Throughout this course we have learned about how important it is to not only differentiate instruction, assignments, and lessons but how technology can play an important role in creating a learning environment that meets the diverse learning needs of your students. UDL and DI are two important factors that I learned in this class that help students to be successfully. I have also learned various resources and tools that I am looking forward to implementing into my class such as MUVE and movie maker. By using technology it allows for you to not only accomplish many standards and curriculum goals at once, but it creates assessments that allow for students to demonstrate their ability using the skills they strongest at. Instead of trying to have each student conform to the same task technology allows for you to set a goal and allow the students to accomplish that goal in the way that best suits them.
Although I am excited about the new school year and all that it has to bring I will need to make an immediate adjustment with not only my individual classes, but the classes I co-teach in as well. For the classes I teach by myself I will need to step out of my comfort zone and start implementing the tools and resources that I have learned not only from this class but throughout the masters program as well. For the classes I co-teach in I will need to learn to demonstrate more of an authoritative leadership role instead of being concerned about stepping on their toes in order to make sure that we are meeting all student’s needs. Technology allows for customized learning to take place and provides students with various ways to demonstrate their understanding of the concepts being taught. I have learned there are so many great resources available all we have to do now is use them!!
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Week 8 Reflection for New and Emerging Technologies
Throughout this course I have learned various things not only about myself as a teacher but ways to create a more effective learning environment for all. Over the past two weeks we had to create a proposal of a new technology that we thought would benefit not only our students but our district as well. These assignments really made me take a step back and look at what would have the most immediate impact on my students and why. By having to complete this assignment it made me take a few steps outside of the box and look at it from the outside and how others would react. This assignment also made me think as a leader not as an individual and how I could best instill and encourage others to use this technology along demonstrate how it would allows use as educators to fully meet the diverse learning needs of our students.
One immediate adjustment that I will have to make in order to not only identify but apply the emerging technologies is to not only model the effects myself but I would like to hold curriculum days in order to demonstrate the advantages and various technologies that are readily available to all. So for me I will have to immediately change the type of leadership role and become more of an authoritative leader so I can lead people to learn and implement new technologies instead of a democratic leader like I have been in the past. Hopefully with this new leadership role I will be able to influence others to take the small steps necessary in order to provide our students with resources and lessons using the 21st century technology.
I am looking forward to the beginning of this new journey and all that it has to offer.
One immediate adjustment that I will have to make in order to not only identify but apply the emerging technologies is to not only model the effects myself but I would like to hold curriculum days in order to demonstrate the advantages and various technologies that are readily available to all. So for me I will have to immediately change the type of leadership role and become more of an authoritative leader so I can lead people to learn and implement new technologies instead of a democratic leader like I have been in the past. Hopefully with this new leadership role I will be able to influence others to take the small steps necessary in order to provide our students with resources and lessons using the 21st century technology.
I am looking forward to the beginning of this new journey and all that it has to offer.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Learning Management System
For my presentation I chose to use the site Screen Toaster to demonstrate why it is important as an educator to bridge the instructional learning gaps. I also demonstrated how using a site like Moodle can allow teachers to meet the diverse learning needs of students in their classes.
You can find my presentation at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhMlFY7eRbw
You can find my presentation at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhMlFY7eRbw
Monday, June 21, 2010
Final Blog Post
Throughout this course I had to create a GAME plan and work on accomplishing the GAME plan. I like the process of the game plan and how it kept me focused and wanting to complete the task instead of putting a plan in place and then getting to busy to complete the task. The GAME plan held me accountable for the goal in which I had set forth. After completing a GAME plan for myself I see how it can be beneficial to my students as well. For my students long term goals are hard for them to complete and often become forgotten. So I think I would use the Game plan for shorter goals maybe one per marking period and instead of them creating a goal of their own I would great their GAME plan for them. An example could be to write neater or be able to spell your first and last name. I know these tasks seem simple to us but for my students these are extremely difficult tasks but are ones that need to be learned.
Throughout this course I learned many different ways to use technology along with various tools that I am looking forward to embracing them and implementing them in my class activities next year.
