I love the idea of using photo sharing in the classroom, but I don't think it can be used as much as I would like. I think a Science unit would be a great way to include photo sharing. Part of our Science program is to see if plants take in water through the roots or through their leaves and stems. Half of the class waters the roots of their plant only and the other half covers the base of the plant and waters only the leaves and plants. If students took pictures of their plants each day after watering this would be a nice way to see the gradual change in the plants. Students who are absent would not miss what the plant looked like on that day also. It would be good too because the students can label if they were in the "roots group" or the "leaves and stem" group. Another positive is this would not show students or have their names so it would be able to be posted on a site. Incorporating photo sharing into the classroom seems tricky to me. My school is very strict about sharing pictures. The concern is that some students have family members who are not supposed to know where they are and they could be found through the pictures. Even if you put that it was private I would not be allowed to take pictures, let alone post them, without permission from both parents and administrators and in the past this has been difficult to obtain.
I have never had to write a lesson plan organized in quite this way. I found this to be confusing and technical. I agree with some parts of the lesson. The lessons should be centered around the learner, goal oriented, and be measured in a reliable way. I agree that evaluation is a large part of lessons. This is very important now days with all the testing being done. I also agree that the learning should be performance based. This is usually a challenge. I teach basic math facts in third grade and finding ways to teach this without being all about memorization can be difficult.
I like your idea about using photo sharing for the plants. You made an excellent point about absent students as well. With a lesson that depends so heavily on visual observation, this would be a very valuable tool to employ. Going back to Justin's question about whether or not photo sharing or a blog would be the better choice, though, I almost think a blog would be better in this scenario. You could make a daily or weekly post including pictures of the plants in each group, and include text about it, so that parents can see what is going on in class, which would be a great way to help them continue that conversation with their children at home.
ReplyDeleteI interned at a school with similar photo/privacy concerns. One of my student's parents was a police officer and didn't want his child's photograph made public. I've also heard about children who are in hiding with grandparents or a guardian, as you mentioned. It makes me so sad that photosharing and internet technologies come with these dangers. I completely understand where family members & administrators are coming from...it's just frustrating, as I'm sure you know. I think that your idea to use photosharing without needing to post a name or student's picture is a great adaptation. It still adds pride, creativity, visualization, and fun without compromising anyone's ability to participate.
ReplyDeleteI would not have thought about the aspect that you could not share names as some parents are not allowed to know where there children are. How sad we have to deal with that. I think you solution to use it with the science project and not involve names is a great idea.
ReplyDeleteThe lesson plan is a different issue for me too. I had to write one for my last class and found ADDIE very helpful as it forced me to organize all the steps. It is quite time consuming and combersome, but as I actually used it to teach my student employees, I did find it helpful and the evaluation tool helped me to make necessary corrections to the level of understanding I assumed they would have.
Margie
Great idea about using the photo-sharing with the plants lesson. I do think photo-sharing is more applicable for use with a science unit than many of the other units as well. This idea could even be expanded to work with other classrooms as well. While both classrooms do the same experiment the photos are posted...you could even make it a friendly classroom "competition" between classes to see who could grow the best plants.
ReplyDeleteYou made a good suggestion when you recommended simply keeping students out of the pictures and not using real names for student accounts. Many of the photos that would be used in classroom projects do not need to contain the students.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised that you've had difficulty obtaining permission. Does your school/district have any kind of media release forms (with the option to be excluded) given out at the beginning of the year? My district requires that one be turned in before the student can be fully registered for the year.