End of Summer Reflection

During this course, I developed a personal GAME plan, and created a rather intensive Unit Plan including problem-based learning, social (or rather, educational) networking, and digital storytelling in first grade mathematics lessons.  At this beginning of this course, I would have said it was impossible to engage first grade students in such activities.  However, now, I believe that with clear expectations, modeling, and scaffolding as needed, students are able to rise to and even exceed our expectations. 

 

Cennamo, Ross, and Ertmer (2009) state, “As in any self-directed learning activity, you need to set goals for your own professional growth, take action, then monitor and evaluate your progress toward obtaining your goals” (p. 11).  While I have never had a problem having goals, I struggle on the follow through.  I have a ton of ideas—so many that I frequently jump back and forth between ideas and never truly complete one to it’s full potential.   However, by creating my GAME plan, I was forced to create a plan of action, and was actually able to stick to it. I have now learned to prioritize and break larger goals down into more manageable steps.  I keep reminding myself that it is better to do one thing really well than three things mediocre.  As a result, I have actually completely re-vamped my teacher web-site and am excited to introduce it to parents and students this school year.  It even has a new URL—you can view it here: https://sites.google.com/a/parklandsd.net/geigerls/home.  It is still a work in progress as I plan to add resources as they become applicable throughout the year, but I think it will be a great way for me to communicate with parents and stress the importance of these new literacy skills.  (I’m still waiting on the finishing updates in my classroom before I update the video—that should be done by next Wednesday!)

 

I am excited for the upcoming school year as I feel like the information I have gleaned from this course (and the other technology course I have been taking, Supporting Information Literacy and Online Inquiry in the Classroom) have provided me with wonderful resources, and an attainable way to improve my teaching practice, one step at a time.  Most importantly, I think I have learned new ways of looking at technology, past all of the “fun stuff” and “pretty stuff” and truly into the 21^st century literacies students truly need to master in order to become productive members of society.  There are many lesson that I do throughout the year that I am excited to strengthen and scaffold with technology—most frequently in the area of writing, but in other areas as well.  In the end, Ertmer (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010) states that integrating technology effectively requires knowledge of technology, knowledge of pedagogy, confidence, beliefs about good teaching, and a supportive culture.  I have always had a supportive culture and beliefs about good teaching, but this course has given me the tools and training I needed to become knowledgeable about integrating the technology in with the standards, and the confidence to know it will succeed (and if not, to always have a back-up plan just in case!). 

 

References:

Cennamo, K., Ross, J. & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom

use: A standards-based approach. (Laureate Education, Inc., Custom ed.). Belmont, CA:

Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. Video: Promoting creative thinking with technology

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2010). Enriching content area learning experiences with technology, part one [Video webcast]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset

                .jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_3397615_1%26url%3D

Work in Progress

Now that I have a specific plan of action for my GAME plan, it is time to take action and get rolling.  In regards to my first goal, it is a little hard to take action until the school year gets rolling.  I am also anxiously anticipating a meeting in August where we will discuss the changes in our curriculum that has been mapped out by other teachers, so I cannot work too far ahead until these changes are rolled out.  I did however, join a learning community and read some articles on Edutopia to discuss with other teachers about the success (and challenges of implementing project-based learning) with young learners.  The article that I read included examples about building buildings, looking at the stock market, plants, etc. (Ravitz, 2013).  By reading these ideas, it is easier to foresee project-based learning come to life in my classroom.  However, I do see one difficulty in implementing PBL in my classroom.  Ellwood (2009) describes project-based learning as never having a hard start and beginning to subject areas, instead, hitting all content areas through the use of a project.  This becomes difficult for me because I have different groups of students for reading and mathematics, depending on their needs.

If you are interested in following the blog for project-based learning at Edutopia, the link is http://www.edutopia.org/blogs/beat/project-based-learning

 

For the second part of my GAME plan, I have begun major overhaul on my web-site and organized games and resources according to their objectives.  You can see my work in progress here:

https://sites.google.com/a/parklandsd.net/geigerk/

I am still in the process in uploading resources, and will continue to do so throughout the year as I engage in some other units of study.  While this has been time consuming, I am pleased with the look of it and think it will be a great resource for my students.  One of the major blocks I have faced in the past is that a lot of educational sites organize their resources by grade level.  Since many of my students are at least 2-3 years below grade level, they almost always end up in games that are too difficult for them. 

The one area I am still playing around with is the links to the other pages.  I don’t want a ton of information on my home page, but I would like the links to the other pages (LEAD 21 Reading, Mathematics, and Reading) at this point in time to be more prominent.  I am thinking about adding them underneath the video. 

