Designing Instruction

My instructional design is contextually and logically organized because it begins with letting the students know what we will be learning in math that day so that they know what to expect. Then, I teach the students the content and model what the content should look like (visually show students how to produce a survey and graph). Next, I make sure that the students are understanding the material so I know if I should move on or not. Afterwards, as a whole class, the students and I practice the content so that they have guidance while using the concepts to avoid confusion or error. Finally, I have the students apply the concepts independently and reiterate why these concepts are useful.

This lesson uses varied instructional methods that meet individual student needs by having different accommodations for students with various learning disabilities. For example, I can lessen the amount of survey questions a student needs to produce so that they can primarily focus on manipulating the bar graphs in Kidspiration. If a student gets overwhelmed when they are around too many people, I can also assign the student a certain number of peers to collect data from. I can also make the lesson more hands-on (with the technology-Kidspiration), more visual (show student more examples of surveys or bar graphs), more auditory (read directions and explain concepts more thoroughly), and scaffold the lesson (more or less of a work load) to accommodate my students. My instructional methods also target higher-order thinking skills by not only showing students what a survey is, how it is used, and how to organize its data into a bar graph, but the lesson also allows the students to practice creating a survey that effectively collects data. Then, the students have to figure out the best way to organize the data, and finally figure out how they should label and create their bars to effectively display the data. Students will also understand how surveys and graphs are used in real-life so that the content becomes more meaningful to them.

The instructional design of this lesson aligns with research-based understanding of technology integration because the Kidspiration program is specifically designed for children, which means that it is easier for them to use, contains more visuals, has more tools to help students learn (manipulative exercises, fun shapes and colors for organizing information, useful guides that relate to what they are learning, etc.), and contains specific parts of the program that align with the standard I am using to help students more effectively apply the concepts.

Finally, my lesson addresses the diverse needs of learners through learner-centered strategies and equitable access since Kidspiration is available on all of the school computers throughout the school day and gives students the opportunity to apply the information they have learned through a very useful program that allows creativity and contains an organized layout to help students effectively apply their knowledge. The safe, legal, and ethical use of technology is also addressed because Kidspiration supports the students' learning and gives them a personal responsibility for learning since they are in charge of completing the assignment. However, this lesson does not address digital etiquette and responsible social interactions or global awareness and digital-age communication because this program does not require students to use the Internet. This lesson is also independent, so students will not be communicating with one another, and since it is a licensed computer program, students do not need to worry about dangers on the Internet or respecting other people's opinions or thoughts on blogs (or other communication devices).