Unit Plan Reflection

Creating this unit plan has taught me that creating lesson plans are not as

easy as I originally believed. I found it very challenging to be creative for every

aspect of the plan, as I did not want to become one of the teachers who revert to

using worksheets as a means of instruction. I have come to learn from this process

that while lecture and worksheets may be easier to plan than per say a WebQuest, I

do now believe that the quality of the lesson is very rich with the technology that I

have incorporated into my unit plan. On the topic of technology, I can honestly say

that I have never leaned about more computer programs and interactive websites

than what I have in these past four weeks. I always saw myself as a person who was

fairly up to date on technology but even being out of high school for just two years

has made me realize that technology in the classroom is not where it was two years

ago.

As far as my likes and dislikes of the unit plan go I would have to say

that I found the Voki to be one of the most interesting topics discussed as it was a

piece of technology that I had never seen before, but I could immediately see its

classroom potential. I also believe that the use of Twitter as an instant response tool

will catch on in schools in the way I am using it in my unit plan. Another piece of

technology that I loved about my unit plan was the post class responses on

Facebook and Blogger. I see these responses as follow up questions that make

students apply what they have learned that day in class and apply it to a real life

situation. I will say that I did not enjoy the WebQuest process. I see WebQuest as an

old technology tool. Most links are outdated or missing providing a frustrating

student experience. While the quest that I use n my lesson plan is new and working

properly, the truth is that the majority of the quests on the site are not interesting to

students.

The last topic that I wish to discuss regarding my unit plan would be the

integration of the Hummingbird robotic kit. I personally loved this process and even

found it challenging at times to create a bot for this unit plan. I can foresee robotics

being integrated into future CSOs as they provide a hands-on learning approach

across different subject curriculums. I with out a doubt believe that robotics such as

the Hummingbird kit will be integrated into common core nationwide within the

near future. I have found the unit plan to be a very rewarding experience and now

see myself one step closer to be able to become a great teacher by integrating

technology into my future lesson plans.