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1. General Overview of the Proposed
Project:
My project would involve transferring my
Global History Notes from paper based to PowerPoint based. It would
be for the 20th Century units.
2. Clear Purpose and Objective:
The idea behind the project has been in my
mind for quite some time. It would allow me to make my notes that
much more interactive for the students, as I will be able to include
more visual aids for my visual learners, as well as continue to
benefit my auditory learners. My original notes are in an outline
form. I would not change that style as the students continue to
benefit from that note style. However, as I stated before, this
would allow my notes to become more interactive and visually
pleasing to the students, and keep their interest.
3. Stakeholders: grade level, who will
benefit, who will participate in this project.
10th Grade Global History students, and
hopefully, once I demonstrate the effectiveness of this note taking
method, other teachers.
4. U.S. History Content Area
Role in WWI, Great Depression, World War II,
Cold War, Role in modern World affairs and effect that has on the
world.
5. Outline Describing Content
WWI- US Entry, role of US in turning tide,
role at Versailles Peace Conference
Great Depression- collapse of US economy, role
had in rise of Fascism in Europe, esp. Germany
World War II- arsenal of democracy, Pearl
Harbor, turning tide of European war, Atom Bomb
Cold War- NATO, role in arms race, space race,
Berlin and collapse of Iron Curtain
Modern World- US foreign policy decisions in
Middle East, Iraq War, War on Terrorism, role in NAFTA, UN, collapse
of USSR
6. Software to be used, internet
materials, contacts, etc.
Microsoft PowerPoint
World Wide Web: Google Image search, etc.
PowerMedia Plus
EDweb
United Streaming
7. Level of Student Involvement
They will be the beneficiaries of this
project, as they will be the ones to enjoy the notes.
8. Evaluation process (include students
when possible)
When students take Unit Tests, Global History
and Regents Examination
9. Timeline: how you envision the
project being carried out between start up and conclusion
Creation of Notes: 1 week
Evaluation: 5-6 weeks, depending on regents
exam
The entire point of this project for me was an
experiment. I attended several inservice days regarding the use of
technology in the classroom, one of which happened to be powerpoint
presentations. With the increasing emphasis on using technology and
the ability to adapt your lesson so learners of all varieties can
learn better, I felt that I wanted to do a unit of powerpoint notes.
I choose my unit on World War 2 for this
project for a couple of reason. One, it seemed to be the easiest
unit because of the immense student interest in the subject area.
Secondly, the plethora of information available for this topic is
enormous. In creating this project, I drew from a variety of
different internet resources. I especially used "Google Images" for
many of the images used. Third, and perhaps most important from a
professional standpoint, I felt stuck in a rut doing my notes. I
wanted to change the method of delivery, and make myself a better
teacher.
There were one or two things that my students
did not seem to like about the notes. One item that they complained
about was the "noises" I inserted into the presentation whenever a
slide changed, and whatnot. I couldn't tell if it really bothered
them, or if they were just finding something to complain about.
On the positive side of things, many times,
the pictures that I had led to different conversation tangents that
I had not anticipated. It also created different thought provoking
questions and opportunities for the students to expand their
learning horizons. Many of my students are auditory and visual
learners. This helped them immensely. Prior to this, I would read
from the notepacket, and they would listen to me as I went through
the process. Now, not only do I read it, but the students follow
along on their notes and on the screen as well. It has cut down on
the amount of clarification students ask of me, especially when it
comes to spelling words. It also has helped with the transition to
different topics within the lesson.
I wanted to include movie clips into the
process, but for some reason, they did not transfer over. That is
something I will need to look into. I was able to show them however.
I enjoyed the process of using power point
notes to teach very much. To the point, where I plan to continue
using them for my other units. While the initial investment in time
is substantial, the end result pays off with better results and more
student interaction within the lesson. I developed a new enthusiasm
for the teaching process as well. While each class is unique in
student response, the enjoyment I got from using this was very high.
Student response varied. Many seemed to enjoy the new note taking
style. Some did not. I would be interested to see if the fact that I
had them "trained" in a certain method and then switched had any
effect. I would like to see the impact of an entire semester of
power point would substantially increase student achievement and
awareness. The results students achieved on this unit test were not
as good as I had hoped. They seemed to struggle with the writing
portion of the assessment (which, to be fair, they have the entire
semester.)
Neil Huber
Westfield High School
9th/10th Global History and Geography
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