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Reflection
Kym Ciccia  ~ Cyberlesson ~ Franklin’s Neighborhood

1. Provide background information on the development of your cyberlesson.   For what grade level and curriculum did you develop it?

I decided to create my cyberlesson around the book Franklin’s Neighborhood by Paulette Bourgeios.  It is a book that we use in our Social Studies curriculum about neighborhoods.  I have always felt that it needed a little something more.  I thought this would be perfect.  I teach first grade and the students love Franklin.  I thought this would be an exciting cyberlesson for them.

2. How did you implement your cyberlesson? (small group, whole group, posted on the Internet to be done at home? Individually, as a learning center etc.) 

I chose to implement this lesson in the computer lab with my entire class.  I have 17 students.  There are enough computers for everyone in the class to use one independently.  That is if they are all working.  I am able to use the smart board to guide them along.  They can observe what icons they need to click on.  I also had a parent volunteer to help any students that may have difficulties.  She was very helpful with the students that weren’t that familiar with a computer.

3. How did your students respond to the project?

My students loved the project.  They loved working on the computer.  The different graphics kept them on task.  Even my students with difficulty paying attention and staying focused were on task.  I had mentioned to them that I want to put the cyberlesson onto the class website.  They keep asking me when I am going to put it up.  One of my students wanted to make sure that I sent a note home to let his mom know where to find it.  They really seemed to understand quickly the parts of a neighborhood.  We didn’t have a lot of time for them to connect to the different links at the end.  They were disappointed, but I told them that it would be part of the computer center next week.  They had a blast doing this cyberlesson.

4. Strengths?

I think the main strength of this lesson was the fact that it was being done on the computer.  My students love using the computer lab.  Franklin is also one of their favorite characters.  Viewing the Franklin graphics helped keep them on task and motivated.  Building their background knowledge about a neighborhood during the before reading was very helpful.  It helped guide them in their predictions about what they expected to see in Franklin’s neighborhood.  It also got them thinking about their own neighborhood.

5. Weaknesses?

I feel that one of the weaknesses is that we had to do it in the computer lab.  It would be nice if they each had a computer in our classroom.  It took 2 trips to the computer lab to complete it.  The students didn’t mind.  They loved it.  We did have one computer that didn’t work.  One of my students had to partner up with another student.  They didn’t mind.  Another weakness was that I didn’t realize that you could package it in PowerPoint and then it automatically comes up as a slide show.  That would have been much simpler than having students open the presentation and then clicking on view as a slide show.

6. In what ways do you think your cyberlesson supported student learning?

I think the cyberlesson helped them by building on their background knowledge before reading the book.  Many of my first graders would think of only the places they see in their own neighborhood.  This cyberlesson gave them the opportunity to see more than just their neighborhood.  I think this cyberlesson kept them motivated and ready to learn.  I didn’t hear a single student complain about what we were doing.

7. How would you modify the way in which you implemented the project to make it more successful?

I would definitely package it so that the students could just open it and the slide show would begin.  I would like to learn how to use the microphone the add voice to it.  This way my lower level students would be able to do it independently.  I would try and set it up in my classroom at the computer center.  This way students could work at their own pace and not feel rushed because our time was up in the computer lab.

8. Recommendations?

My main recommendation is to continuously learn about technology.  I had never used PowerPoint for anything before this cyberlesson.  I had taken training on it a few years ago, but I never used it.  I was continuously amazed at how much you could do to motivate students with technology.  Whenever I bring my students to the computer lab, I am always amazed by how much they already know about computers.  My other recommendation is that you take time out to look up different websites that are appropriate for your students and what you are teaching them.  Share these websites with your class.  It is wonderful how much they can learn.