Greetings all!
As I continue along with my current Walden course, we are moving right through some well known learning theories. Up this week; constructionism! Or as many often refer to as constructivism. For those who are not familiar with this theory, its basis rests strong upon the belief that people learn best when they are able to construct information on their own by building some type of model or artifact that they are able to show to others.
Much like the cognitive learning theory that I discussed in my previous post, the constructionist learning theory is also one that I have a great belief in. When students are able to ask questions, explore topics, and then construct any given type of artifact about the topic, students develop a much richer understanding of what it is they were studying. Not to mention the amount of interest students develop when they are able to dive into a project and have the freedom to make it their own. Once again, I find this theory supporting to the cognitive theory in that by students being able to participate in strong project-based learning, the connections they are making with real world situations are huge! Learning no longer is just about reading a text book and then taking a test. We need connections! Those of you are involved in education in any sort of way or look back on your own schooling career probably agree that the classes where you sat in a desk and listened hour upon hour were dull, boring, and you probably did not take much information home with you.
We have the opportunity now days to really get our students involved in real life problems and solutions through the use of technology. So why not take advantage of it? As many of you might already know, I am a big fan of Edutopia. In our classroom resources this week I was excited to see a link to the site where project-based learning was in the spotlight. If you have not already checked it out, I urge you to do so! The link is http://www.edutopia.org/project-learning. This type of instructional strategies put students in the driver’s seat and actually has them doing the real work that they were learning about in the classroom. Students can see first hand how their learning applies to the real world and are not left wondering the infamous question “when am I ever going to use this?” Now, if you are like me and teach lower elementary, you might think that while this is great stuff to apply at the High School level, it just is not the type of thing we can do at our grade level. True, yes, to some extent. Obviously we cannot be sending our 1st graders to do architectural work at a local office. However, there are so many different instructional strategies that we can certainly be using with our young elementary students as PowerPoints for one, are a great way to allow to students to create work that is unique and content rich. Students are able to put voice recordings, videos, images, quotes, and their own words into this type of project and they can do it in a way that represents their understanding and how they see it. Even something as simple as taking your young students on a nature walk and letting them observe what is around them and then having them make predictions about why certain things are they way they are. We just have to remember the learning does not stop with making the predications. We actually have to give our students the opportunity to some how test their predictions by using problem-solving strategies and then creating things to show the findings. Then the true learning begins!
Magan
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Cognitive Learning Theory and Classroom Instruction
This week our class has been asked to take a closer look into the cognitive learning theory. For me, this theory has had a lot of influence on my own personal learning theories, opposed to the behavrioralist theory that we looked at last week. While I do undoubtedly use the behaviorism in my class it is for more behavior instruction. Makes sense right? The cognitive learning theory on the other hand has huge connections to instruction within the classroom.
Take for example two of the tools that I explored further this week; concept mapping and virtual field trips. Both are extremely valuable tools that are often used in my classroom. But why? A big part of the cognitive theory as Dr. Orey discussed in a video resource titled “Cognitive Learning Theories,” is elaboration. Students must be able to make many connections between new information and pre-existing information. What something like a concept map does then, is allows students to not only make connections, but it helps them focus and organize their thoughts as well. This is what Robertson, Elliot, and Washington referred to as “activating metacognitive learning strategies,” in their book excerpt “Cognitive Tools.” Dr. Orey also made a statement within the resource that really stuck with me. He explained that information that we learn is never really gone, we just simply do not remember how to find it. I thought this was a neat way to put it because I know myself, there have been many tests I’ve taken where I just cannot remember the answer for the life of me, but then later on in the day it hits me. The same goes with names of people. I knew I learned the information; I just simply did not make enough connections to other things to help me know where to find the information when I needed it. When concept mapping is used, students continue to build off basic information and focus questions and make strong connection between concepts so that they can better recall information later on.
