What would you do differently if you could do it all over again? Are these changes based on feedback that you may have received from friends, peers, family members, etc?
I would get more shots and live action I think. There are some clips that came out shaky or with some noise in the background, so it would have been good to get some footage from different angles and from two different cameras. We did that in most places which was helpful, but not everywhere. The feedback is just from my personal viewing of the video and from editing. I also wish I had more fun music on my computer that I could use to put in the background!! And I wish I had more time to make it creative and fun.
What is your reaction to the video recording/editing process? Please discuss any positive and negative reactions.
I think it's great! It is time consuming and hard work, but I really enjoyed it. I think it's very satisfying at the end to see your final product. There are so many cool things to do in IMovie, and it's very user-friendly. I had a lot of fun doing it, but again, I wish I had given myself more time to make it more creative and fun. All in all, we had a lot of fun creating it, and I enjoyed the process.
Do you think it would be possible to have students in your current/future classroom create a movie? Do you (will you) have the resources, time, and skills necessary to include such a project in your classroom? Please explain.
I think it would be possible if there were resources available such as movie editing software and cameras. At this time, I am not sure if those resources are available. It is really time consuming, and is not really relevant to my physics class, though it could produce a product that I could use for future classes. I guess as long as I could make sure that students knew the objective was to demonstrate a physics lesson, rather than to show their video editing skills, and they could produce an edited video in a timely manner, then I would do it. I'd also want to make sure that students knew how to edit the video already from another class, because I wouldnt want to have to teach it during my class time.
Did you learn anything new from the video editing/recording process? Please explain.
I learned that it never hurts to have an overload of photage! Background noise (wind, etc) can impede some cameras and some footage might be a little shaky, so it doesn't hurt to have two cameras going at the same time to show the shot of. It also helps to start and end your video a little before and after the shots. It makes transitions between slides a little smoother and makes the video less choppy. I also found that if you want to be creative, you should leave yourself plenty of time to do the video editing. :-)
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Monday, July 5, 2010
Week 6 Ed Tech Questions
What is your reaction to the 10 Big Shifts in Education? Which shift(s) will be easier and harder for your to integrate in your future teaching/classroom? Please explain.
I am really excited about the 10 shifts in education, because many of them follow with my philosophy of education. The shifts include collaboration with other teachers around the globe, having students publish work to a worldwide audience that can be archived and referred to for years to come, rather than only accessed by a teacher as is done traditionally. Using the web as a platform to collaborate with others, access primary sources such as experts in a field, have students create a public portfolio for the world to see, comment on, learn from, and for students to access forever are all part of the big shifts in education. We as teachers will also take part in learning by learning beside our students, which is also an attribute of the big shift as well (November, 2010).
I think each of these shifts - collaboration with other students, teachers and experts, factchecking our web sources, having students upload assignments to the web for a public audience to access and learn from are all easy and manageable goals for me in education. I htink that as a teacher, I can do research and have my students research experts to contact and conference with. I think that through forums, I could team up with other teachers across the world, and hopefully form a collaborative community with their classrooms that allows my students and theirs to interact with each other, learn from each other, and be an audience to each other's work, providing feedback and constructive advice. I will have students upload assignments on their blogs or through a wiki site.
One thing that I do think will be difficult is to have a completely "online" classroom community. I think it will be difficult because while it is a goal of mine, the reality is that there isn't much access to computers for students during school hours. Therefore, much of the work done in class can only be done on paper and turned into the teacher at this time. However, while it would be ideal to have all assignments students complete uploaded online, it is also not completely necessary. Students could upload the important documents such as labs and homework assignments, while in-class work and worksheets could just be done by paper in the classroom. I guess this lends back to last week's questions - how our classrooms will be in the 21st century - and now I am realizing, it will be one where students and teachers have 24/7 access to the web and their blogs!!!
