After taking this course, I think the most striking revelation that I had about the teaching of new literacy skills to my students is that these skills really do need to be taught. When I was a student, which was really not that long ago, I was not taught all of these skills. However, I did manage to pick them up along the way. I think that I just assumed that these are skills that students, by the time they get to high school, just know. I was wrong. Each of these skills need to be taught to students, and they need a chance to practice using the skills as well.
What I have learned in this course will impact my teaching practices greatly. After taking this course, I plan to spend time every semester on a project-based unit in which students are taught not only the mathematics concepts from the standards that I am expected to cover, but also the new literacy skills that they need to know to thrive in this ever-changing world. I would actually like to implement the unit plan that I created throughout this course. I want my students to learn these new skills, but I also want them to realize that they can do research on mathematics topics as well as the topics that they choose for other classes like English and Social Studies.
I think I would like to help implement a program at my school that requires that all students are trained yearly on Internet ethics before being allowed to access the Internet at school. It is so important that students are actually taught these ethics, as suggested by Dr. Warlick in the class learning resources. We have a program at our school called "Eagle Time," which is much like homeroom. We meet every two weeks with our "Eagle Time" classes, and I think that this would be the perfect opportunity to train our students on Internet ethics. In fact, they could be trained on the first day of school in "Eagle Time." After they view the training PowerPoint, I would like for students to be required to complete a short quiz answering questions about what they were trained on. After passing the quiz and getting parent permission, students would then be given Internet privileges at school.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Reflection
After reviewing my Personal Theory of Learning that I developed during week 1 of this course, I still feel very much the same way. However, I would like to add in much more technology use into my daily lessons to help stimulate my students' minds and help them to become more engaged in the learning process. I am a strong believer that learning is an active process, and I think it is so important to keep students engaged in what they are learning. I think adding more technology into my lessons can be a great way to get my students engaged.
Immediate adjustments that I will make to my instructional practice will definitely be to integrate more technology into my lessons. "Educational technology is a support for teaching and learning that both teacher and learned can call on to help ensure the opportubity for optimum performance" (Lever-Duffy & McDonald, 2008, p. 28). The first technology tool that I am definitely going to integrate into my classroom next year will be a classroom blog where students will go to post comments/questions and/or responses to given prompts that all center around our classroom lessons. A second technology that I would like to integrate into my classroom instruction is Voice Threads. I can see how I could use a Voice Thread in my classroom in many ways. I would like to use it to review material already learned in the classroom so that students can use it for additional help. I would also like to use a Voice Thread to give students prompts to respond to.
The first long-term goal that I have for changing my instructional practice is to begin to use technology in the classroom more so that I am more of a mediator while my students actively learn through the use of technology because "integrating technology into instruction tends to move classrooms from teacher-dominated environments to ones that are more student-centered" (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn. & Malenoski, 2007, p.3). A second long-term goal that I have is to get students more excited about math through the use of technology in the classroom. To achieve both of these goals will mean continuing to learn about the best technologies that are available to me and my students and learning how to use them so that I can integrate them into the classroom.
References
Lever-Duffy, J. & McDonald, J. (2008). Theoretical Foundations (Laureate Education, Inc., custom ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Immediate adjustments that I will make to my instructional practice will definitely be to integrate more technology into my lessons. "Educational technology is a support for teaching and learning that both teacher and learned can call on to help ensure the opportubity for optimum performance" (Lever-Duffy & McDonald, 2008, p. 28). The first technology tool that I am definitely going to integrate into my classroom next year will be a classroom blog where students will go to post comments/questions and/or responses to given prompts that all center around our classroom lessons. A second technology that I would like to integrate into my classroom instruction is Voice Threads. I can see how I could use a Voice Thread in my classroom in many ways. I would like to use it to review material already learned in the classroom so that students can use it for additional help. I would also like to use a Voice Thread to give students prompts to respond to.