I am also having difficulty with the video on the first page—it  use to be a picture tour of my room and when I started deleting and adding things it malfunctioned.  However, I will update it once I get my classroom in order this year, since it will look different from last. 

The final area I would love to add is a place to feature student work.  However, I’m unsure of my district’s policy on posting work (and/or pictures of students) online, so that is still on my to-do list for now. 

 

I would love it if you took the time to visit my site and provide feedback.  As I mentioned before, it is under construction so now is the best time for me to rearrange.  Thanks!

 

References:

Ellwood, H. (2009, November).  Project-based learning with early learners and SMART products.  EDCompass Newsletter, p. 1-4.

Ravitz, J. (2013, March 27).  Math, PBS and 21^st Century learning for all students.  [Blog message].  Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/math-PBL-21st-century-learning-jason-ravitz

My GAME Plan- Starting to Take Action

Thank you to everyone who provided feedback to my personal GAME plan.  Now that I have set clear goals, it is time to begin to take Action.  My first goal was centered around ending each unit in mathematics with a problem-based learning activity that would be completed collaboratively and use technology.  Using technology in mathematics is a relatively new area I have been working on, and in order to integrate it effectively Ertmer (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010) states that I need to have knowledge of the technology, confidence, beliefs about good instruction, and a supportive culture.  I am beginning to learn more technologies, but would love to hear what others have used successfully, since I find myself going back to the same two sites. Similarly, I have confidence and believe that students thrive when given engaging opportunities that interest them.  Additionally, my school has a very supportive environment where we encourage each other to try new things, but it would be nice to have a team to work through difficulties with.

With the implementation of Common Core, my district has set aside a day for all elementary teachers to go over how our current curriculum aligns and how they expect things to change.  The bottom line is, our curriculum does not align, and until we get a new one, teachers are going to be piecing together what works to try and implement effective instruction.  Thus, I will need to pair up close with K-2 teachers to see what types of problem based activities they have done and their effectiveness in the past.  I know that I can get some from one of my previous courses textbooks, Teaching Student-Centered Mathematics: Developmentally Appropriate Instruction for Grades Pre-K-2 (Van de Walle, 2013).  It would be great to hear what has worked for teachers who are already implementing this type of instruction.  Have you tried problem-based learning in mathematics with very young students? What worked well? What didn’t?

 

My second goal focuses on increasing my communication with students and parents using digital tools.  A very simple starting point for this goal is updating my web-site, and ensuring I continue to update it to make sure the resources are up to date.  Similarly, I need to show students how to access and use the information on my web-page so they are excited to explore the resources at home.  Too many times parents think that computers are for games and there is no learning involved.  I aim to provide resources in explicit portions that relate to what I am teaching.  What are your favorite web-sites to use with young learners (specifically in reading and mathematics)?   

 

Knowing where to start is a critical point to achieving your goals.  Since I set up my GAME plan, I have signed up for two professional development sessions in August- one on Common Core Mathematics, and another half-day session on advanced use of Google web-sites (my teacher site is set up using Google).  Secondly, I have started exploring other elementary learning support teacher web-sites to see how they are set up and the resources they provide. 

 

Reference:

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2010). Enriching content area learning experiences with technology, part one[Video webcast]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1

            &url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_3397615_1%26url%3D

My Personal GAME Plan

Cennamo (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010) emphasizes the importance of being a self-directed learner when it comes to technology, since everything changes so rapidly.  In order to be a self-directed learner (or teacher), there is a four-step process: (1) set Goals, (2) determine what Action you are going to take, (3) Monitor your progress, and (4) Evaluate what went well and what did not.  This results in having a GAME plan.  To this day, I can still hear my high school swim coach telling me, “It is easy to get lost if you don’t know where you’re going.”  Although at the time, it was applied in an athletic manner, it can easily be applied to many other facets of life, included self-directed learning.

Thus, I have decided to develop my own GAME plan to improve my teaching by selecting two indicators from the National Education Standards for Teachers (NETS-T) developed by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE).  First off, I am going to work in standard 1b, “Engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources” (International Society for Technology in Education, 2008, p. 1).  Secondly, I would like to improve on standard 3b, “Collaborate with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support student success and innovation” (International Society for Technology in Education, 2008, p. 1). 