I am really excited about the 10 shifts in education, because many of them follow with my philosophy of education. The shifts include collaboration with other teachers around the globe, having students publish work to a worldwide audience that can be archived and referred to for years to come, rather than only accessed by a teacher as is done traditionally. Using the web as a platform to collaborate with others, access primary sources such as experts in a field, have students create a public portfolio for the world to see, comment on, learn from, and for students to access forever are all part of the big shifts in education. We as teachers will also take part in learning by learning beside our students, which is also an attribute of the big shift as well (November, 2010).
I think each of these shifts - collaboration with other students, teachers and experts, factchecking our web sources, having students upload assignments to the web for a public audience to access and learn from are all easy and manageable goals for me in education. I htink that as a teacher, I can do research and have my students research experts to contact and conference with. I think that through forums, I could team up with other teachers across the world, and hopefully form a collaborative community with their classrooms that allows my students and theirs to interact with each other, learn from each other, and be an audience to each other's work, providing feedback and constructive advice. I will have students upload assignments on their blogs or through a wiki site.
One thing that I do think will be difficult is to have a completely "online" classroom community. I think it will be difficult because while it is a goal of mine, the reality is that there isn't much access to computers for students during school hours. Therefore, much of the work done in class can only be done on paper and turned into the teacher at this time. However, while it would be ideal to have all assignments students complete uploaded online, it is also not completely necessary. Students could upload the important documents such as labs and homework assignments, while in-class work and worksheets could just be done by paper in the classroom. I guess this lends back to last week's questions - how our classrooms will be in the 21st century - and now I am realizing, it will be one where students and teachers have 24/7 access to the web and their blogs!!!
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Steph's Physics Wiki Blog (IN PROGRESS)
Wiki Website: Steph's Physicsmania Wiki
Do you plan on using your classroom blog/wiki in your future classroom? If so, what types of modifications do you envision? Please explain.
I definitely think that a wiki page is a great tool to use in the classroom and I do plan to use it in the future. I like how wikis can be used as a platform for students display work that they are proud of to their peers, teachers, parents and other family members, get feedback from their peers, collaborate with other students, and share useful resources. An additional perk to wikis is that the classroom is not just restricted to a class period; students can participate and enrich the classroom outside of their school from their own homes, on their own time.
I plan to use the wiki I made and modify it to add pages for students to post their lab reports, projects, and demonstrations to. I'd also like to tape student's presentation that they do in class so that other students and parents can see what their child is working on. The web has so many new pages being added each day, so I htink that if everyone in class posts a resource from the web that they find useful, it will narrow down resources pages for students and future classes, and will make web navigation on physics topics more manageable. With that said, I will also add more useful resource pages for each unit that we cover in our physics class. I will also use the site to upload class resources such as powerpoint presentation that I show in class. I'd also like to use SMARTboard in the class as well to do sample problems in detail together with the class, and then upload the work we did on the SMARTboard at the end of the day to the wiki page.
Do you plan on having your students create their own blogs/wikis in your future classroom? If so, please explain.
I think that I'll have students either produce their own blog, or their own wikis. I think it's a great way for students to display their own portfolio of the work that they've done in physics that everyone can access, comment on and give feedback to students on. Most importantly, it is somehting that students can access for years to come. Students can look back, reflect on work they've done, and use it as resources for their future work. I would also encourage students to use their blog/wiki for other classes if possible to build an even bigger portfolio for themselves.
Discussion of how your view of instructional technology has or has not changed over the semester
Initially, I thought that blogs and wikis for use in school was not the best idea. Being unfamiliar with blogs and aware of the prevalence of cyberbullying, I didn't think that students could use a blog/wiki responsibly and respectfully. I will definitely be using Richardson's (2008) guideline sheet that he provided in his book to give to students and their parents to have them sign so that they are aware of the rulesin the classroom on blogging and wikis, and of the penalties. But I now think that the advantages of using blogs and wikis are clearly superior to the possible risks.
I also htink that powerpoints, jing, podcasts, and IMovie are all great tools to use in the classroom, because they can produce files that can be uploaded to the web for others to access, and can be the teacher for years to come!