The first long-term goal that I have for changing my instructional practice is to begin to use technology in the classroom more so that I am more of a mediator while my students actively learn through the use of technology because "integrating technology into instruction tends to move classrooms from teacher-dominated environments to ones that are more student-centered" (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn. & Malenoski, 2007, p.3). A second long-term goal that I have is to get students more excited about math through the use of technology in the classroom. To achieve both of these goals will mean continuing to learn about the best technologies that are available to me and my students and learning how to use them so that I can integrate them into the classroom.
References
Lever-Duffy, J. & McDonald, J. (2008). Theoretical Foundations (Laureate Education, Inc., custom ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Connectivism and Social Learning in Practice
There were many strategies discussed in the chapter, "Cooperative Learning" in Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works. These strategies had a very strong connection to social learning theories.
One particular strategy that I liked was WebQuests. They are "inquiry-oriented activities that allow students in a class or from multiple locations to work together to learn about a particular subject or to tackle a particular project or problem" (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007, p.145). By having students work together to complete WebQuests, they are interacting with each other as well as the material in the WebQuest to learn. This is very much an application of social learning theory.
A second strategy that I liked was Web Site Creation. By having students work together to create a web site that follows given criteria, students are very much interacting with the information and deciding what is most important for their web site. They are also interacting with each other to create the web site and learn the material, which is another great application of the socialist learning theory.
References
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
One particular strategy that I liked was WebQuests. They are "inquiry-oriented activities that allow students in a class or from multiple locations to work together to learn about a particular subject or to tackle a particular project or problem" (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007, p.145). By having students work together to complete WebQuests, they are interacting with each other as well as the material in the WebQuest to learn. This is very much an application of social learning theory.
A second strategy that I liked was Web Site Creation. By having students work together to create a web site that follows given criteria, students are very much interacting with the information and deciding what is most important for their web site. They are also interacting with each other to create the web site and learn the material, which is another great application of the socialist learning theory.
References
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Constructivism in Practice
After reading "Generating and Testing Hypotheses" in Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works, I found that the strategy is very much related to constructivist/ constructionist learning theories. This is because by having students make their own hypotheses about a topic and test those hypotheses, the students are actually involved in creating (constructing) some project that helps them to test their hypotheses. By constructing some method of testing their hypotheses, students learn first-hand whether or not their hypothesis is correct. They also construct an understanding of the topic that they are hypothesizing about, which allows them to learn that particular topic.
One specific example that I liked from this chapter was Mrs. Omar's interactive spreadsheet that students used to determine which investment was best. Students were able to put in their own starting values to see which investment choice was best. This was a great way to allow students to test their hypotheses without a lot of tedious calculations. It allowed them to construct their knowledge by seeing how the values changed based on the initial investment made (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007). By using technology, students are also more likely to get excited about the topic as well.
References
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
One specific example that I liked from this chapter was Mrs. Omar's interactive spreadsheet that students used to determine which investment was best. Students were able to put in their own starting values to see which investment choice was best. This was a great way to allow students to test their hypotheses without a lot of tedious calculations. It allowed them to construct their knowledge by seeing how the values changed based on the initial investment made (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007). By using technology, students are also more likely to get excited about the topic as well.
References
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Using Cognitive Tools to Enhance Learning Experiences
After reading in Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works about two instructional strategies that embed technology: “Cues, Questions, and Advance Organizers” and “Summarizing and Note Taking,” I have taken the time to reflect on how they relate to the cognitive learning theories that I have also been studying this week.
In the chapter called "Cues, Questions, and Advance Organizers," I found that many of the recommendations that were made in the chapter are all great tools to use that relate back to the cognitive learning theories. For example, in the text, the authors talk about "teach[ing] students how to use graphic advance organizers" (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007, p. 74). Advance graphic organizers are a great way to use the cognitive learning theories in the classroom. They help students to make connections through dual coding and elaboration, two of the theories that Dr. Orey discussed in his video on Cognitive Learning Theory (Laureate Education, Inc., 2008).
