The End

CI 302 has taught me that technology can be successfully used throughout all subject areas, how to integrate technology, and what types of technology and tools can be used in the classroom. I learned how I can easily use technology in a lot of what we do within my future classroom. One thing that really interested me was learning about Apps and tools that make learning more fun and engaging. These were great to learn about and I was amazed at how many different options there really were out there for teacher and student use. 

I think that all of this matters because technology plays a major role of our current society. I have seen how excited students get when they get to use technology in their classes. Because they are so excited, they are better engaged in the learning. I think that as a future teacher it is important to know of great Apps and tools that my students could use with any subject throughout the school year. 

I think that CI 302 had a great impact on my future teaching career, because I was provided a list of Apps and tools, as well as technologies that could be used in my future classroom. Through this class, I also was given an opportunity to write a grant for a technology that I wanted for my classroom. 

The one thing that I really enjoyed about this class was the many tools and Apps that we learned about as well as how to use them in a classroom or school setting. This was something that I can use all through my teaching career. 

One thing that I would change about the class would be to have little to no online classes, but instead meet as a class so that we were able to ask questions or discuss things with our classmates. One thing that I think would have made the online classes more successful would be to have the interviews live in class so that everyone could make it to the interview time. I wasn't able to watch any of the interviews live so I just had to listen afterwards to the interview and responses to questions and comments. 

Grant Project

From this project I learned what writing a grant entails. Before this project I had heard of grants and talked with other teachers about writing grants and what they wrote grants for, but I wasn't aware of what a grant actually looked like. It was interesting to be able to write a grant as well as to see example grants and all of the many formats and layouts that grants can be written in. 

While writing our grant, the first struggle was deciding what we were going to write our grant for. Then, while writing, I felt that the hardest part was actually thinking about the product and its role in the classroom with both the students and the teacher. We had to actually think about how it could be used and how the school could monitor its use in the classroom.

After this project I feel that when the day comes that I have to write a grant for my classroom or school, I will be better prepared and have a greater knowledge of what grant writing is and looks like. 

Interviews

Last week I had the opportunity to view multiple interviews with different education professionals. These professionals consisted of; a teacher librarian, a technology coordinator, 1:1 teachers, a technology integrationist, and an AEA staff member. These interviews were recorded and posted online for us to be able to watch all of the interviews.

My goal as a teacher is to teach in a 1:1 classroom. I love the environment and love how much freedom the students get in and outside of the classroom. Because of this, I really enjoyed the 1:1 teacher's interview. I have had many different opportunities to talk with 1st year teachers and found it very interesting that one of the interviewees was a 1st year teacher. She gave great tips on how she adjusted to the use of so much technology and the different tools. The advice that was given was fantastic and something that I will keep in the back of my mind as a grow in my teaching career.

One major thing that I noticed while watching the 5 interviews were the similarities in the information that was discussed. One thing they all talked about was to never be afraid of the technology that is provided to you. Another thing that I picked up was that even though many people really stress to use technology more often, technology is not the only thing that matters when teaching or planning. All of the different people telling me how important it is for me to be willing to always try new things and have that willingness to fail really got to me. As a preservice teacher, I will take any advice that others are willing to give me very seriously. It was great to hear from professionals that IT IS OK TO FAIL. You have to know that you will fail at things in life, but you should always try again or try even if you are afraid to fail.

From all of my technology classes I felt that using technology was really important and that I needed to use it more often. From these interviews it was great to hear them talk about using technology but it isn't all that matters in your classroom. I completely see how great using technology is, but I often find it a little tough to change up my ideas and try to make them more technology based.

All in all, I loved hearing from these professionals. It was a great opportunity and something that I can relate back to for years to come. There are so many tips and quotes that I have taken away from these interviews that will be very useful in my future career.

Technology Review #2

Educreation is a great tool that I was recently introduced to. It is FREE but does require a login. You can use this tool as an app, on an iPad only, or on the website, which makes it even more useful. I first created my Educreation using my computer but presented my lesson to my students using the app on the CTLT iPad. I found this tool to be very easy to use and loved that you can record and pause until your read to record again instead of having to stop recording throughout the lesson. It was a great tool because it was almost like I was sitting there with the students as they were practicing their vocabulary words.

