Instructional processes

Master of Instruction Portfolio

Judith M. Conway

June 1, 1998

Component 2: Describes the planning and instructional processes.

The instructional process begins with the curriculum. I have designed the curriculum for each of the courses I teach. I review the contents of the curriculum each year and make changes. I started teaching computer science fifteen years ago. At that time the philosophy for teaching computer science focused on programming skills. I taught the BASIC programming language. Later I added a course in the Pascal programming language, as that was the language that the AP Computer Science test used at that time. As the concept of what makes a person 'computer literate' changed so did the content of the courses that I teach. As the Computer Department chair, I am the one who leads the discussion (with my fellow computer teachers) as to where our emphasis should be. We have adjusted our philosophy from the programming point of view to the 'computer as a tool' point of view. We now teach word processing, spreadsheets, data bases, animation software, presentation software, and research and presentation on the Internet. My colleagues teach in the Middle and Lower school. I teach grades 8 to 12. In grades one through four computer science is treated as a 'special' class (like art, music, gym, library, etc.), students are seen once a week. In grades five through eight students have computer class three days a week all year. In the upper school students must take 'Introduction to Computers' to graduate. It is a semester course that meets five days a week for one class period per day. In addition, students may elect to take 'Computer Applications', a semester course that builds on what students have been introduced to in 'Introduction to Computers', 'Programming in C++' a semester course that introduces students to the C++ language, or 'AP Computer Science', a full year course that follows the AP curriculum and prepares students to take the AP Computer Science test. As a department we have worked hard to keep our content as current as we can. We have also worked to make sure that there is a progression of students' skills from grade one to twelve. By reviewing and making necessary changes to the curriculum each year we are continuing to evolve.

As an example of this evolution I will focus on the semester class, 'Introduction to Computers', that I teach. This is a required class that consists primarily of ninth grade students. When I started teaching computer science at Caravel fifteen years ago this class consisted entirely of programming in BASIC. The programming unit became smaller and smaller as I added units in word processing, spreadsheet use, and presentation software. As of the 1998 school year I will include units on:

word processing (just a two week review at the beginning of the year to make sure all ninth graders can use Microsoft Word -- installed on all computers at Caravel)
spreadsheet use (Microsoft Excel -- including graphing)
presentation software (Microsoft Power Point)
animation software (Hollywood High by Theatrix)
use of Internet search engines to gather information for research papers
how to evaluate sites found on the Internet
use of HTML to design and create pages for display on the World Wide Web

The following is a unit plan I developed to teach Microsoft Power Point:

Objectives:

Define presentation software and its appropriate applications
Define presentation terminology
Design and create a presentation
Retrieve, view, edit and manipulate a presentation including rearranging slides
Use the formatting options to add a background, layout, graphics, sound, video, and transitions
Use the speaker notes option
Use the slide show option
Perform the presentation

Activities:

Day 1

Introduce presentation software
Demonstrate software by using 'Open House' presentation (a presentation I designed for use on open house night to introduce students' parents to the course content for the courses that I teach.)
Discuss other uses of presentation software.
Demonstrate digizine 'Sweet', a presentation that is a digital magazine.

Day 2

Students will start to build 'A Number Book'. As we learn to create a presentation and add text and graphics students will add to their 'Book'.
Model how to choose a background, discuss the thematic approach. (i.e. all slides look like they belong together, a certain characteristic can be followed throughout the presentation -- an under the sea idea perhaps). Students will add a background to their number book presentation
Model how to use a layout. I have a large screen TV connected to my computer that serves as a demonstration device. We will choose the layout for a title screen.
Model how to add text. Students will add text to their title screen
Model how to change the default colors of the text. Students change colors on their title screen.

Day 3

Model how to add a slide to the presentation. Students will add a slide and practice skills learned Day 2 by choosing a layout and adding text -- the word ONE.
Model how to add a photograph to the slide. Students in my lab are on a network so they all have access to CDs that are in the tower connected to the network. I have purchased a CD with 4,000 photos on it. We use the 'Power Album' program to view the photos and then can decide which one to import into our presentation.
Students will add a photo to their newly created page

Day 4

Students will practice previous skills by adding a slide to their presentation and adding the text TWO.
Model how to add clip art to a slide. Show students how to add clip art from the standard clip art collection that comes with Power Point and from the Corel clip art gallery CD that we have on our network.
Model how to add audio to a slide. I have a CD of music clips and a CD of sound effects that all students can access through the network. Students add audio to the current slide.

