Metro #2 Overview

Metro Service Project #2 was a successful event that allowed us to provide a group of students with an engaging lesson that incorporated both hands-on and technology to facilitate learning. It had the feel of an actual classroom experience that I would encounter in my clinical teaching. I think this is especially beneficial for my classmates that may not be at that point of their degree yet. 

The technology we used in this lesson was Canva, Nearpod, QR code and an external drawing website. I used Canva to create a digital e-book for our AI Hero Story and then imported into Nearpod as the container for the actual lesson so I could add in slides that had direct links to the drawing website in case some students didn't have their phones to use the QR codes. 

Canva slides

Nearpod Lesson

We integrated this technology with a hands-on activity to investigate, describe and identify which environmental conditions are more favorable than others to garden plants. Not only did we get to have a mini lesson on environmental conditions, but we discussed how we created the stickers they used in the iCreate lab at the University where they can go with their parents to create their own. 

One of the things we learned from this experience is that incorporating technology into lessons is beneficial, but there could be circumstances where you need a backup plan if the technology fails for unknown reasons. Luckily, I grabbed a stack of paper and markers at the last minute just in case we had issues. This came in handy because the drawing website only worked for half of the devices and the WiFi would occasionally turn off on the Chromebooks. Even though some of them had to draw their image on paper, we were still able to upload to our Nearpod board for assessment.

Towards the last five minutes the students participated in the exit ticket created by the Read members of our group. They did an excellent job developing age-appropriate questions that related to the actual Hero Story and what they learned.

Finally, the students moved to the Kinesiology portion of the event where they participated in some exercises, a game and some stretches. This portion did not require much from us besides making sure our group stayed where they were supposed to be. I think having hands-on, technology, reading, and kinesiology aspects to the event created an engaging experience for students and educators.

• Our Team Meet #3 went smoothly due to all of our members looking over the pre-meet links and tasks. We discussed our thoughts and reflections on how we felt our lesson at Metro went. We each had very similar thoughts on the strengths of the event and we each gave some personal growth thoughts and goals for future instruction. Personally, my main goal was to maintain and be aware of time management in future lessons. Overall, the collaboration and participation in our group was a success. The members in our group that were from another class felt this event didn't require as much work from them as it did us, so they allowed us to take the lead and simply took direction from us. Meet #3 Video
• Team Scrumboard
• Doodle Poll screenshot:

Individual Pre-meet Work

This post contains 2 artifacts that are individual reflection work done prior to Team Meet #3 for Hero Journey Metro Project and notes taken from the screencast Dr. Elwood and Dr. Bippert provided for the agenda of Team Meet #3.

Here is a preview to the lesson we did at Metro:

Nearpod Lesson Preview

In reflecting on teaching third grade students for our metro project there are various aspects of personal growth, civic engagement, and academic enhancement that I learned and implemented in regard to teaching practices. I created one chart to display learning expectations and goals based on the DEAL Framework and an individual survey we reflected on. Followed by a chart that distinguishes my understanding and future goals for TAMU-CC Teacher Educator Professional Expectations Policy.

By continually learning and incorporating these aspects into my teaching practice, I'll be better equipped to foster personal growth, civic engagement, and academic enhancement in teaching students. Additionally, staying open to ongoing professional development ensures that I remain a dynamic and effective educator.

Metro Service project #2 Garden Hero

Our group "The Super Star Heroes" will utilize technology and a hero story to teach the students in our group about how environmental changes have an impact on the growth of plants. As a team our two separate activities incorporate TEKS from 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade in a range from science, reading, and kinesiology.

I plan to exemplify learner responses by making our AI story relatable to our students. Our story talks about creating a garden in a space that may not be ideal for a garden, such as an urban setting. Using my knowledge of gardening I will elicit responses by asking questions that relate to the conditions in our area that might not be ideal for all plants. Extreme heat in the summers isn’t ideal for growing a lot of tomato varieties. Also, I could talk about how a lot of people in our area live in either houses with a small yard or an apartment complex, so how they might be able to create a suitable space for plants in our area. I want to engage the student responses by asking open ended questions. 

