When I reflect back on this course and how it has effected my teaching strategies in the classroom, it's easy to see how much incorporating technology along with using different personal theories of learning can make an impact on our students. Using different online, technological resources can be the difference of students full success or lack there of. Students in the 21st century learn much different then those of years past and with such advances in technology, our students need to be instructed using these forms of technology that they are so comfortable with.
During the first week on instruction in this class, I declared that I commonly use a student-centered learning theory with a constructivist approach. Through out this class, I don't feel that this has changed. But what has changed is my approach of incorporating technology and the different resources I am trying to introduce to my students. A few of these resources are Web Spiration and VoiceThread. These two resources help me to "chunk" information for my students to help them obtain much more information while in class. They also help to develop strong relationships between students using collaborative strategies to team build.
Two goals that I am dedicating myself to for the remainder of this year are continuing to search for new technological resources for student success, and varying instructional practice to help develop a higher level learning for each individual student. If I can accomplish this with the next 8 months, I know that my students will be much more successful than they would've been without.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Connectivism and Social Learning in Practice
Using social networking is one of the best practices a teacher can utilize in ones classroom. We all know that each and every student learns a bit differently, but one thing is for sure...We learn and obtain knowledge in much greater masses when we are able to teach the material to others. Collaboration in a Student-centered, or even better, a Peer-centered classroom allows students to work with one another for a common goal. Utilizing strategies such as the "Jig-saw Strategy", where students are each a member of a collaborative team and responsible for learning and teaching information to teammates, can enhance the learning of all students in the class. This makes students accountable for their own education and allows them to learn at a much higher level, and obtain much more information.
In a socail learning theory, students are active participants in constructive activities working in collaboration with eachother. To promote this learning theory in a classroom can be as easy as beginning class with a Warm-up that encourages socialization between students. It helps students to validate answers, bounce ideas off one another, use encouragement, and builds confidence. This takes the teaching out of the instructors hands and places the responsibility in the hands of the students. Teachers then become more of a facilitator in the classroom and allows them to constantly check for understanding.
Social networking, in my eyes, is one of the greatest strategies for learning in the classroom. It helps to build teamwork skills, socail skills, and can also helps students to build their confidence. And with constantly growing and changing technology, students are now able to collaborate with one another outside of class to build strong friendships and long-lasting relationships with one another. These are all skills and attributes we all need to be successful and productive members of society. Teaching our students these skills at an early age is one of the most beneficial gifts we can grant our students with and should be utilized in each and everyday of class we teach.
My Dilemma: http://voicethread.com/#u1335485.b1374030.i7286344
In a socail learning theory, students are active participants in constructive activities working in collaboration with eachother. To promote this learning theory in a classroom can be as easy as beginning class with a Warm-up that encourages socialization between students. It helps students to validate answers, bounce ideas off one another, use encouragement, and builds confidence. This takes the teaching out of the instructors hands and places the responsibility in the hands of the students. Teachers then become more of a facilitator in the classroom and allows them to constantly check for understanding.
Social networking, in my eyes, is one of the greatest strategies for learning in the classroom. It helps to build teamwork skills, socail skills, and can also helps students to build their confidence. And with constantly growing and changing technology, students are now able to collaborate with one another outside of class to build strong friendships and long-lasting relationships with one another. These are all skills and attributes we all need to be successful and productive members of society. Teaching our students these skills at an early age is one of the most beneficial gifts we can grant our students with and should be utilized in each and everyday of class we teach.
My Dilemma: http://voicethread.com/#u1335485.b1374030.i7286344
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Constructivism in Practice
In my class, there are many different projects that students are given that put them into a place they are not all that comfortable with. This place is known as "Problem-Solving". Students are given a task, and with this task, are asked to solve the problem at hand. It could be as simple as "How can we determine all parts of a drawing with the lack of dimensions", or more complicated as "Can you develop a bridge of 25 grams or less that can hold a minimum of 50 lbs?". It's projects/problems like this that can develop a thought process that can not be obtained through direct instruction or lecturing. With Problem solving activities, it is important to give students some, but not enough to give them the answer they are so desperately searching for. We must give a problem, and then have students be able to explain their solution to the problem and their hypotheses and conclusions. Doing this, takes the teaching out of the instructors hands, and puts the learning directly into the students hands.
