My VoiceThread

Here is my VoiceThread. Please post comments because I'm curious to see what you think about how to administer Reading tests in 4th grade.


http://voicethread.com/share/785856/

Connectivism and Social Learning in Practice

Chapter 7 Cooperative Learning is full of wonderful strategies to use that incorporate the idea of Social Learning. Social Learning is defined by Dr. Orey as, "students who are engaged in constructing artifact and conversing with others" (Laureate Education, 2009). I totally agree that getting students involved and talking is very important to their learning. My first year teaching I was given a poster with this information on it and I have had it hanging in my room ever since:

We retain:

10% of what we read
20% of what you hear
30% of what we see
50% of what we see and hear
70% of what we talk about with others
80% of what we experience personally
95% of what we teach to others

I point this poster out at the beginning of year and explain to all of my kids how important it is for them to get involved in their education. "When students work in cooperative groups, they make sense of, or construct meaning for, new knowledge by interacting with others" (Johnson, Johnson, & Staane, 2000).

Chapter 7 has many wonderful ideas of how you can get students actively discussing their learning. One strategy is using Numbered Heads Together. This is a strategy that I am already using in my classroom. My school district has adopted the Max Thompson Learning Focused concept and using Numbered Heads was one of the big strategies that he focuses on. I have a picture of a clock on each of the students desks. There is a line at 12, 3, 6, and 9. On each line there is a students name. The 12 and 3:00 appointments are someone right at their table. The 6 and 9:00 appointments are someone in the classroom. When I want the students to work in partners I tell them which appointment to meet with and they know exactly who to go to. If I don't have a lot of time I'll choose 12 or 3 since the students don't have to move. This is a great way to get the students talking and moving when I want them to and it's done quickly and in an organized fashion.

In addition, it is important to have the students talk about and summarize what they are learning every so often during the lesson. You should not just wait till the end and then summarize what they learned. Max Thompson suggests you have them "do something" whether it be an activity or talking after their age plus two in minutes. So for example, if they are 9 and 10 years old, every 12 minutes or so they should be talking or doing something. This helps the students retain the information.

All of the suggestions that they gave in the book were excellent ways to get the students actively talking while being engaged at the same time. The more the students use what you are teaching them, the better chance they have at remembering it.

Constructivism In Practice

I agree with, and teach using the Constructionist Learning Theory. “The Constructionist theory builds on the Constructivist theories of Jean Piaget, asserting that knowledge is not simply transmitted from teacher to student, but actively constructed in the mind of the learner” (Orey, 2001). I believe that it is very important for the students to be actively involved in their learning and having the students “create” an artifact is a perfect way to get them involved. I agree with Dr. Orey when he says that constructionism is a “theory of learning that states people learn best when they build an external artifact of something they can share with others” (Laureate Education, 2009).

In Chapter 11 Generating and Testing Hypotheses, there are many examples of how students can use technology in order to create a final project. "Technology can play a vital role in generating and testing hypotheses because new developments in probeware and interactive applets allow students to spend more time interpreting the data rather than gathering the data - a processing that can be tedious and error prone" (Hubbell, Kuhn, Malenoski, 2007). They go on to give many examples of how allowing students to use a spreadsheet can help them to prove their hypothesis. Not only can students use spreadsheets to incorporate technology in proving a hypothesies but, "Simulation software also can provide incredibly engaging learning environments, resulting in increased motivation and retention in learning" (Hubbell, Kuhn, Malenoski, 2007).

There are so many posibilites when using technology. This is a technology rich environment and according to Miss Donovan, “Their future is technology and they have to know how to use this in many different formats” (Laureate Education, 2009). As teachers, we need to give the students as much exposure to technology and its abilities as possible. Allowing students to create a project using the computer will help them to retain the information that they are being taught. Following the constructionist/constructivist approach, our focus needs to be on the students being active and engaged in the constructing of artifacts.

Cognitivism in Practice

Dr. Orey states that, "Cognitive learning theories revolve around information processing" (Laureate Education, 2009). In Chapter 4, Cues, Questions, and Advance Organizers, the idea that advanced organizers "are structures that teachers provide to students before a learning activity to help them classify and make sense of the content they'll encounter, particularly new content that is not well organized in its original format"(Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski, 2007). When using an advanced organizer the "higher-level" or "essential" questions should be in the center node and then from that you should branch off with facts or ideas you learned from the lesson. Creating this type of organizer is a great visual representation used to summarize what the students have learned from the lesson. In addition, it is important to have the students summarize not only at the end of the lesson, but also throughout the lesson. Having the students work on the organizer throughout the lesson will help to ensure that they are understanding the concept as you are going along rather than getting to the end and finding out they don't understand it.

