Replacement+Ideas

__**Instructional Replacement**__
 * Replacement Ideas**
 * Use interactive whiteboards (SmartBoards) during instruction to enhance content- many activities can be found online- Increases engagement and immediate excitement, control, and interactivity (Jacobs, 2010)
 * Instead of simply reading about a topic, show videos using resources from the internet
 * Have a classroom 'penpal' from another state or country using a webcam
 * Take a virtual fieldtrip using Smartboard
 * Use online reading programs (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010)
 * Use visual thesaurus or online semantic maps for vocabulary (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010).
 * Video Conference with students in another location (Laureate Edcuation, Inc., 2010).
 * Interactive computer programs such as Kidspiration

__**Assesment Replacement**__
 * Have students create a powerpoint presentation instead of taking a paper/pencil test
 * Use CPS responders to assess students and gain immediate feedback -increases classroom teaching and learning time (Jacobs, 2010)
 * Students develop self assessment rubrics and peer assessment rubrics using Microsoft Word to check one anothers work
 * Students create videos to upload to the internet to show the class like they would perfrom an oral report (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010).
 * Students create their own graphic organizers using an interactive computer program such as Kidspiration.
 * Students use programs such as Study Island or Reading Eggs to reteach/review deficient skills, while teachers can track performance of the practiced skill. This can be used for small group instruction while a teacher works with a different portion of the class or during tutoring for reteaching and assessment.

__**Wikis**__ A wiki could really motivate students to contribute and participate on a grand scale in group discussions. A wiki could be created for a unit of study and each page could include a standard, element, or concept within the unit of study. Students can contribute to each page of the wiki where their ideas are viewed by other students. This would also help shy students to participate in group settings. The teacher could also use the wiki to pose opinion questions or get research based debated going about the dropping of the atomic bomb for instance. Students would love seeing their ideas and work displayed on the internet for their classmates to see. It could also include parents in the learning process as they would see the ideas taught in class. It would take a great deal of teacher monitoring and expectations to keep everything on track and appropriate. The kinds of outmoded practices this might replace is pencil and paper essay writing. This could be done in a word processor and transferred to the wiki. Videos could be uploaded to the wiki insteach of oral reports. Also, vocabulary definition copying could be upgraded to create vocabulary excercises on the wiki. The teacher could also use the wiki to collaborate with other students anywhere, and the exchange of ideas can take place. Overall, a wiki could replce many outdated, "traditional" school practices.


 * Replacement Ideas:**
 * Spelling and Vocabulary City can be used to replace traditional practice worksheets and the traditional group spelling test. Students are able to go at their own pace, follow easy instructions independently, hear the words with speakers or headphones and have the repetition that the traditional classroom cannot provide. The games are simple and entertaining and therefore hold student’s attention for more difficult tasks such as vocabulary.


 * Math Magician is very basic. It sparks a competitive motivation in the students that I do not see in the paper pencil drill assessments. The competition is against the timer and themselves, it also can generate a healthy competition with classmates. Although students still need to write numbers and write them quickly, Math Magician allows students to achieve scores that reflect knowledge with speed, regardless of their manual dexterity level. This helps those with poor manual dexterity feel accomplishment and gain confidence.


 * The Scholastic Poetry Engine provides a strong hook for students. It is colorful, humorous and interactive. What I could stand in front of the class and say about Haiku poems is illustrated with, for example, a funny Samurai character with the facts about what a Haiku entails. Student’s have demonstrated greater enthusiasm and produced more work than required after experiencing the mini lessons provided in the engine. Students are able to remember and create poems with the correct rules and purpose.


 * The Read Write Think online timeline generator was discovered when students in both second grade classes had trouble understanding the years 1900-1999. The turn of the century meant little to them. Our math curriculum asks students to understand how to convert the written date to a numerical date and back. We decided to reteach by bringing in some history they were aware of with facts they could relate to. We created the timeline with history, teachers’ birthdays, mainstream use of computers and cellular phones, and their birthdays and so on. We kept adding dates and events that were before and after the turn of the century to create context. Although we find our math curriculum very hands on and rich, this lesson required us to step farther outside of it to enhance and give visuals to the learning.