In order to achieve these goals, I plan to take action.  In order to make standard 1b attainable, I am going to focus on the area of mathematics in begin.  Next school year, in each unit of study, I am going to embed at least one authentic problem-solving task using digital tools for my students.  Even though all of my students have an identified disability, King-Sears and Evmenova (2007) state that, “technology must be part of students’ instructional programs because the students’ futures will require proficiency in technological skills” (p. 7).  In order to meet standard 3b, I am going to update my web-site at least once per week to post information, resources, and open communication with students, parents, and community members.  By adding these resources at least once a week, I eventually strive to have my own database of resources that students and parents can use for additional practice outside of school. 

The next step of my GAME plan is to monitor progress.  I do not feel that simply giving students a problem to solve will serve justice to ensure that the standard is being met, so I am going to use two forms of assessment.  In order to monitor progress of myself (and my students), I will use a rubric to track student progress on authentic learning tasks as they become more acclimated to digital tools.  In meeting standard 3b, I simply will track the number of posts/resources I post, along with the number of connections with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools.

Finally, I need to evaluate my progress.  I will track the progress of my authentic learning tasks through the rubrics and a reflective journal.   Additionally, I will look at the posts on my web-page and evaluate how many students I have reached outside of school through informal student and parent interviews.  As a result, I will adjust accordingly, most likely leading me to my next goal and GAME plan!

 

 

References:

International Society for Technology in Education. (2008). National education standards

for teachers (NETS-T). Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-

teachers

King-Sears, M., & Evmenova, A. S. (2007). Premises, principles, and processes for integrating technology into instruction. Teaching Exceptional Children, 40(1), 6–14.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2010). Promoting self-directed learning with technology [Video webcast]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_3397615_1%26url%3D

Final Reflection

Looking back upon my personal theory of learning that I wrote seven weeks ago, I realize that the foundations that I believe upon have not changed significantly.  However, throughout the resources, discussions, and applications I have been a part of the past two months, the way I am going about my personal theory is a little bit different.  It is easy to get caught up in doing things the same way, especially with the pressures of limited time and needing to get everything covered.  As a result of this course though, I have accepted the mantra that if it’s worth teaching, it’s worth teaching well.  Instead of getting caught up on getting everything covered, I am slowing down, involving students more, and making sure they get a deep understanding of the concepts being taught. 

 

Additionally, as a result of this course, I am slowly learning to let go of the responsibility in terms of technology and allow students to use the technology as a learning tool (rather than an instructional tool).  As Dr. Orey (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011b) states, all the learning theories covered in this course encourage integrating technology as a learning tool and emphasize what students do with technology.  This is hard to do, but every time I am daring enough to try, my students meet and most of the times even exceed my expectations.  There are tons of great technology tools students can use to deepen their understanding, but I would like to focus on two of them:  Prezi and VoiceThread.  Prezi is very easy to use both in presenting information to students, but then it also provides the opportunity to build graphic representations with students, and then eventually allow them to create a graphic representation on their own (http://prezi.com/).  If this process is started at the beginning of the year, I believe even my young 1^st-3^rd graders would be able to create a graphic representation. 

Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski (2007) emphasize the value of using multimedia as an advance organizer for students.  They state, “For many students, multimedia is very effective because it helps them both activate prior knowledge and develop a mental model to help them understand new information” (p. 82). Additonally, VoiceThread also provides a great collaborative tool where students can make an initial post, and students, teachers, parents, and other members of the community can comment back either in text, voice, or video (http://voicethread.com/).  Mr. Jarrett (Laureate Education, Inc., 2007a) explains all the benefits of using VoiceThread and in the end, the options help you meet all the needs of very diverse learners.

 

In order to increase the use of technology integration into my classroom I have two goals:

(1) Teach students some of the technology tools from the beginning of the year (as a part of routines)

(2) Involve parents more and share with them ways they can be using technology to help their students at home

 

In order to achieve my first goal, I am going to focus on the two technology tools outlined above (Prezi and VoiceThread).  During the reading block, students have some time to work independently (or collaboratively in groups) and I would like to allow them to use some of the time to create nonlinguistic representations of the vocabulary words and concepts that we are reading about.  By making this part of the routine, it would be neat to see how students evolve and grow as they create different products throughout the year.  If students use VoiceThread, I will be sure to leave feedback for them to reinforce their efforts.  Pitler, et al. state, “Audio messages can be an unexpected and exciting way for students to receive recognition.  Hearing the congratulatory tone and enthusiasm in a teacher’s voice often leaves a lasting impression” (p. 66). 