Virtual field trips, as I mentioned before, are a unique and important asset to the classroom as well, especially when most schools do not have the money to send classes on real field trips these days. The cool thing about the virtual field trips is that distance is no object! I can take my 1st grade class from Upper Michigan to the shorelines of Hawaii in an instant. Not to mention, with virtual field trips, the class can go at its own pace, rather than trying to keep up with a tour guide and trying to hear every word they are saying when standing in the very back of a large group. These trips are just one more way that students can make strong connections to what they have been reading and hearing about. To be able to actually see what the Colony of Williamsburg looks like for example and hear the music that was played during that time, gives students the opportunity to make great connections to information that will be long lasting.
Take for example two of the tools that I explored further this week; concept mapping and virtual field trips. Both are extremely valuable tools that are often used in my classroom. But why? A big part of the cognitive theory as Dr. Orey discussed in a video resource titled “Cognitive Learning Theories,” is elaboration. Students must be able to make many connections between new information and pre-existing information. What something like a concept map does then, is allows students to not only make connections, but it helps them focus and organize their thoughts as well. This is what Robertson, Elliot, and Washington referred to as “activating metacognitive learning strategies,” in their book excerpt “Cognitive Tools.” Dr. Orey also made a statement within the resource that really stuck with me. He explained that information that we learn is never really gone, we just simply do not remember how to find it. I thought this was a neat way to put it because I know myself, there have been many tests I’ve taken where I just cannot remember the answer for the life of me, but then later on in the day it hits me. The same goes with names of people. I knew I learned the information; I just simply did not make enough connections to other things to help me know where to find the information when I needed it. When concept mapping is used, students continue to build off basic information and focus questions and make strong connection between concepts so that they can better recall information later on.
Virtual field trips, as I mentioned before, are a unique and important asset to the classroom as well, especially when most schools do not have the money to send classes on real field trips these days. The cool thing about the virtual field trips is that distance is no object! I can take my 1st grade class from Upper Michigan to the shorelines of Hawaii in an instant. Not to mention, with virtual field trips, the class can go at its own pace, rather than trying to keep up with a tour guide and trying to hear every word they are saying when standing in the very back of a large group. These trips are just one more way that students can make strong connections to what they have been reading and hearing about. To be able to actually see what the Colony of Williamsburg looks like for example and hear the music that was played during that time, gives students the opportunity to make great connections to information that will be long lasting.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Behaviorism with a Side of Technology
Hi All,
Well I have started my fifth class now as I continue down the road to earning my Master’s degree. This week our focus has been on instructional strategies, specifically ones that deal with technology, and how they correlate with the principles of the behaviorist learning theory. I have to admit, that when I started this class I was very skeptical as to how in the world technology was supposed to play any sort of role in how our students behave. However, we are only in our second week now and my eyes are beginning to open to the connections.
There were two different sets of resources that I had the chance to explore. The first was chapters of our course text titled “Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works,” one dealing with reinforcing student effort, and the other dealing with homework and practice. The second type of resource was a large variety of websites that can be used for students both in the classroom and at home to help build on the skills that were learned during curricular lessons. The text resources provided a few ideas that I found to be quite interesting and I believe they would be extremely effective from upper elementary and up. They gave ideas that cause students to take some responsibility of their own learning by doing things like creating charts to show how effort impacts final learning and grades and tracking the grade level of their writing. So what does that have to do with behaviorism? Simply put; it has everything to do with behaviorism! As students make notations and chart the effort they put into their learning and then see how it compares to their grades, they most likely are able to see the more work and the better quality of the work they put in, the bigger the reward is, such as getting a good grade is.
As for the Internet resources that were suggested this week, they provide great activities that students can participate in on their own to gain extra reinforcement for curricular skills. Students are able to work at their own pace and receive immediate feedback for their responses. If a student answers a question correctly, they are greeted with either a spoken or written phrase of encouragement. When students answer a question incorrectly they are told that it was done wrong and they are given a chance to either do it again, or see what the actual correct answer is. After becoming familiar with this type of activity, students can begin to learn that the more they practice, the more correct responses they earn.