            Our project will be digitally creative by incorporating different aspects of technology through our presentation of the activity and the activity itself. We are creating a digital presentation for our AI story that will include a slide for each step of our Hero story. When we get to the step that will lead us into our activity, we will use a QR code that we created to take the students to a drawing site to create their own digital art. After they have completed their digital art, we will instruct them to upload their work to a Nearpod collaboration board where the students can discuss their work. Then, we will show them the QR code that will direct them to the CCISD Multimedia Fair examples for digital art and explain how there are different technology events they could participate in including art just like they created. 

Our AI Hero Story: "The Gardener's Quest"

Step 1: The Ordinary World

Meet our young hero, Lily, a 3rd-grade student living in an urban neighborhood with limited green spaces. She's passionate about plants and loves reading about gardening.

Step 2: The Call to Adventure

One day, Lily's teacher announces a school gardening competition. The winner will have the opportunity to transform an empty space into a lush community garden, promoting environmental responsibility.

Step 3: Refusal of the Call

Lily first hesitates, doubting her abilities to create a successful garden. She questions if the urban environment is acceptable for gardening.

Step 4: Meeting the Mentor

She meets Mrs. Green, a local botanist and gardening expert, who introduces her to the world of gardening and provides guidance on using technology for research and adaptation to urban conditions.

Step 5: Crossing the First Threshold (Go into Technology lesson after this step)

Lily accepts the challenge and begins researching different types of plants, urban gardening techniques, and environmental conditions online, using technology to gather valuable information.

Step 6: Tests, Allies, and Enemies

Throughout her journey, Lily faces challenges like limited space, poor soil quality, and pollution. She finds friends in her online gardening community who share their experiences and solutions.

Step 7: Approach to the Inmost Cave

The vacant lot is the most troubling of challenges and Lily must turn the barren, empty land where plants cannot grow, into a flourishing garden. She also learns about the potential impact of urban gardening on the environment.

Step 8: Ordeal

Lily also faces the challenge of dealing with a city-wide drought and pollution. Using technology and her knowledge about how much sunlight, water, and correct soil type to use, she designs an efficient irrigation system, a man-made water system made of tubes, pumps, and sprays.

Step 9: Reward (Seizing the Bloom)

Lily's garden not only thrives but attracts pollinators, improving air quality. She wins the gardening competition and receives the opportunity to transform the vacant lot into a community garden.

Step 10: The Road Back

With the lessons learned and her commitment to environmentally-friendly practices, Lily documents her journey online. She shares her experience and knowledge of what plants need to survive, such as the correct amount of sunlight, water , and soil, inspiring others to take up urban gardening and environmental responsibility.

Step 11: Resurrection

Later that night a storm threatens to destroy her garden, but Lily immediately uses her device and looks up ways to protect her garden and she takes action. She emerges as a hero who can adapt and thrive in urban gardening conditions.

Step 12: Return with the Elixir

Lily returns to her city with a vibrant community garden, transforming an ignored empty space into a green paradise. She's not just a gardener but a Guardian of the Urban Green, inspiring others to embrace gardening and technology for environmental stewardship.

**(READ Activity lesson will be done when the story is over)

In this Hero's Journey, Lily's gardening adventure aligns with the grade & content level TEKS, technology standards, and hero personality characteristics. It promotes the development of intellect, environmental stewardship, inclusivity, and technology proficiency in students while fostering a love for gardening and a sense of community.

            Some questions I plan to ask to facilitate growth mindset is:

·       “What challenging moment did you face while creating digital art? How did you overcome it and what did you learn?”

·       “In what way was creating digital art different or similar than how you might usually create art?”

·       “How did our discussions about gardens to influence the digital art you created today?”

Here is a link to my Portfolio that associates ISTE standards with this activity.