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Lesson GoalsMrs. Leiker's 'Lesson Goals' allow for adaptability to meet immediate needs of the students and to create a dynamic and evolving environment in the classroom using a mix of instructional methods to keep things interesting and to allow for differentiated learning. This allows Mrs. Leiker more opportunities to use the methods and standards listed to the right (such us UDL, student-centered and adaptive learning). Mrs. Leiker's courses take place in a Blended Learning Environment described as: “In blended learning classrooms, you’ll see not textbooks, but digital content. You’ll see students moving away from the ‘right answer’ and moving to how they can apply what they’re learning–that’s a huge shift, It’s focusing more on critical thinking and on students being aware of what they’re learning.” (from eSchoolNews)
Week of: April 20, 2015
ATTENTION PARENTS:
For the BEST indication of what we are doing in each course INCLUDING links to assignments missing/submitted, use your student’s log in to Moodle (Link at Left) or iTunes U (Accounting only) on their iPad. |
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Mrs. Leiker's Lessons Also Include:
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Students in Mrs. Leiker's courses are using 21st Century Skills to complete projects related to real world topics and issues that require collaboration, communication & critical thinking. Mrs. Leiker teaches using participatory learning where students are directly involved and participate in their learning instead of being spoke at or simply observers of knowledge.
Mrs. Leiker encourages learning by doing. Similar to the Maker Movement (in particular in computer programming), she believes that the creation of real school and community connected projects, students can truly find a niche in their talents and peak their interest and passion in a subject and career. As written in Wikipedia: the 'Maker culture' emphasises learning-through-doing (constructivism) in a social environment. It's been dubbed as the 'DIY' in class. Maker culture emphasises informal, networked, peer-led, and shared learning motivated by fun and self-fulfilment. Community interaction and knowledge sharing are often mediated through networked technologies, with websites and social media tools forming the basis of knowledge repositories and a central channel for information sharing and exchange of ideas, and focussed through social meetings in shared spaces. Maker culture has attracted the interest of educators concerned about students’ disengagement from STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) in formal educational settings. Maker culture is seen as having the potential to contribute to a more participatory approach and create new pathways into topics that will make them more alive and relevant to learners.
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Mrs. Leiker's courses incorporate Student-Centered Learning in numerous ways. Rather than a traditional approach to teaching, Student-Centered Teaching makes students active rather than passive learners. These methods shift the focus of activity from the teacher to the learners. Projects in this format assure positive interdependence and individual accountability. Students are presented with challenges (problems and projects) and learn the course material in the context of addressing the challenges. This discovery and problem-based learning methodology has repeatedly been shown to be superior to the traditional teacher-centered approach to instruction.
Mrs. Leiker is integrating adaptive learning methods into her courses using technology. In adaptive learning, technology can be programmed and used to interactively modify lessons, quizzes, tests and assignments to accommodate the learning level and style of the student. In this way, students can have a truly tailored education in order to best learn the concepts presented. With the availability of technology, this method is surely going to revolutionize education in time.
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Mrs. Leiker's courses are flexible and naturally designed to incorporate Universal Design for Learning. All students have equal opportunities to learn through various methods. Mrs. Leiker's students are encouraged to communicate their learning style via edmodo registration and are allowed opportunities to turn in work at a pace that works for them. All resources, assignments and projects from Mrs. Leiker's courses are available online from any web enabled device and include many different multimedia forms of presentation. Mrs. Leiker also provides retests on every assessment in the course to assure that students have sufficient opportunities to master the material. Use the button link above or the video below for more information about UDL.
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