Discuss the quality and appropriateness of what you have learned and created this semester.
I will definitely utilize the tools and knowledge of technology that I learned this semester. I think most of the technologies such as blogging, wikis, and webpages are appropriate and quality tools to use. I'm not sure how I would do it, but I would like to incorporate podcasts and create movies to include into my classroom, mainly because they can be uploaded to the web for other students to access and use, and because they can be used for years to come.
Evaluation of your comfort moving forward with technology.
I am comfortable with moving forward with technology to an extent, but I do feel that it is always evolving so we always need to keep ourselves current and educate ourselves on new technological advances and their advantages/risks of use in the classroom. I will definitley start to be a part of ed tech forums to keep abreast of the new features and advances of technology.
Do you plan on using your classroom blog/wiki in your future classroom? If so, what types of modifications do you envision? Please explain.
I definitely think that a wiki page is a great tool to use in the classroom and I do plan to use it in the future. I like how wikis can be used as a platform for students display work that they are proud of to their peers, teachers, parents and other family members, get feedback from their peers, collaborate with other students, and share useful resources. An additional perk to wikis is that the classroom is not just restricted to a class period; students can participate and enrich the classroom outside of their school from their own homes, on their own time.
I plan to use the wiki I made and modify it to add pages for students to post their lab reports, projects, and demonstrations to. I'd also like to tape student's presentation that they do in class so that other students and parents can see what their child is working on. The web has so many new pages being added each day, so I htink that if everyone in class posts a resource from the web that they find useful, it will narrow down resources pages for students and future classes, and will make web navigation on physics topics more manageable. With that said, I will also add more useful resource pages for each unit that we cover in our physics class. I will also use the site to upload class resources such as powerpoint presentation that I show in class. I'd also like to use SMARTboard in the class as well to do sample problems in detail together with the class, and then upload the work we did on the SMARTboard at the end of the day to the wiki page.
Do you plan on having your students create their own blogs/wikis in your future classroom? If so, please explain.
I think that I'll have students either produce their own blog, or their own wikis. I think it's a great way for students to display their own portfolio of the work that they've done in physics that everyone can access, comment on and give feedback to students on. Most importantly, it is somehting that students can access for years to come. Students can look back, reflect on work they've done, and use it as resources for their future work. I would also encourage students to use their blog/wiki for other classes if possible to build an even bigger portfolio for themselves.
Discussion of how your view of instructional technology has or has not changed over the semester
Initially, I thought that blogs and wikis for use in school was not the best idea. Being unfamiliar with blogs and aware of the prevalence of cyberbullying, I didn't think that students could use a blog/wiki responsibly and respectfully. I will definitely be using Richardson's (2008) guideline sheet that he provided in his book to give to students and their parents to have them sign so that they are aware of the rulesin the classroom on blogging and wikis, and of the penalties. But I now think that the advantages of using blogs and wikis are clearly superior to the possible risks.
I also htink that powerpoints, jing, podcasts, and IMovie are all great tools to use in the classroom, because they can produce files that can be uploaded to the web for others to access, and can be the teacher for years to come!
Discuss the quality and appropriateness of what you have learned and created this semester.
I will definitely utilize the tools and knowledge of technology that I learned this semester. I think most of the technologies such as blogging, wikis, and webpages are appropriate and quality tools to use. I'm not sure how I would do it, but I would like to incorporate podcasts and create movies to include into my classroom, mainly because they can be uploaded to the web for other students to access and use, and because they can be used for years to come.
Evaluation of your comfort moving forward with technology.
I am comfortable with moving forward with technology to an extent, but I do feel that it is always evolving so we always need to keep ourselves current and educate ourselves on new technological advances and their advantages/risks of use in the classroom. I will definitley start to be a part of ed tech forums to keep abreast of the new features and advances of technology.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Reflection on Powerpoint
Brief description of the lesson/topic presented on the PowerPoint
Brief description of the features used in your PowerPoint. Did you use any "challenge" features? Why/Why not.
