Parental Involvement Voicethread

The latest project for my master's program was to create a voice thread that identified a need, problem, or situation I am confronted with in my classroom or school today.  I have created a voice thread that discusses the issue of parental involvement, and ways for educators and families to work together.

http://voicethread.com/share/1260546/

Cooperative Learning, Conectivism, and Social Learning

http://annejohnsrud.blogspot.com/2009/02/cooperative-learning-and-short-stories.html

Cooperative learning is one of my preferred methods of learning. I enjoy working with others, discussing the information, and problem solving as a team. Some students have a hard time working collaboratively, I believe that many of the issues stem from other behavior or social issues. Many of the trainings I have attended discussed ways of implementing cooperative learning effectively in the classroom. Now the focus is on implementing technology to work collaboratively with others. There are numerous multimedia tools available to help “students interact with each other in groups in ways that enhance their learning” (Pittler, p.139). When students are interacting academically, they are continuing to build their network of knowledge.

Dr. Orey discussed the zone of proximal development as being what a student is able to learn at this time. A student is ready for the information, it is not already known, or too challenging that they need a “more knowledgeable other” (Laureate, 2009). The social learning theories would describe the place where students and technology can act as the “more knowledgeable other”. According to George Siemens, students are able to access an abundant amount of information, and have a rich network of technology in the way they connect with other people and data (Laureate, 2009). It is this ability to instantly access information and connect with others that is the basis for the social learning theories.

Students are able to work cooperatively and construct their own knowledge by utilizing the amazing array of resources listed in our text. By connecting the constructivist and social constructivism learning theories, students can solve a problem by gathering data relying on other people or information available. Many of the resources listed in the text were things I had not heard of, yet I plan to find ways to thoughtfully implement in my future classes. One of my goals is to build a classroom that is more globally aware; by using keypals, students could connect in a timelier manner with other kids around the world. Through communicating and building a network outside of our locality, students can begin to understand the similarities and difference in the world around them. One strategy that I am already using is having a webpage with a shared calendar to communicate events with students and their families. It has been very effective for families as a window into the activities in our classroom. Even though I still write a weekly newsletter, I find that updating a webpage with events and other happenings is an easier method to inform families. The challenge is to support my families who do not have access to a computer or the Internet. I also use the webpage as a resource to collect bookmarks for our different units; students are able to access these links quickly and easily. By opening our classroom to a more global community, but being mindful of student safety and online responsibilities, my students will find new ways of constructing knowledge and creating their networks of learning.

References

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2009a). Connectivism as a Learning Theory [DVD]. Baltimore, MD: Siemens, G.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2009b). Social Learning Theories [DVD]. Baltimore, MD: Orey, M.

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Constructivism in Practice...PB&J

Constructive chaos is one description of the way my classroom operates. We always seem to be on the verge of taking flight to a new topic or direction in a lesson, but everyone is engaged. My students are actively learning within our lessons and at times their questions or responses guide how we will digest the information being offered, and how that information is being presented. My lesson plans are a list of goals for the day; our outcomes and curriculum lead us in a direction with many roads to traverse before we reach our final destination of understanding.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PBJ.jpg

According to Dr. Orey, the constructivist theory of learning states that students create their own meaning and constructionist theory states that students learn best by physically creating something. These two theories seem to be interrelated. How can you make something without creating a new meaning or idea of it? When making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, I am creating a new meaning and testing hypotheses of the varying recipes to improve my sandwich or to adjust it to fit what I am wanting. I encourage students to create hypotheses and have them “engaging in complex mental processes” (Pittler, p.202). Students are also applying this method of creating hypotheses to create their own understanding. Pittler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski in Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works propose six tasks for testing and creating hypotheses. Students can predict and test their thoughts on how something would change, identify a solution with different parameters of a problem, changes to historical events, discover a need and create a solution, identify how or why something happened, and to make a decision with different variables (203). Hypotheses and the constructivist/constructionist learning theories are closely aligned. Students are given a problem and they have to create a hypothesis to solve the problem whether it is from physically creating something or just creating a new understanding of how the problem could be solved. 

Technology plays an important role in bridging all of the ideas from this week’s information. It is a way for students to gather information more quickly, to generate difficult calculations, and to share their learning with others. Applying the use of hypotheses and the constructivist/constructionist learning theories will help my students become more engaged in their learning. They will be more responsible for what they will get out of an assignment. I can be a guide to my students, but like leading a horse to water I cannot make the horse drink, nor can I make my students learn.

