It is now that time again to take some time out to reflect upon all that I have learned throughout the seventh course of my master’s program through Walden University. This course focused on the teaching of new literacy skills to our students and the importance it has. I have to say, I was surprised to find that many of the literacy skills that are considered to be new, were in fact skills that I not only have been teaching all along, but many of them were skills that I was taught during my own schooling. For those skills that are new to my students, such as evaluating websites for reliability and validity, they really aren’t so scary when the teaching process is done step by step using easy to follow methods.
As with all schooling, there always seems to be courses that teach helpful information, but that information isn’t always to applicable to ones profession. Fortunately, this course was not one of those courses! This course really helped remind me that we simply cannot let our students jump onto the web, head to a search engine, and get what is going on. There are evaluations and synthesizing that needs to be done, and of course, the citing of all the sources. I think many of us, myself included, sometimes take advantage of the fact that the information on the web is so easy to come by, that we sometimes forget to give credit where credit is due. I think if I can do a better job of modeling how to cite sources to my students, and teaching them that even the simplest thing such as taking a picture from clipart needs to be cited, our students will develop a second nature of giving credit for their resources.
One professional goal that I have made for myself after taking this course is teaching my students how easy and effective it is to evaluate websites when conducting any kind of research. This evaluation has been one of the hardest things for my students to grasp in the past few years of my teaching. Students get frustrated, and so do I because up until now, I really did not have a simple and effective way to teach Internet research. Now, I fortunately have an easy to use, step by step method, that was shown to me by Technology Specialist, Beth Phillips, in one of the video resources of this class. The method shown consisted of checking every website for five major components: Author, Bias, Content, Dates, and Editors. I practiced this method on a few websites and it really took a matter of 5 minutes at most to complete these steps and determine if a website was quality or not. Obviously, I expect this to take more time for my students, especially in the beginning of their learning. Students will need some great modeling for this process, as well as some time to work with partners, but I think after enough practice, students will be able to evaluate websites on their own, with very little frustration.
I’m happy to say, this course was undoubtedly one that has increased my abilities as an educator in the 21st century!
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
A Moment of Reflection
Well the time has come where I have reached the end of yet another course through Walden University. This most recent class, Bridging Learning Theory, Instruction, and Technology, I have to say has surprised me with how beneficial it has been. I was actually quite skeptical of the course the first couple weeks because I had the impression it was going to be just another one of those classes where I read about all the same theories I have already read about during the earlier part of my schooling career. Much to my great surprise though, it has turned out to be one of the most beneficial learning experiences I have had yet throughout my graduate studies. Not because it caused me to recreate my personal learning theory; because that is still fairly well intact to the way it was at the beginning of the course. I still believe that students need hands on experiences and need to be able to make numerous connections between their prior knowledge and new the learning in order for deep understanding to develop.
So what is it that made it so good? While there were certainly many valuable lessons that I have learned, and will most definitely take each of them back into the classroom with me this fall, there were a couple of key points that I found particularly enlightening, and both just happened to be brought to mind by Dr. Debra Pickering in our video resource materials. The first lesson was that the thing that makes all these theories of learning and all the strategies that teachers use so successful, is none other than practice. We must teach our students how to use the learning strategies before we can expect them to achieve mastery. They need modeling, practice, and much guidance along the way. Technology tools like concept maps, venn diagrams, and word processing tracking options, all make it not only possible to help our students with this practice, but it also makes it very easy. The second adjustment I plan to make in my classroom this fall, is more of something that I was in desperate need of being reminded of. It was that we cannot expect our students to master every single learning strategy out there all at one time, just like we as teachers cannot try every teaching technique all in the same day. Sometimes it is easy to get wrapped up in all the great new ideas that we come across, that we forget to take a step back really give one or two things a shot before we move along to something new.
This brings me to the first long-term goal that I have set for myself. While it is important to really give our students the opportunity to master strategies, it is equally important to not just simply stay in those strategies that we are comfortable with. As a teacher, it is my goal to continue staying up on all of the latest technology that is out there to help me do my job better so that students are getting the most out of their education. My second goal is to not just use these new technologies as instructional resources, but to allow my students to use them as learning resources. Even at the 1st grade level, I need to allow my students to use the tools that are out there, and not just have them watch me as I use them. It have always been one to strive to have a student centered classroom rather than a teacher centered one, and this goal will help me achieve just that.
