In order to revise a lesson to incorporate more technology, I decided to upgrade a lesson that I have previously taught. I am getting ready to teach the novel, Lord of the Flies to my sophomores. As we read, we discuss various themes and one of the most prominent is leadership. Previously, I had the students conduct an activity called “Build-a-Boss.” They had to identify leadership traits in various categories and provide a rationale for their choices. They also had to provide a real world example of a person who embodied each trait. I never wrote the activity up in a formal lesson plan, but I have included the graphic organizer which the students completed in the Initial Lesson.

When we were challenged with the task of infusing more technology into a lesson, I thought the Build-A-Boss activity offered multiple opportunities for expansion. Even better, I will be able to use the new and improved lesson in the next few weeks.

Here is my revised lesson plan, retitled "Build-A-Leader."

I added technology in several areas. First, I decided to have the students do a bit of research on leadership qualities, so I incorporated a small research component into the lesson. In the past, I read an article or two with them, but having them do the research makes them more active learners and allows me to move into the role of facilitator. Students will work collaboratively in groups of 2-3 to complete a note taking graphic organizer as they conduct their research.

I wanted to add some creativity to the lesson, and I came up with the idea of having the students create an avatar of the ideal leader utilizing the traits which they have identified. We created our own avatars in a previous IT&DML class and I thought it was a lot of fun. I really looking forward to this part of the activity. I think the kids will be really engaged and more importantly, it will really make them think about the leadership traits they believe an effective leader should possess. Each group will collaborate to write a rationale explaining their avatar and they will share their creations with the class. Finally, we will discuss and write about leadership qualities as they relate to the characters in Lord of the Flies.

My support team of Monica Hayes and Christel Russman had some suggestions which really helped me develop my lesson. Monica suggested that in order to differentiate for accelerated students, I could have them make more in depth comparisons to real world examples. As I was reading Monica’s comment, I noticed that April 16, 2015 issue of  Time was about the 100 most influential people in 2015. I included a link to the site in my lesson plan and thought that would be a great way for kids to identify current leaders in various categories. Christel also had a great idea for a lesson extension which I included. She thought that it would be interesting to have kids look at the qualities of people and characters who are not leaders. We could look at followers and outcasts and analyze their traits and how they relate to others. My support team was also very encouraging of the lesson development as a whole, which makes me excited to give it a try.

My revised lesson reflects the categories of the SAMR model.

Substituting, as the image above indicates, involves adding technology without any functional change. By having students write their rationale on Google Docs instead of with pen and paper, I am in effect, substituting technology.  However, when students collaborate on the piece of writing, they are moving into the augmentation category when they use Google instead of traditional pen and paper. Google allows them to work simultaneously and to edit, revise and share each other’s work. The research component falls under the category of modification. Instead of having me provide the students with articles to read about leadership, they can search and find their own, giving them far greater ownership in the project. Finally, the use of various sites to create an avatar falls under redefinition. Students are synthesizing the information they found in their research and creating a unique symbol using multiple images provided on the avatar creation website.  Additionally, using a presentation site to share their avatars with the class allows students to be more engaged and to have a much better understanding of each others’ work.

Technology plays a key role in education today. I think that as teachers we need to look critically at where we can incorporate it to enrich the learning experience. We don’t need to “reinvent the wheel,” but by using some imagination we can make simple adaptations to lessons that we have already created to provide an additional dimension to student learning.

Citations

"Physical Appearance Key to Management Success: Study."Www.canada.com. Postmedia Network, Inc., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2015.

"Political Performance Indicator." Political Performance Indicator. Humanetrics.com, n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2015.

"The 100 Most Influential People." Time 16 Apr. 2016: n. pag. Time, 16 Apr. 2015. Web. 16 Apr. 2015.

"Top 10 Qualities That Make A Great Leader." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 19 Dec. 2012. Web. 16 Apr. 2015.

Image Credit - Leadership

Image credit - SAMR