Here is the link to my Educreation lesson from another class:
http://www.educreations.com/course/lesson/view/03-12-2014-lesson/18559956/

With this tool I was able to write the word while talking them through the steps. Because I recorded my lesson, the students could hear and see me writing the word at the same time. This tool can be used for any age of students! I have seen it used for 1st grade spelling, as well as for 8th grade math. The teacher is able to walk through each step to help explain each step.

Technology Review #1

   

Comic Life is a tool that I was introduced to when I first came to Iowa State University over three years ago. I have used it again since then in different classes as well as in my lesson plans. This is a great tool because it can be used on any device whether it is windows or mac. There is one initial cost you must pay for the app but after that you would only need to pay again if you chose to upgrade your app.

I have always used Comic Life from a Mac computer or an iPad, which means I was able to access my iPhotos through the cloud. You can use this amazing app to create comic strips with personal pictures or pictures from the internet, editing pictures, scrapbooking, and much more. There are so many different options to use Comic Life in schools or in your personal life. I have always used this app to create picture collages or to display information, but I have a family member that enjoys scrapbooking with Comic Life and then sending her pages to be printed using a printing site.

One thing to remember is that because this is an app you must download it to your actual device in order to use it. Once you have it downloaded, you can begin exploring the app and creating masterpieces of any design, shape, and size!

EdCampIowa = GREAT!

What is EdCampIowa?

When I signed up in class to attend EdCamp, I had no idea what I was in for when I arrived. EdCamp is a form of professional development for educators. It is considered an "unconference" because you are never spoken to or at by a specific speaker. It is a great opportunity to meet educators from all over the United States. These teachers have been in your shoes and know what your going through and have an abundance of information that can help you succeed. We all have one common goal and that is to help our students to be the best they can be! 

What Happened at EdCamp?

EdCamp started out with a "get to know you" session where we were asked to introduce ourselves to three people we didn't already know. In this process, I met a technology coordinator from the Des Moines area, a principal from Newton, and an elementary teacher from Boone. It was great to meet a couple people before starting the day so that there were a few familiar faces in the sessions. Speaking of sessions, all of the sessions that I attended were really great! Toby pulled me and a few other people out into the hall and gave us a marker and told us to create a new session for anything you want to know about. I created the Teaching 101 session. Once the sessions actually started we walked through the halls reading the session names to determine what session we wanted to attend first. 

The first session that I attended was about Twitter and how to use it. I have had a Twitter account for about a year now, but I don't really use it very often. We were given chats to follow depending on our areas of interest. It was great to hear how other teachers are using Twitter and other digital tools in their classrooms. There were a couple teachers who used a paper Twitter and blogging system where the students post their posts (on paper) onto their wall, and their peers walk around and post sticky notes with comments to their peers Twitter posts or Blogs. This is a great way to get students practicing correct use of these tools with the use of paper instead of actually posting out for the world to see. 

The second session that I attended was the one that I actually created, called Teaching 101! It was great to sit around and talk about how we should create our classroom communities. They all agreed that you need to build relationships with your students and earn their respect. They told us that by having the first week as a "get to know you" the students get to know more about each other and you as the teacher. One teacher talked about using the toilet paper game where you pass around a roll of toilet paper and each student takes at least 2 pieces. For every piece of toilet paper they have to share a fact about themselves. This means that one student could share over 10 facts depending on how many pieces they take. They also said that you need to show that you make mistakes as well, which helps them to learn to try their best but know that they will not always be perfect. Every teacher in this session highly suggested reading Teach Like a Pirate. I'm going to have to check it out! 

The third session that I attended was about Diverse Learners. In this session, we talked about how to make our classrooms productive and how to accommodate all learners. One thing that these teachers says works is daily 5. Daily 5 is a great way for each student to work at their own pace and on their own special tasks. They also talked about how you need to set goals for your prep time in order to get things done in a timely manor and make these prep times useful for you as an educator. A couple lower level reading programs they talked about were Wilson Read and Second Chance Reading. I will definitely keep these in mind for my future classroom. One quote that I will always remember from this session is: 

Another great thing we talked about is to always think to yourself, "If I were selling tickets to my class, who would buy them?" I feel that this is a great thing to think about when building your classroom environment/community.