Did you learn anything new in the process?
How can a lesson be enhanced with Presentation Software (e.g. PowerPoint, Google Docs Presentation software, etc.)
I did my powerpoint presentation on the beginning portion of a unit on motion in physics. The powerpoint gives students an overview on what students should expect in the next few weeks on their unit on motion, and starts to try to get students to think critically about motion. The powerpoint also introduces the basic terms used to describe motion: distance/displacement, speed/velocity (described every day as "slow" or "fast"), and acceleration (described in every day vocabulary as "speeding up" or "slowing down"). The third 3rd and 4th slides will be class discussion, and students will describe the motion of the person running across the powerpoint speed (one animation is going fast, the other is going slow). The powerpoint also gives students the equations used for each of these terms, their definitions, and the units we use when computing the values of these terms. There is also a slide that introduces students to some useful powerpoint websites that will be great resources throughout the year to them.
I used the animation features to demonstrate a man running fast, and then running slow across the screen. I also used word art on some of my titles. I included a number of the clip art items as well. I also included animations for words to come on the screen ("speed" and "speed up" come in fast, "slow" and "slow down" come in slow), and I did this on another slide just because I thought it would look cool. I included transitions between the last two slides, and a sound effect on one slide where I have clip art of a police officer directing traffic. The sound effect is a car horn. I also included a challenge, which was a table. The table is used to show the units commonly used for distance, speed, and acceleration. I've used this feature before on the old powerpoint, but I love the new color-coded tables. And they're so user-friendly, and fit in perfectly with my slideshow, which is why I used it.
I did learn a lot in the process - I had no idea how easy all of the special features were to use! I always thought that the animations were much more complex, but they are not at all. And smooth transitions between slides are so easy to insert as well. I did notice, though, that some of the animations are quite time-consuming (like in my last slide, the words come in at different animations, and it takes a little while for them to come in, but it looks cool!). So if you're looking to make a shorter presentation, it's always best to test the animations beforehand to make sure they are not time-consuming (especially when using animations for words!).
Powerpoint and other presentation softwares are great tools to use to organize your lessons and keep you on-task. It's also useful if you have everything you want said in the slideshow, so that you're sure to include every point you want to make. It also makes for a smooth lesson. For instance, if you want to show a video at a certain point during the lesson, you can always insert the video into your slideshow presentation, or include the hyperlink to the video on one of your slides at the appropriate location. It also allows teachers to have class discussions more, and ask students questions, since the teacher does not have to write everything on the white board, which can take a lot of time. It can also be humorous and fun to liven up the lesson a bit, which is sometimes necessary when there's a lot of material to cover.
Brief description of the features used in your PowerPoint. Did you use any "challenge" features? Why/Why not.
Did you learn anything new in the process?
How can a lesson be enhanced with Presentation Software (e.g. PowerPoint, Google Docs Presentation software, etc.)
I did my powerpoint presentation on the beginning portion of a unit on motion in physics. The powerpoint gives students an overview on what students should expect in the next few weeks on their unit on motion, and starts to try to get students to think critically about motion. The powerpoint also introduces the basic terms used to describe motion: distance/displacement, speed/velocity (described every day as "slow" or "fast"), and acceleration (described in every day vocabulary as "speeding up" or "slowing down"). The third 3rd and 4th slides will be class discussion, and students will describe the motion of the person running across the powerpoint speed (one animation is going fast, the other is going slow). The powerpoint also gives students the equations used for each of these terms, their definitions, and the units we use when computing the values of these terms. There is also a slide that introduces students to some useful powerpoint websites that will be great resources throughout the year to them.