My second goal has been inspired by discussions with a few parents who have shared that they have internet access at home but that they do not allow their child to use it.  I want to share with them some of the great resources that they can use to help them with homework, to review on tests, and even share with them the VoiceThread presentations and Prezi presentations that are being created.  In order to do this, I am going to add a “Student Work” part to my web-page and make sure parents are aware to keep checking this to see if their child’s work is being featured.  Additionally, with each new unit, I am going to send home recommended resources for practice at home.  I started doing this with a few parents to help with mathematics homework (i.e. virtual manipulatives  from http://www.glencoe.com/sites/common_assets/mathematics/ebook_assets/vmf/VMF-Interface.html since most students do not have access to things like base-10 blocks or pattern blocks at home). 

References:

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011a). Program ten: Spotlight on technology: VoiceThread [Video webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Retrieved from http://laureate.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5700267&CPURL=laureate.ecollege.com&Survey=1&47=2594577&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=0&bhcp=1

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011b). Program thirteen: Technology: Instructional tool vs. learning tool [Video webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Retrieved from http://laureate.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5700267&CPURL=laureate.ecollege.com&Survey=1&47=2594577&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=0&bhcp=1

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom

instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Link to VoiceThread

Happy April!  I don’t know about you, but April means standardized testing for the state of Pennsylvania.  Below is a voicethread that I created to get your input with the use of standardized assessments.  Please visit and leave your input-- I'd love to hear thoughts from others on how to solve this dilemma.

http://voicethread.com/share/4374430/

Cooperative Learning and Social Learning Theories

Cooperative learning and social learning intertwine perfectly and both are critical for student success in the 21^st century.  Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski (2007) stress that we are living during a time where learning and innovation are becoming increasingly global; thus, students must be able to work cooperatively in order for them to be prepared for the workforce they will inherit. Similarly, Dr. Orey (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011) defines situated cognition as the need to be able to apply learned information into new constructs.  Students need to be able to apply their learning to unique situations, which has led to the implementation of project/problem-based learning (along with cooperative learning and social learning). 

 

Social learning theory relies on two different understandings: the zone of proximal development and the more knowledgeable other.  The Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) was developed by Vygotsky and is based upon what a child is able to learn at a given time.  Below the zone is information the child already knows, and above the zone are concepts that the child is not ready to learn yet, even with significant support.  Social learning should target knowledge that is in the ZPD.  Children are able to learn and master information that is in the ZPD by interacting with a more knowledgeable other, which can be a parent, teacher, or a computer.  Through interacting and applying knowledge, what a student can do with support today, they will be able to do on their own tomorrow (or within a given time period).   Below is a image depicting the zone of proximal development.  Ironically, as I was looking for an illustration, I found that 90% of them rely on the teacher to bridge the gap created by the ZPD.  However, cooperative learning theory lies on the foundation that the teacher is a facilitator and while the teacher plays a role, the peers also play an important role in learning. 

 

Through the use of cooperative learning, students are able to interact with others to gain knowledge.   There are many unique ways of using cooperative learning groups and include (but are not limited to): pair-share, jigsaw, split-class discussion, random groups of 3, ability/interest groups, diversity groups, and multi-aged groups (Palmer, Peters, & Streetman, 2003).  Cooperative groups increase student engagement, and motivate students to achieve high standards. 

 

The use of social media, word processing devices, web resources, communication software, and multimedia can help increase the ability of groups to work together and enhance the products they are able to create.  Pitler et al. state, “Technology can play a unique and vital role in cooperative learning by facilitating group collaboration, providing structure for group tasks, and allowing members of groups to communicate even if they are not working face to face (p. 140). 

 

Technology even plays an important role in social learning among adults.  Frequently, I find myself discussing something that I saw on Facebook with others, or sharing a lesson idea I found on Pinterest with a colleague.  Blogs have become a great resource for educators to share resources and things that have worked and have not worked in the classroom.

References:

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011). Program eight: Social learning theories [Video webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Retrieved from http://laureate.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5700267&CPURL=laureate.ecollege.com&Survey=1&47=2594577&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=0&bhcp=1

Palmer, G., Peters, R., & Streetman, R. (2003).  Cooperative learning.  In M. Orey (Ed.).,

Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology.  Retrieved 18

March 2013 from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom

instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Constructionism & Generating and Testing Hypotheses

The connection between constructionist theory and the instructional strategy of generating and testing hypotheses is almost seamless.  Dr. Orey (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011) defines constructionism as a theory of knowledge where each individual constructs his or her own meaning.  This occurs through the processes of assimilation, accommodation, equilibration, and schema.  Everyone has schema (background knowledge), but each individual’s schema is unique.  Additionally, we all try to live in the state of equilibration, or balance.  However, when we encounter new schema, we are thrown into a state of disequilibration and need to either assimilate (put the new schema in a current category) or accommodate (alter current schema to fit reality). 

