Resources For Final Project

My final project is a lesson for 3-5 grades who will be studying different weather conditions via weather maps on their iPads. The students will then have to come up with all the information about that weather condition to conduct and record a weather forecast that will be shown to the entire class. The three resources that I thought would be helpful were


1. Animated Guide: Hurricanes
 http://sciencenetlinks.com/tools/animated-guide-hurricanes/
I found this link by clicking the AAAS Science NetLinks resource provided for us. I then clicked typed in climate and weather, and filtered from 3-5 grade. I found this was perfect because one of the weather conditions given is a hurricane, therefore the students could use the weather map and this resource to find all the information they could about hurricanes. This resource covers the standards 3-ESS3-1: make a claim about the merit of a design solution that reduces the impact of a weather-related hazard

NETS-S.3.A: use technology tools to enhance learning, increase productivity and promote creativity

2.  WNCT 9 on your side
http://wnct.com/category/weather/
I found this on twitter on the "first alert 9" twitter page. One of the tweets was giving a weather report and said for further information to click on the link. I decided it would be great for my students to explore a weather channel page and be able to figure out the terminology used, and be able to watch a forecast live on the website. The standard this resource covers is
NETS-S.3.A: use technology tools to enhance learning, increase productivity and promote creativity

3. WunderMap

https://www.wunderground.com/wundermap

I found this by typing into google "virtual weather map." This was a really cool website that the students could click on different weather conditions, and see what is coming and where they would be located. The students would be able to zoom in and out to see the entire world, or certain parts of the country. The standards that this resource covers are 

3-ESS2-2: obtain and combine information to describe climates in different regions of the world

NETS-S.3.A: use technology tools to enhance learning, increase productivity and promote creativity

Flipped Classroom

So you may be asking yourself what a flipped classroom really is, and what it entails. To be honest I had to do a little research myself. A flipped classroom refers to a classroom in which all the lecture and teaching is done via video or podcast at home, and the inquiry based learning is done in the classroom. The video portion of the lesson is essential however, because if the students do not know the lesson, they will not be able to participate in the activity when they come to class. The video at home can be only a few minutes long, with a short quiz at the end to ensure the students are understanding what is being taught. The teacher can then gauge what will be done in class the next day, whether it be a discussion on the topic or having the students work in groups to problem solve an activity. The idea of a flipped classroom is becoming more and more practical since everybody seems to have some sort of technological devise. Therefore, we see more online courses and flipped classrooms coming to life in the college level.

The pros of a flipped classroom, are the students at home get to pause and rewind the videos to hear what is being taught as many times as possible. They also get more time to have hands on activities with the material, therefore soaking in the information more. However a con that would go along with a flipped classroom is there is no one making sure that the students actually do their work at home and watch the video lecture. The students also may feel as if it is a waste of time and money to get lectured online rather than in class. Finally, the teacher must put in more effort and planning, which they may not be used to.

I am very indifferent about flipped classrooms. I think it would be a good learning experience for the students who actually put in the time and effort to do all of the work at home. However, it is unlikely that a student would actually watch everything given, and do all of the outside work. Although if all students did do the work, I love the idea of having students work on the inquiry part of the lesson in the classroom, without the time being spent not the actual content. I think that inquiry is a large part of learning, therefore if the students were to do what they were supposed to, this could be very beneficial.

Flipped classrooms do not necessarily benefit me as a teacher. I am working at an elementary level, where the students do not come from the best of homes. Therefore, I believe that although the inquiry is needed just as much, if not more than the lecture, being able to slow down the lesson and answer specific questions the students have is more important to do in person. While the students can slow down the lesson, and listen to the video over and over, it is the same thing being said each time, therefore it might not make the material any clearer than the first time. Also, the students may not have the ability to watch a lesson online at home, therefore they would not receive the content for the next class period. Thus, I do not think that a flipped classroom is very beneficial in an elementary classroom.