One thing that I have already changed in my classroom is I have signed up for the computer lab for every other week in order to make sure that my students are able to use technology as often as possible and customize the learning to meet the individual students needs.”Digital tools can help you “customize and personalize learning activities to address students’ diverse learning styles, working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resource.”(Cennamo, Ross, Ertmer, pg 109).
Throughout this course I learned many different ways to use technology along with various tools that I am looking forward to embracing them and implementing them in my class activities next year.
One thing that I have already changed in my classroom is I have signed up for the computer lab for every other week in order to make sure that my students are able to use technology as often as possible and customize the learning to meet the individual students needs.”Digital tools can help you “customize and personalize learning activities to address students’ diverse learning styles, working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resource.”(Cennamo, Ross, Ertmer, pg 109).
Monday, June 14, 2010
GAME Plan Process with Students Week 7-
My first thought was why would you have a student create a GAME plan how would that be useful to them. I then took a moment to think about why we had to set a GAME plan and how it benefited me and with the two thoughts in mind I came up with the reason why I feel GAME plans could be beneficial for my students.
Throughout my years of teaching I have always tried to instill the use of graphic organizer and brainstorming to my students and how it makes your writing piece more organized and well developed. Well what is a graphic organizer? It is nothing more than a plan and idea that you build on in order to complete the final piece just like a GAME plan. To me my GAME plan was a goal that I wanted to accomplish in order to better meet my student’s needs and be able to incorporate more technology. So why can’t students do this? The answer is they can and in fact it might actually help then to understand/see why they are completing the project in the first place. It might make them understand that teachers do just make up lessons to keep them busy that there are standards that they need to meet. Along with it might help the student stay more focused and allow for a continual check on what progress is being made. Just like we did for this class you could assign weekly posts on their progress towards the completion of their GAME plan. That will not only allow you to use another form of technology but will help you as the teacher to monitor the student’s progress. I know GAME plans are normally used for longer term goals but I feel that for me and my student’s longer term goals would not beneficial and to use it effectively it would be more beneficial to use it for a shorter term goal such as a project.
Their game plan will be related to their project they are working on and will be geared towards their academically functioning level. Each student will have to create a GAME plan based on the assignment/task at hand and then use the GAME plan to help guide them through the assignment. Their GAME plan will be posted on their blog and weekly monitoring will take place. The lesson will of course use technology in order to help develop their proficiency towards the technology standards.
Throughout my years of teaching I have always tried to instill the use of graphic organizer and brainstorming to my students and how it makes your writing piece more organized and well developed. Well what is a graphic organizer? It is nothing more than a plan and idea that you build on in order to complete the final piece just like a GAME plan. To me my GAME plan was a goal that I wanted to accomplish in order to better meet my student’s needs and be able to incorporate more technology. So why can’t students do this? The answer is they can and in fact it might actually help then to understand/see why they are completing the project in the first place. It might make them understand that teachers do just make up lessons to keep them busy that there are standards that they need to meet. Along with it might help the student stay more focused and allow for a continual check on what progress is being made. Just like we did for this class you could assign weekly posts on their progress towards the completion of their GAME plan. That will not only allow you to use another form of technology but will help you as the teacher to monitor the student’s progress. I know GAME plans are normally used for longer term goals but I feel that for me and my student’s longer term goals would not beneficial and to use it effectively it would be more beneficial to use it for a shorter term goal such as a project.
Their game plan will be related to their project they are working on and will be geared towards their academically functioning level. Each student will have to create a GAME plan based on the assignment/task at hand and then use the GAME plan to help guide them through the assignment. Their GAME plan will be posted on their blog and weekly monitoring will take place. The lesson will of course use technology in order to help develop their proficiency towards the technology standards.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Revising Your GAME plan Week 6-
Throughout this process I have learned that people are using and relying on technology more than I had even imagined. Many of my students are even asking to submit assignments via email instead of handing in a hard copy. It seems like technology is taking over for almost everything but my concern is what will students do when technology fails them as we all know it will.
