Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK)

Elizabeth Bray

EDU 673 Instruct. Strat. for Differentiated Teach & Learn Instructor: Renee Gugel

5/13/2018

Introduction

My 10th grade class comprises of 24 students. Out of these eleven are boys while the rest are girls. Having interacted with them in previous learning sections, I can group them into three kinds of learners. There are 8 very smart and fast learners, twelve are average learners who after the third session of any lesson grasp a concept and understand it. The other four are slow learners with one with stuttered speech and another is an English language learner. Due to this diversity, there is need to develop a multimodal unit plan to accommodate all my students.

Besides these diverse ability levels, there are other cultural aspects to consider when developing a learning style. My students’ socioeconomic status varies from students from the loyal family to those on scholarship due to their parent’s low-income earnings. There also exists diversity in their family set ups where some are from monogamous families with about 2 to 3 children. Others are from polygamous families coupled with many siblings. Two students have been brought up with some large families where they live with their extended family members while one is an orphan who was adopted by a barren lady.

The school being international, the students are from various continents of the world. These also affect their beliefs and way of doing this. Majority are Christians with a few exceptions of Muslims, Buddhist and an atheist. In this regard, it spells out the days and timing of my lessons so as not to interfere with the students’ worship routine. There is also needing to appreciate each student’s diversity and the unique abilities. A student will perform better and opens easily when they know that the teacher understands them for who they are. The class will be considered relevant to the current time when I incorporate digital technology as mode of learning,

Stage 1

The content area of my lesson will be on English. The unit title will be writing, and the unit subject is report writing. This is aligned to the common core state standard for English Language Arts and Literacy in that it prepares all students for a successful college and career life. It also helps to prepare the learner for real life experience after they graduate.

This report writing aligns with some of the CSSS that includes the learners’ ability to determine the main idea of a text, analyze its details as it develops through the text and finally write an objective report of the text. They also determine the meaning of words and the author’s choice of these unique words specifically on certain topics drawing a wide reading of the world’s literature.

Key objectives

By the end of the unit, I want my students to be able to identify the steps to follow when writing a report. They should all understand the various parts of a report what to include in each part. By the end of the learning unit the learners should give some of the importance of report writing and scenarios in which report writing is crucial. My students should also be able to write a good report on any guided topic.

Description

Some of the key concepts that the students should understand are the steps of report writing that include Decide on the ‘Terms of reference’ and come up with the procedure. Review the information given that could be visual, written or audio. Decide on the structure and make a draft of the first report. Through the report, analyze the findings and draw a conclusion. The last step is to include any recommendation on the topic of discussion.

They should understand that a report has various parts and each part contains difference content. A comprehensive report includes the following an introduction. This first part helps to give a brief thesis of your topic. It is general and gives the reader an overview or clue on what to expect in the report. It is mainly one paragraph. The body is what holds all the content of the report and is very weighty. It could include more than three paragraphs depending on the length of the report. Each paragraph should carry a main point. It includes any finding and supported evidence. It is very detailed and often the longest part of any report. The last part is conclusion which contains a summary of the main topic being discussed. It may contain recommendations and challenges that developed through the findings. It is brief and is about one or two paragraphs.

In our daily encounters, report writing is common in most organization both government and private businesses. It is also important in our own academic writings. Some of the significance of report writing includes conveying results or progress to people who may have interest on the same. It discloses info that is useful for decision making and informative

Stage 2

Pre-assessment: We will review some of other forms of writing done before including synopsis, essay and summaries. From them we will have a preview of how each is written. This helps to assess the contents and language to use in each context. A summary for example is like a report only that the latter is more detailed. Students will express areas that they found difficult. We will also address the comments noted down for each by the teacher in essays, summary and synopsis previously written. From these errors we will build on some of the common mistakes that students make when writing. This includes using the wrong tense, spelling mistakes and failure to correctly punctuate their work.

Formative assessment: Students will be expected to mention some of the features they will expect in the report before I hand them a sample report. We will review a report on Earthquake in Tokyo, Japan. From it will look at the different parts of the report and what each part contains. We will also look at the format used, and the tense used in the writing. From the report we will look at some of the similarities and differences of it and other forms of writings like summary. This will ensure that the student can easily distinguish a report from other modes of writing by the specific styles used uniquely in report writing.