Now, one question that I did have when looking through these resources was, what about those students who put in a great deal of effort, but still continue to struggle and get low scores? Every year I have a couple students who try and try, but they still get lower grades. We need to make sure as teachers to not simply let the technology teach our students. Even though these resources are great and useful, students still need our feed back and encouragement. Then even when they do put in the necessary effort, but end up with a low grade, we can be there to recognize the great effort they put in and remind them that the effort will indeed pay off! Students will then get positive reinforcement even when they might not see it from their charts or computer program scores.
I have included the last of some of the websites that I have reviewed. Explore and use as you wish!
Magan
http://classroom.jc-schools.net/basic/math.html
http://www.phschool.com/curriculum_support/ss_skills_tutor/ http://www.davis.k12.ut.us/cjh/appliedtech/Business/Keyboarding/
http://www.webmath.com/k8drill.html
http://englishgrammar101.com/
http://www.internet4classrooms.com/on-line.htm
www.iknowthat.com
http://www.brainpop.com
Well I have started my fifth class now as I continue down the road to earning my Master’s degree. This week our focus has been on instructional strategies, specifically ones that deal with technology, and how they correlate with the principles of the behaviorist learning theory. I have to admit, that when I started this class I was very skeptical as to how in the world technology was supposed to play any sort of role in how our students behave. However, we are only in our second week now and my eyes are beginning to open to the connections.
There were two different sets of resources that I had the chance to explore. The first was chapters of our course text titled “Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works,” one dealing with reinforcing student effort, and the other dealing with homework and practice. The second type of resource was a large variety of websites that can be used for students both in the classroom and at home to help build on the skills that were learned during curricular lessons. The text resources provided a few ideas that I found to be quite interesting and I believe they would be extremely effective from upper elementary and up. They gave ideas that cause students to take some responsibility of their own learning by doing things like creating charts to show how effort impacts final learning and grades and tracking the grade level of their writing. So what does that have to do with behaviorism? Simply put; it has everything to do with behaviorism! As students make notations and chart the effort they put into their learning and then see how it compares to their grades, they most likely are able to see the more work and the better quality of the work they put in, the bigger the reward is, such as getting a good grade is.
As for the Internet resources that were suggested this week, they provide great activities that students can participate in on their own to gain extra reinforcement for curricular skills. Students are able to work at their own pace and receive immediate feedback for their responses. If a student answers a question correctly, they are greeted with either a spoken or written phrase of encouragement. When students answer a question incorrectly they are told that it was done wrong and they are given a chance to either do it again, or see what the actual correct answer is. After becoming familiar with this type of activity, students can begin to learn that the more they practice, the more correct responses they earn.
Now, one question that I did have when looking through these resources was, what about those students who put in a great deal of effort, but still continue to struggle and get low scores? Every year I have a couple students who try and try, but they still get lower grades. We need to make sure as teachers to not simply let the technology teach our students. Even though these resources are great and useful, students still need our feed back and encouragement. Then even when they do put in the necessary effort, but end up with a low grade, we can be there to recognize the great effort they put in and remind them that the effort will indeed pay off! Students will then get positive reinforcement even when they might not see it from their charts or computer program scores.
I have included the last of some of the websites that I have reviewed. Explore and use as you wish!
Magan
http://classroom.jc-schools.net/basic/math.html
http://www.phschool.com/curriculum_support/ss_skills_tutor/ http://www.davis.k12.ut.us/cjh/appliedtech/Business/Keyboarding/
http://www.webmath.com/k8drill.html
http://englishgrammar101.com/
http://www.internet4classrooms.com/on-line.htm
www.iknowthat.com
http://www.brainpop.com
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
A Time for Reflection
I am a firm believer that in order to truly grow as a person and become more successful, you must take the time to reflect. So with that being said, I am taking this opportunity to do some reflecting on my first Technology Specialization course that I have completed through Walden University.
Overall I am very excited about what I was able to take out of this course as an educator. Being only 25 years old right now, I consider myself a digital native and technology has never scared me. However, this course was able to open my eyes to the fact that the types of things people my age are doing such as social networking, blogging, podcasting, and using wikis, can be extremely valuable learning tools for students as well. Before this course I had never attempted to conduct a podcast and I never really saw any use in me creating one. Now, after learning what types of things can be done with podcasting, I’m addicted to finding ways students can use them in my classroom. My 5th graders this year absolutely loved being able to use the Garage Band program to create their own podcasts to prepare for oral presentations they had to give recently. They saw it as a great resource to be able to actually hear how they sounded so they could change things up if they found they were talking too fast, too quiet, or had too many “umms” in their speech.