I used the animation features to demonstrate a man running fast, and then running slow across the screen. I also used word art on some of my titles. I included a number of the clip art items as well. I also included animations for words to come on the screen ("speed" and "speed up" come in fast, "slow" and "slow down" come in slow), and I did this on another slide just because I thought it would look cool. I included transitions between the last two slides, and a sound effect on one slide where I have clip art of a police officer directing traffic. The sound effect is a car horn. I also included a challenge, which was a table. The table is used to show the units commonly used for distance, speed, and acceleration. I've used this feature before on the old powerpoint, but I love the new color-coded tables. And they're so user-friendly, and fit in perfectly with my slideshow, which is why I used it.
I did learn a lot in the process - I had no idea how easy all of the special features were to use! I always thought that the animations were much more complex, but they are not at all. And smooth transitions between slides are so easy to insert as well. I did notice, though, that some of the animations are quite time-consuming (like in my last slide, the words come in at different animations, and it takes a little while for them to come in, but it looks cool!). So if you're looking to make a shorter presentation, it's always best to test the animations beforehand to make sure they are not time-consuming (especially when using animations for words!).
Powerpoint and other presentation softwares are great tools to use to organize your lessons and keep you on-task. It's also useful if you have everything you want said in the slideshow, so that you're sure to include every point you want to make. It also makes for a smooth lesson. For instance, if you want to show a video at a certain point during the lesson, you can always insert the video into your slideshow presentation, or include the hyperlink to the video on one of your slides at the appropriate location. It also allows teachers to have class discussions more, and ask students questions, since the teacher does not have to write everything on the white board, which can take a lot of time. It can also be humorous and fun to liven up the lesson a bit, which is sometimes necessary when there's a lot of material to cover.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Week 5 T2P
(see "week 4 T2P" blog to see my responses to your comments)
As we learned from Frank Oakley today...
If a teacher is experiencing misbehavior in their classroom, and is unfamiliar with teaching theories, and does not perform self-evaluations of their performance as a teacher on a regular basis, then the teacher's heuristic approach includes a bias perseverence, and the problem might lie in what the teacher brings to the mix.
First, I really enjoyed the homework that was due today. It was really neat to see videos that our students make, and their perspectives on what's going on in the world and how it effects them. In a way it made me a little scared. I haven't been around high school aged kids in a long time, and what I see every day in our TCPCG is obedient classrooms since we are all graduate-level students. I'm afraid of what will happen when I get to the classroom and students do misbehave. Will I know how to react? How will students react to my reaction? Will students respect me and others? How do I provide them with relational caring, while also acting as an authority figure? I'm looking forward to observing the summer classes next week so I can start to hopefully answer these questions!
The class was very productive today, definitely because of how everything was scaffolded. It was helpful for us to get in groups and develop our own heuristics, and then share them with the group and develop a group heuristic. I also like the big case that we got because we knew how to approach the problem, we all had roles in our groups which made it easier in such a large group with such a complex case, and the problem was relevant. This example seemed like a real and typical issue that a teacher might have in a classroom, so it was good to see other's views of the problem and how they would approach it. I think getting expert advice from my colleagues and from my peers in the TCPCG program is going to be a huge source of knowledge for me in the classroom.
As we learned from Frank Oakley today...
If a teacher is experiencing misbehavior in their classroom, and is unfamiliar with teaching theories, and does not perform self-evaluations of their performance as a teacher on a regular basis, then the teacher's heuristic approach includes a bias perseverence, and the problem might lie in what the teacher brings to the mix.
First, I really enjoyed the homework that was due today. It was really neat to see videos that our students make, and their perspectives on what's going on in the world and how it effects them. In a way it made me a little scared. I haven't been around high school aged kids in a long time, and what I see every day in our TCPCG is obedient classrooms since we are all graduate-level students. I'm afraid of what will happen when I get to the classroom and students do misbehave. Will I know how to react? How will students react to my reaction? Will students respect me and others? How do I provide them with relational caring, while also acting as an authority figure? I'm looking forward to observing the summer classes next week so I can start to hopefully answer these questions!
