Interactivity #4

Beatlemania Lesson Plan:  https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B_4kpwwiNg77RTg5b0JLem1lZjA/edit?usp=sharing

Google Spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Av4kpwwiNg77dHYwakFpeEQ2OGZsbTBSVk5JcHJKdXc&usp=sharing


"Beatlemania" was a lesson I wrote last semester during fieldwork for an 8th grade Rock and Roll History class. When I first wrote this lesson plan I was very uncomfortable using the smartboard in the classroom so I tried to limit my smartboard use as much as possible. The amount of time it took for me to fiddle around with it took away too much of class time. I was however comfortable enough to use the smartboard to play youtube videos related to our discussion topics.

I am currently student teaching at the same school. The students I had last semester have rotated to a different course so my Co-op and I have a brand new set of students. I chose this lesson plan because I had the opportunity to teach the lesson again. Why not use this opportunity to modify a lesson plan that I will actually use? I actually taught my modified lesson plan in class and it went very well. The students were excited to see their handwriting blown up on the big screen. I think it was something that they didn't expect. They knew that we would be using the posters to start discussion topics, but when I told them I would scan their images and put it on the smartboard they didn't believe me.

The first time I taught this lesson I tried to fit everything into one 45 minute period. The students enjoyed the carousel activity because they got to draw fun pictures and write stuff with markers, but because of time constraints the real discussion I wanted got lost. I decided that a two day lesson would be best. After looking at their finished posters I realized that they also didn't meet the expectations that I thought they would. Their comments were undeveloped, they didn't react to other students opinions, and the pictures they drew had little to do with the information I presented to them. When I modified my lesson plan I decided it would be best to explain what I wanted from them by using Facebook as an example. Most of them have probably been on Facebook before and know what it is like to write on a friends wall or comment on pictures. I wanted to let them know that they are allowed to write down reactions to other people's comments. With the new group of students they were able to understand what I wanted from them by using the Facebook example.

After some practice, I became a little more comfortable with the smartboard so I decided it would be really great to figure out a way to get scanned images of their posters to put on the big screen. This is what really made the discussion part of my lesson stronger. The students were excited to see their handwriting and pictures up in front of them. I made sure to let them know I was putting their images up on the screen and reminded them that everything they wrote is anonymous and will stay anonymous if they wish.  With out having these scanned images, the students would have never been able to choose what topics they wanted to talk about.

A student of mine taught me how to make a Prezi using www.prezi.com. I used this website to organize the scanned images and videos. Putting videos on the prezi was a relief because the students always want me to click on the videos that pop up in the sidebar. This allowed no distractions! The following link is the actual Prezi that I made for the class.

http://prezi.com/a910xts3pcoa/the-beatles/?kw=view-a910xts3pcoa&rc=ref-31264905