My fourth and final session was about How to Make Students Problem Solvers. This was a great session to just sit and take notes from education professionals. The main problem they are all seeing in their classrooms is that students are afraid to fail. We need to teach them that its ok to fail when trying new things. The biggest thing that we need to do as teachers is make mistakes and admit to your mistakes. By doing this, you gain their respect and help them to see that they too can try new things. You need to explain the connection with failing and persevering. Another thing that all the teachers agreed on, was they need to come up with a way to teach their students parents how to teach/help their kids with their homework. One quote that I took away from this session was "from failure we can succeed." They also talked about a great book that teaches us how to teach our students to be successful. 

Now What?

After spending all day in Pleasant Hill at EdCampIowa, I can't wait to go again! I have already suggested this event to many other educators and plan to continue! I took many notes throughout all of these sessions, and plan to take all of what these fantastic professionals have told to about education and being a teacher. I can't wait to read both books that I have posted and continue to take more notes to help me as an educator. 

"Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn." 
 - Benjamin Franklin

Digital Classroom... Whats That?

This week in class I chose to present on blended learning and how it can help students, teachers, and schools. I first learned about blended learning in my CI 407 class. In this class we had to create an online Moodle course for topic of out choice. I really liked the idea of blended learning because the students still get to experience online learning but they also get to work with the teacher face-to-face when they need to. This is a great way for students to learn on their own through discussions, experiments, and research. I chose to do more research on this topic because of my great interest in blended learning. 

What is Blended Learning? 
A formal education program in which a student learns at least in part through online delivery of content and instruction with some element of student control over time, place and or pace. 

Why a Digital Classroom?
Having a digital classroom is great for all students, it gives them many different teaching strategies and opportunities to learn. Digital classrooms are great for all students in a way. Some students need more of a blended classroom where they can still go to classes and talk face-to-face with their teacher. There are also some students who work better at their own pace who could handle all online classes and no face-to-face teacher contact. I have seen a lot of digital classrooms through my practicums and observations. It is great that these students are getting a head start on preparation for college and the career field. Many college classes have turned to the online setting where students have the ability to be at home in their pajamas but yet still at school. 

I personally like online classes where things are due weekly to keep me working and on task. I have taken online classes where all 15 weeks are uploaded at once and you work at your own pace. In this setting, I tend to push each week back and end up working on all 15 weeks within the last few weeks of the class. Each student learns differently, and I now know that these classes are not made for me. I really love the idea of an online class, but the teacher has to know what they are doing and take the time to create the class so that each student can understand what is being asked of them. The teacher also needs to be available most of the day to be able to be there for their students and answer any questions that they may have as they work. It is also great when the teacher checks in and keeps things up to date so that the students always know where they are in the class and how they are doing.  

"Every student can learn, just not on the same day, or in the same way."

- George Evans

Twitter!!

This week we really focused on Twitter and how it can be used in education. I have had a Twitter account for a few years now, but have personally never really used it very much. After listening to all of the great ways that Twitter can be used in education from Toby last week, I was excited to explore a little more/give it a chance. Twitter helps you stay connected to almost anyone from anywhere in the world. I love that all you need is a username and you can begin exploring! Before this week, I had never heard of TweetDeck. After adding TweetDeck, I can say it makes checking my Twitter a lot more interesting. I can follow certain chats that mention a certain #. I love that the different columns can make your Twitter feed so much more organized and easy to explore. I feel that if I would have known about TweetDeck before now, I would have used my Twitter account more often. I chose to follow #EdCampIA because I am attending the conference this Saturday and wanted to learn more and see what others had to say about the subject.

The one chat that I followed very closely was #IAEdChat. The main idea of this chat was about exceptional learners and how to help all of our students to be successful. By simply following this chat, I learned multiple strategies to help all students learn in the classroom. I think that anytime you can learn new teaching strategies, you should take advantage of that moment, which is exactly what I did. Many of the professionals who took part in this chat posted links to very interesting and useful webpages that included anything from lesson plans to parent work in the home setting. Being involved in this Twitter chat was extremely useful and was great to be provided with so many different links and ideas that education professionals encourage others to check out. I found it extremely easy to figure out how to be involved in a Twitter chat and definitely plan to participate and follow more chats in the future. Instead of just Googling a certain topic, these chats give you the opportunity to talk with other professionals and they may have even more useful information for you to use than what you could find in an online search.