The class was very productive today, definitely because of how everything was scaffolded. It was helpful for us to get in groups and develop our own heuristics, and then share them with the group and develop a group heuristic. I also like the big case that we got because we knew how to approach the problem, we all had roles in our groups which made it easier in such a large group with such a complex case, and the problem was relevant. This example seemed like a real and typical issue that a teacher might have in a classroom, so it was good to see other's views of the problem and how they would approach it. I think getting expert advice from my colleagues and from my peers in the TCPCG program is going to be a huge source of knowledge for me in the classroom.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Week 5 Tech Ed Questions (In Progress)
1. Should all teachers be encouraged to create online activities for students within traditional classrooms? Please explain.
I think that teachers should absolutely be encouraged to create online activities for students within the traditional classrooms. First, the internet is a huge resource, and as the internet is expanding every day, so is the need for all people to be computer literate. I think that students should be encouraged to do online activities so that they can become familiar with the internet, and it's advantages and limitations. Second, traditional classrooms are not ideal environments for all students to excel in learning. Some students do better in an online environment because of the autonomy and self-responsibility that it brings. For instance, In a classroom, students may have to finish a project within a constrained timeframe, whereas for an online activity, the students could work on it in their own time and at their own pace (November, 2010). Additionally, a classroom is very public, and not all students are not comfortable with sharing their work, thoughts, and ideas in front of their peers in such a public manner, whereas they might be more comforable sharing their work online, where they would not have to see their peers' reaction to their work. Additionally, with online activities, students have more time to think about their work, and to articulate their thoughts, whereas in a traditional classroom, students may not have the time to do so. Further, A traditional classroom that incorporates online activities could possibly address the needs of students who are not exceling in the traditional classroom because they are not comforable with the setting. By providing online activities, teachers could also identify students that might be better suited for online classes rather than traditional classrooms, and they could then create more online activities for those students to improve their cognitive development, or they could recommend the students to take online classes.
One thing about online classes that I never thought of that was mentioned in the November (2010) reading was that online classes can be efficient for high school students for AP classes. AP classes are not always available for certain subject within a school district if there is not a high demand for that class. Online classes could allow students from different schools interested in take the same AP classes to take them, when traditionally they wouldn't be given the opportunity.
2. Envision the role of social networking in 21st century learning environments. Write a brief description of this vision.
Wow, what a great question! Well, from what I've read, social networking is being used today, but is in limited use. Teachers have students sign up for the social networks and set up sorts of "home pages" for students to post information on, answer questions for the teachers, and post interest sites or videos they've found. The sites can be set up as public or private. Private sites are viewed only by the class, whereas public sites can be viewed by anyone, for other classes in the future to view and use the resources that your class has used.
In the future, I see social networking as a way for multiple classrooms to collaborate simultaneously during class, with the use of live video streaming. Schools will be within classroom walls, but students will be more autonomous, and would be able to access their classroom by live video from anywhere in the world. I think that a subject (for me physics) will have its own community for classes to log in to. For each class that students go to, they will simply log in to their subject's social network. Classes will communicate with each other in person, but will often collaborate with other classes via live feeds or videos that other classes have posted. Really, at this point though, the possibilities are endless! Within the last 10 years, the internet has grown so much and have provided so many learning and teaching opportunities, and so many teachers are utilizing the internet to expand learning in such a short period of time, that who knows - maybe we will have virtual classrooms or somehting crazy like that!
I think that teachers should absolutely be encouraged to create online activities for students within the traditional classrooms. First, the internet is a huge resource, and as the internet is expanding every day, so is the need for all people to be computer literate. I think that students should be encouraged to do online activities so that they can become familiar with the internet, and it's advantages and limitations. Second, traditional classrooms are not ideal environments for all students to excel in learning. Some students do better in an online environment because of the autonomy and self-responsibility that it brings. For instance, In a classroom, students may have to finish a project within a constrained timeframe, whereas for an online activity, the students could work on it in their own time and at their own pace (November, 2010). Additionally, a classroom is very public, and not all students are not comfortable with sharing their work, thoughts, and ideas in front of their peers in such a public manner, whereas they might be more comforable sharing their work online, where they would not have to see their peers' reaction to their work. Additionally, with online activities, students have more time to think about their work, and to articulate their thoughts, whereas in a traditional classroom, students may not have the time to do so. Further, A traditional classroom that incorporates online activities could possibly address the needs of students who are not exceling in the traditional classroom because they are not comforable with the setting. By providing online activities, teachers could also identify students that might be better suited for online classes rather than traditional classrooms, and they could then create more online activities for those students to improve their cognitive development, or they could recommend the students to take online classes.