As for my goals I have taking the first few steps and have had my students and their parents complete a survey in which I learned that more parents and students were interested in the Moodle page. They all looked forward to the various aspects that it has to offer. The parents stated they would use it to make sure their child is completing assignments as well to look at their grade. Where the students stated they would use it to check their homework as well as ask questions if need be. With the results that I received from the survey I went ahead and set up a basis Moodle page. Although it is far from being done I have began to set up the first page but still need to learn how to add different categories as well link a confidential grading program to the page for parents to monitor their child.
My goal for this week is to learn how to add categories so I can break the Moodle page into different sections. In hind sight though I should have picked this GAME plan when there were more resources available not towards the end of the year when 99% of the workshops are done as well as teachers are ready for the year to end and have less time to help.
As for my goals I have taking the first few steps and have had my students and their parents complete a survey in which I learned that more parents and students were interested in the Moodle page. They all looked forward to the various aspects that it has to offer. The parents stated they would use it to make sure their child is completing assignments as well to look at their grade. Where the students stated they would use it to check their homework as well as ask questions if need be. With the results that I received from the survey I went ahead and set up a basis Moodle page. Although it is far from being done I have began to set up the first page but still need to learn how to add different categories as well link a confidential grading program to the page for parents to monitor their child.
My goal for this week is to learn how to add categories so I can break the Moodle page into different sections. In hind sight though I should have picked this GAME plan when there were more resources available not towards the end of the year when 99% of the workshops are done as well as teachers are ready for the year to end and have less time to help.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Evaluating Your GAME Plan Progress Week 5
I am continuing to make progress towards my GAME plan goal with the help of many colleagues. So I would say that my actions have been helping me meet my goal but it has been a slow process. Being that the end of the year is nearing many teachers are busy with their finishing touches along with are not using moodle as much as they were in the beginning of the year. On the other hand I have been using more technology in my classroom along with various assignments using technology. So on one hand I am modeling technology to my students while still learning my way around moodle.
One thing that I have learned so far that I can apply to my instructional practice is the homework page and the use of Elmo a technology tool that has helped with note taking and class discussions. Over this week I have noticed not only the excitement of students due to the use of technology in the classroom but a higher rate of homework competition, which for the end of the year is an accomplishment in itself.
I still need to learn how to set up my own moodle page and learn how to add different sections along with make sure the site is secure for students and parents. I also need to have my students and parents complete a survey to see how many people would actually use the interactive site for the advantages. As for adjusting my plan I am not sure that I need to adjust my plan at this time to use of more technology is never a bad thing.
Any suggestions on how I can improve my GAME plan are welcomed!
One thing that I have learned so far that I can apply to my instructional practice is the homework page and the use of Elmo a technology tool that has helped with note taking and class discussions. Over this week I have noticed not only the excitement of students due to the use of technology in the classroom but a higher rate of homework competition, which for the end of the year is an accomplishment in itself.
I still need to learn how to set up my own moodle page and learn how to add different sections along with make sure the site is secure for students and parents. I also need to have my students and parents complete a survey to see how many people would actually use the interactive site for the advantages. As for adjusting my plan I am not sure that I need to adjust my plan at this time to use of more technology is never a bad thing.
Any suggestions on how I can improve my GAME plan are welcomed!
Monday, May 24, 2010
Game Plan Progress
Over the past week I have been talking to colleagues about Moodle and all the ways that they use it and how it is beneficial for their classes. One of my colleagues signed me onto their site so I could get a hands on feel for what Moodle is like and all that it has to offer. I also touched based with our computer teacher and he provided me with some resources on internet safety along with a PowerPoint presentation for parents. So far I have found there to be enough resources available and know that next year will bring even more for Moodle. So far I do not feel that I need to make any modification to my action plan but I was wondering if it mattered that a big bulk of my resources for Moodle will be next year. Does anyone have any ideas?
Some of the things that I have learned so far are that in Moodle you can set up different tabs which allow for different types of topics to be going on at the same time. It also allows for you as the teacher to set up a daily log where students can go back to in order to review what happened in class. It also allows for you to add short videos and web sites so students can have resources at the touch of a button. The other neat part about the different sections is that you could have a homework board which tells the students and parents the assignments that are due and were due. One of the teachers had a link that allows the parents to see their child’s grade and what assignments were outstanding while still keeping the privacy of the other students.