There are numerous approaches in order to promote constructionist learning in the classroom: learning by design, project-based learning, problem-based learning, anchored instruction, and WebQuests.  Underlying all of these approaches is the fact that students are constructing knowledge and either creating new schema or assimilating new information into current schema.  When students are constructing this knowledge, they must generate a hypothesis as to how to solve a problem (or how to create a product).  The teacher acts as a facilitator and guide along this process, but the end product is that the student is the one creating and assimilating the knowledge. 

The following video shows a perfect example of constructionist theory being applied in an example of Charlie Brown.  In this example, Charlie Brown wants to understand how a Ferris wheel works.   Simply reading about how it works does not help him understand it, so he makes a hypothesis of how a Ferris wheel works, and tests it by creating a model.  By creating a model, he is able to understand the way a Ferris wheel works and understands that his hypothesis was accurate.  He takes this learning into school and his classmates learn that they are able to apply this theory to many other ways of understanding.

(Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAS49WBdr8k)

Technology can make problem-based learning and testing hypothesis much easier and attainable for students. Rather than doing many rote calculations, students are able to use spreadsheets to easily manipulate data. Many web resources also allow for students to do simulations that would they would not be able to run otherwise to test their hypotheses and knowledge. As Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski (2007) state, most technological applications help teachers use many effective instructional strategies to increase student achievement in one lesson.

In closing, the project and problem-based approach is certainly exciting and it is very easy to see that students will be motivated, engaged, and thinking critically in order to solve a problem. However, I foresee one big issue that was touched on briefly in the articles that I have read, and that is the issue of coverage of standards and time. This type of learning produces great results that students will likely remember for years to come, but it also takes a lot of time. The open-endedness of the approach does not guarantee that students will be led to learn about all the curricular contents and standards. It is sad, but in this day and age we are so focused on the state-wide exams, do we have time for this approach? Glazer (2001) states, “Because the scores of standardized tests are sometimes, unfortunately, used to measure learning and the success of a school, test content and question types send a message to teachers and students about what type of learning is valued” (p. 18). The approach presents students will realistic life-like problems that will help them be successful employees in the 21^st century, but there is so much pressure for students to pass the standardized testing before they get there. I know that in my state (Pennsylvania) they are restructuring the state tests to align with the common core. We have been told that they will require higher-level thinking of students, but I’m still not sure that it will align with project and problem-based learning. How do we provide the best of both worlds and give students the opportunities to construct their own knowledge and solve their own problems while preparing them for the tests they have to take?

References:

Glazer, E. (2001). Problem Based Instruction. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on

learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved 18 March 2013 from

http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011). Program seven: Constructionist and constructivist learning theories [Video webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Retrieved from http://laureate.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5700267&CPURL=laureate.ecollege.com&Survey=1&47=2594577&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=0&bhcp=1

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom

instruction that works.Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Cognitive Learning Tools

When examining cognitivist theory and the use of technology, the structural foundation lies upon students learning with technology and not “from” technology.  Cognitive learning theory focuses on information processing and encoding sensory input into short term memory and hopefully eventually, long-term memory.  As Orey (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011) states, cognitive tools help students process information and create visuals and connections (which support dual coding) to help students retrieve information previously stored.  Virtual field trips also help encode information by creating an episode that students can connect to.  This becomes especially important for students who have limited background knowledge.

Although there are many instructional practices to encourage cognitive learning, the two I am going to focus on are cues, questioning, and advance organizers, and summarizing/note-taking. 

 

Most will agree that good questioning lies at the heart of all good teaching.  Questions encourage our students to think to inquire about the world around them.  There is no feasible way we can teach our students everything they need to know in the 21^st century, but we can teach them how to ask questions, discover answers for their questions and how to be inquisitive learners.  I think back to my first year of teaching when I kept a critical thinking questioning wheel in my plan book to ensure that I was hitting higher order questions.  As I reflect on this, I have moved away from that wheel (but know exactly where it is) and think it would probably be good to revisit every now and then.  Without explicitly thinking about the questioning, we tend to rely on low-level rote knowledge recall.  Cognitive tools help evoke these questions within our students and also give them the tools to find answers to higher level questions.  As Robertson, Elliot, and Washington (2007) state, “…by using cognitive tools, questions considered worthy of consideration evolved from those that required little effort to answer and even less to evaluate to those that provided opportunities to guide fruitful research and to sustain interest.”