One thing about online classes that I never thought of that was mentioned in the November (2010) reading was that online classes can be efficient for high school students for AP classes. AP classes are not always available for certain subject within a school district if there is not a high demand for that class. Online classes could allow students from different schools interested in take the same AP classes to take them, when traditionally they wouldn't be given the opportunity.
2. Envision the role of social networking in 21st century learning environments. Write a brief description of this vision.
Wow, what a great question! Well, from what I've read, social networking is being used today, but is in limited use. Teachers have students sign up for the social networks and set up sorts of "home pages" for students to post information on, answer questions for the teachers, and post interest sites or videos they've found. The sites can be set up as public or private. Private sites are viewed only by the class, whereas public sites can be viewed by anyone, for other classes in the future to view and use the resources that your class has used.
In the future, I see social networking as a way for multiple classrooms to collaborate simultaneously during class, with the use of live video streaming. Schools will be within classroom walls, but students will be more autonomous, and would be able to access their classroom by live video from anywhere in the world. I think that a subject (for me physics) will have its own community for classes to log in to. For each class that students go to, they will simply log in to their subject's social network. Classes will communicate with each other in person, but will often collaborate with other classes via live feeds or videos that other classes have posted. Really, at this point though, the possibilities are endless! Within the last 10 years, the internet has grown so much and have provided so many learning and teaching opportunities, and so many teachers are utilizing the internet to expand learning in such a short period of time, that who knows - maybe we will have virtual classrooms or somehting crazy like that!
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Learning Theories Week 5 Homework
1. Youth, Technology & Learning
If students work in groups in the classroom and on projects, then they are more likely to learn more because they are working with students with other life experiences, with different abilities, and thus will be hearing other student's perspectives, and approaches to problems and classroom work. In the video "Youth, Technology, & Learning", Anna, Casey Morgan and Sarah talked about the advantages of working in groups. Anna said "the hardest way to work is alone. Even though we'll be talking [during group work], you really can get stuff done when you're with friends." Morgan added that "You learn a lot more with it when you're talking with people about it." Morgan further explained that when you're working with people, you learn other methods of approaching a problem. When talking about others and her experiences with it, she said "You're talking with someone, and you're like 'you're doing it that way? I never knew that.' By yourself you don't learn anything but what you know and what the teacher knows. When you're working with others it's everyone's knowledge." Vygotsky would contend that cognitive development is enhanced by social interaction through his theory of cognitive apprenticeship which holds that "two heads are better than one" (Goodman, 2008, p. 26). As a teacher, I will include group work and social interaction through class discussion in my pedagogy to enhance student learning. I believe that it is beneficial for not only my students, but for me as a teacher to hear other perspectives and approaches to problems.
2. Is Anybody Listening?...
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If a student is dealing with emotions of stress, loss of control of their destiny, and uncertainty in the future, then students will not be able to perform in school at an optimal level because they will not be able to fully concentrate. Maslow would agree with this statement, because he believes that if a student's basic needs for survival, their safety needs for comfort, and their psychological needs are not met, then the student's learning will be impacted. The video "Is Anybody Listening?..." was about a language arts AP class and how the economic crisis has impacted them. The story was very emotional and included candid interviews with students whose lives are not full of stress and uncertainty because their parents have lost jobs and are struggling to make ends meet. One student, Maritssa, said "My Mom, I see her struggling. I can't do anything about it. I wanna help her but she wantes me to focus on school. But I can't focus on school when I know that she's struggling. And it's just really hard." As a teacher, I will make the school learning environment a safe, predictable, and stable one, so that it is comfortable for them. Although I can't take them out of a difficult situation they might be in, I will be a teacher that students can turn to and vent or just talk to when the going gets tough.