Not only has this course helped me incorporate new projects into my classroom, but it has also helped me understand more thoroughly the importance of teaching 21st century skills. Now, instead of spending time every day telling students exactly how to complete a certain task, I try to take a step back and let them work collaboratively to do some problem solving first. As educators, we need to be preparing our students to survive in a world where they do not even know what jobs will be created and out there by the time they get out of college. While sometimes it seems easy to do the thinking for our students, it will not benefit them. Yes, my students certainly did struggle the first week or so when I refused to simply tell them an answer and told them to think harder and try to figure it out. However, now I find myself standing in the background smiling a lot more, as I watch my students put their knowledge to good use to figure out things they never thought they could do on their own before.
As always, there is always room for improvement. I have prided myself as an educator who looks for ways to expand my knowledge of learning, teaching, and leading. What this course has helped me do, is see so many ways that I can expand in all of these areas by utilizing technology. The research, tips, and discussions that are available online to help educators succeed is amazing! There is yet something that I have searched for that I have not been able to get help with. Not to mention the 21st century teaching that I am able to do by having students complete projects that allow them to communicate to the world through wikis and blogs.
To help me stay on track with making improvements, I have created two goals for myself.
First Goal: To totally transform my classroom environment so that all students will automatically try everything possible to figure things out for themselves and with the knowledge of their groups, rather than taking the easy way out and asking for the answer from the teacher. To accomplish this, I will need to let the students know from day one, that they will not be spoon-fed any knowledge while in my classroom, and should not ever expect that in the real world either.
Second Goal: To create a classroom environment where students feel comfortable with each other, and where they are constantly working as a team. In order to accomplish this goal, I must always be showing students how one person can affect the whole group. They succeed as a team, and they also struggle as a team. However, my hope is that students will quickly realize that by working as a team, their chances for success are greater, and that they can achieve so much more as a team. For students to see that as being true, I will be giving them constant opportunities to work collaboratively. Having students aligned in rows for the year, working alone, will not cut it in my classroom.
So, with all the knowledge that I have been able to take out of this course, I hope to use it to continue to improve on my teachings and my own learning. There is always more to be learned, and this class has definitely motivated me to try new things in my classroom and to see what is out there!
Magan
Overall I am very excited about what I was able to take out of this course as an educator. Being only 25 years old right now, I consider myself a digital native and technology has never scared me. However, this course was able to open my eyes to the fact that the types of things people my age are doing such as social networking, blogging, podcasting, and using wikis, can be extremely valuable learning tools for students as well. Before this course I had never attempted to conduct a podcast and I never really saw any use in me creating one. Now, after learning what types of things can be done with podcasting, I’m addicted to finding ways students can use them in my classroom. My 5th graders this year absolutely loved being able to use the Garage Band program to create their own podcasts to prepare for oral presentations they had to give recently. They saw it as a great resource to be able to actually hear how they sounded so they could change things up if they found they were talking too fast, too quiet, or had too many “umms” in their speech.
Not only has this course helped me incorporate new projects into my classroom, but it has also helped me understand more thoroughly the importance of teaching 21st century skills. Now, instead of spending time every day telling students exactly how to complete a certain task, I try to take a step back and let them work collaboratively to do some problem solving first. As educators, we need to be preparing our students to survive in a world where they do not even know what jobs will be created and out there by the time they get out of college. While sometimes it seems easy to do the thinking for our students, it will not benefit them. Yes, my students certainly did struggle the first week or so when I refused to simply tell them an answer and told them to think harder and try to figure it out. However, now I find myself standing in the background smiling a lot more, as I watch my students put their knowledge to good use to figure out things they never thought they could do on their own before.
