Problem of the Day - Voice Thread

Visit this problem of the day and let's see how we each arrive at the solution. https://voicethread.com/?#u1621089.b1704118.i8976673

Constructivism Strategies at Their Best

Constructivism is simply a philosophy or theory about how people learn new information. The thought behind this theory centers on “how people construct their own understanding and knowledge of the world, through experiencing things and reflecting on those experiences” (Matsuoka, 2010).

Some instructional practices a teacher can implement within the classroom setting that fall under constructivism are analogies, blogs, collages, graffiti walls, and jigsaws. Analogies use cognitive processes in which a student has to determine the relationship between two ordered pairs. Word pairs could have the following relationships: antonyms, synonyms, descriptive, part to whole, and item to category. The following sentence is an example of an analogy: Large is to big as triumph is to ______________.

Look at this website to test your ability on analogies: http://www.sadlier-oxford.com/phonics/analogies/analogiesx.htm

Blogs are a type of website that allows the creator a chance to design and leave different commentaries, art, and images. Visitors can leave comments on the creator’s blog. Blogging within the classroom setting allows the students and teachers an opportunity to communicate on different issues. It is a format so that students and their parents can be better informed about standards, indicators, classroom management, non-curricular activities, etc. This communication piece can strengthen student/teacher and student/student relationships. All parties involved can share knowledge. The teacher, as well as other students, can provide feedback on questions, comments, and/or suggestions to strengthen understanding of a specific idea. The teacher can use this as a means to monitor student’s learning.

Collages involve using assemblage of different forms and gluing these things to a canvas or paper to create a whole new artwork. Here are some examples: http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Collage and http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=collages&qpvt=collages&view=large&FORM=VBCIRL

Graffiti walls is a means for a group of students can work together to demonstrate their knowledge on a given topic. Here is an example of a way to incorporate graffiti walls in literature:

http://www.readwritethink.org/resources/resource-print.html?id=208 and other areas http://troup612resources.troup.k12.ga.us/Instructional%20Strategies%20&%20Resources/Strategies.htm

The last strategy is the jigsaw. The jigsaw uses the cooperative learning approach that enables each student of a “home” group to specialize in one aspect of a learning unit. Students meet with members from other groups who are assigned the same aspect, and after mastering the material, return to the “home” group and teach the material to their group members” (Saskatoon Public Schools, 2009). Here are some websites concerning how to use the jigsaw strategy: http://www.jigsaw.org/ and http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr324.shtml

Matsuoka, B. (2010). Constructivism as a paradigm for teaching and learning. Retrieved January 25, 2011, from http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/constructivism/index.html

Saskatoon Public Schools. (2009). Instructional Strategies Online. Retrieved on January 26, 2011, from http://olc.spsd.sk.ca/DE/PD/instr/credits.html.

EDUC 6711: Blog Posting # 3

Cognitive learning theorist Tolman, an American psychologist, felt learning occurred when people made connects or maps of their environment. He was a pioneer in this field and based his findings after conducting research with rats using mazes. Even though he was a behaviorist, “Tolman sought to demonstrate that animals could learn facts about the world that they could subsequently use in a flexible manner, rather than simply learning automatic responses that were triggered off by environmental stimuli” (Wikipedia, 2010).

Gestalt believed learning occurs more readily when the brain finds patterns. “The importance of the theory for real-world learning is the attention which it draws to wholes (and incidentally to problem-solving as a part of learning). Whereas behaviorism concentrates on breaking down a task into parts and how each is learned individually and incrementally, Gestalt acknowledges the “knack” element. It thus underpins all the cognitivist theories (Atherton, 2010).

This knowledge aids my understanding of the instructional strategies presented this week by Dr. Orey and how they correlate with the principles of cognitive learning theory. When I look at the instructional strategy of elaboration, I found the following website, http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/learning/id/elaboration_theory.html, informative on how to implement this strategy successfully. Within the seven step process, the student is beginning with “an overview of the simplest and most fundamental ideas of the subject and then continuously zooming into the details about the subject matter” (Clark, 2010). This strategy will help within my own teaching practices as I challenge the students to further their understanding on a specific skill we are discussing. We can begin with an overall concept and then “zoom in” to finite the details. 

Concept maps are another instructional strategy that uses a graphic tool to organize and connect ideas together. According to Novak and Canas (2010) some characteristics of concepts maps are as follows: a) they “are represented in a hierarchical fashion with the most inclusive, most general concepts at the top of the map and the more specific, less general concepts arranged hierarchically below; and b) they include the inclusion of cross-links, which are relationships or links between concepts in different segments or domains of the concept map”. More importantly, the authors note these “two features of concept maps are important in the facilitation of creative thinking are the hierarchical structure that is represented in a good map and the ability to search for and characterize new cross-links” (Novak and Canas, 2010). Currently, I use this instructional strategy within my classroom. This tool allows me to have a working knowledge on the depth and connection of understanding students may have on at the onset of teaching a new skill.  I can then tailor my instruction to meet the needs of the students and follow-up by having the students reconstruct the concept map at the end of the lesson to see the growth and connections they have made.

