Week 4 - Choosing the right tool

The focus of class last night was about choosing the right tool to meet the needs of the lesson as well as to introduce lesson writing to students.  To do this, I had them refer back to Harris and Hofer's 5 steps in planning a lesson:

1. Determine Lesson Purpose
2. Make pedagogical decisions
3. Select activity types
4. Select the appropriate assessment
5. Choose the right tool(s)

I hope that the message that content first and THEN technology to support the learning.  I know that my students are started to get frustrated because they would like to focus on tools but, I think that it's important for them to understand the importance of this.  

To work through this during class, I had students practice writing learning objectives, describing the pedagogical context based on Harris and Hofer's continua and then to choose tools to match the learning objectives and context.  I thought that this would be good practice for them and also allow me to provide some feedback to them before they write their lesson plans.

I realized tonight that these students are much different than where the teachers that I work with on a daily basis are.  I've taken for granted the past 2 years the foundational knowledge and experience that my staff has!  It's also much easier to lesson plan when you know your students and classroom situation and spend time with them each day.  I need to figure out a better way to approach this activity and work with students as they begin writing their lesson plans!