When it comes to internet safety I learned that a lot of parents have blinders on and do not want to see what is going on. Most parents also do not take the time to learn the new tools that their child are using on a daily basis so even when they do take the time to talk to them they do not understand them as well as do not have any idea of how dangerous some of the sites they are using daily can be if used incorrectly.
Some questions that have arisen in my research are how long does this take to set up? How many parents and students use it? And lastly privacy factors?
Does anyone else’s district use the Moodle program?
Some of the things that I have learned so far are that in Moodle you can set up different tabs which allow for different types of topics to be going on at the same time. It also allows for you as the teacher to set up a daily log where students can go back to in order to review what happened in class. It also allows for you to add short videos and web sites so students can have resources at the touch of a button. The other neat part about the different sections is that you could have a homework board which tells the students and parents the assignments that are due and were due. One of the teachers had a link that allows the parents to see their child’s grade and what assignments were outstanding while still keeping the privacy of the other students.
When it comes to internet safety I learned that a lot of parents have blinders on and do not want to see what is going on. Most parents also do not take the time to learn the new tools that their child are using on a daily basis so even when they do take the time to talk to them they do not understand them as well as do not have any idea of how dangerous some of the sites they are using daily can be if used incorrectly.
Some questions that have arisen in my research are how long does this take to set up? How many parents and students use it? And lastly privacy factors?
Does anyone else’s district use the Moodle program?
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Game Plan Week 3
My game plan is to not only to create a moodle page but update it daily so students and parents can use it on a daily basis if wanted or needed. I also want to promote technology and responsibility and what better way to do this then be a role model and show the students that I am learning just as they are. I also would like to use the moddle page in order to provide resources for various activities that we are working on and for those students who need extra reinforcement.
Some of the resources that I plan to use are not only my colleagues who currently use moodle but the workshops that my districts have set up for those who want to learn. I also would like to complete some research online and give my students and parents a survey in order to make sure that the moddle page is set up and most effective for not only the students but parents as well. The last thing I would like to learn is how to connect blogging to my moddle page in order to maximize the site to its fullest.
Some additional information that I need to locate and implement are various lessons for the beginning of the year along with an informational packet to send home for parents to look over relating to internet safety. This will hopefully help connect the student’s home life and school life as well as show students how dangers the internet can be if used incorrectly.
Any suggestions on how to more effectively complete my game plan are welcomed!!!
Some of the resources that I plan to use are not only my colleagues who currently use moodle but the workshops that my districts have set up for those who want to learn. I also would like to complete some research online and give my students and parents a survey in order to make sure that the moddle page is set up and most effective for not only the students but parents as well. The last thing I would like to learn is how to connect blogging to my moddle page in order to maximize the site to its fullest.
Some additional information that I need to locate and implement are various lessons for the beginning of the year along with an informational packet to send home for parents to look over relating to internet safety. This will hopefully help connect the student’s home life and school life as well as show students how dangers the internet can be if used incorrectly.
Any suggestions on how to more effectively complete my game plan are welcomed!!!
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
GAME Plan 6713
Throughout my years of teaching and my effort to try and keep up with technology and how fast it changes has left me struggling with meeting some of the teacher technology standards. Although I have taken many steps in the right direction I still feel that I fall short on the following two standards.
-Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility
-Model Digital-Age Work and Learning
Although I feel I do complete some of the standards as a whole I think I need to work on them hence why I am going to make them part of my GAME Plan.
Goals: Everybody in life should set goals for themselves if it be for work or for their personal lives. Setting goals is an important part of life and it is important not only for adults but students as well.
1. My first goal is to set up a moddle page in order to allow for communication to be more open than just an email or phone call.
2. My second goal is post on the moddle page daily allowing for students to check back on daily lessons as well as prepare for future units. This will also allow for parents to become more involved in their child’s life while I model the use of technology.
