MEGAN SUTHERLAND
My Showcase
Here you will find some of my projects and lessons which I consider most valuable. These projects were created during my masters studies and then implemented in my classroom. I think most of these projects display the new technology skills and pedagogical understanding I acquired through their creation. Please take a walk with me along my learning journey. The first two artifacts show my newly acquired skills and knowledge of teaching and learning through the use of technology. The remaining six artifacts represent subject specific projects which I found most interesting and helpful in developing my instruction. Audio elements are included, please ensure your audio is functional.
Networked Learning Project: Charcoal Portrait
I learned...more or less...how to create a charcoal portrait of my son using YouTube tutorials and online help forums. It was quite a learning process for me, the non-creative type. At first I thought it would be ridiculously easy using YouTube tutorials to learn this new skill but it takes time and patience. I think this would be a great project for upper Elementary students because it causes one not only to reflect on the learning process but also requires the learner to evaluate sources. It is amazing to see that with some proper searching and evaluation one can acquire a new skill just by typing in a few words in a search bar. Knowledge is literally at our fingertips. Please take a look at the video I created to document my learning journey.
In this lesson, created for my second grade class, I explored educational technology tools that could be used to create a "21st century lesson plan" refelcting Renee Hobbs' five core competencies: Access, Analyze, Create, Reflect and Act. I adapted our existing Unit of Inquiry on the Aztec civilization in order to design a lesson plan incorporating some of the core competencies. I chose Powtoon as the technology tool my students would use to play with in order to create a presentation on the life of an Aztec child. I chose to use Powtoon because my students have a variety of strengths that can be utilized by this tool but the creation of the final Powtoon also required each student to collaborate with and rely upon their partners' strengths. Some are great at organizing their thoughts while others are creative with music and images. Naturally some are challenged by working in pair or group settings, and this project required collaboration from both sides. The technology portion of my lesson plan required my students to Access and Analyze Information and then Create. Please take a look at one of the Powtoon presentations some of my students created. You can also download my lesson plan above.
21st Century Lesson Plan
Nature of Science
This project was about exploring the scientific process in a new light. We studied how the work of scientists, or "the scientific process" is not necessarily a linear process but rather cyclical. This project focused on the underwater food web and how all the organisms are connected and dependent upon eachother. My students explored the depths of the ocean to answer their questions about which organisms can actually survives and where. The main scientific practice was taken from the Next Generation Science Standards: "Developing and Using Models – develop and/or use a model to represent amounts, relationships, relative scales and/or patterns in the natural world." Take a look at my lesson sequence above and the slideshow of some fabulous student work.
Giant tube worms and angler fish can be seen at the bottom of the mural my students designed and created.
A spider crab, sea turtle and shark pictured in the sunlit, twilight and midnight zones.
My students created this during free time after we finished our Ocean Project.
Giant tube worms and angler fish can be seen at the bottom of the mural my students designed and created.
Images provided by Megan Sutherland
Brain Growth
This lesson sequence is designed to help students develop perserverence in school. Based on Carol Dweck's research, I created a unit of study for my students which introduces the humanan brain, its functions and its ability to grow through challenges and perserverence. My young seven year old students at the time even memorized the different parts of the brain and their functions. Even now more than a year later my students are referencing the brain parts and how we can help our brain grow when we learn and try new and challenging things. Please take a look at my lesson sequence above. If you are interested in the topic click on this link to a YouTube video of Carol Dweck's presentation at the Young Minds Conference of 2013.
Image provided by wix.com
How We Learn
Based on the article How people learn: Brain, mind, experience
and school by Bransford, Brown and Cocking, a metacognitive approach to instruction and learning aids both teacher and learner in the instructional and learning processes which take place within a classroom. The idea is for students to externalize their learning process which allows for better transfer of information and deeper teacher understanding of where each individual student is at in the learning process. Please take a look at Google Doc which explores the combination of the metacognitive approach with technology integration in the classroom.
Image provided by wix.com
Analyzing Student Data
Literacy is a topic that fascinates me and as a teacher of young children, it is an honor to watch them develop and form the foundational skills which prepare them for their lifetime membership to the literacy club. This project is one of my favorites because it gave me a deeper understanding of how to analyze the data students provide for me through various displays or products of their learning. Analyzing their work allows me to make informed decisions regarding instruction. This project was a learning opportunity for me as we were able to test our abilites on a few hypotheticals students and their data.
Image provided by wix.com
Problem Solving
I created a lesson plan for my 1st/2nd grade class using Max Ray-Riek's Powerful Problem Solving: activities for sense making with the mathematical practices. Incorporating strategies and practices from the book such as Communication and Community and Learning through Listening, Noticing and Wondering, Make a Table, Change the Representation, and Guess and Check gave my students new strategies for problem solving. Some activities even strengthen our classroom community. Please take a look at my lesson plan. There are many great math resources for teachers (who own the book) on the powerful problem solving website (link).
Image provided by wix.com
Writing Instruction
This is my final research project, it focuses on the most valuable types of writing instruction for Kindergartners. The two most popular methods of writing instruction are Writing Workshops (process based) and Interactive Writing (skills based). Although research on writing at the primary level is limited, some studies suggest that writing instruction makes up very little instructional time (6.1 - 10.5 min), even though studies show that writing instruction should make up at least 30 mintues of daily instructional time. This video highlights the bulk of my research and how I plan to incorporate my findings in the classroom.