Using Generating and Testing Hypotheses can greatly increase the level of understanding of our students because they are able to experience a problem first-hand and use prior knowledge and experiments to determine a possible and probable outcome/solution to the task given. This instructional strategy relates directly to the constructivist/constructionsist learning theories due to the nature of the work. In this strategy, the teacher is acting as a facilitator, rather than an instructor/lecturer. Having students work independently on a project allows a much higher level of learning and can help to develop life-long skills that these students must obtain for futures in college and beyond.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2008). “Cognitive learning theories” [Educational video].
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K.(2007). Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD
Using Generating and Testing Hypotheses can greatly increase the level of understanding of our students because they are able to experience a problem first-hand and use prior knowledge and experiments to determine a possible and probable outcome/solution to the task given. This instructional strategy relates directly to the constructivist/constructionsist learning theories due to the nature of the work. In this strategy, the teacher is acting as a facilitator, rather than an instructor/lecturer. Having students work independently on a project allows a much higher level of learning and can help to develop life-long skills that these students must obtain for futures in college and beyond.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2008). “Cognitive learning theories” [Educational video].
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K.(2007). Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD
Friday, September 24, 2010
When I think about my classroom and the teaching strategies that I use, I find many of them very similar to that of the ideas related with "Cues, Questions, and Advance Organizers" and "Summarizing and Note Taking". Both topics have much relevance in any classroom at any grade-level. Although Technology class isn't categorized with that of Math, English, History, or Science, I still use many of the same methods that my counter-part core classes do.
Much of my lesson presentations use cues and questions to both prompt my students and to help assess their prior/current knowledge of a given subject. Using Cues certainly begin the gears in my students heads and get them thinking more deeply on a topic and help to promote question asking and problem solving. My cues focus only on the most important details, due to the capacity of learning these students have. I feel that it is crucial that we emphasize the importance of lessons to ensure our students are focusing most on these ideas. Using these concepts help to begin group discussions and allow students to begin the learning process. I also feel that the "wait-time" involved with questioning is the most important aspect. It's a given in a class that some students will understand and process information much quicker than others, which certainly gives them a learning advantage with a teacher that doesn't allow time for all students to process the information at hand. Although this process can sometimes be quite awkward, it truly does seem to help all students the equal opportunity for success.
Although in a technology class, students are still expected to effectively summarize information given, as well as become intelligent note-takers to help not only the learning in my class, but as well as in other classes currently and in the future. Having these vital life-skills will allow students to exceed at a much higher level to the level of knowledge they are able to obtain. I really like the idea of students deleting information from the brain, and replacing it with more relevant and pertinent information. This focuses, once again, on the important factors of a lesson and doesn't allow students to obtain knowledge that is irrelevant or unrelated. I find that connecting literacy with summarizing, even in a tech. class, can have huge rewards. This idea helps students to reinforce knowledge obtained and store it as long-term information, rather than day-to-day, short-term memory.
Using these concepts in the classroom truly helps to reinforce the cognitive learning theories we use everyday in our classrooms. It helps students to use multiple strategies to enhance the learning of every individual as well as allowing students to obtain knowledge at a much higher level. Linking these aspects of teaching with other strategies such as using visual imagery, collaboration, and exploration can really make the difference of some to all students being successful and learning at the highest levels of our expectations.
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K.(2007). Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD
Much of my lesson presentations use cues and questions to both prompt my students and to help assess their prior/current knowledge of a given subject. Using Cues certainly begin the gears in my students heads and get them thinking more deeply on a topic and help to promote question asking and problem solving. My cues focus only on the most important details, due to the capacity of learning these students have. I feel that it is crucial that we emphasize the importance of lessons to ensure our students are focusing most on these ideas. Using these concepts help to begin group discussions and allow students to begin the learning process. I also feel that the "wait-time" involved with questioning is the most important aspect. It's a given in a class that some students will understand and process information much quicker than others, which certainly gives them a learning advantage with a teacher that doesn't allow time for all students to process the information at hand. Although this process can sometimes be quite awkward, it truly does seem to help all students the equal opportunity for success.
