Throughout this course, I have been amazed at how much I have learned that will benefit my students for many years to come. Gone are the days of depending solely on textbooks and lectures to teach my students. When I first began this program, I made a commitment to learn as much as I possibly could to assist my students in the area of technology. I believe that it is crucial for them to learn the skills they will need to be successful in their careers as early as possible. The new literacy skills give them the opportunity to create projects using tools of technology that they will be able to carry with them. They will learn how to create a website from scratch, how to blog, and create podcasts and video threads.
As a professional development goal, I would like to teach a course to my fellow peers in my school district on the new literacy skills and the importance of utilizing the technology that the district offers. I will plan this course with my administrators and then prepare to teach my peers all of the useful information that I have learned over the duration of this program.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Reflection
In week one, I identified the learning theory that I most identify with as being behaviorism. While I still lean toward many behavioristic patterns such as drill and practice and behavior plans, I now realize that social contructivism is the learning theory that most represents my classroom. I have begun to implement project based learning, cooperative learning, blogging, and much more! I believe that it is crucial to prepare my students for a lifetime of working cooperatively with others. Collaboration is a skill that must be taught and will serve the students well as they enter their careers.
Two strategies that I plan to implement with my students are voice threading and virtual field trips. Voice threading will allow me to share knowledge with my students in a new and inventive way. I hope that they will be able to create their own voice threads as an alternative to PowerPoint presentations. Virtual field trips will allow me to take my students to places they would never be able to experience otherwise. The possibilities are endless! Webquests are another tool that I am excited to implement in my classroom.
One long term goal that I plan to implement is to ensure that my district teaches inservices on softwares, webquests, virtual field trips, etc. I will outline a plan with my administrators to make sure that they are aware of how the students would benefit from the knowledge of the teachers.
Another long term goal that I have is to write a grant to receive more technology for my school. We are lacking things such as Smart Boards, mobile labs, and much more. I believe that our students are suffering because of our lack of technology. I must do my part to make sure that each of our students has a chance to succeed through technology.
Overall, I take from this course so much knowledge about technologies that I never knew existed. I know that my students will be excited to learn all the new technologies that I have to teach them.
Two strategies that I plan to implement with my students are voice threading and virtual field trips. Voice threading will allow me to share knowledge with my students in a new and inventive way. I hope that they will be able to create their own voice threads as an alternative to PowerPoint presentations. Virtual field trips will allow me to take my students to places they would never be able to experience otherwise. The possibilities are endless! Webquests are another tool that I am excited to implement in my classroom.
One long term goal that I plan to implement is to ensure that my district teaches inservices on softwares, webquests, virtual field trips, etc. I will outline a plan with my administrators to make sure that they are aware of how the students would benefit from the knowledge of the teachers.
Another long term goal that I have is to write a grant to receive more technology for my school. We are lacking things such as Smart Boards, mobile labs, and much more. I believe that our students are suffering because of our lack of technology. I must do my part to make sure that each of our students has a chance to succeed through technology.
Overall, I take from this course so much knowledge about technologies that I never knew existed. I know that my students will be excited to learn all the new technologies that I have to teach them.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Cooperative Learning
Cooperative learning is a skill that is taught as soon as you teach a young child to share their toys or work with their siblings to clean their bedroom. It is imperative that people know how to work together in order to get anything accomplished these days. There are very few careers that call for individual work and people should know that in order to get ahead in their careers, they must learn to work cooperatively. In my classroom, I implement problem based learning on a regular basis. I believe that by having students work together to solve a real life problem, they are building skills that will last a lifetime. They divide tasks and put their heads together to come up with possible solutions.
One aspect of technology that I plan to implement this school year is blogging. I hope that my students will learn to share their thoughts and also to accept responses from their classmates. It is a wonderful alternative to journal writing with paper and pen. It will also give them an insight into how useful technology is to them.
One aspect of technology that I plan to implement this school year is blogging. I hope that my students will learn to share their thoughts and also to accept responses from their classmates. It is a wonderful alternative to journal writing with paper and pen. It will also give them an insight into how useful technology is to them.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Social Constructivism
Social Constructivism plays a vital role in the classroom of today. Working cooperatively is a crucial skill to be taught. When students learn to work together in groups, they are being set up for a lifetime of social skills that they will need to survive. In this week's learning resources, I enjoyed reading about the Problem Based Learning strategy. By giving students a problem to solve together, they are able to each use their strengths to bring to the table endless possibilities. Students who can work with others who are not neccessarily like them are better able to succeed. It is important for the teacher to always choose the cooperative groups to make sure that students are working with a variety of people. By doing so they are not only learning acceptance of others but also that it is important to be able work with others to achieve a common goal. Peer collaboration is something that they will not be able to avoid once they are in post secondary schools and also in the midst of their careers. The sooner this skill is taught, they better off our students will be.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Behaviorism in the Classroom
Behaviorism is a powerful instructional theory that has been used for ages and still has a place in today's classroom. Personally, I have found Behaviorism useful in my classroom when disciplining my students. I use behavior contracts and reward them for their positive behaviors. I have also used the technique of cueing in the past with some of my more troubled students by "providing either verbal or non verbal clues as to the appropriateness of a behavior" (Orey, 2001). Also, I am a firm believer that "behaviors can be unlearned and replaced with new behaviors" (Orey, 2001). High school students are not exempt from this rule. Many of my peers believe that by the time they are teenagers, their behaviors cannot be changed. I disagree with them because I have witnessed it on many occasions. The majority of our students have never had a positive role model to follow. I try to be that for my students. I act in a manner that they should follow.
