2.4 Higher Order Thinking Skills
Candidates model and facilitate the effective use of digital tools and resources to support and enhance higher order thinking skills (e.g., analyze, evaluate, and create); processes (e.g., problem-solving, decision-making); and mental habits of mind (e.g., critical thinking, creative thinking, metacognition, self-regulation, and reflection). (PSC 2.4/ISTE 2d)
Artifact
The Blended Learning Unit Plan is a project I completed to assist with implementing my nine-week Computer Science for Innovators and Makers unit I began teaching in Fall of 2021. It is a PLTW course, which has its own website and many support resources; however, by using this project to break everything down into lessons and develop a timeline, it really helped me wrap my head around the material. In addition to this Unit Plan, I attended some professional development classes over the summer to help me develop strategies and gain some insight into the unit. Still, there is nothing that beats experience. This is my second semester teaching this unit, and I already have learned so much more than when I started. Still, this Blended Learning Unit Plan helped me see how each component worked together as a whole. I created this Blended Learning Unit Plan myself; however, I did use resources from the PLTW website, as well as my master teacher that I studied with over the summer.
Standard 2.4, Higher-Order Thinking Skills – asks candidates to model and facilitate the effective use of digital tools and resources to support and enhance higher order thinking skills (e.g., analyze, evaluate, and create); processes (e.g., problem-solving, decision-making); and mental habits of mind (e.g., critical thinking, creative thinking, metacognition, self-regulation, and reflection). This project shows that I know how to facilitate and model resources that employ students to use higher order thinking skills. Project Lead the Way (PLTW) is a leader in STEM-based curriculum as proven by how many districts employ their lessons throughout the nation. This Blended Learning Unit Plan helped me plan for how I was going to help facilitate the unit with my students. This unit is very hands-on and requires a lot of work with students to help them build confidence and assist them on a personal level. It also is great in helping develop students’ mental habits of mind, specifically creativity, computational thinking, and problem-solving. Spending time reflecting on the resources available to me (Allen, 2017) (Lokey-Vega & Stephens, 2018), as well as resources I developed in conjunction with those provided by PLTW, helped me plan for differentiation and a level of personalized learning before I ever implemented the lesson. This sort of detail is a model of what educators should do in preparation for all their lessons.
What I learned most by completing this artifact is that there is no amount of preparation that is too much, especially in relation to such a large unit. As mentioned, this is a nine-week unit, and it involves a lot of high-tech resources, many moving parts, and lots of logistics to be successful. Much of that detail I am still developing, but the preparation I put into my Blended Learning Unit Plan proved to be very helpful. What I would do differently is eliminate all the references and incorporation of class notebooks that I wrote into the plan. The new year brought us a new Learning Management System, and I use it instead. It has been a lot of work getting things set up properly and the students acclimated to the learning environment, but the time spent training everyone does get easier over time.
This artifact directly impacted student learning the most. It also assisted me with preparing my class for implementation, which again influenced student learning the most. I assess the impact consistently throughout this unit. There are checkpoints, and I have two assessments associated with the unit.
References
Allen, S. (2017, February 7). Blended learning transformed our school. ISTE. Retrieved from
https://www.iste.org/explore/Lead-the-way/Blended-learning-transformed-our-school.
Lokey-Vega, A. & Stephens, S. (2018) A Vision for Personalized Learning in Georgia K-12 Schools. White paper retrieved from www.bagwell.kennesaw.edu/personalizedlearning.
Standard 2.4, Higher-Order Thinking Skills – asks candidates to model and facilitate the effective use of digital tools and resources to support and enhance higher order thinking skills (e.g., analyze, evaluate, and create); processes (e.g., problem-solving, decision-making); and mental habits of mind (e.g., critical thinking, creative thinking, metacognition, self-regulation, and reflection). This project shows that I know how to facilitate and model resources that employ students to use higher order thinking skills. Project Lead the Way (PLTW) is a leader in STEM-based curriculum as proven by how many districts employ their lessons throughout the nation. This Blended Learning Unit Plan helped me plan for how I was going to help facilitate the unit with my students. This unit is very hands-on and requires a lot of work with students to help them build confidence and assist them on a personal level. It also is great in helping develop students’ mental habits of mind, specifically creativity, computational thinking, and problem-solving. Spending time reflecting on the resources available to me (Allen, 2017) (Lokey-Vega & Stephens, 2018), as well as resources I developed in conjunction with those provided by PLTW, helped me plan for differentiation and a level of personalized learning before I ever implemented the lesson. This sort of detail is a model of what educators should do in preparation for all their lessons.
What I learned most by completing this artifact is that there is no amount of preparation that is too much, especially in relation to such a large unit. As mentioned, this is a nine-week unit, and it involves a lot of high-tech resources, many moving parts, and lots of logistics to be successful. Much of that detail I am still developing, but the preparation I put into my Blended Learning Unit Plan proved to be very helpful. What I would do differently is eliminate all the references and incorporation of class notebooks that I wrote into the plan. The new year brought us a new Learning Management System, and I use it instead. It has been a lot of work getting things set up properly and the students acclimated to the learning environment, but the time spent training everyone does get easier over time.
This artifact directly impacted student learning the most. It also assisted me with preparing my class for implementation, which again influenced student learning the most. I assess the impact consistently throughout this unit. There are checkpoints, and I have two assessments associated with the unit.
References
Allen, S. (2017, February 7). Blended learning transformed our school. ISTE. Retrieved from
https://www.iste.org/explore/Lead-the-way/Blended-learning-transformed-our-school.
Lokey-Vega, A. & Stephens, S. (2018) A Vision for Personalized Learning in Georgia K-12 Schools. White paper retrieved from www.bagwell.kennesaw.edu/personalizedlearning.