Although in a technology class, students are still expected to effectively summarize information given, as well as become intelligent note-takers to help not only the learning in my class, but as well as in other classes currently and in the future. Having these vital life-skills will allow students to exceed at a much higher level to the level of knowledge they are able to obtain. I really like the idea of students deleting information from the brain, and replacing it with more relevant and pertinent information. This focuses, once again, on the important factors of a lesson and doesn't allow students to obtain knowledge that is irrelevant or unrelated. I find that connecting literacy with summarizing, even in a tech. class, can have huge rewards. This idea helps students to reinforce knowledge obtained and store it as long-term information, rather than day-to-day, short-term memory.
Using these concepts in the classroom truly helps to reinforce the cognitive learning theories we use everyday in our classrooms. It helps students to use multiple strategies to enhance the learning of every individual as well as allowing students to obtain knowledge at a much higher level. Linking these aspects of teaching with other strategies such as using visual imagery, collaboration, and exploration can really make the difference of some to all students being successful and learning at the highest levels of our expectations.
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K.(2007). Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Behaviorism in Practice
When I try to compare my instructional strategies used in the classroom to that of the principles of behaviorist learning theory, I am able to make quite a few connections. When it comes to my instructional strategy, I feel that I have a very student-centered classroom that revolves around my Constructivist instruction as well as collaboration. To go along with these aspects of my classroom, I also vary instruction everyday in a way that allows my differentiated learners to get the most out of my lessons and become highly successful. Reinforcement, a strong concept of the behaviorist learning theory, is one of the most effective classroom management skills I use to connect instruction, review class content, and to prevent disciplinary problems. Using both instructional strategies and behaviorist learning theory in connection with one another in the classroom will not only help you to succeed and to grow as a teacher but your students, too.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work, and Society Reflection
As a teacher, an educator of young minds, I feel that my education can never be complete. There is always so much more to learn and embrace in my field of education(technology). The more professional development I expose myself to, the stronger the teacher I will someday be. Taking Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work, and Society at Walden University, has opened so many doors for my student's classroom experience. It has introduced me to multiple forms of technology, that I previously would have considered myself quite lay with. It has allowed me to develop my own blogs, wikis, and podcasts, and taught me ways to incorporate them into my curriculum. Having a full understanding of technological resources such as these is incredibly rewarding for both myself, and my students. Due to the nature of our 21st century learners, it is imparative that we open ourselves up to new developments and technologies that will someday become a large part of our students life. It is our job, as educators, to prepare our students for what is to come, and understanding these newer forms of communication (podcasts, wikis, blogs) is the first step. It's known that the students we encounter everyday today are much more technologically advanced than those of the past. They are much more computer driven, and spend much of their time using the internet, and communicating through the web. With this in mind, we must direct our instruction to both interest and intrigue our students through useful lessons that have relevant relation to our students lives.
Being a technology teacher, I have always had a strong belief that the classroom should be student centered. That is to say that students will learn through research, trial-and-error, and experiment. It is much of the same with what we have learned in this class over the past 8 weeks. Students may develop useful, and knowledgeable blogs with little knowledge by familiarizing themselves with the commands and the ideas behind them. In this upcoming school year, I am fully committed to both expanding my knowledge on the many newly developing areas of communication technology and incorporating well-designed lessons to my students that allows them for ultimate success for future preparation. Using both online and school resources for professional development will help me to continue my growth as an educator and will develop my skills to a much higher level. I have already begun discussing the ideas of creating units in both Blogs and Wikis with my colleagues for the upcoming school years. We will be meeting this summer to re-write curriculum, and incorporating these aspects into our plans is something I feel very strongly about. I am making it my goal over the next two years to be a better educator for these 21st century learners and develop plans that allow these students to grow and to increase their chances of success, while preparing them for their futures.