Actions:
1. In order to achieve this goal I will make moddle my personal development plan for the school year which will allow me to build and learn the program in order to be able to develop and implement my goal completely.
2. I will make sure to discuss and encourage the parents to get involved and look at my moodle page weekly by talking to them about this during back to school night as well as send home some information about the site.
3. Throughout this process I will always promote and model digital etiquette and responsible along with social interactions related to the use of technology and information
Monitor:
In order to monitory my goals I will set dates on my personal development plan making me accountable for my development along with allow for me to keep track of my goals. I will document all findings and use my moddle page to demonstrate my accomplishment of my goal and the progress that has been made towards this goal throughout the year.
Evaluate/Extend:
After trying this out of a year I would like to reflect on the outcome and see if it had any effects on my classroom and the success of my students. I would also like to track the amount of students and parents who used the site and how that effected the classroom environment. Lastly, I would also like to get some feedback from my students along with their parents in order to make and implement modification and model digital technology at its best.
Resource:
National Education Standards for Teachers (2008) located at http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf.
-Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility
-Model Digital-Age Work and Learning
Although I feel I do complete some of the standards as a whole I think I need to work on them hence why I am going to make them part of my GAME Plan.
Goals: Everybody in life should set goals for themselves if it be for work or for their personal lives. Setting goals is an important part of life and it is important not only for adults but students as well.
1. My first goal is to set up a moddle page in order to allow for communication to be more open than just an email or phone call.
2. My second goal is post on the moddle page daily allowing for students to check back on daily lessons as well as prepare for future units. This will also allow for parents to become more involved in their child’s life while I model the use of technology.
Actions:
1. In order to achieve this goal I will make moddle my personal development plan for the school year which will allow me to build and learn the program in order to be able to develop and implement my goal completely.
2. I will make sure to discuss and encourage the parents to get involved and look at my moodle page weekly by talking to them about this during back to school night as well as send home some information about the site.
3. Throughout this process I will always promote and model digital etiquette and responsible along with social interactions related to the use of technology and information
Monitor:
In order to monitory my goals I will set dates on my personal development plan making me accountable for my development along with allow for me to keep track of my goals. I will document all findings and use my moddle page to demonstrate my accomplishment of my goal and the progress that has been made towards this goal throughout the year.
Evaluate/Extend:
After trying this out of a year I would like to reflect on the outcome and see if it had any effects on my classroom and the success of my students. I would also like to track the amount of students and parents who used the site and how that effected the classroom environment. Lastly, I would also like to get some feedback from my students along with their parents in order to make and implement modification and model digital technology at its best.
Resource:
National Education Standards for Teachers (2008) located at http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Reflection
Although a good part of my personal theory will stay the same there are some aspects that I am going to make some modifications to. Due to this course I have realized that there are so many resources out there and that I need to start using more of them. Although so far this year I have incorporated more technology then in the past I still feel there is so much more I could be doing. Instead of using a web organizer that’s a piece of paper you pass out why not have them use one of the many programs out there like inspiration or webspiration. By making that simple change you have changed the learning process as well as made your classroom a student centered environment instead of teacher centered allowing for maximum learning to take place. Which in the end is all you can hope for.
One adjustment that I have already begun to do is the use of more visuals. Every day I have a do now projected on the board of what they need to do and the learning target for the day. Instead of using words for certain things I now use pictures. For example, on the do now there is a list of things they need to take out, notebook, pencil, and whatever else is needed for the class. Instead of using words I know use pictures to represent those objects. I have noticed that with the use of visuals my students have been getting prepared for class faster and are on task quicker. In my class I am not only used visuals for the do now but to begin a unit which has allowed for students to be able to picture the topic and has helped with them grasping the concept begin taught. With just this minor change I have noticed a great deal of change in my student’s progress and am happy with the success I have so far.
For my long term goals I would like to learn and implement various web sites in order to keep up with the students these days as they are growing up in a world full of technology. The two goals that I would like to work on incorporating more of into my lessons are virtual field trips and the use of my blog page. Although I have used both of them a few times this year I do not feel that I am taking advantage of they have to offer. I hope I can accomplish these goals in order to master them for the next school year.
