Student+Cohort

​H i Josh and Lil I have had a look at everything that we have put together for the student cohort and reworded and amended it a little. The main things that I have amended are that I have taken out the piece on computers in the library, changed the year level from 3/4 to 4 and included the use of an interactive whiteboard and class wiki. I think that unless we are going to be in the library for any of the lessons we don't really need to mention the computer access there. I think that it may be easier to address the needs and abilities of one year level rather than multiple levels and abilities. I have included the use of an IWB as it seems to be common practice in most classrooms these days (I know it is in the school I work at not sure about yours) and included the class wiki as an option for sharing information. Hope that is Ok with you all. Here it is feel free to share your opinions and change it if you see fit. Cheers Cass 1/10/09 3.35pm  Thats great Lil and Cass. It really has evolved now and we have a virtual clas that we can plan we for. All your ideas seem fantastic. Josh 2/10 7.20am

The lessons for this inquiry based question are aimed at students in grade 4. The grade consists of 25 students in total, 13 girls and 12 boys. One student has an intellectual disability and requires some assistance when using the computer. He requires assistance to log on, is capable of navigating around the internet when cued, and of implementing keyboard skills, albeit slow. When working within a group this student will need to be assigned a specific task and be grouped with student A with whom who works well. An integration aide is assigned to this student and will provide assistance when required. The students have access to laptops within the classroom. There are enough laptops for students to be able to use individually at any given time. The school is equipped with a broadband internet connection which will not affect the download of any programs that will be used. An information technology teacher is on hand to assist with any computer technical problems that may arise. The students are experienced with the use of technology within the classroom and frequently use an interactive whiteboard during whole class learning sessions. They are familiar with safely navigating the internet, using search engines to locate information, using email software and the class wiki to share information in a safe and effective manner and, creating information products through inputting still, sound and moving data into publishing software such as Microsoft Powerpoint.
 * __Student Cohort __**

As they have previously completed group tasks together these students are familiar with working productively within a group situation.

This is what was discussed during the chat session on 28/9 in regards to the cohort of students we are planning for please feel free to add or amend as you see fit. Cheers Cass 29/9


 * Primary level grade 3/4
 * The class consists of 11 girls and 13 boys.
 * The students have experience with some Microsoft Office products such as Word, Powerpoint and Excel.
 * Students will be introduced to Wiki's and Blogs.
 * Lil asked the question, with which I agree, "Would grade 3/4 have experience with wiki's and blogs?" Something we need to consider. Sharon's advice was that they can if we want them to.

We need to consider: Before you read this bit I didnt actually find this wiki until after I wrote the following and have since found you had done a fair bit of it. So sorry but this is just what i was thinking anyway!
 * Are there any students with special needs
 * Lil suggested that special needs could be covered by working with a partner or within small groups, that way students have support within their group.
 * Are there any students with behavioural problems
 * Is there an aide working within the classroom
 * Are there any parent helpers within the classroom
 * Are there any computers within the classroom? If so how many?
 * Do the students have access to the computers and/or the internet at home

Hi everyone Here is the part one that i have had a go at. I hope its on the lines of what everyone was thinking but it is my thinking so please feel free to change whatever you feel neccesary. It seemed easier to write in dot points to start with. It was basically from the information Sharon decided should be included and thought best to post it here.

DESCRIBING THE STUDENT COHORT

The lessons will be based on students from Grade 3/4

There are 25 students in the grade Out of these 25 students there are 13 girls and 12 boys One ​ student has an intellectual disability and requires assistance with logging on. He is capable of navigating, when cued, around the internet. He is able to implement keyboard skills, albeit slow. He will need to be assigned a specific task when working in the group, and when grouped with student A, will work well. An Integration Aide will assist this particular group when required. The students all have access to computers in the school library. There are enough computers for each student to be able to use individually at any given time. The students also have access to laptops which can be used in the classroom when the library isn’t available. The school is equipped with broadband internet connection which won’t affect the download of any programs that will be used. The students have a lot of experience with using technology in the classroom. They are familiar with creating information products through inputting still, sound and moving data into publishing software, safely navigating around the Internet and using search engines to locate information, and using email software in a safe and effective manner. As well as the classroom teacher there is a teacher aide who assists in the classroom. There is also an information technology teacher who is on hand to assist with any computer technical problems that may arise. The students are familiar with working in group tasks productively having previously completed group tasks together. josh 30/9 6.30pm

Wow Josh that is fantastic. The only thing that I think we need to address or maybe refine is the issue of the teacher aide. Is this person just a general classroom aide or an integration aide assigned to students with learning or behavioural problems? Just something to consider otherwise I think that this is great. If we run with this we have covered the first two parts of the assessment task YAH for us!!! Cheers Cass 6.50pm 30/9

Yeah Cass I totally agree with the teacher aide. If there was to be a teacher aide then they would be assisting a student with learning problems so maybe scrap that. I guess if there is a student with a learning problem then we have to work with that in our plans so probably easier to pass. No point making it harder than what it should be. Josh 30/9 7.30pm

Hi Cass and Josh, been a busy 2 days. I've been reading and written some things down as references. Thought I'd put a page up for references as well so we can add as we go. Josh I like the student cohort. Fantastic work. In regards to the Aide, I think we should cover learning difficulties. I know it adds a bit more but I think it will cover all bases. It doesn't need to be difficult. The Aide is an extra pair of eyes and we can choose the learning difficulty. 'Jack has an intellectual disability. He needs assistance with logging on and requires cues to keep him on task. Grouping will need to be addressed ensuring more capable students are partnered or grouped with students requiring support. What do you think Cass and Josh. I think we need 2000 words and I feel that we are covering all bases. Lil 1/10 8.30am