Instructionally, I use drill and practice when teaching new skills such as grammar and vocabulary terms. Technology offers many resources for behaviorist instruction. There are many software programs that offer tutorials for any subject that allows students to practice what is being taught in the classroom. These tutorials offer students a way to be instructed that is far more interesting to them than me lecturing them in the classroom.
Orey, M. (Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/
Instructionally, I use drill and practice when teaching new skills such as grammar and vocabulary terms. Technology offers many resources for behaviorist instruction. There are many software programs that offer tutorials for any subject that allows students to practice what is being taught in the classroom. These tutorials offer students a way to be instructed that is far more interesting to them than me lecturing them in the classroom.
Orey, M. (Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/
Sunday, June 14, 2009
A Self Evaluation on Culturally Responsive Teaching Practices
I would love to think that after ten years of teaching, I would be able to say that I am doing everything that I possibly can to be an effective teacher for my students. However, the reality of it is, there will always be room for improvement. After taking this course, I must admit that there a lot of areas that I need to take a look at and work to improve if I want to give all of my students the educational opportunities that they deserve.
While reflecting on Dr. Garcia's CREDE standards and assessing myself using the checklist provided, I discovered that I am weak in some areas and strong in others. In standard one, Joint Productive Activity, I am sometimes reluctive to have the students work in cooperative groups although I know that it is good for them to do so. When I do have them work in groups, I never let them choose who they want to work with. I make sure that the groups are diverse in an effort to ensure that they learn from working with peers who come from different cultures. While ELL students are not an issue in my classroom, it is still necessary to promote acceptance of other people and cultures. I also make sure that the students work together to accomplish tasks even if they are simple ones like putting the classroom in order or rearranging desks.
Standard two, Language Development is an area that I feel I am competent in. I always allow the last ten minutes of the class period for "catch up time" in which the students and I catch up on what's going on at home and in their lives. Everyone gets a chance to share if they want too. I also make an effort to respect the mannerisms of each culture. If a student is not comfortable with eye contact, I respect that. I also provide multiple opportunities for students to practice vocabulary, write in journals, and speak often in order for them to become comfortable with the English language.
Standard three, Contextualization is an area in which I could use some improvement. I think it would be a great idea to encourage parents to come into the classroom to help with various tasks but have always thought that they would not be interested so have never asked. Also, I would love to get the community involved by developing community based learning activities. These things take a lot of planning, time, and effort but my students would benefit from the opportunities.
Standard four, Challenging Activities is an area in which I am both competent and need improvement. I give my students clear and directive feedback and make sure that my students see the whole picture when I am instructing them on a topic. However, sometimes I do not challenge them enough. I need to give them more challenging standards to follow and expect more of them. This will help them when they leave high school and enter either the work force or a post secondary educational setting.
Standard five, Instructional Conversation is probably the area that I feel the most competent in. I understand the importance of holding meaningful conversations with my students. It helps to create a positive learning environment and makes the student feel comfortable. I utilize the act of guided conversation in every lesson that I plan. I encourage my students to state their opinions and to speak freely as long as it is not disruptive. Student understanding can be assessed by listening and I take advantage of this on a daily basis.
Dr. Garcia's standards create a guideline that all educators should follow. One should never grow complacent and comfortable in their teaching career. There will always be room for improvement and growth. I for one, took the self evaluation to heart and will make changes in order to become a better teacher and person.
While reflecting on Dr. Garcia's CREDE standards and assessing myself using the checklist provided, I discovered that I am weak in some areas and strong in others. In standard one, Joint Productive Activity, I am sometimes reluctive to have the students work in cooperative groups although I know that it is good for them to do so. When I do have them work in groups, I never let them choose who they want to work with. I make sure that the groups are diverse in an effort to ensure that they learn from working with peers who come from different cultures. While ELL students are not an issue in my classroom, it is still necessary to promote acceptance of other people and cultures. I also make sure that the students work together to accomplish tasks even if they are simple ones like putting the classroom in order or rearranging desks.
Standard two, Language Development is an area that I feel I am competent in. I always allow the last ten minutes of the class period for "catch up time" in which the students and I catch up on what's going on at home and in their lives. Everyone gets a chance to share if they want too. I also make an effort to respect the mannerisms of each culture. If a student is not comfortable with eye contact, I respect that. I also provide multiple opportunities for students to practice vocabulary, write in journals, and speak often in order for them to become comfortable with the English language.
Standard three, Contextualization is an area in which I could use some improvement. I think it would be a great idea to encourage parents to come into the classroom to help with various tasks but have always thought that they would not be interested so have never asked. Also, I would love to get the community involved by developing community based learning activities. These things take a lot of planning, time, and effort but my students would benefit from the opportunities.
Standard four, Challenging Activities is an area in which I am both competent and need improvement. I give my students clear and directive feedback and make sure that my students see the whole picture when I am instructing them on a topic. However, sometimes I do not challenge them enough. I need to give them more challenging standards to follow and expect more of them. This will help them when they leave high school and enter either the work force or a post secondary educational setting.
Standard five, Instructional Conversation is probably the area that I feel the most competent in. I understand the importance of holding meaningful conversations with my students. It helps to create a positive learning environment and makes the student feel comfortable. I utilize the act of guided conversation in every lesson that I plan. I encourage my students to state their opinions and to speak freely as long as it is not disruptive. Student understanding can be assessed by listening and I take advantage of this on a daily basis.
Dr. Garcia's standards create a guideline that all educators should follow. One should never grow complacent and comfortable in their teaching career. There will always be room for improvement and growth. I for one, took the self evaluation to heart and will make changes in order to become a better teacher and person.
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