This week I added ten new education professionals to my Twitter page. These people are great professionals who provide you with information about anything that you would want to know across all areas of education. The ten people that I started following include:

1) @jamiefath

2) @jenifermarquis

3) @sepatrisk

4) @SLaird

5) @JillBromen

6) @henrythiele

7) @IowaCommNetwork

8) @MissChampion_K

9) @missgraham10

10) @tbbrwn

I found all of these professionals by simply looking at people that other education professionals follow or interact with. They provided great information that I could use to better myself as an educator.

After this week I definitely have a greater respect for Twitter and all that it has to offer any professional or just simply for fun. This is a great tool to find help, have fun, talk with people you otherwise wouldn't be able to, and learn many new things.

You can follow me on Twitter at @kelseywestrum

Happy Tweeting! 

Being a Connected Educator

Being a connected educator means that you take the time to connect personally with other teachers, sharing and gaining new knowledge relating to education. In todays society, most connections are done through technology and social media. In order to be a connected educator, you must first be a connected learner. After watching the video by Tom Whitby, I learned that teachers need to teacher students how to analyze their knowledge, "teach them to fish rather than giving them a fish." Everything  around us is changing every day, we, as educators, need to stay on top of everything that is going on. Teachers need to stay engaged and continue learning through their engagement/connections.

One site that I looked at and really enjoyed was http://www.edutopia.org/blog/10-tips-become-connected-educator-elana-leoni. This ten tips are great and very useful as an educator trying to stay connected.
These tips include:

1. Embrace Making Mistakes
2. There's No Right Way - There's Only Your Way
3. Just Jump In
4. Be Open to Learning Unexpected Things
5. Follow Like-Minded People in Education
6. Join the Edcamp Movement
7. Join a Live Virtual Event
8. Block Out Time to Get Connected
9. Be Yourself and Help Others
10. Start Blogging

When I read tip six about joining the Edcamp Movement, that got me really excited because I plan to attend the Edcamp later in March. I can't wait to learn more at this event!

I was unable to be part of the interview with Toby, but I learned a lot by watching the video. He was a big fan of Twitter and talked a lot about the different uses for twitter for staying connected with other educators. One thing I really picked up on was when he said, "you only get out what you put in." This can pertain to just about everything that you do in life and I believe that this is a great quote to live by while going through my teaching career. Toby really stressed that we need to follows several people, but to unfollow those who don't you to become a better educator. He did a really great job of promoting the positives that Twitter can bring to us as future educators. 

I can't wait to learn more about how to become a more connected educator for my future classrooms. I plan to continue using Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, and keeping up on reading educational blogs. These are all great starts to becoming better connected. 

All About Standards

After taking the standard assessment and looking over my results, I rated highest in Standard 2 (design and develop digital-age learning experiences and assessments) Standard 3 (model digital-age work and learning) and Standard 5 (engage in professional growth and leadership). My lowest ranking standard was Standard 4 (promote and model digital citizenship and responsibility). Of the missed answers, nothing really surprised me when looking back at the questions. The few problems that I missed were those problems that while taking the test, I struggled with them or were unsure of the answers, but answered them to the best of my ability.

The ISTE Technology Standards for Teachers, include:

1)  Facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity
2)  Design and develop digital age learning experiences and assessments
3)  Model digital age work and learning
4)  Promote and model digital citizenship and responsibility
5)  Engage in professional growth and leadership

The ISTE Technology Standards for Students, include:

1)  Creativity and innovation
2)  Communication and collaboration
3)  Research and information fluency
4)  Critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making
5)  Digital citizenship
6)  Technology operations and concepts

When comparing these standards there are several similarities that I see between the teaching standards and student standards. They both discus digital citizenship and responsibility. The standard is important for students to learn but even more important for the teacher to learn and be able to teach to their students. If they understand this, they can apply it effectively to their research and presentation use in the classroom. One thing that immediately stood out to me was that they are laid out in very similar ways. They are split up into similar content and concept areas. The biggest difference that I see between these two, was the wording and the meaning of the standards. For example, the teaching standards don't call the idea of working with others and discussing problems communicating and collaboration, they still focus on that same concept. It didn't surprise me that the teaching standards were more complex and used larger words to help define the standard meaning. Looking at the student standards, I noticed that the wording is simpler and in a more understanding language. One major thing about these standards is that they hold the teacher accountable for what they need to be teaching and doing with their students in the classroom. I feel that these standards are very much appropriate for teachers and they are important that they follow the standards. They allow the teachers to become literate with the use of technology. Being able to use technology allows the teachers to be a more effective and engaging teacher. These standards are very basic and easy to follow, and things that teachers should already be doing in their classroom in the first place, just with the use of technology.