Magan
So what is it that made it so good? While there were certainly many valuable lessons that I have learned, and will most definitely take each of them back into the classroom with me this fall, there were a couple of key points that I found particularly enlightening, and both just happened to be brought to mind by Dr. Debra Pickering in our video resource materials. The first lesson was that the thing that makes all these theories of learning and all the strategies that teachers use so successful, is none other than practice. We must teach our students how to use the learning strategies before we can expect them to achieve mastery. They need modeling, practice, and much guidance along the way. Technology tools like concept maps, venn diagrams, and word processing tracking options, all make it not only possible to help our students with this practice, but it also makes it very easy. The second adjustment I plan to make in my classroom this fall, is more of something that I was in desperate need of being reminded of. It was that we cannot expect our students to master every single learning strategy out there all at one time, just like we as teachers cannot try every teaching technique all in the same day. Sometimes it is easy to get wrapped up in all the great new ideas that we come across, that we forget to take a step back really give one or two things a shot before we move along to something new.
This brings me to the first long-term goal that I have set for myself. While it is important to really give our students the opportunity to master strategies, it is equally important to not just simply stay in those strategies that we are comfortable with. As a teacher, it is my goal to continue staying up on all of the latest technology that is out there to help me do my job better so that students are getting the most out of their education. My second goal is to not just use these new technologies as instructional resources, but to allow my students to use them as learning resources. Even at the 1st grade level, I need to allow my students to use the tools that are out there, and not just have them watch me as I use them. It have always been one to strive to have a student centered classroom rather than a teacher centered one, and this goal will help me achieve just that.
Magan
Friday, July 31, 2009
Voice Thread
Here is a link to my first ever created voicethread. Take a listen and let me know what your thoughts are on helping to teach literacy to elementary students. I am debating on whether I want to use Centers in my classroom or try out a newer method called "The Daily 5."
http://voicethread.com/share/572736/
Thanks,
Magan
http://voicethread.com/share/572736/
Thanks,
Magan
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
The Social Part of Learning
So far throughout this course we have looked deep into some of the most well known learning theories in education. This week however, we’ve dipped into something that is a little bit more debatable as to whether it is actually a learning theory in the sense that it is a primary means to how people construct meaning. What it is that we are looking into now is social learning theories. Really? Could socializing actually be an asset to learning in our classrooms? Well the jury might still be out on whether or not some of these ideas will actually make it to becoming leading learning theories, but there are indeed some very beneficial instructional strategies that correlate closely to the principals of social learning theories.
The text Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works, offers a large variety of cooperative learning suggestions that give students the abilities to connect with and learn from people all over the world. Setting aside the obvious strategy of grouping students together to work through problems, there where a couple strategies that really stuck out to me within this book. The first was something called Keypals or ePALS. These items are much like the time old activity of pen-pals, only our students are using technology and have the options to communicate with people from all over the world almost instantly. Through an Internet community at http://www.epals.com/ our students can collaborate with other classrooms, without boundaries, about their cultures, interests, experiments, projects, and life in general. This sort of thing fits very well into the social learning theory as students are making network connections and gaining knowledge from them.
The second resource that I made note of was bookmark sharing. Sites such as http://del.icio.us and http://www.kaboodle.com/ allow students to both create collaborative lists of sites they have found useful on given topics, and get lists of websites that other people have found to be good resources on any given topic. I can see this being a great way for members of a group to share resources easily. No longer do students have to wait until they get back into the classroom to share a site with their friends. They can simply put it on a shared bookmark for all to see immediately.
So to sum up, with these social learning tools, not only are students using the techniques of making connections and constructing artifacts that are suggested in the congnitivist and constructionist theories, but they are doing so while using some of the latest available technologies to expand their resources and connecting with other people through networks.
The text Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works, offers a large variety of cooperative learning suggestions that give students the abilities to connect with and learn from people all over the world. Setting aside the obvious strategy of grouping students together to work through problems, there where a couple strategies that really stuck out to me within this book. The first was something called Keypals or ePALS. These items are much like the time old activity of pen-pals, only our students are using technology and have the options to communicate with people from all over the world almost instantly. Through an Internet community at http://www.epals.com/ our students can collaborate with other classrooms, without boundaries, about their cultures, interests, experiments, projects, and life in general. This sort of thing fits very well into the social learning theory as students are making network connections and gaining knowledge from them.
The second resource that I made note of was bookmark sharing. Sites such as http://del.icio.us and http://www.kaboodle.com/ allow students to both create collaborative lists of sites they have found useful on given topics, and get lists of websites that other people have found to be good resources on any given topic. I can see this being a great way for members of a group to share resources easily. No longer do students have to wait until they get back into the classroom to share a site with their friends. They can simply put it on a shared bookmark for all to see immediately.
So to sum up, with these social learning tools, not only are students using the techniques of making connections and constructing artifacts that are suggested in the congnitivist and constructionist theories, but they are doing so while using some of the latest available technologies to expand their resources and connecting with other people through networks.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
If you Build it, the Knowledge will Come
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
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 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
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