Cues and organizers are also important for students to get an idea of what is important for them to take away from a lesson.  I think as adults we make organizers in our heads to store information in a logical manner, but for many students we have to teach them how to make these organizers and how they help us.  I absolutely love the Prezi software (www.prezi.com) and its interactive ability to include visuals, videos, text, etc. all in one place.  To me, it is much more appealing than a PowerPoint and engages the viewer. 

Here is a link to a Prezi I created with the help of my kindergarten students last year:

http://prezi.com/5quvxwbo0n0_/geo-connections/

Like many other software programs, Prezi allows learners to add and organize information as it is being introduced.  I think the part that sets it apart is the ability to create a path and zoom into various areas (and it is so easy to add/change a path when you learn something new!).  By providing students with these explicit connections, visual representations and multi-modality instruction, students are increasing the likelihood the concepts will be stored in long-term memory (the goal of cognitive learning theory).

 

The second instructional strategy is summarizing and note-taking.  Reflecting back on my days in school, I was always the student who thought it was necessary to write everything on every slide to study from.  However, this is not the most effective strategy (but I was never taught to overcome it).  Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski state, verbatim note-taking is probably one of the least effective ways of note-taking and students should be taught a variety of note-taking strategies.  Although the processes of using tracked changes and auto-summarize are a little advanced for my learning support students, they do need to know how to summarize and gather the most important information.  It would be interesting to compare (as a group) an auto-summary with a summary that students wrote to see what parts they were missing and analyze what the best summary is. 

Blogs (like this one) also present a great way of collaborative note-taking.  As I write this post, I am summarizing the information I learned this week, connecting it to my background knowledge and previous experiences, and wondering in advance the kind of feedback I will receive.  Wouldn’t it be a great opportunity to engage our students in an assignment they’ll LOVE and learn a lot from?

 

References:

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011). Program five: Cognitive learning theory [Video webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Retrieved from http://laureate.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5700267&CPURL=laureate.ecollege.com&Survey=1&47=2594577&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=0&bhcp=1

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom

       instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Robertson, B., Elliot, L, and Washington, D. (2007).  Cognitive Tools.  In M. Orey (Ed.),

          Emerging Perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology.  Retrieved 15 March

2013, from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/   

 

 

 

 

Behaviorism in Today's Classroom

Although some view behaviorism as being outdated, it is still present in almost all of today’s classrooms in some way, shape, or form.  At the root, behaviorism stands on the foundation that all changes in behavior and learning come from a stimulus-response which is driven by reinforcement (to increase the likelihood of a preferred activity) or punishment (to decrease the likelihood of an event) (Standridge, 2002).  As I thought about how this applies to current classrooms, I immediately thought of several examples and would like to share the ones related to technology

1.) Xtramath.org (https://www.xtramath.org/) : This is a site that my students use daily.  It is similar to Rocket Math, but done on the computer.  I have an account and then each of my students has their own account with a 4-digit PIN number so they can access both in school and at home.  Students take a placement test and start working on the appropriate difficulty of facts(all my students are working on mastering addition facts).  Then, they do daily drill-and practice lessons/games.  The more correct answers they get, the more smiley faces they get at the end of each section.  Students didn’t make this connection at first, but now are excited to share with me (and their classmates) how many smiley faces they earned.

2.) Compass Learning (https://www.thelearningodyssey.com/)This is a site that my district subscribes to, but it has a TON of great lessons that are set up somewhere between a quiz and a video game.  I create learning paths for each student for the unit of study we are currently working on and they work through at their own pace.   If they do not score at least 75% on the quiz at the end of the lesson, they must go back and repeat it (and I am sent a progress alert).  If they score higher than 75%, they are congratulated and move on to the next lesson.

3.) Class Dojo (http://www.classdojo.com/): This is an online behavior management software where students have their own “dojo” and they are able to earn positive points as well as negative points if they are not following directions (pictures above and below).  I used this with a group of kindergarteners last year and it worked beautifully.  Unfortunately, due to the uniqueness of my learning support setting this year I haven’t found an effective way to use it with so many groups going on, but would love to get back to it.  Parents can also request to be sent weekly reports of how much positive/negative reinforcement students are receiving to keep track of their behavior.  The site is free and does all of that for you!  It’s also great to look at your class data as a whole and reflect upon how much positive versus negative feedback you are giving students. We all know, the more positive the better!

