Jeneane Allgood---Blog Post #4 SAMR/Genius Hour

For my genius hour project, I chose to do 2 SAMR model revisions of my usual lesson plans for Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). Normally, when I teach about GMOs, I do a survey (pre-quiz) to see what they already know about genetically modified organisms (uses for them and the kinds of food that contain them). So, I thought I could modify (the "M" level of SAMR) the survey/pre-quiz to make it more interactive. So, I made one on Kahoot and my students LOVED it!  It really helped them to see the kinds of things they would be learning about in the lesson, and what they should be looking out for or paying attention to. The kids liked it so much that I made them another Kahoot today for our Stem Cell lesson. My goal was to give it to them as a pre/post quiz to see what they had learned, but we ran out of time at the end of class, so I didn't get a chance to have them do it after the lesson.  I loved it, my students loved it (and learned from it), and I will definitely be using it in the future.

The other thing I did to modify (M level of SAMR) my GMO lesson was to have students use padlet to answer a question at the end of class on how they felt about GMOs.  My 3rd block's prompt was about whether they thought that GMOs should have to be labeled on nutritional products, and then they had to back up their stance with facts and evidence. My 4th block class had a different prompt--they were asked "For what kinds of situations or cases should we do genetic modification? When should it be allowed and why?". Again, they had to back up their opinion with facts.

From these 2 modified lessons, I learned many things. First, I learned that technology isn't as scary as I thought it was, and if you use if for the first time in a class of kids that will be supportive, they will actually help you troubleshoot any problems that you might run into.  Second, I learned that I have to figure out how to use Padlet a little bit better. I found Kahoot to be very user friendly, but I had a little trouble figuring out some of the settings on Padlet (for example, I had to "approve" everyone's posts,and that was very tedious---I wouldn't do that in the future).  Third, I learned that there are little things that you can do to "jazz" up your lessons that aren't that time consuming but that really make a difference in student learning. By starting these 2 lessons out with a Kahoot, I automatically grabbed their attention, and gave them a way to anticipate what they would be learning about.  They were more engaged than they would typically be in a lesson and definitely got more involved in our lecture than they usually would, so I really think it helped them to pay attention more closely, which is something we've been struggling with for a while.

I know some teachers have already been using Kahoot for a while, but this was a really big step for me, and because I had planned on using it as a "pre/post" quiz to see what they had learned, I felt like this was definitely at the "modification" level of the SAMR model.