As always, there is always room for improvement. I have prided myself as an educator who looks for ways to expand my knowledge of learning, teaching, and leading. What this course has helped me do, is see so many ways that I can expand in all of these areas by utilizing technology. The research, tips, and discussions that are available online to help educators succeed is amazing! There is yet something that I have searched for that I have not been able to get help with. Not to mention the 21st century teaching that I am able to do by having students complete projects that allow them to communicate to the world through wikis and blogs.
To help me stay on track with making improvements, I have created two goals for myself.
First Goal: To totally transform my classroom environment so that all students will automatically try everything possible to figure things out for themselves and with the knowledge of their groups, rather than taking the easy way out and asking for the answer from the teacher. To accomplish this, I will need to let the students know from day one, that they will not be spoon-fed any knowledge while in my classroom, and should not ever expect that in the real world either.
Second Goal: To create a classroom environment where students feel comfortable with each other, and where they are constantly working as a team. In order to accomplish this goal, I must always be showing students how one person can affect the whole group. They succeed as a team, and they also struggle as a team. However, my hope is that students will quickly realize that by working as a team, their chances for success are greater, and that they can achieve so much more as a team. For students to see that as being true, I will be giving them constant opportunities to work collaboratively. Having students aligned in rows for the year, working alone, will not cut it in my classroom.
So, with all the knowledge that I have been able to take out of this course, I hope to use it to continue to improve on my teachings and my own learning. There is always more to be learned, and this class has definitely motivated me to try new things in my classroom and to see what is out there!
Magan
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
21st Century Skills
As I continue on with my Master's program in Integrating Technology into the Classroom, we were given a website to check out and familiarize ourselves with. The website is "The Partnership for 21st Century Skills" and can be accessed at http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/ for those of you are curious. It really is a neat website with a lot of useful information for not only educators, but really anyone who is interested in where our future is going. After all, our students are our future and everyone should take and interest in making sure they have the necessary resources to succeed and keep our world going, while hopefully making some much needed improvements.
One thing about this website that I found particularly interesting was the State Initiatives tab. It was neat to be able to read the different things that certain states are doing to assure their students are indeed getting the necessary 21st century skills. The part that struck me a little worried however was the fact that there are only 10 states listed on this website. Are really only 1/5 of our schools in the United States showing commitment to revising standards, creating assessments, and implementing 21st century skills professional development programs?? I sure hope as a country we are doing better than that!
There is no doubt that we are in need of some big positive upgrades around us. This is not however something that educators can do alone. I was very glad to see that this website addressed that issue. Right in their mission statement, The Partnership for 21st Century Skills talked about how this change must be a collaboration between education, businesses, community, and government leaders. It is so important that we all work together on this issue. This website seems to be a great resource to helping to get the ball rolling. Check it out. I would love to hear what you think about the website and this topic in general.
Magan
One thing about this website that I found particularly interesting was the State Initiatives tab. It was neat to be able to read the different things that certain states are doing to assure their students are indeed getting the necessary 21st century skills. The part that struck me a little worried however was the fact that there are only 10 states listed on this website. Are really only 1/5 of our schools in the United States showing commitment to revising standards, creating assessments, and implementing 21st century skills professional development programs?? I sure hope as a country we are doing better than that!
There is no doubt that we are in need of some big positive upgrades around us. This is not however something that educators can do alone. I was very glad to see that this website addressed that issue. Right in their mission statement, The Partnership for 21st Century Skills talked about how this change must be a collaboration between education, businesses, community, and government leaders. It is so important that we all work together on this issue. This website seems to be a great resource to helping to get the ball rolling. Check it out. I would love to hear what you think about the website and this topic in general.
Magan
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Blogs and Bridges
Earlier this year I attended a workshop on Engineering and Technology. The main purpose of this workshop was to get educators better informed on ways we can get our students excited about engineering and technology. One of the lessons that I received from this workshop was a building bridges project. I immediately saw a great opportunity to integrate 5th grade science with technology. After talking to the 5th grade teachers at my schools, we came up with the plan that students would create blueprint type plans of bridges during their technology time with me. The bridges would be designed using a drawing program and printed off so the students could then build their designed structures in their science class. This would continue for three class periods, allowing students to redesign their bridges as need be depending on the success they had during the weight tests.