 

The use of Class Dojo (or a similar behavior management system) is a perfect example of a classroom strategy that involves behaviorism, reinforcing effort.  Student get a positive or negative response based upon the stimulus they provide.  The one area where the software needs additional support is linking classroom performance to their grades so students can be taught that their efforts pay off.  Pitler, Hubbell, Kuh, and Malenoski (2007) suggest using an effort rubric to teach students that hard work does pay off since many students attribute their success or failure to outside factors and not their personal effort.  This idea is made easy by the use of a spreadsheet, and one of the inputs to the rubric could be their number of “points” on the Class Dojo system. 

Homework and practice is another strategy that incorporates behaviorism.  This creates another opportunity for practice in order for the target skill to be reinforced.  .  Pitler, Hubbell, Kuh, and Malenoski (2007) comment on homework and additional practice: “Because it is easy for errors to slip in when students are practicing, teachers should give feedback as quickly as possible” (p. 188).  I experienced this first-hand during my first year of teaching where I was not checking and reviewing homework with students regularly.  Thus, the homework assignments that were completed became less and less and students started not to care.  Their behavior (doing their homework) was not being reinforced and as a result, they stopped doing it. 

While I don’t believe behaviorism is the only theory of teaching and learning present in the classroom today, I do believe it is a critical one which we call fall back on when things seem to be going awry.  When students get out of control and disorderly, we tend to fall back on a behavior management system.  If students aren’t getting it, we give them extra practice.  Students succeed and we reinforce their effort, or correct their inaccurate attempt and continue modeling and scaffolding in order for them to be successful.

References:

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom

instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Standridge, M. (2002).  Behaviorism.  In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging Perspectives on learning,

teaching, and technology.  Retrieved 6 March 2013, from

http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/   

Reflection on Integrating Technology in the Classroom

The past 7 weeks have truly opened my eyes and mind to incorporating technology in the classroom with very young students.  I took a similar course in my undergraduate studies about blogs and wikis (and at that time had no idea what grade level I would be teaching), and I told myself that if I taught older students I would definitely use the tools with my students.  However, now I find myself teaching K-3 learning support and at the beginning of this course, was somewhat convinced that they needed to learn how to read and write before delving into the world of technology.  Within just a few weeks I have quickly changed my perspective and now I’m finding ways to incorporate technology to help my students overcome reading and writing difficulties.  Keengwe, Onchwari, and Wachira (2008) state, “Technology is not a substitute for good instruction; effective teachers should provide intellectually powerful and technology rich environments for students without undermining sound pedagogical practices” (83).
A combination of this course and new curriculum focusing on 21^st century skills (especially in the area of writing) encouraged me to give projects a try that I would never have explored on my own.  I read I Wanna Iguana with my third students and they are now working on writing letters that they are going to publish on a blog and get written responses to their persuasive writing.  My second grade students are writing a report, a task that I thought was impossible for them.  They are using an online encyclopedia that reads to them and highlights words, gives definitions, and videos.  We spent a lesson on how to put the information in the encyclopedia in their own words and they are now summarizing facts learned online into their own reports.  Many of my students were reluctant writers, but now I am seeing a huge improvement in their work ethic and the quality of their writing. 

This is only one area of the curriculum where I have been able to increase my technology skills.  In mathematics, I assign a series of games on a program called Compass Learning that align with the chapter we are working on.  This is another mode students may use both in the classroom and at home to help them. 

I still have a long way to go, but very encouraged now that I see what my students can do with technology.  Resources and adequate professional development are definitely big hurdles: I only have 3 computers for my 19 students.  One of the qualities of a great educator is that they can utilize what they do have to its fullest potential and I definitely want this to be the focus of my next school year.  I want to teach my students how to use some of the tools (i.e. podcasting) so that this can become an independent station as I differentiate instruction to meet the needs of my diverse learners.  As Prensky (2005) states, we must put student engagement as a priority above content by paying attention to how they learn, what they value and what they already know coming into the classroom. 

My two short-term goals are:

(1) I am working on writing a grant to obtain some iPads to add to my classroom.  If (hopefully when) I obtain these, I will use the apps and the games as motivators for students, and also use the camera and recording capabilities for students to post their work on the internet.

(2) Teach my students how to record a podcast.  In addition to my new lesson activities listed above, I think podcasting will increase their verbal expression and get them excited about vocabulary words.  The podcasts are a great tool they can then share with their classmates and review with parents at home.

In closing, I took a look back at the checklist of practices to support 21^st century learning and I think I have shown a lot of growth and improvement.  Prior to this course, I had never truly considered how much digital native’s learning style impacts classes, but it is true (and not changing anytime soon).  Now, I am more cognizant of this learning style and find myself challenging students to use technology more often in order to demonstrate their learning.  They love it and it is a great way to differentiate instruction in order for all students to be successful. 

