Jigsaw 104 Internship

Another unit in AP Psychology that I am partial to is that of psychological disorders and therapies.  I get very protective of this unit as I want students to comprehend the truth about disorders and not believe fallacies perpetuated on television shows and movies.  I like to provide them as many real-life references as possible.  Additionally, I need them to practice diagnosing.  For the AP exam it is important that they comprehend the difference between disorders such as schizophrenia and dissociative identity disorder. This is a sample lesson similar to what I have already been doing in my classroom.  Of course I would be using the webcam function as the synchronous session runs.

1.  I would start with a survey about perceptions of psychological disorders.  In order for something to by diagnosed, the students need to apply the 3 Ds: deviant, distressful, and dysfunctional.  Polling them on their opinions of whether or not the short description exemplifies the 3Ds is a great conversation starter.  It helps the students understand that all 3 criteria need to be met, not just one.

2.  The next part of the lesson would move to case studies to diagnose.  I uploaded a document for us as a class to move through 11 descriptive case studies, each exemplifying a different disorder.  I also uploaded a presentation about psychological disorders to serve as notes in case I need to flip back to a notes slide for further discussion about diagnostic criteria of a particular disorder.  The students love case studies; they feel like they are on CSI even though real-life forensic psychologists are nothing like television makes them out to be, haha!

3.  I would utilize the next pane for support.  There is a super cool piece that Anderson Cooper did on schizophrenia.  When we get to the case study about schizophrenia, it would be a great time to show the students his piece.  This helps illustrate the reality of the situation.  In addition, there is an opportunity for them to participate in the same research he had the opportunity to do.  By connecting a visual representation to the material, the words on the case studies activity literally come to life.

  

In the future, I think I will be more comfortable with the survey and polling futures.  I think this has been super user friendly so far.  I would like to run music at the beginning of my sessions to welcome students and at the end upon dismissal.  I think students will enjoy the moving parts.  Adobe Connect was stagnant and it took forever to load.  This interface provides much for the students to see and follow along with the instructor. 

Video Explanation

Jigsaw 102 Going to Class

Pane 1: Webcam

In the past I have not been a huge fan of the webcam option.  Honestly I always feel a little silly and judge my voice.  But I do understand the benefits and will challenge myself to incorporate using it more.  It does allow for a more personal connection; class gets real when there is a face rather than a voice.  I think it also holds me accountable in a professional manner as well.  I am aware that I get animated when I teach and this helps clarify content for students.  Additionally teaching psychology gets personal.  I share numerous personal stories and applications to the content.  By delivering it personally when the students can see me, my stories become genuine in their minds.

Pane 2: Presentation

The presentation function for an AP level class is great for notes as well as a lecture guide.  I can easily post the presentation and then speak to the students via my webcam.  It provides a visual guide for my visual-spatial learners.  It also provides additional notes for the students where I can post examples to share.  I love to use interactive presentations with my images to help illustrate psychology concepts.  I like how I can fit the presentation in the pane and not have to enlarge.  I prefer this because it also me to incorporate items in other panes, such as my webcam and images, as the same time.  I can jump in my conversation to multiple panes without having to adjust.  I also like the option to modify the slide by being able to type or write directly on it.  I could easily share student projects on here as well.

Jigsaw 103 Making the Grade

Pane 3: Image

I am highlighting a particular lesson about development for my pan examples.  Personally it is one of my favorite because we all grow and develop but I get to dote on my children.  Since most of my students do not have children or younger brothers/sisters, much of the content about young children is difficult for them to apply.  Babysitting helps or working at a daycare but those students are limited.  I like to take the opportunity (while my kids are young, haha) to share examples via pictures or home videos that I have that demonstrate the concepts discussed.  Referring back to my paragraph for pane 1 in my previous post, my personal examples make the content a reality and subsequently more meaningful for the students.  This particular image to share is one of my daughter drawing.  We discuss schemas that kids have and how they are reflected in the drawing skills of young kids.  As you can see in this portrait my daughter is doing of yours truly, I am apparently all head and no body.  This is very common for her age because babies and young children are attune to facial expressions for survival so the rest of the body is unimportant to them until kindergarten. 

Pane 4: My Web Links

In the development unit, there are numerous stage theorists the students are expected to know.  Major names from Lawrence Kohlberg, Jean Piaget, Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, and of course Erik Erikson.  This can get overwhelming for the students.  Having quick access to various organized charts and relationship graphs makes for great compare and contrast discussion.  It is also a visual way to walk the students through stages based on age as to not overwhelm them.  I like this chart because of the content. It is clearly organized and provides me great discussion points.  It is also one that I can release to the students to bookmark for their studies.

Jigsaw 101 Setting Up for Success

Generally speaking, I love organization!  Honestly, LOVE.IT.  For me, the asset library is a must!  Jigsaw has many more functions than presented to us in the past to communicate content with students.  Even in my face-to-face classroom there are many things I want to get to but sometimes do not because I forget.  The asset library allows for one to prep before each synchronous session by loading everything preemptively. I can load everything I want to share with the students and open them in different panes to keep myself on track.  The filter function is great due to adding tags.  AP Psychology is cumulative.  There are many topics that resurface throughout the semester.  The use of tags allows me to quickly find an image or video that I may have shared at the beginning of the year to use later.  I also feel it could provide an easy search opportunity when sharing things with colleagues by using the groups function.

Most of the items I selected focused on Social Psychology.  In the sample I submitted I showed how I can upload a presentation as an asset as well as a link to a sample project to show the students.  As I mentioned before, using the panes helps keep everything organized for me and gives me the easy ability to switch without having to wait for items to upload to share.  Additionally in another pane I had included the instructions for the assignment.  So discussing norms could easily link to the assignment and then link to the sample to share.