Thinking back to the beginning of this course, it's hard to imagine that I was once a technology teacher uneducated in the field of communication technology. I had very little, if any, knowledge of students interests as well as what the future holds for them. I didn't think about preparing them for things to come, rather, I developed lessons to teach for the "now". With the knowledge I've gained in this course, I feel as though I am already a much more effective teacher and am better prepared to help my students succeed in the 21st century. The growth in technology I have gained through this experience has been unbelievably helpful and will help to mold the teacher that I someday would like to be.
Being a technology teacher, I have always had a strong belief that the classroom should be student centered. That is to say that students will learn through research, trial-and-error, and experiment. It is much of the same with what we have learned in this class over the past 8 weeks. Students may develop useful, and knowledgeable blogs with little knowledge by familiarizing themselves with the commands and the ideas behind them. In this upcoming school year, I am fully committed to both expanding my knowledge on the many newly developing areas of communication technology and incorporating well-designed lessons to my students that allows them for ultimate success for future preparation. Using both online and school resources for professional development will help me to continue my growth as an educator and will develop my skills to a much higher level. I have already begun discussing the ideas of creating units in both Blogs and Wikis with my colleagues for the upcoming school years. We will be meeting this summer to re-write curriculum, and incorporating these aspects into our plans is something I feel very strongly about. I am making it my goal over the next two years to be a better educator for these 21st century learners and develop plans that allow these students to grow and to increase their chances of success, while preparing them for their futures.
Thinking back to the beginning of this course, it's hard to imagine that I was once a technology teacher uneducated in the field of communication technology. I had very little, if any, knowledge of students interests as well as what the future holds for them. I didn't think about preparing them for things to come, rather, I developed lessons to teach for the "now". With the knowledge I've gained in this course, I feel as though I am already a much more effective teacher and am better prepared to help my students succeed in the 21st century. The growth in technology I have gained through this experience has been unbelievably helpful and will help to mold the teacher that I someday would like to be.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Partnership to 21st Century Skills
“The Partnership for 21st Century Skills has emerged as the leading advocacy organization focused on infusing 21st century skills into education. The organization brings together the business community, education leaders, and policymakers to define a powerful vision for 21st century education to ensure every child's success as citizens and workers in the 21st century. The Partnership encourages schools, districts and states to advocate for the infusion of 21st century skills into education and provides tools and resources to help facilitate and drive change.”
—Partnership for 21st Century Skills
When I first stumbled upon this site, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I had heard of the Partnership for 21st Century skills initiative, but had little additional knowledge. One reason why this is, is because the New York School systems have not embraced this framework into the state curriculum. However, after reading and exploring through the website, it has given me much more insight on the initiative and has sparked an interest in their mission. I thought the website itself was very well organized and easy to navigate. It seems like such a resourceful tool to help educators better develop more meaningful and useful classroom curriculum. Not only the content itself, but the ideas and thoughts behind how to teach life-skills and why. This site contains a plethora of knowledge that has obviously been quite a successful with educators throughout the nation. There are a number of links and sources to use in developing instruction and helpful feedback on reasons of use. I found it very difficult to disagree with much on this site, or with their mission itself. As a technology teacher, I am fully committed to preparing our students for the future, and using well-developed lessons to incorporate the technological skills and insight that will someday be very useful for our students. Although standardized testing and school curriculum have strong barriers and guidelines to follow, it is our job, as educators, to provide our students with the most knowledge on life-skills and real-world situations to better prepare them for their future careers. This "program" is a very vital resource that can help link students to possible career discissions and will help develop the necessary skills at a young age, rather than just obtaining content/subject material. The many links and online resources provided act as a wonderful reference for students to link with other students nation-wide and can help students link their educational strategies to that of their peers. With the ever-changing technological world, it's crucial for our students to learn not only what's written in their text books, but also to obtain knowledge and skills that will help to provide them for the future. Using this mission, along with the website, can help to create the ideal situation for students and develop them into successful individuals in society.