References:

Keengwe, J., Onchwari, G., & Wachira, P. (2008). The use of computer tools to

support meaningful learning. AACE Journal, 16(1), 77–92

Prensky, M. (2005). Listen to the natives. Educational Leadership, 63(4), 8–13.

Technology in my classroom

Partnership for 21st Century Skills

Visiting the Partnership for 21^st Century Skills led me to a lot of good information about the importance of embedding these skills into my teaching practice.  As I read about all of the complex skills and strategies students will need to be successful in future careers, I was a little overwhelmed by the task of preparing them for this. However, as Levy and Murnane (2006) state, literacy and mathematics are critical skills and the skills needed for complex communication and expert thinking can be taught in any subject area.  This realization is crucial since all educators I know are hard-pressed for time these days.

The discovery of the Common Core Toolkit was the beginning of my adventure on this site.  The toolkit provides background research, explains why these skills are important, but I think the most important part is the real-life field examples of how teachers are incorporating 21^st century skills in the context of what they are already teaching.  The most important task a teacher has (in my opinion) is in teaching students how to learn, and how to find answers to questions they have about the world around them.  Students are typically naturally inquisitive about the world around them, and it is our job to show them how to evaluate resources and find answers to the questions they have. 

The thing I would like to see more of is how to apply these skills to learning in the primary elementary grades.  All of the examples in the toolkit were in grades 4 and up.  While the Partnership acknowledges (as do I) the need for students to be able to read and write, I think we need to bring them up asking these questions and beginning to show them how to think in these ways, so that when they get to 4^th grade (or higher), it is not new to them. 

As an educator, the critical need for 21^st century skills calls for a shift in pedagogy.  Many times, especially in special education, students are used to being told the information they need and given repetition in order for them to master the concept(s).  However, this needs to change.  Students need to learn how to think, and how to solve their own problems.  I have started something in mathematics that after I introduce a new concept, I pick a student to come up to the board and guide the group through a problem.  This motivates and engages students, but also forces them to communicate and lead a group, a task they would typically despise, but isn’t so daunting when they get to use the interactive whiteboard and manipulatives.  However, this is just the beginning.  This type of thinking needs to carry over into all subject areas and encourage students to inquire, explore, and do more project-based authentic learning tasks instead of rote paper and pencil tasks and assessments. 

References:

http://www.p21.org/index.php

Levy, F., & Murnane, R. (2006). Why the changing American economy calls for twenty-first century

learning: Answers to educators' questions. New Directions for Youth Development, 2006

(110), 53–62.

Using a blog with my students and parents

I teach learning support for kindergarten through third grade students.  Although I support all content areas, the main focus of my instruction is reading, language arts (writing), and mathematics.  The majority of my day is spent with small groups of students delivering interventions and differentiated lessons to meet the needs of diverse learners.  I am also in charge of overseeing a paraprofessional who does extra practice and review with my students when I am not with them, along with four teaching assistants who are paired 1:1 with a particular student due to significant challenges. 

Since I work with a very young population of students who are still learning how to read and write, I aim to use my blog to communicate with parents of students and support staff.  Each post would focus on a specific lesson or strategy that I am teaching that support staff and/or parents could go on to see exactly how I am teaching the skill and reinforce/practice the skill with students in the same manner.  This consistency is key with learning support students and when I find a way that works for them, I want to share it with everyone so they can utilize it with students as well. 

This idea was inspired by a recent unit on double digit addition and subtraction (first without regrouping, and then with regrouping).  In order to make this abstract concept a little more concrete, we spent a lot of time using manipulatives (base-ten blocks) so my students could learn the reasoning behind their mathematics.  However, when they were given homework, they were not able to take base-10 blocks home. 

After a few days introducing the skill, I pulled up virtual manipulatives (http://www.glencoe.com/sites/common_assets/mathematics/ebook_assets/vmf/VMF-Interface.html) on my interactive whiteboard and had students who really "got it" start leading problems with the base-10 blocks at the board.  Then I got to thinking, "This would be a great idea to let students do at home!"  They were so motivated by the interactive base-ten blocks and it made grouping and regrouping even easier than the actual blocks.  I would include a brief screencast of how to use the tool to help with the problems that come home for homework (or for my support staff, the extra practice in school). 

It would take a lot of time to start up until I got all of the lessons and strategies going, but by adding one at a time parent would then be able to go back and search for a specific skill their child is struggling with and have immediate resources to refer to for help.