TPACK Reflection

TPACK Lesson Plan Questions

1.    How well the use of this technology may support your teaching strategies in this activity.  

·      My overall teaching strategy is to enhance student learning in a fun and interactive classroom. By using the technology that I chose, this makes it very easy to achieve. It is convenient and can create quick assignments that students can complete at home (if technology is available). It can also be beneficial, for me as a teacher, because it provides many ways for me to promote differential instruction/learning. 

2.   How effectively the use of this technology may enhance students’ understanding of and learning from your particular content in this activity.

·      I think kinesthetic (interactive) activities can benefit students greatly.  The purpose of my activities was to enhance learning in a way that made it fun for the kids. I think the YouTube video that I chose was catchy, and something that the kids would enjoy all while learning. Quizlet, my second activity, can be a great tool when assessing students. It can also be extremely helpful for students who want to study certain materials in a unique and fun way. For teachers, it provides a way to conveniently create quizzes and study materials that can be unique to whatever class you teach. For my demonstration, for the last activity, the Smartboard provided what I needed to quickly get my point across to students. Smartboards can be a great innovation in the classroom, as it can provide a plethora of resources that can greatly enhance student learning. 

3.    What are your strategies and why do you think your strategies are appropriate to teaching this specific content? What makes you believe it would help your students comprehend this particular content? 

·      Two of my main priorities while teaching are making the content being learned as easy for students to understand as possible and to teach in a fun way that gets students involved and enjoying the learning process. From my experience with kids, especially kindergarteners, they love to learn in a kinesthetic way. They are always wanting to move around, and by providing activities that coincide with this can help enhance student learning in a major way. 

4.    What would be some conceptions and pre-conceptions that students of different ages and backgrounds bring with them when learning this particular content? What would you be concerned about students’ prior knowledge, experiences, motivation? 

·      When planning lessons, it is important as teachers, to choose activities that accommodate students of all types, and with the use of technology this can be possible. We must also consider the appropriateness of the content for each grade level that is taught, and assess students for prior knowledge of the content, in order to facilitate learning in a way that can enhance student progress.

5.    What main instructional strategies would the technology used serve in your activity? How would using this technology support the way you teach this activity? 

·      YouTube is a great tool to use to introduce lessons. There are resources for just about any subject you can think of, and a lot of them can be informational and fun. Which, is exactly what I wish to accomplish with my lessons. 

6.    What different classroom management strategies you might need to consider when using this technology in the activity? 

·      Kids get excited when technology is involved. They may be tempted to be up and out of their seats because they are eager to get a turn using the technology. I would definitely need to enforce rules that promoted respect, patience, and overall care for the equipment. 

7.    How would using this technology enhance the way the content is represented in your activity? 

·      By using the methods I chose, it can be an easy way to have the students involved in the lesson by interacting with it rather than just through a lecture. It can provide learning for all types of learners at once (visual, auditory, kinesthetic, students with disabilities), and an easy way for teachers to assess students. 

8.    In what different ways students practice or understand the content in your activity that would otherwise not be possible without the use of the technology? In addition to motivational benefits, what else can students do with this technology as they are learning the content? 

·      There are many ways that students can access information to almost anything you can think of via the Internet. The Internet provides so many great educational sites and apps that can enhance learning in ways that remain unique compared to traditional learning. With the many resources available it can help accommodate students of all different types, and provide ways of learning that can be not only fun, but useful as well. The resources I chose for my activities, in my opinion, enhanced all of this.