Atherton, J. S. (2010). Learning and teaching; Gestalt and learning. Retrieved January 17, 2011 at http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/gestalt.htm

Clark, D. (2010). Reigeluth's elaboration theory for instructional design. Retrieved January 17, 2011, from http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/learning/id/elaboration_theory.html

Novak, J. D. & Canas, A. J. (2010) The theory underlying concept maps and how to construct them. Retrieved January 17, 2011, from http://web.archive.org/web/20060524112734/cmap.ihmc.us/Publications/ResearchPapers/TheoryCmaps/TheoryUnderlyingConceptMaps.htm

Ormrod, J.E. (1999). Cognitive learning theory. Retrieved January 17, 2011, from http://teachnet.edb.utexas.edu/~lynda_abbott/Cognitive.html

Wikipedia. (2010). Edward C. Tolman. Retrieved January 17, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_C._Tolman

EDUC6711:Week2BloggingAssignment

The role of behaviorist learning theory is present in many of today’s classroom in the form of a behavior management system. At Adena Elementary School, students are given disciplinary points when they demonstrate an inappropriate behavior. There is a set of rules that govern the disciplinary points. As the student acquires more disciplinary points the punishment increases in its intensity. After each quarter the disciplinary points are “wipe out” and the students start with a “clean slate”.

As teachers we use reinforcement to increase desired behaviors both academically and behaviorally. According to Miller (1997) there are four main factors that cause reinforcements to be more or less effective. These four factors are as follows: a) the reinforcement must be delivered only when the desired behavior occurs, b) the reinforcement must be delivered immediately after the behavior occurs, c) the reinforcement is worthwhile, and d) a reinforcer that the person hasn’t had too much of.

In looking at the four main factors, I think about what Dr. Orey mentioned in the video. It seems that he was speaking of our school. Our school district determined at the beginning of the school year those students who did not performing well on the Ohio Achievement Assessment and decided that they would be assigned to the math lab for 30 minutes a day. During this time the students are assigned to a computer and must work on Study Island, which is a grade level content standard driven program which mirrors our Ohio Achievement Assessment. This program provides interactive games for the students to play once they have received a correct answer. The games, many times, motivates the students to work toward a correct answer.

I worry about Student Island’s role in ensuring students have a passion for learning. Many of the students do not have the basic skills needed to accomplish the standards at grade level and this program does not allow for closing the gap between the student’s present level of performance and content standards. This causes frustration from teachers as well as students. Plus, this type of drill and practice does not cause students to learn the skills in a global context and thus it has no meaning to them. Some students tend to “play the game” by clicking on choices until they have the correct answer. So what meaning does this technology have for the students who need the most intervention?

Lever-Duffy, J., & McDonald, J. (2008). Theoretical foundations (Laureate Education, Inc., custom ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

Miller, L. M. (1997). Principles of everyday behavior analysis. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole Publishing Co.

EDUC 6710 - Reflection

EDUC 6710 Reflection -

       As this course draws to a close, take some time to reflect on what you have learned and how it will affect your growing technological abilities, your knowledge of how to effectively integrate technology in your classroom, and how to become a teacher leader in the area of technology integration.

Step 1: For your final blog posting, respond to the following questions:

• In what ways has this course helped you to develop your own technology skills as a professional teacher?

Introduction

An educator’s role within the school setting has changed over the last twenty years. Teachers were once isolated in their classroom and the source of information to prepare students for adulthood. Now students can have first hand experiences of events occurring across the globe, communication with other people in different countries, and observe and manipulate natural resources in their bedrooms (Kelly, McCain, & Jukes, 2009, p. 13). Kelly, McCain, and Jukes add, “The digital world has quickly left behind the black-and-white test-only information most of us grew up with and facilitated access to full-color graphics and video accompanied by stereo sound (2009, p. 13). Teachers need to continually be proactive in seeking and implementing the latest digital experiences within their classroom.

Blogs

This course has helped me develop my technology skills as a professional teacher in two different ways. The first way is through blogging, one of the latest technological advancements in which an individual creates a type of a website where others can interactively communicate. Before creating my own blog, I visited different educational blogs that interested me, such as Eutopia, Math Lessons, and Free Technology for Teachers.