3. YOUTH VOICES
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If a student has a caring teacher that believes in their students and their abilities, and displays their caring in their pedagogy, then the students will have more self-confidence and will inherently want to succeed. Eric had explained in the video that his Dad works hard every day in the sun to make ends meet. His teacher, Mr. Felix, believed in Eric and told him not to give up so that he could help his family out. "I like some of the teachers that try to hellp me, like Mr. Felix. He never gave up on me," said Eric, "Eric, don't you wanna help out your Dad? Just work hard in school." As Noddings says, a trusting and caring student-teacher relationship is essential for learning to occur. As a teacher, I will believe in my students and let them know that I believe in their abilities, because a caring relationship with your students intrinsically motivates students, and builds their own self-confidence and belief in themselves that they will be successful not only in school, but in life.
If students work in groups in the classroom and on projects, then they are more likely to learn more because they are working with students with other life experiences, with different abilities, and thus will be hearing other student's perspectives, and approaches to problems and classroom work. In the video "Youth, Technology, & Learning", Anna, Casey Morgan and Sarah talked about the advantages of working in groups. Anna said "the hardest way to work is alone. Even though we'll be talking [during group work], you really can get stuff done when you're with friends." Morgan added that "You learn a lot more with it when you're talking with people about it." Morgan further explained that when you're working with people, you learn other methods of approaching a problem. When talking about others and her experiences with it, she said "You're talking with someone, and you're like 'you're doing it that way? I never knew that.' By yourself you don't learn anything but what you know and what the teacher knows. When you're working with others it's everyone's knowledge." Vygotsky would contend that cognitive development is enhanced by social interaction through his theory of cognitive apprenticeship which holds that "two heads are better than one" (Goodman, 2008, p. 26). As a teacher, I will include group work and social interaction through class discussion in my pedagogy to enhance student learning. I believe that it is beneficial for not only my students, but for me as a teacher to hear other perspectives and approaches to problems.
2. Is Anybody Listening?...
">
If a student is dealing with emotions of stress, loss of control of their destiny, and uncertainty in the future, then students will not be able to perform in school at an optimal level because they will not be able to fully concentrate. Maslow would agree with this statement, because he believes that if a student's basic needs for survival, their safety needs for comfort, and their psychological needs are not met, then the student's learning will be impacted. The video "Is Anybody Listening?..." was about a language arts AP class and how the economic crisis has impacted them. The story was very emotional and included candid interviews with students whose lives are not full of stress and uncertainty because their parents have lost jobs and are struggling to make ends meet. One student, Maritssa, said "My Mom, I see her struggling. I can't do anything about it. I wanna help her but she wantes me to focus on school. But I can't focus on school when I know that she's struggling. And it's just really hard." As a teacher, I will make the school learning environment a safe, predictable, and stable one, so that it is comfortable for them. Although I can't take them out of a difficult situation they might be in, I will be a teacher that students can turn to and vent or just talk to when the going gets tough.
3. YOUTH VOICES
">
If a student has a caring teacher that believes in their students and their abilities, and displays their caring in their pedagogy, then the students will have more self-confidence and will inherently want to succeed. Eric had explained in the video that his Dad works hard every day in the sun to make ends meet. His teacher, Mr. Felix, believed in Eric and told him not to give up so that he could help his family out. "I like some of the teachers that try to hellp me, like Mr. Felix. He never gave up on me," said Eric, "Eric, don't you wanna help out your Dad? Just work hard in school." As Noddings says, a trusting and caring student-teacher relationship is essential for learning to occur. As a teacher, I will believe in my students and let them know that I believe in their abilities, because a caring relationship with your students intrinsically motivates students, and builds their own self-confidence and belief in themselves that they will be successful not only in school, but in life.
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