—Partnership for 21st Century Skills
When I first stumbled upon this site, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I had heard of the Partnership for 21st Century skills initiative, but had little additional knowledge. One reason why this is, is because the New York School systems have not embraced this framework into the state curriculum. However, after reading and exploring through the website, it has given me much more insight on the initiative and has sparked an interest in their mission. I thought the website itself was very well organized and easy to navigate. It seems like such a resourceful tool to help educators better develop more meaningful and useful classroom curriculum. Not only the content itself, but the ideas and thoughts behind how to teach life-skills and why. This site contains a plethora of knowledge that has obviously been quite a successful with educators throughout the nation. There are a number of links and sources to use in developing instruction and helpful feedback on reasons of use. I found it very difficult to disagree with much on this site, or with their mission itself. As a technology teacher, I am fully committed to preparing our students for the future, and using well-developed lessons to incorporate the technological skills and insight that will someday be very useful for our students. Although standardized testing and school curriculum have strong barriers and guidelines to follow, it is our job, as educators, to provide our students with the most knowledge on life-skills and real-world situations to better prepare them for their future careers. This "program" is a very vital resource that can help link students to possible career discissions and will help develop the necessary skills at a young age, rather than just obtaining content/subject material. The many links and online resources provided act as a wonderful reference for students to link with other students nation-wide and can help students link their educational strategies to that of their peers. With the ever-changing technological world, it's crucial for our students to learn not only what's written in their text books, but also to obtain knowledge and skills that will help to provide them for the future. Using this mission, along with the website, can help to create the ideal situation for students and develop them into successful individuals in society.
Monday, May 10, 2010
How to incorporate blogs in a classroom
It seems to me that using blogs in the classroom can be quite a wonderful resource for students. It is a great way to incorporate online-technological resources with course instruction. Students are able to interact both in and out of class while posting and responding along with their peers. It allows students to interact with one another outside of the "typical school setting". Using blogs will allow so much more learning because it is not restricted to the four walls of the classroom.
It can be a good resource for continued classroom discussion, assignment information, or even just casual, friendly interactions with classmates to make the learning experience much more inviting and open. It also may allow students to display/present projects or other student work to fellow classmates and teachers which will allow for instant feedback and a terrific form of student reflection.
As a 7-12 Technology teacher who teaches both middle school technology and high school electronics, it is evident that using blogs can truly help the overall performance of a class. It helps to create a stronger rapport with those students who are more timid and shy in class and have more confidence behind their input through the internet. Using blogs in the classroom will make for a much richer learning experience due to the fact that students are free to comment and post their ideas and opinions of course content and group discussions. It will also help to develop the necessary skills most students will someday face with the ever-growing and expanding technological world we live in today.
It can be a good resource for continued classroom discussion, assignment information, or even just casual, friendly interactions with classmates to make the learning experience much more inviting and open. It also may allow students to display/present projects or other student work to fellow classmates and teachers which will allow for instant feedback and a terrific form of student reflection.
As a 7-12 Technology teacher who teaches both middle school technology and high school electronics, it is evident that using blogs can truly help the overall performance of a class. It helps to create a stronger rapport with those students who are more timid and shy in class and have more confidence behind their input through the internet. Using blogs in the classroom will make for a much richer learning experience due to the fact that students are free to comment and post their ideas and opinions of course content and group discussions. It will also help to develop the necessary skills most students will someday face with the ever-growing and expanding technological world we live in today.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
I can't believe it's already May, and my first year as a teacher is coming to an end. I hope that every year does not go as quickly as this one did! It seems as though it was just yesterday that I gave my introductory speech to my classes. As this year comes to a close, it seems like such a great time to reflect on everything (positive and negative) that I have done. We've covered a wide range of topics and completed a plethora of projects. When I look back at all my students and I have accomplished I can't help but to have a great feeling of success. Although there are many areas in my early teaching career that need improvements, I feel as though this is such a wonderful learning experience. It seems cliche, but I feel as though most everyday I am coming away with newly gained knowledge. Whether it be content specialized or even techniques and strategies to better provide for my students. I will never forget my first year as a teaching professional, and will certainly carry on everything that it has taught me!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