After visiting the blogs, I created my own blog at http://jeremiespriggs.blogspot.com/. I learned that this interactive website allows me, as an individual, to post comments and uploading music, videos and pictures. Visitors to my individual blog can leave suggestions and comments. Likewise, I can format my individual blog to follow other education-related blogs and web resources that will provide relevant professional and/or content specific strategies I can use in my classroom.

I have contemplated the advantages and disadvantages of blogging with my 5^th grade mathematics class. One advantage of blogging within the classroom setting is that students and teacher have an opportunity to be better informed about standards, indicators, classroom management, non-curricular activities, etc. This communication piece can strengthen student/teacher and student/student relationships. All parties involved can share knowledge. The teacher, as well as other students, can provide feedback on questions, comments, and/or suggestions to strengthen understanding of a specific idea. The teacher can use this as a means to monitor student’s learning.

On the other hand there are disadvantages to implementing blogging within the elementary setting. One disadvantage of blogging is student access to technology. Many of the students I teach do not have a computer, much less access to the Internet. Another disadvantage is the appropriateness of responses on the blog. Since the school has not addressed this aspect of technology, it does not have jurisdiction on the responses from the students while they are at home. Last, keeping the blogs organized could potentially be very time-consuming.

With this in mind, I believe that blogging has many advantages that outweigh the disadvantages. First, I would have to be creative to ensure all students had access to responding on the blog. Next, I would have to have some sort of organization and share this with the students to ensure that blogging enhanced their learning.

 One way to keep it organized and maximize student learning is to post a problem for the week. Having students show how they solved the problem would benefit all students. I could pull up the blog at school and we could discuss the problem and how different students solved the same problem. Blogging would also allow students the opportunity to share their understanding of certain skills and assist each other in gaining a deeper understanding of specific skills and concepts. The second way to organize the blog is to have students respond to set questions like "I am still having trouble with...." This will allow the students an avenue to express any academic misunderstandings. The last way to organize the blog is to have an open forum. Here the students can discuss other issues not related to academics.

Wikis

The second way this course has helped me develop my technology skills as a professional teacher is through creating a wiki. A wiki is a website that allows different creators the option of disseminating information on a specific topic or many topics. Working with three other individuals from the class in Group 3, I helped create a collaborative wiki site called The Walden Tech Teachers’ Wiki located at http://thewaldentechteachers.wikispaces.com/.

Our group created a wiki that focused on rating different blogs on various topics. Each participant in the group was allowed to pick a topic of their choice. The various topics included foreign language, mathematics, music, special education, and smart boards.

Working with Group 3 made me think of things I would change when I have the students in my class create a wiki. First, I would provide specific steps to the students in order to complete the assignment. Next, I would set certain timelines so that each member could provide comments and suggestions on each others’ ideas. Last, each team member will be given a rubric to fill out that will rate their created wiki.

• In what ways have you changed your perspective from being teacher-centered to learner-centered?

When I decided to become a teacher I thought this professional would be challenging to a certain extent. Once I started teaching, the challenges were ever encompassing. Those challenges arose from students with various academic, social, and emotional needs, parents, colleagues, school board policies, community interests, and state and federal mandates. To address all the previous mentioned challenges, I, as a teacher, have had to create an effective, organized, and positive atmosphere that actively encourages accountability, tolerance, cooperation, respect, confidence, critical thinking and problem-solving skills that will translate to every aspect of an individual’s life.

Therefore, it is my responsibility to ensure that learning is dynamic, fun, interactive, and relevant. One approach is to incorporate blogs and wikis into the classroom. These tools are a new digital reality that can make a connection between learning new material with a student’s prior knowledge. This is a dramatic change from how I have instructed in previous years. I used the industrial age approach in my instruction by being the main source of knowledge. Instruction was delivered out of textbooks. Pedagogy, during this time, adhered to a national awareness.

Today, I am gradually changing my role to be more of a facilitator of learning than a director of learning. Instead of being the main source of knowledge, I am giving up my mindset as the center of the learning process and instead putting students at the center. My role is to help student synthesize the vast amount of information available, therefore, their learning is in the form of global awareness.

• In what ways can you continue to expand your knowledge of learning, teaching, and leading with technology with the aim of increasing student achievement?

I can continue to expand my knowledge of learning, teaching, and leading with technology with the aim of increasing student achievement in a variety of way. First, I can continue to participate in class work through Walden University that focuses on learning, teaching, and leading with technology. The degree I am seeking at Walden University is Integrating Technology in the Classroom. Next, I can actively participate in staff development and conferences offered at the local, district, and national level. Here I can network with other professionals so that I can use the knowledge and tools of teaching and learning strategies to help increase student performance. Finally, I can stay actively engaged in professional learning communicates in various settings and medias.