I feel that there are many ways to ensure the understanding of these sets of standards. One thing that could help pre-service teachers understand these standards would be to create a communication piece, such as a blog or online chat area, where pre-service teachers can communicate with each other and other teacher already in the teaching field. I think that this would allow for all teachers to communicate with each other about the standards and how to apply them to your classroom setting. You can also give examples of what these standards mean and having them come up with activities that would help achieve that standard. The pre-service teacher can look at the standards and communicate with others about what they feel these standards mean and what ways they can incorporate these activities to meet the standards.

This week I was asked, after looking at and discussing the teaching and student standards, to come up with three lesson ideas. For this activity, I have selected grades 3-5. Below each lesson idea, I have provided the standards that fit that lesson.

1)  Students will work on their group projects about famous Iowans. To successfully complete this project, students will need to communicate and share information before being prepared enough to share with their peers in class. (standard 2)

2)  Students will read different version of the Cinderella story from different cultures. They will compare and find information through collaboration with students from around the world. They will determine whether or not the stories have similar characters, settings, and plots, which will then help them to compare the different stories. (standard 3, standard 6)

3)  Students will create a public service announcement using Movie Maker to explain why we shouldn't bully others. They will be required to interview fellow students and teachers in the school, or community members. They need to define bullying and provide examples of what problems bullying can cause in and outside of school. (standard 1, standard 2, standard 6)

Harris & Hofer's 5 Steps to Lesson Planning

Last week is class we talked about Harris & Hofer's 5 steps to learning. Harris & Hofer discuss five steps that educators should take when planning a lesson for their classroom that technology will be involved in. As a future educator, I feel that it is very important to plan lessons according to these five steps because these steps give all teachers the same strategies that will benefit their lessons and their students when using technological tools in the classroom. I know that most teachers have there own way of creating lessons, but by using these strategies, all teachers can build their plans on the same framework that is most beneficial for their students and their classroom. 

What are these steps you ask? Harris & Hofer's five steps include the following; 

1.  Choose a learning goal

This step is important because without creating actual learning goals, what is the point of your lesson? Having standards to base your lesson off of is very helpful and important to make sure your lesson is actually meeting the standards provided for the students learning. 

2.  Make pedagogical decisions

Thinking about the students actual learning experience is important. If teachers are not planning around learning needs of their students, then the lesson will not be effective to the students. By looking at and using the eight corresponding continua, teachers will have a better chance of connecting with their students and create lessons around their students needs. 

3.   Select activity types to combine

The teacher now determines what activities will help with the learning experience. This is an important step because deciding on an activity that will assist in students learning helps students become more engaged in the lesson.

4.  Select assessment strategies
Assessments are important in order for educators to know if their students are understanding what you are teaching them. If there are no assessments, there is no way to determine understanding or find struggling areas. 

5.  Select tools and resources
The last step, in my eyes, is the most important. This final step is where the teacher finally determines what technology tool they will use in their lesson. It is important to determine the tools and resources last instead of building your lesson around the technology you chose. 

I can honestly say I have not used this method when planning my lessons for classes and practicums, but I have seen a lot of other teachers plan their lessons this way. They use technology tools to increase the effect of their lessons instead of building their lessons around the use of technology. Technology tools should be used to better your lessons and make them more memorable and a better learning experience. If you are planning your lessons around the use of technology, you aren't really spending time on your lesson, but instead thinking more about the technology. 

SAMR Model

Last week in class we talked about the SAMR model. The SAMR model has four different levels of technology integration. These levels include;

Did you notice that dotted line in the middle of the image? The line corresponds with Bloom's Taxonomy, representing the the lower and higher order thinking skills. 

 - Is it important to teach "above the line"? - 

In my eyes, I believe that there is a certain time and place for all of the levels of technology integration. You need to consider whether or not the technology is the central focus of the lesson. The substitution and augmentation levels allow for the technology to be the aid in learning, while they sometimes provide more functions and experiences than traditional paper and pencil method. In the modification and redefinition levels, the task is impossible without the use of technology. This has the potential to be extremely beneficial for the students learning if technology is used in the correct way. Technology is a great way to engage all students and make learning activities more meaningful and memorable for your students. 