In the chapter called "Summarizing and Note Taking," I also found that the recommendations made by the authors were very much strategies that can be used in the classroom to align with the cognitive learning theories. I particularly like how the authors state that "the classroom recommendations for note taking include using a variety of note-taking formats and giving students teacher-prepared notes" (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007, p. 128). I agree that students need variety in they types of instructions that they receive to help them stay interested and excited about learning. I feel that this definitely falls into the category of cognitive learning theories since it has students making connections in ways that they might not make them otherwise. In the cognitive learning theory, the connections made in the brain are the primary way that learning takes place, so making those connections in many different ways is vital to the learning process.
Sally Moore
References
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). Program five. Cognitive Learning Theory [Motion picture]. 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.
In the chapter called "Cues, Questions, and Advance Organizers," I found that many of the recommendations that were made in the chapter are all great tools to use that relate back to the cognitive learning theories. For example, in the text, the authors talk about "teach[ing] students how to use graphic advance organizers" (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007, p. 74). Advance graphic organizers are a great way to use the cognitive learning theories in the classroom. They help students to make connections through dual coding and elaboration, two of the theories that Dr. Orey discussed in his video on Cognitive Learning Theory (Laureate Education, Inc., 2008).
In the chapter called "Summarizing and Note Taking," I also found that the recommendations made by the authors were very much strategies that can be used in the classroom to align with the cognitive learning theories. I particularly like how the authors state that "the classroom recommendations for note taking include using a variety of note-taking formats and giving students teacher-prepared notes" (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007, p. 128). I agree that students need variety in they types of instructions that they receive to help them stay interested and excited about learning. I feel that this definitely falls into the category of cognitive learning theories since it has students making connections in ways that they might not make them otherwise. In the cognitive learning theory, the connections made in the brain are the primary way that learning takes place, so making those connections in many different ways is vital to the learning process.
Sally Moore
References
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). Program five. Cognitive Learning Theory [Motion picture]. 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.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Application 2: Behaviorism in Practice
I have recently read about two instructional strategies, "Reinforcing Effort" and "Homework and Practice," from the book Using Technology in Classroom Instruction that Works. Each of the strategies correlate very closely with the principles of behaviorist learning.
The first strategy I studied, "Reinforcing Effort," was all about using rubrics and spreadsheets to compare one's effort to his grades. The correlates with the behaviorism theory because when students see how their effort truly effects their grades, they will change their behavior and begin putting forth more effort to continue to receive the reward of a higher grade. I can see how this could be very helpful at getting students to become more self-motivated when it comes to paying attention in class, completing assignments, and studying outside of the classroom. This is a strategy that I may implement into my high school math classroom next year.
The second strategy that I studies, "Homework and Practice," was about different ways one can use homework and practice effectively. I felt that this strategy also correlated with the behaviorist theory. By having a homework policy in place, students are more likely to complete given assignments and therefore benefiting from the assignments. The grade for completing the homework is the reward. Also, by providing feedback on homework, students will see that the assignment is worth completing since they may actually learn something from it. This is behaviorism since students are working to receive feedback, which is the reward. I use homework very frequently in the classes that I teach. I have a policy in place that counts homework/classwork as a percentage of the student's final grade. I also check and go over homework at the beginning of the next class period so that students can find and correct mistakes that they are making.
The first strategy I studied, "Reinforcing Effort," was all about using rubrics and spreadsheets to compare one's effort to his grades. The correlates with the behaviorism theory because when students see how their effort truly effects their grades, they will change their behavior and begin putting forth more effort to continue to receive the reward of a higher grade. I can see how this could be very helpful at getting students to become more self-motivated when it comes to paying attention in class, completing assignments, and studying outside of the classroom. This is a strategy that I may implement into my high school math classroom next year.
The second strategy that I studies, "Homework and Practice," was about different ways one can use homework and practice effectively. I felt that this strategy also correlated with the behaviorist theory. By having a homework policy in place, students are more likely to complete given assignments and therefore benefiting from the assignments. The grade for completing the homework is the reward. Also, by providing feedback on homework, students will see that the assignment is worth completing since they may actually learn something from it. This is behaviorism since students are working to receive feedback, which is the reward. I use homework very frequently in the classes that I teach. I have a policy in place that counts homework/classwork as a percentage of the student's final grade. I also check and go over homework at the beginning of the next class period so that students can find and correct mistakes that they are making.
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