Step 2: Set two long-term goals (within two years) for transforming your classroom environment by which you may have to overcome institutional or systemic obstacles in order to achieve them. How do you plan to accomplish these goals?

The two long-tern goals I would like to set is incorporating podcast and transitioning my classroom atmosphere from a teacher-center approach to a more learner-center environment. The first goal will not be as difficult to accomplish as the second goal. The obstacles I will have to overcome when incorporating podcast is the time it will take to teach the students how to record and edit their input into the podcasting hardware. The obstacles I will face in my transition to a learner-center classroom environment is my own mindset. After reading the research about learner-center classrooms I think it is imperative that I change my style of teaching even though this is not what I learned while receiving my undergraduate in teacher education.  

Step 3: Refer to your checklist from Week 1. Have any of your answers changed after completing this course?

Referring to the checklist from Week 1, my answers have changed after completing this course. One of the biggest areas of change has been in my teaching practices. I have incorporated reflective practices and engaged students in activities that promote self-reflection and self-examination of their own learning. Students in my class are able to self-correct any assessment. They are required to rework the problem and discuss the reason for their error. I will give them 50% of the point value back with the error analysis completed. This strategy has caused the students to be more aware of simple mistakes. Likewise, it has helped me to identify if my students have made careless errors of if I need to reteach a concept.

Reference

Kelly, F.S., McCain, T., & Jukes, L (2009). Teaching the digital generation: More cookie-cutter high schools. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Podcast Assignment: Profiling the Students of Today

http://teacherweb.com/OH/AdenaLocalSchools/MrSpriggs5thGradeMath/spriggsjdigitaltech.mp3

EDUC 6610 Class Assignment: 21st Century Skills

Your reaction to the website:

     My first reaction to the website, http://www.21centruyskills.org/, was a feeling of overwhelm. As a fifth grade math teacher in the state of Ohio, I am focused on improving student achievement that is assessed through a one-day high-stakes test administered in April. My teaching, as well as the school district, effectiveness is measured according to this assessment.

     After taking my time to look at each of the areas that comprises the framework for 21st century learning, I see a disconnect between what the federal and state entities are expecting of students and what the Partnership for 21st Skills are expecting of students in the new global economy. For example, the sheer number of math content standards at each grade level places limitation on connecting today’s global economy with the time needed to develop the core subject knowledge and understanding. The majority of my time is spent developing basic mathematical competencies. There is little to no time left to develop the 21st century interdisciplinary themes.

Information on the site that surprised you or helped you develop a new understanding of the issues surrounding 21st-century skills

     The information presented in the interactive Framework for 21st Century Learning page helped me develop a new understanding of the issues surrounding the 21st century skills. The graphic organizer on the first page provided a visual representation on how student outcomes and support systems connect.

     I was surprised that my teaching is very limited to one area within the framework, Core Subjects and 21st Century Themes. Even within this element, I have been limited to the Core Subjects region. I have a sound foundation on my roles within developing the knowledge and understanding of mathematics with 5 th graders but have not wove the 21st  century interdisciplinary skills into my teachings.

     I do offer an After-School program in which I include a financial, economic, business and entrepreneurial literacy. I use the student’s basic knowledge and skills to develop competencies in today’s society. I invited local businesses, such as the banker, to share insight into real world financial situations.

Information or opinions on the site that you disagree with along with an explanation of why you disagree

     No Child Left Behind identified cores subject areas all students are to be proficient in by the year 2014. Because of this, states have created standards and assessments to monitor student’s progress toward academic excellence. I disagree with the following statement that states ‘schools must now make sure these standards are aligned with assessments (Partnership for 21st Century Skills, n.d., p. 9).” Instead, I believe that states need to ensure the assessments align with the content standards. All schools should be held to the same standards through the same assessment system. I believe content standards drive your assessments and not vice versa. If assessments drive instruction, then teachers are just teaching to a test and not teaching to develop higher-level thinking skills for the demands of the 21st century. 

The implications for your students and for you as a contemporary educator

     The implications as a contemporary educator is developing lessons in which students are actively engaged not only in learning core academic skills but 21st century tools. This will involve “making content relevant to students’ lives, bringing the world into the classroom, taking students out into the world, and creating opportunities for students to interact with each other, with teachers and with other knowledgeable adults in authentic learning experiences” (Partnership for 21st Century Skills, n.d., p. 12). This will require thoughtful planning on my part.

           

Partnership for 21st Century Skills. (n.d.). A report and mile guide for 21st century skills. Washington DC: Author. Retrieved from http://www.p21.org/images/stories/otherdocs/p21up_Report.pdf