We will look at some of the relationship between a summary and a report. This will include their similarities and differences. As a channel of learning we will look at some of the vocabulary used and explain their meaning. This form of engagement provides options of self-regulation and recruits the learners’ interest. This will particularly aid those learning English. The will certainly address UDL principals and DI theory in that it provides several means of engagement. These keeps the learners motivated and the unit of study remains purposeful.

Summative assessment: As a tool to assess the mastery of report writing, at the end of the day students will participate in a discussion amongst themselves. These groups will involve students of different abilities. The fast learners will interact with their peers and discuss the features of a report. I will later provide them with a trending video on Climatic change. They will also listen to a video and as a group write a report on the same. These will help the slow learners have a practical experience on how to go about report writing. It also provides several options of the student to comprehend the unit topic. It helps to bring out different perception of the diverse learners especially due to the use of visual information.

Engaging them with their fellow peers helps them openly bring out on their weak areas that may not be clearly addressed on. I will assess the report and note some of the weaknesses brought out. As a class we will go through the various group reports and discussing their mistakes. Students will give suggestions on their opinion on group reports. Correction of common mistakes will be emphasized.

We will engage in a class gaming exercise that allows the learner to gain points on positive behavior including answering question and participating in discussions. They will also lose points depending on their classroom behavior. This technology tool will not only engage students in the class and encourage them to uphold classroom values. It is also a useful tool for me to adjust my method, style and tactics to fit the diverse students accordingly.

Students will thereafter be expected to write their individual report on a similar occurrence. They will submit it online on the class subject portal by the agreed deadline. This kind of representation is quite resourceful and keeps the learner’s knowledge on diverse issues. This strategy of action and expression helps to keep the learners goal oriented. The will certainly address UDL principals and DI theory in that it provides options for communication and expression.

Stage 3

· 11th Grade English: Report Writing

· Unit Goal: Students should be able to analyze the recent flooding in New York City in and come up with a comprehensive two paged report on the same. It should be detailed and informative.

· Day 1: Pre-assessment, introduction to report writing

· Day 2: Review parts and features of a report, the importance of report writing and where commonly practiced. Review a sample report on Earthquake in Tokyo Japan in a class discussion.

· Day 3: In group they watch a video on climate change and write a report. We discuss the various group reports as a class. Student to write a report on flooding in New York City and submit online on the class subject portal by the agreed deadline.

Technology in the current generation is a stable in the classroom. These tools help in instructions. Two of the technology tools that I will incorporate in my class include the use of computer and an interactive whiteboard. The students will watch the video on climate change online on a given YouTube site from which they will write a report. There will be use of the digital form of learning that includes internet. The students will later have to write the group and send to me through email for me to review. Each student will type individual report and submit it online for assessment. This standard technology tool is a resource tool that students can look up for information, type reports and reinforce I.T skills (Linde, 2018).

The modern interactive whiteboard has replaced the traditional chalk boards. This helps to display information to all students. Simultaneously, the students interact with the content keeping them attentive. The large screen combined with a touch pad helps me to make PowerPoint presentations that are easy to make references. It was also useful to virtual display the gaming activity progress (Linde, 2018). This was useful in grabbing the learners’ attention and making learning interesting.

All the daily activities of the unit plan incorporate differentiated instruction and UDL through multiple means of engagement, representation, action and expression in my lesson of report writing, self-regulations strategies have been built through promotion of expectation where students give opinions on what to anticipate in the introduction. These help to optimize motivation that inspires confidence and self-learning. The above named self-regulating strategies have been reinforced through creating a platform that promotes healthy interaction. The gaming activity aids in facilitating personal coping skills. It helps to develop and manage emotional reactions in incidences of either winning or losing publicly. There is also room for self-assessment initially through a group work task and later an individual practical. From the two reflection exercises the learner develops awareness of the progress of the unit goal; report writing. It also increases their responsiveness to avoiding mistakes and or learning from them.

The UDL principal is differentiated depending on the student’s level of need through engaging in various learning methods. This includes having a class discussion, group discussion and a personal interaction on report writing. Different students will have an option in which they maximally learn.

Reference

Linde, S. (2018). Classroom Technology Tools. Study.com.