student performance and the other benefits teaching practices. To be specific, Block and Focus which is a Chrome Extension, is what I believe the most essential tool any student requires. Block and Focus allows one to concentrate on school work, by avoiding distracting websites which generally include all sorts of social media platforms. Personally, I would use this extension for my English course this year because it motivates me to stay on task. Most importantly, this tool will eliminate the probability of me procrastinating on any assignment. This is a very advantageous tool for me specifically because I tend to delay my tasks often of simply take too much of time on one. This tool will guide me to completing tasks in the allotted time and also blocks me from social media which is my greatest distraction. And the best part is the bell which rings after the block-session has terminated. The bell provides a signal to go back on social media, which feels as great as a reward. When one is aware of receiving rewards after the accomplishment of any task, they tend to do it faster and in my case more effectively. Previously, in English class I procrastinated on a group presentation, which I want to ensure, is not repeated again. And to put this in practice, I have already downloaded the extension and using it whenever completing journal entries, or any regular homework assignments. The other tool which I chose to best suit an instructor’s practice was Poll Everywhere. This tool is available as an app as well as a website. Imagining myself as a teacher, I would use this tool before introducing to a new unit in a course. Determining where the class stands before the beginning of a new unit is essential for me to recognize, so that I can plan ahead accordingly, which will benefit them the most. In addition, I would also incorporate this as an activity after a few lessons to recap what has already been taught and covered in the unit. This way, I can freshen-up their memory which enforces them to update and keep-up with the material taught. And lastly, I will integrate this tool upon the completion of a unit or the course. This is a great tool for me to investigate the class’s overall preparation and benefits them by knowing what sorts of questions may appear in their upcoming evaluation. Again, the largest advantage to this is that student’s name will not appear in the results after the poll has ended. It is kept completely anonymous, which aids the people who are timid and shy to participate, and thus removes the competition factor which tends to cease certain population of the class from participating. Hence, this is great for collective responses as polls instead of individual results. |
AuthorA grade 12, who is always mistaken as a niner. Archives
January 2017
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