One adjustment that I have already begun to do is the use of more visuals. Every day I have a do now projected on the board of what they need to do and the learning target for the day. Instead of using words for certain things I now use pictures. For example, on the do now there is a list of things they need to take out, notebook, pencil, and whatever else is needed for the class. Instead of using words I know use pictures to represent those objects. I have noticed that with the use of visuals my students have been getting prepared for class faster and are on task quicker. In my class I am not only used visuals for the do now but to begin a unit which has allowed for students to be able to picture the topic and has helped with them grasping the concept begin taught. With just this minor change I have noticed a great deal of change in my student’s progress and am happy with the success I have so far.
For my long term goals I would like to learn and implement various web sites in order to keep up with the students these days as they are growing up in a world full of technology. The two goals that I would like to work on incorporating more of into my lessons are virtual field trips and the use of my blog page. Although I have used both of them a few times this year I do not feel that I am taking advantage of they have to offer. I hope I can accomplish these goals in order to master them for the next school year.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Connectivism and Social Learning in Practice
“Technology can play a unique and important role in cooperative learning by facilitating group collaboration, providing structure for group tasks, and allowing members of groups to communicate even if they are not working face to face.” (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007, p. 140). Being able to be social either through a face to face conversation or through email is an important skill that everyone needs in order to be successful in life. By creating assignments that allow for the students to work on a task while being social with either their own classmates or peers around the world is a great way to not only keep up with the times but a way to promote effective social skills. Kids these days struggle with writing a complete sentence for the mere fact that they are texting or using abbreviation on facebook most of their day. Due to all of the current technology students are struggling with writing a basis sentence. I can’t tell you how many papers I receive that either have LOL or some other abbreviation in them even after I remind them of my no text or instant messaging language. I know that this is not something that is just happening in my classroom but creating an assignment that forces students to be social with others outside of their social network might make students think twice about what they are saying or writing. I also believe that an important skill in life is not only being about to communicate with someone but being about to work collaboratively with someone even if you are not friends. Many of my students will ask to be switched or even have gone as far as to cry about who they are working with. An important life skill is to be able to work with others and to me cooperative learning defines that.
Resources:
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Resources:
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Constructivist/Constructionist
“Technology can play a vital role in generating and testing hypothesis because new developments in probeware and interactive applets allow students to spend more time interpreting the data rather than gathering the data-a process that can be tedious and error prone.” (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007, p. 203). Although all of this makes sense to me my one question is then when is the right time to teach them how to use the programs? For example the suggestion of using power point in order for students to build the connection between the content and their memory. This is wonderful if the student knows how to use power point but what do you do if the student does not know how? I know that I am a rare case and most of the students probably know how to use the programs better than we do but for me, working with multiple disabled students, this is not the case. Just recently I had my students working on a project relating to cells. They had to research an animal and plant cell and had to tell me what parts are in each cell and their function. To top it off I even gave each student a list of web sites that contained information about the cells which was presented the information in a simplified form. Even with that and the help of five other adults this assignment was a real challenge. So how do I use technology to allow a student to be an individual learner while also allowing for them to resolve disequilibration? Earlier in the unit I was able to connect the nucleus to the principal and the protoplasm to the vice principal which allowed for assimilation that did not require technology. I tried to use the tool of technology to create artifacts but really struggled. The other obstacle that I seem to always face is the availability of computers or should I say the lack of availability. Although I have my students engages in hands on activities and are allowing for them to create and artifact in their mind I would like to incorporate more technology which will also allow for some accommodation, new category, but the amount of time that is needed to accomplish this might not be possible.
Over all I liked the ideas/suggestions this week along with can see how they correlate with constructionist learning theory but struggle with how to use technology in order to accomplish this goal.
Resources:
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Bridging learning theory, instruction, and technology. Baltimore: Author.
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Over all I liked the ideas/suggestions this week along with can see how they correlate with constructionist learning theory but struggle with how to use technology in order to accomplish this goal.
Resources:
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Bridging learning theory, instruction, and technology. Baltimore: Author.