Resources:

Han, S., and Bhattacharya, K. (2001). Constructionism, Learning by Design, and Project Based Learning. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology.

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Motion picture. Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Constructionist and Constructivist Learning Theories. [Educational video]. Baltimore: Author.

Cognitivism in Practice

While listening to Dr. Orey speak about elaboration in our resources this week, I was reminded of a seminar that I attended with my siblings when we were much younger. In my dad’s business his connections to other people and remembering who they are is very important. My dad felt that it would be important for us to strengthen our memory. So, we attended a memory seminar, in which we had to remember as much as we could of a list of about 20-50 items. The speaker taught us how to associate each thing on the list with something else like a person we knew or a memory of the item, to help embed the list into our long-term memory. This was my first realization of the power of associations with our memories. I find myself still using association to remember things.

When giving information in multiple ways, and applying it with some background knowledge, students can be more successful with storing the information and not just memorizing it for a test. The dual coding theory Dr. Orey discussed also connects to Dr. Patricia Wolfe’s idea when she spoke about the Dalmatian, and if students did not have background knowledge or memories to connect new information to they would not have real understanding of what a Dalmatian is, what it looks like, or what it smells like.

Our district has been using thinking maps (www.thinkingmaps.com/ ) for concept mapping. It is eight thinking maps to connect student’s thought processes. It has been extremely helpful for students to have a common language of the thought process they are using and which map would best organize the information to support that thought process. Students are also able to utilize the eight maps that best correspond with their connection to a topic, and the essential question they are answering. Our school has been very successful using these maps to support their learning. Applying thinking maps to note taking as described in Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works will be an easy transition for my students. I believe that I can better prepare my students for note taking and summarizing by using the visual organization of the thinking maps. “Technology can scaffold, or provide support, while students are learning the summarizing process. It can also provide collaborative summarizing experiences that facilitate reciprocal teaching…” (p.120).  There are many different types of technology applications to support summarizing and note taking. Think tank (http://thinktank.4teachers.org/) as presented in our text is a resource that I will begin using with my third grade students. When organizing information for our informational reports, this resource can help students focus their writing and learn how to look for critical information. Helping students make connections with the information they are researching is an important part of the cognitive learning theory.

Resources:

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2009). Cognitive Learning Theories. (Motion Picture)

Picture from Capture Queen at http://www.flickr.com/photos/uaeincredible/811123579/

Behaviorism and Homework

While reading the chapters in Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works that deal with homework, I started to feel defensive. I realized that I am deeply involved with the homework debate, and was taking it personally. I do not put a lot of emphasis on homework in my classroom, because of the issues it causes with families. Parents make a big deal if students do not finish their homework and expect consequences to come from the classroom. According to Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski “homework provides opportunities for students to deepen their understanding of the content and to gain proficiency with their skills.” (p.187). This is the truth in homework, however many teachers and families mistake it for a chance to drill and kill. Homework should be a continuation of the learning from the classroom. Students should be given the chance to explore their learning without fear of consequences. The example of students exploring their effort in their assignments compared to their rate of success was a very powerful message as described by Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski. I plan to investigate how I can have my third grade students graph something similar to see their results, like the students that used it before, I believe that my students would understand the value of effort in completing their assignments with thought and accuracy. I will continue to assign homework as practice but being mindful of the main purpose of enrichment of our classroom activities.

Behaviorism learning theory is an important part of running a classroom everyday. From the classroom management, procedures, and homework students need the repetitive routine and reinforcement to work effectively with their classmates in a cohesive manner. “Technology facilitates homework and practice by providing a wealth of resources for learning outside of the classroom, making it easy for students…providing ‘drill and practice’ resources that help students refine their skills.” (Pittler, p.189) Many technology resources available utilize the behaviorist learning theory. Some of the resources listed provide instant feedback on how a student preformed. I was excited to see that I have used some of the resources for practicing students understanding of a topic, before assessing them later. Students enjoy practicing things they already have some knowledge about, especially when they know that they are expected to know the information again in the future. When students are allowed to use technology to complete their homework, there is more interest in doing well and attempting more. They are provided with the instant feedback that is necessary to be effective practice. Many of my students use www.spellingcity.com to use a multitude of ways to practice their spelling words, and are able to instantly determine which words they need to focus on studying. I may not always be able to include technology to complete a homework assignment, but I will provide many different ways to practice, or further research a topic on a class website students can access.

Resources:
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.