My project is in an unexpected upheaval. I'm busy trying to adjust it. The way it's turning out, I think this new idea, born out of adversity, has the potential to be a more compelling and repeatable capstone project. What happened is our nature preserve field trip was cancelled due to Corona Virus precautions. (Our first field trip was ALMOST cancelled due to the October Kincade fire.) My original plan was to do a second nature report based on this second field trip. I was going to compare nature reports done in both tech and non-tech integrated formats. I was going to compare results to see how the integration of photos and data retrieved from nature apps improved my students' ability to communicate their scientific findings.
I actually found out about the cancellation a half an hour after picking up 11 iPads from Mario at NapaLearns. He graciously installed the nature apps I was unable to install on the iPads from our school due to our district's technology use policies. Now I have these iPads that are not under "lock down" to continue my project, but am unable to carry out the original plan. The freedom these new iPads have given us, even for students to be able to take them home, (which Mario is looking into), awoke an idea I had at the beginning of this inquiry but which I discarded because my students can't take our school devices home. Limited access to technology became a barrier, which has now been somewhat overcome. Let's back up and look at the background and needs that I perceived at the beginning of this project. At my school, both parents and teachers are concerned with the increasing amounts of time their kids are using screens, both in and out of the classroom. Through research I discovered that negative trends in child health, and especially among minority groups, have been linked to increasing use of screen based technologies and decreasing outdoor play. In addition, as children move toward indoor environments, their awareness of the environment, and their interest in advocating for its health, declines. My driving question became: How can educators use handheld devices to increase student interaction with the outdoors and awareness of the environment? My new plan is not dependent on field trips. It is taking the shape of an outdoor photography homework unit. It follows the Flipped Classroom model. The photos students will be taking are aligned to our 3rd grade NGSS science standards. Students take photos of different aspects of nature in their community, and share those photos for peer feedback in class on Padlet. Each Padlet will be saved, and the end product will be a student report in Google Slides or Prezi on the NGSS area of "connections in the environment", for example. This project has the potential to increase parent involvement because I will require the students to be accompanied by a parent while they are outdoors taking pictures. The project has the potential to increase student interaction with outdoor environments on a daily basis. I will be able to get some data here with pre and post surveys on the amount of time they are spending outdoors. It has the potential to increase student peer review and collaboration through the frequent Padlet sharing that will go on in class around the photos they took in their neighborhoods. This project also has the potential to be used as a distance learning curriculum for situations similar to our current four week Corona virus close down. I see great potential in developing this idea to include a well developed, unit by unit, flipped classroom science curriculum, or at least a fun Peace Corps project. The key is in knowing what to ask the students to take pictures of and how to discuss/report their findings in class. It would take some creativity to create the lessons.
4 Comments
3/15/2020 08:43:39 pm
Cool idea Jeremy. I agreed, science observation does not need to be confined to field trips. You are creating an interest and action by having them take pictures and including them on Padlet. I don't know much about Padlet but I will be looking into it. I think your project is a great idea given the Coronavirus is keeping people away from others. Your project will get students into their community to observe beauty and nature which is important right now. I also like your mention of parent involvement, this is something that I am always trying to increase. Great job.
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Megan Burton
3/16/2020 12:01:16 am
Wow! What a great way to turn the challenges faced by school closures into wonderful learning opportunities for your students (and their parents)! I'm impressed with your flexibility and resourcefulness and look forward to seeing what your students and you come up with as your project is adjusted over time.
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Krista Loper
3/17/2020 10:31:24 am
I blogged about the same thing: what has happened because of the corona virus? It's hard right now since things have escalated in the last week to know where to go next. You seemed to have come up with a great alternative and I am excited to see where it goes. Awesome job adjusting.
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Jeremy Smith
3/18/2020 05:42:58 pm
Thanks. I just sent out the first outdoor photo scavenger hunt activity over Class Dojo. Three parents responded so far. It's starting to look like schools may not open again this school year. I'm afraid distance learning will be the only way we can stay in touch with our students for the near future. I'm beginning to freak out.
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AuthorJeremy Smith teaches third grade at Calistoga Elementary School. Archives
July 2020
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