I am Gina Lobaccaro, the Media & Technology Specialist, at Sussex
Correctional Institution, a small state prison in southern Delaware.  I
have various duties which have been keeping from spending as much time
as I would like actually teaching in my lab.  I have four outstanding
inmate/peer tutors, who work with the students as needed on an
individual basis, but it is my wish to make the classroom a more
collaborative environment for learning and I want to take a more active
role in the classroom.

 

I want to use the ISTE standards
<http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForStudents/2007Standar
ds/NETS_for_Students_2007.htm>  as a guide for making some changes.  I
will also use information from the Equipped for Future
<http://eff.cls.utk.edu/fundamentals/eff_standards.htm#four>  site as I
plan for these changes.

 

Before I implement any changes, I am going to have my present students
begin to journal about their experiences with the present mode of
instruction.  I will require them to journal for about 10 min. at the
start of each class.  I want feedback from them before I begin to
implement any changes.  Below you will see some of the questions I have
included for them to answer as they begin to write in the journals:

 

*	How long have you been in computer class, and which program are
you working on now? Describe your experiences as a learner in the
computer lab.

 

*	Have you needed much help with the lessons? Which skills have
you needed help with and did you get the help you needed from the
tutors?

 

*	What skills (within the MSOffice lessons) are you really good
at, and which ones do you think you still need help with?

 

*	How do you think that learning MS Office programs might help you
in the future - in prison or out?

 

*	Do you have suggestions for changes in how the lessons are
taught in the lab?

 

At this phase of my process I am asking for other questions I might ask
to solicit as much information as possible from my students about their
experiences in the lab.  I am asking those of you in the list for
suggestions for other questions I might ask over the next few weeks,
before I implement any changes - or even let them know what the changes
will be.  I will be using their responses to generate more questions.  

 

Some of the changes that I will be making will include the use of a
"learning style inventory", a career interest and aptitude assessment
that is a software product we have in the lab, MS Office program
assignments that align with their interests & aptitudes and more
assignments that generate collaboration, creativity, and critical
thinking.

 

Can you suggest some questions that I might ask my present students to
generate a discussion about the their past experiences in class, so that
I might have some data to compare to, after I make changes.

 

Gina

 

"Greatness is not in where we stand, but in what direction we are
moving.  We must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it -
but sail we must and not drift nor lie at anchor." Author appreciated,
but unknown.

Gina Lobaccaro
Sussex Correctional Institution
Prison Education Department
PO Box 500
Georgetown, DE 19947
Office (302) 856-5282 x 6204
Fax (302) 856-5642
gina.lobaccaro at state.de.us 

 

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