Now, as I become more familiar with blogs, I can see great benefits a class blog would have on this project. My plan now is to have each small group of students who are working together to create bridge plans, also then blog about what their design consists of, how well it resisted the weight test, and what changes they will make to their future designs and why. Students will then continue making posts after each new design and test trial. All students can then read and respond to other group’s blogs offering suggestions and encouragement. This way, the blog not only serves as a place where students can discuss science and engineering content, but they can also showcase their own work and accomplishments.
Since I teach technology classes to all elementary students, I only see each grade level for 45 minutes a week. This would make it entirely impossible to allow every group to give a full explanation of their bridge design, successes, and weaknesses each week. With blogs, students can give each group the time they deserve and offer insight without having to be interrupted because of a bell. This allows students to work together as an entire class sharing designs, mistakes, and ideas rather than just having one group compete against another. Students then would get a really good idea of how engineers really do work together. Ideas are being built from one group to the next, hopefully allowing all groups to have success in the end. On top of all that, the discussion that each group has before, and while writing the blogs, creates opportunities for great critical thinking.
Now, as I become more familiar with blogs, I can see great benefits a class blog would have on this project. My plan now is to have each small group of students who are working together to create bridge plans, also then blog about what their design consists of, how well it resisted the weight test, and what changes they will make to their future designs and why. Students will then continue making posts after each new design and test trial. All students can then read and respond to other group’s blogs offering suggestions and encouragement. This way, the blog not only serves as a place where students can discuss science and engineering content, but they can also showcase their own work and accomplishments.
Since I teach technology classes to all elementary students, I only see each grade level for 45 minutes a week. This would make it entirely impossible to allow every group to give a full explanation of their bridge design, successes, and weaknesses each week. With blogs, students can give each group the time they deserve and offer insight without having to be interrupted because of a bell. This allows students to work together as an entire class sharing designs, mistakes, and ideas rather than just having one group compete against another. Students then would get a really good idea of how engineers really do work together. Ideas are being built from one group to the next, hopefully allowing all groups to have success in the end. On top of all that, the discussion that each group has before, and while writing the blogs, creates opportunities for great critical thinking.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Teaching with Technology
There is no doubt that the world around us is changing at a rapid pace. The knowledge students are expected to know now before leaving elementary school has by far surpassed the level I would have ever dreamed of when I was growing up. In an article written by Dr. David Thronburg titled "Technology and Education: Expectations, not Options," he discussed how technology is growing and changing at a much more rapid pace than pedagogy, and the gap seems to just be getting larger and larger as the years go by. So what do we need to do now as teachers and as communities to help close that gap?
As an educator, I strive to find new technologies to bring into my classroom to enhance student learning and create an interest in my students that will help them take an active stance on their own education. I have taken my students on virtual field trips around the world, had them create multimedia yearbooks, create PowerPoint presentations in place of the standard essay format reports, shown video clips of science processes, and the list goes on. However, even though I am proud of the use of technology that I use in my classroom, there is still that overwhelming, yet exciting, feeling that there is so much more out there that I can be exposing my students to. My two main goals for next year is to get students involved in creating and keeping up with a class blog and having my students build and be able to control robotic devices.
What are some of your thoughts out there? What technologies do you feel are becoming crucial for our student to learn and be exposed to?
As an educator, I strive to find new technologies to bring into my classroom to enhance student learning and create an interest in my students that will help them take an active stance on their own education. I have taken my students on virtual field trips around the world, had them create multimedia yearbooks, create PowerPoint presentations in place of the standard essay format reports, shown video clips of science processes, and the list goes on. However, even though I am proud of the use of technology that I use in my classroom, there is still that overwhelming, yet exciting, feeling that there is so much more out there that I can be exposing my students to. My two main goals for next year is to get students involved in creating and keeping up with a class blog and having my students build and be able to control robotic devices.
What are some of your thoughts out there? What technologies do you feel are becoming crucial for our student to learn and be exposed to?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)