Caitlin Maynard

ITEC 7500
Reflection – Standard 3.1

3.1 Classroom Management & Collaborative Learning - model and facilitate effective
classroom management and collaborative learning strategies to maximize teacher and student use
of digital tools and resources.
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I created “Around the World in 30 Minutes” for the Engaged Learning Project as part of
ITEC 7400, 21st Century Teaching and Learning, during the Summer of 2019. The project
allowed students to dive a bit deeper into the foreign language songs they were learning for an
upcoming concert by connecting with students abroad who are native speakers of that language.
The project had three goals: 1) create an opportunity for students to collaborate with others; 2)
allow students to perform their newly acquired vocal skills at a concert; and 3) showcase what
they had learned in terms of country and culture through a digital gallery. I was even able to
implement this lesson in the Fall of 2019 with my choral students.

As part of the Digital Learning Environments standard, Element 3.1 requires the modeling
and facilitation of effective classroom management and collaborative learning strategies. I
was able to accomplish this through the Engaged Learning Project through the use of a detailed
unit plan with daily and weekly goals. With every step of the plan carefully laid out, students are
kept active and entertained throughout the entire lesson, which is a key to strong classroom
management. Also, by utilizing a mix of formative and summative assessments, student
comprehension is monitored regularly and can help assess the project’s trajectory, as well as
identifying areas of review. This is an asset for classroom management because if students are
not grasping the concepts, they can become bored and disengaged. Collaborative learning takes
place in this project in two forms: 1) connections are made with classes overseas as students
work to learn a new language; and 2) relationships are nurtured within the classroom as students
perform as partners, small-groups, and as a whole choir. In this lesson, I used www.epals.com to
connect with classes that speak languages other than English so that those students become
language experts for my students. Additionally, partner practice and small-group rehearsals
allow students to sing with one another, check each other’s progress, and give feedback on how
to improve. One of my favorite methods of collaborative learning in the form of feedback is
through Flipgrid recordings of the language passages, which I also added to this project as a
friendly, safe-space for sharing what they have learned.

While working on the Engaged Learning Project, I learned that the planning process is just as
important as the project itself. In order to maintain consistent classroom management during the
course of a project, every step must be carefully planned to limit interruptions, off-task behavior,
and to allow students every opportunity to succeed. When a teacher is not prepared with
supplies or additional resources or information, momentum is stopped and student lose interest,
which can lead to undesired behaviors. While I created a daily plan for the project, I am sure
that down time could pop up from time to time depending on how quickly the students picked up
on the concept of the day. To improve the quality of the artifact, specifically in terms of
classroom management, I would add a set of “In Case You Finish Early” reinforcement activities
to use in case a lesson wrapped up quicker than expected.

The work that went into creating this artifact impacted faculty development and student
learning. First, I shared the project with my colleagues at Russell Middle School, along with
area choral directors. Many were complimentary about the set up of the process and two
teachers even said they wanted to use the lesson in their own classrooms. This allowed me to
also coach them through the project and we were able to compare results. Second, student
learning increased in terms of engagement and also in meaning, according to the feedback from
the students. They enjoyed talking with students in other countries and while we know they
were collaborating, my students simply liked gaining new friends and didn’t perceive the work
as toilsome, but rather a chance to speak to friends.