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Cognitivism in Practice
Dr. Michael Orey talked about the information processing model and how it relates to the cognitive learning theory. He also talked about different instructional strategies that are effective in order to store information into our long term memory and ways to make it easier to recall that information. The on going theme throughout this class so far seems to be differentiated instruction, but the key is to make that instruction matter by connecting it to something either previously learned or something they can relate to. For example do not just use pictures make sure that there is an informational connection to the picture in order for students to grasp the concept being taught. The strategies I learned this week correlate to the cognitive learning theory due to the fact that they are able to reach a variety of senses because the information is presented in various ways. My theory is that the more ways you present information the greater chance you have of a child grasping the concept.
Dr. Michael Orey talked about the concept mapping tool and how it helps to organize your mind by using a visual representation. He also talks about how it replicates the network model of memory. After playing around with the interactive websites and concept mapping it makes me think about all the different ways it could be used in the classroom and how exciting this new adventure/tool is going to be. Let the adventure begin!
Resources
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Bridging learning theory, instruction, and technology. Baltimore: Author.
Dr. Michael Orey talked about the concept mapping tool and how it helps to organize your mind by using a visual representation. He also talks about how it replicates the network model of memory. After playing around with the interactive websites and concept mapping it makes me think about all the different ways it could be used in the classroom and how exciting this new adventure/tool is going to be. Let the adventure begin!
Resources
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Bridging learning theory, instruction, and technology. Baltimore: Author.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Behavorism in Practice
“Its originator must have recognized that effort is the most important factor in achievement.”(Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007, p. 155) Without effort no child can be successful in life in or outside of school. When in school it is our responsibility as the educator to provide the students with the knowledge and components needed to be successful in life. So what are we teaching a child if all we do is hand them a letter grade? Let’s say a child receives a “C” on a test, although a “C” is average did they really learn the concept? It makes more sense to base your class on a no grade policy creating an environment were the students work to learn the concepts they are struggling on instead of just accepting or are stuck with the grade they originally received. To me this is teaching children that it is OK to make mistakes as long as they are able to learn from them. It also takes away the pressure of grades and reinforces their effort along with focuses more on the instructional strategies they are trying to grasp.
“Having students practice a skill or concept enhances their ability to reach the expected level of proficiency.”(Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007, p. 188) One part of the behaviorist theory is drill and practice what better way to have a student practice then having them apply what they have learned in the classroom at home. By assigning homework it reinforces what they have learned while allowing them to take pride in their accomplishment. The one challenge with this concept is for those students who struggle with grasping the concept and in return have a difficult time completing the homework. This to me is where reinforcement of effort and the no grade policy shine because we are no longer putting them down for getting something wrong but encourage them to learn from their mistakes. So far in my classroom this has shown to be effective along with has aloud students to feel pride in their own work even when they need to make corrections in order to reach the desirable outcome of proficient. To see their faces once they have reacted proficient and receive the reward of a sticker you would have thought you gave them a million dollars. This method of teaching and grading has allowed for students to be rewarded for their hard work along with shows the students that they are truly learning and isn't that what teaching is really all about?
Resources:
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
“Having students practice a skill or concept enhances their ability to reach the expected level of proficiency.”(Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007, p. 188) One part of the behaviorist theory is drill and practice what better way to have a student practice then having them apply what they have learned in the classroom at home. By assigning homework it reinforces what they have learned while allowing them to take pride in their accomplishment. The one challenge with this concept is for those students who struggle with grasping the concept and in return have a difficult time completing the homework. This to me is where reinforcement of effort and the no grade policy shine because we are no longer putting them down for getting something wrong but encourage them to learn from their mistakes. So far in my classroom this has shown to be effective along with has aloud students to feel pride in their own work even when they need to make corrections in order to reach the desirable outcome of proficient. To see their faces once they have reacted proficient and receive the reward of a sticker you would have thought you gave them a million dollars. This method of teaching and grading has allowed for students to be rewarded for their hard work along with shows the students that they are truly learning and isn't that what teaching is really all about?
Resources:
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
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