 - Is SAMR a good model for teachers to use when discussing technology use with students? - 

I believe that the SAMR model is very important to consider when you begin planning instruction. It provides a great framework for incorporating technology at different levels into the instruction. SAMR gives teachers very little knowledge of technology a place to start with substitution. The teacher moves through the stages to enhance and transform their classroom. It gives you the framework on how to use technology and how to improve the use of technology in your classroom. It is important to consider how technology will play a role in the classroom and assist in the students learning. When you are lesson planning, the SAMR model will help in the thinking of how to "teach above the line" and what needs to be done in order to do so. 

Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK)

One of the main topics that we focused on this week was Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge or TPACK for short. For those who are still unsure what TPACK actually is, it's an approach that stresses the importance of connections between content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and technological knowledge. From a personal standpoint, I feel that TPACK is important for all education professionals to understand and have knowledge about the three concepts. With this knowledge, they are able to create an effective classroom environment for learning. As long as your lesson has that instructional planning that went into making it, the lesson will be successful as well as meaningful for the students. There is no need to include all three parts into each and every lesson, in fact, at sometimes you may not be able to incorporate all parts, and that is just fine. 

As you can see in the chart above, each of the three sections overlap with another in parts, which makes the planning and use of at least two of the three sections. These interactions are titled: Technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK), Technological Content Knowledge (TCK), and Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK). Incorporating all sections into each lesson is the educators ultimate goal for writing lesson plans, but there are many other areas of knowledge that the teacher can incorporate into their lessons as well.       

Why is it important for teachers to understand the TPACK Framework?

I personally feel that all concepts being presented with the TPACK Framework are very important to understand for the educator. Without the use of technology, learners are unable to interact as much as they would be able to with the opportunity of using technology in and outside of the classroom. With no content, learners will not learn any of the subject matter required for learning. Without pedagogy, the educator will not be able to learn how their students’ actually learn and which teaching ways are more beneficial. All three parts of the TPACK Framework are very important for all education professionals to learn because without them, their students cannot have the best education that they deserve.

How will this impact you as a future educator?

As a new teacher coming into the world, knowing about the TPACK Framework and how it’s used is very important. I plan to use TPACK with all of my future lesson planning to make sure that all of my students receive the best possible education that they can. I feel that by using TPACK I will make myself a better teacher, and my students’ better learners all within one classroom. From the educator’s point of view, I feel that TPACK will be used in many generations down the road because of its ability to cover the different types of knowledge all within one lesson. In my future classroom, TPACK will play a huge role because I want all of my students to be successful in and outside of the classroom.

Grounded Tech Integration

While reading this article I learned, first, that technology integration efforts most often begin with what the teacher is least familiar with: meaning the actual technologies themselves. Even though becoming familiar and comfortable with the technologies, this alone will not ensure the most successful technologically facilitated teaching.

As a teacher, you need to focus on the students’ standards-based learning needs rather than the technology tools and resources. You must be easily adaptable to the many different teaching styles and levels of technological expertise. As the teacher, you must learn and apply rather quickly with very few additional resources required, even in those more resource-scarce settings.

There are five basic steps when planning a learning event, regardless of the actual planning model used.

• The planning must begin with appropriate learning goals. These goals are usually framed by the district, state, and/or national content based curriculum standards.
• Once the goals are determined, consider a series of eight practical pedagogical decisions to help determine the specific parameters of the learning experience you are planning for your classroom.
• Now you can determine the nature of the specific activities that will make up the learning experience.
• After the activities are determined, you must then select appropriated assessment strategies to progress monitor the students’ progress in achieving the targeted learning goals.
• You must now select tools and resources.

One big thing that you must remember when planning, is that “as students’ learning needs and experiences develop, as contextual conditions change, as teachers’ expertise grows, and as curriculum requirements shift, the decisions and choices made at each of the five stages of planning will similarly change.” With each new development, you may need to modify and make accommodations to help the students. These steps can easily be incorporated into planning with many of the different planning models.

Hi, I'm Kelsey Westrum!

I am currently a Senior at Iowa State University majoring in Elementary Education, with a specialization in Special Education and a Learning Technologies minor. I plan to graduate in December of 2014 and hope to get a job as an elementary strategist three special education teacher.