Day 5

Students practice previous skills by adding a slide to their presentation and adding the text THREE.
They may add clip art or a picture to this slide to represent the number three
Audio may also be added to this slide
Model how to use the speaker notes option
Students will add speaker notes to current page and print. I will grade this printout as class work.
Homework due: journal entry with a reaction to the unit thus far.

Day 6

Students add a fifth page to their presentation and the text 'A surprise 4 you'.
Model how to add video to a presentation. Students have access to three CDs through the network that each contain 25 video clips. I give students time to look at a few clips and choose one for their presentation. They add the video to the current slide.

Day 7

Model how to add transitions
Students add finishing touches to Number Book. I will grade this presentation as class work by using a rubric with written comments attached. Click here to see a sample book.

Day 8

Students will design a presentation of their own. It will be used for guided practice. It will consist of a title screen and two additional screens. Depending on the season I will ask students to do 'New Year's Resolutions' or 'Summer Plans'. I will grade this as class work by using a rubric with written comments attached..
Students will need to create slides, use clip art, photographs, text, and audio or video in their presentation.
Students will need to create a speaker notes page.

Day 9

Students continue to work on project
I will take students pictures with digital camera so they will be available for use in presentation if students desire.
I help students and answer questions.

Day 10

Students finish project. Click here to see a sample project.
I will demonstrate how to record your own voice on the computer so students may use a message of their own for the audio requirement.
I help students and answer questions.
Homework due: a journal entry with a personal reaction to the unit thus far and a summary of the skills they have learned.

Day 11

Discuss any problems that students encountered and any helpful techniques students discovered.
Showcase two or three of the best 'Number Books' and/or 'New Year's Resolution' projects.
Discuss 'The Name Book' project. This project is the unit end test; it is worth 100 points. Students need a title screen and five additional screens. On each of the screens a student puts a letter of their name and pictures of objects that they like on the screen. For example if a student's name is David their first screen would be D. On it a student might put a picture of their dog (or a picture of the same breed that they have). They would add some text that Dog starts with D and that s/he has had this dog for 4 years. The next screen would be A, etc. Students must include audio or video somewhere in the presentation and must have a transition from slide to slide. I am looking for them to use their individuality and creativity in this presentation.
Students begin work on 'The Name Book'

Day 12, 13, 14, 15

Students continue work on 'The Name Book' project
I demonstrate how to use the scanner. I will help students who want to use it or the digital camera we used on Day 9.
I circulate through the classroom answering questions.

Day 16

Students are divided into groups of 4.
Each student will share his/her presentation with the members of his/her group.
I will demonstrate two/three of the best presentations to the class. Click here to see a sample book.
Discuss what students have learned and when they can use it.
Homework due: journal entry summarizing the student's experiences while writing 'The Name Book' and ideas as to when the student might find this technology useful in the future.

Students enjoy this unit. During the course of the class they follow my verbal directions and then have time to explore the resources. It is a busy unit, but one that is not rushed. Students get to work on their own projects, but are encouraged to work together to discover the different types of photographs, clip art, audio, and video that are available. Students will often switch headphones to listen to something the other has found or point out interesting pictures or clip art to each other. I am impressed with the diversity of presentations they design.

I evaluate this unit on a number of levels. The first level is the participation and enthusiasm of the students. If motivation seems low I will show a few more examples near the beginning of the unit. They really like the digizine and I can expand how much of it I show them. I grade 'The Number Book' and the 'New Year's Resolutions' (or 'Summer Plans') as class work. This generally means that each screen created is worth 10 points. If students have the required elements on the screen they earn 10 points. This serves to help some of the more timid students increase confidence that they can be successful. If a student is missing an element of a screen I can pinpoint that student for the next class and make sure that they know how to insert that type of an object. Finally, I grade 'The Name Book' as a test grade. Typically by the time students work on this they are very confident about using clip art and photographs, audio and video and are ready to branch out to using the digital camera or the scanner. Click here to see the rubric I use to grade 'The Name Book' project.

I think that this unit is a good example of how I teach. I model skills. I give students the chance to model the skills to each other in a low pressure environment. I give students enough time to be able to explore, discover, and construct concepts for themselves. I give students opportunities (via well placed discussions) to reflect on what and how they have learned. I assess students on skills and on the thought that went into using those skills to produce a creative and well constructed product.