9: ECDC Lesson Activity

 Experience 

LINK to watch a glimpse of my experience

    We were tasked with composing a 15-minute lesson activity that would be taught to 4th-grade students.  The catch was we must use technology in the TAMUCC I-Create Lab to create the lesson. At first, my partner and I chose to utilize the embroidery machine to construct cheese pizzas and toppings. Students were going to be given various fraction problems to solve by placing the toppings in accordance with the solution of the problem. However, after working long hours for three days we encountered several mishaps and decided to scrap the idea. 

Now the issue was deciding what to do in the short amount of time we had. Another dilemma was that all of the machines were taken in the lab. After a short drive, a few deep breaths, some snacks, and research, a solution finally popped into my head. The students could learn about financial literacy by playing a game with fake money. Luckily, my parents have a Cricut, so I immediately decided to use that to create fake money. Thinking about it now, I could have stayed with the theme of fractions. Oh well! The process was stressful, exhausting, and long but it got done. 

    Today was the day to put the activity to the test. Let's just say all that stress, effort, and time was for nothing because not one single thing went as planned. Each group experienced something different. None of the groups were able to play through our game. More work was put in than necessary because more than half of the supplies were not used. However, it was extremely enjoyable and eye-opening to be provided the opportunity to interact with various personalities and hear the diversity within their communication. Although there were complications, I am thankful for the overall experience because it taught me to worry less and have several backup plans. Most importantly it showed me that as a teacher, most things will never go as planned. 

 ISTE CT Standards 

2d) Assess and manage classroom culture to drive equitable student participation, address exclusionary dynamics, and counter implicit bias.

3a) Model and learn with students how to formulate computational solutions to problems and how to give and receive actionable feedback.

3c) Plan collaboratively with other educators to create learning activities that cross disciplines to strengthen students understanding of CT and CS concepts and transfer application of knowledge in new contexts. 

4a) Design CT activities where data can be obtained, analyzed, and represented to support problem-solving and learning in other content areas.