In Chapter 6, Summarizing and Note Taking, "The instructional strategy summarizing and note taking focuses on enhancing students' ability to synthesize information and distill it into a concise new form" (Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski, 2007). When taking notes it is important to organize the information in a way that is easy to refer back to and understand. In this chapter, they mention many different techniques to use when taking notes, such as: Microsoft Word and the AutoSummarize feature, Inspiration, Wikis and Blogs. Taking notes is difficult for students as it seems they like to write down everything exactly as they see or hear it. Using these techniques and with a lot of practice, eventually the students should be able to learn how to summarize and pull just the most important information to include in their notes. It is important that they have the most important ideas since the short term or working memory can "only process 7 plus or minus 2 pieces of information at one time" (Laureate Education, 2009).

The idea of Cues, Questions, Advanced Organizers and Summarizing and Note Taking correlate with the principles of the cognitive learning theory. All of these help to organize and internalize the information that is being taught for an easier retrieval at a later time.

Homework, Effort and the Behaviorist Learning Theory

“Homework and practice give students a chance to review and apply what they have learned” (Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski, 2007). When I give homework to my students I give it to them as a reinforcement of what we have been learning in school. I also give it if we did not get finished something and the students are able to do it at home without me. For example, I may give a math sheet having to do with multiples and prime numbers if that’s what we are learning in math. As far as spelling, all of that is done as homework. We do not spend any time in class on spelling words for the week. I do not grade homework, rather I check to make sure it is done and I look over it to see if there are any students that do not seem to understand it. I do not grade it because there are some students that have very active parents and will sit down with the child and work on their homework with them, or in some cases do it for them, while others have to do all of their homework on their own.

I have had a couple of students who don’t think they need to put forth any effort on their homework since it is not graded. However, according to Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski “…effort is the most important factor in achievement” (2007). After reading Chapter 8, Reinforcing Effort, I am thinking about using the idea of a spreadsheet to show the correlation between the amount of effort they spend on their homework and their test grades. I am hoping that the students will see the more effort they put into their homework and their school work the greater their test scores will be. This is a perfect example of the behaviorist learning theory and how if you do something right you will be positively rewarded (study and put forth more effort and you will get better grades).




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

All Aboard!!!

WOW! I have really learned a lot from this one course. Not only did I learn a tremendous amount of new things, but I was also able to reconfirm what I already knew and why I do the things I do in my classroom. I had heard of blogging, wikis, and podcasting prior to this course but did not really know much about them and certainly did not know how beneficial they could be in the classroom. I feel more comfortable now that I know what my students will need to know and be able to use when they enter the workplace. This course really opened my eyes to how I can use technology to allow the students to have more ownership of their work and also allow more people to see and hear what they have been doing in the classroom.

I have never been much of the teacher centered type; however, I am guilty of being somewhat of a perfectionist, so I tend to do things myself instead of letting the students take a little more initiative. For example, I would allow my students to type one or maybe to of their formal writing assignments just because it takes the students a long time to get it all typed. I found myself occasionally typing their papers for them so that I did not waste time. One goal that I would like to set for myself is to not only allow them to type their assignments but also allow them to record themselves using Audacity and create a podcast for others to hear. Allowing them the chance to record themselves is one way that I can incorporate 21st century skills into the classroom.

Another goal I have set for myself is to create a room of bloggers and hopefully get other teachers in my building doing the same. I have a school supported website where I have added a blogging page. I have many different ideas that I want to use this page for, I just am not sure which one would be best to start (blogging about books they read, blogging about what we did in class, questions for them to respond to, or allowing them to just write whatever is on their mind). I got a lot of really good ideas from this course and it is hard for me to narrow them down and choose just one or two to start with so I don't overwhelm myself or the students.

Technology has entered our world and is here to stay. It is time for all teachers and schools to jump on board and prepare our students for the future ahead of them using 21st century tools and skills. It's not about us, it's about what is best for the students. Knowing what skills the students will need to have is one step in the right direction in preparing them to be successful in school, the workplace, and in life.

My First Podcast!

My first Podcast. Audacity was fun to play with but a little frustrating when trying to figure some things out. Have a listen and let me know what you think.

How Technology Is Used Both Personally and Professionally!