[Future Action Plan]{.underline}

**National Parks**

Sue Bowman

**[Authentic Task]{.underline}:** The authentic task of this engaged
learning project is for students to research national parks and discover
why some parks are in danger. They are then to form opinions as to how
the parks should be used. This topic interested most of the students.
Many of them have visited national parks on vacation. The main problem I
saw was that students seemed to form their opinions without doing any
research. They already had their minds made up about the topic. At this
age level, I often struggle with students believing something to be true
even when the research proves it otherwise. Misconceptions, especially
in science, are quite common. One of my goals throughout the year is to
change those misconceptions. However, this project is based on an
opinion. Most, if not all, of the students formed their opinions the
very first day and simply found web-sites to back it up. I do not think
any of the groups changed their minds as time went on.

**[Hook]{.underline}:** For the hook I read them parts of two opposing
articles and shared a letter written by a congressman asking for student
input. I think the only thing I would change next year is to have the
articles relate more to what they are interested in. This year I read
about a man bull-dozing a road through a national park so his family
could get food and supplies. I also read parts of an article about using
the national parks for logging and mining. Next year I will try to find
articles about snowmobiling, pros and cons if possible, in the national
parks. I think this will catch their interests more and \"hook\" them
into the project. I think most of the students believed the letter
because I said I found it on a teacher web-site. If I had said it was
mailed to me personally, I do not think they would have bought into it.

**[Student Direction]{.underline}:** My students were to brainstorm
questions that needed to be answered in order to give the congressman an
informed opinion. They did a very good job with this. Questions included
things like; \" How many of the parks are in danger?\" \"Is there a way
to use part of the park for snowmobiling, etc. while keeping other parts
safe from people?\" I do not think I would change anything with the
brainstorming sessions.

Some groups had trouble finding web-sites, but fortunately, I had a list
of them to use. I let them search first and stepped in when needed. Next
year I will continue to use that practice. The main problem with the
web-sites is that quite a few of them had a place for readers to add
comments, and the comments were very inappropriate for fifth graders to
read. For next year I will cut and paste the portion of the articles
that I would like the students to read into my own web page. This year,
since my group was small, I was able to keep an eye on them and make
sure they stayed on the proper page of each site. The problem is I
cannot control what sites they go to at home.

I do not think I had enough experts for them to email. They had trouble
finding them on their own. I will definitely have more experts in mind
next year. I will also allow more time for the project because we did
not hear back from any of our experts in the short time that I had to
complete the project.

**[Assessment and Evaluation]{.underline}:** Each student was given the
rubric on the second day of the project. We went over the parts of the
rubric, and I explained what I meant in each section. In the future, I
will have the students help me write the rubric, with a lot of guidance
of course. I know what I am looking for, so I do not want to leave it
entirely up to the students. However, I am sure they will better
understand what is expected of them if they are involved in the writing
of it. Students also completed daily reflections in their science
journals. I found these very helpful. I could keep on top of a group
that was having problems working together or staying on task. I will
have them complete the reflections again next year. I may add a section
where the students can add any other information that they think I
should be aware of or questions to me. The students also turned in a
web-site directory so I could keep track of what sites they visited.
Again, I will use this tool next year. Next year I will also add a group
evaluation for the students to complete. I learned that idea from others
in our class that used it, and it sounds like it worked very well. As
for the final project, the main change I will make is to give more time.
I feel my students were rushed in order to get the job done in time. I
will also use our Engaged Learning specialist to help teach Power Point.
Most of my students have used it, but they needed a lot of practice and
help with it.

**[Teacher Role]{.underline}:** During the majority of my teaching, I am
the teacher and the students are the learners. I move away from this
roll only a few times a year, when we are doing projects similar to this
one. I have my students participate in a few computer simulations such
as Great Ocean Rescue and Rainforest Researchers, both Tom Snyder
programs. During these times, I am the facilitator. I encourage the
groups to ask questions of each other in order to discover the solutions
to their problems. I spend the class period going from group to group to
offer assistance where needed. Some groups need more help than others. I
found this to be true with the National Parks Project. For this project,
I stepped back as they brainstormed their beginning ideas. I then had to
offer assistance to quite a few groups while they were searching the
Internet. I think it went well and will continue this practice next
year. We are just beginning the final project phase of this unit.

**[Classroom Management]{.underline}:** The biggest problem I had this
year was the technology (or lack of) at our school. We are currently
using out-dated Mac computers. Searching the Internet is very slow and
frustrating. We are in the process of trying to pass a referendum to
upgrade our aging system. If all goes well, I will be using much faster,
more reliable computers next year. This past summer the district hired
an Engaged Learning specialist. She is in charge of both the Learning
Center and the computer labs. I was hoping to co-teach this unit with
her. Unfortunately, being new to the job, she is a bit overwhelmed and
cannot help me at this time. I hope that next year she will be ready to
take on the challenge. I would like to have them work on this project in
my class and during their computer class once a week with our Engaged
Learning specialist teacher.

**[Effective Technology Integration I]{.underline}:** I have my students
working in groups of three. That size group seems to work very well.
When all the projects are finished the students will be sharing the
information with each other through their presentations. I do not think
I will change that for next year. I will however, give the students a
lot more time to complete this project. As of now, none of our experts
have emailed us back. I assume we will hear from at least a few of the
experts, but by then it will be too late. Perhaps if I start the project
sooner, then go back to my regular curriculum while waiting for replies,
we would hear from them before they start their final projects.

**[Effective Technology Integration II]{.underline}:** This year, none
of the students are posting their projects on the web. What we learn
will only be shared with the others in the classroom. They will be
writing letters to senators stating their opinions, but I doubt if they
will get much farther than the senator\'s secretary. Next year, I will
try to get their work published on our web-site. This can only happen if
the referendum passes in November, and I am able to work with the
Engaged Learning teacher. I would like to see this happen because I know
the students are putting a lot of time and effort into this project.
They should be able to show their work off and let others learn from it.

**[Effective Technology Integration III]{.underline}**: Since this is a
very hot topic now, I would like my students to use up to date
web-sites. I would like them to use news sites that would help them
understand what laws are being discussed and passed (or not passed) in
Congress. The sites they are using now are full of good background
information, but do not necessarily cover what is going on today. I will
have to do more research before I have my students participate in this
unit next year to find good, reliable, up to date web-sites.