Everything I Learned, I Learned in College + In the Field + My Master's Courses

At the beginning of my course, EDUC 6711, we were asked to create a personal theory of learning. Apparently a lot has happened in the past seven weeks for me to have actually forgotten writing one. After reading through it again, I have realized that my theory of learning really has not changed very much. To be perfectly honest, I owe a lot of that to my professors during Undergrad and my educational psychology classes.

I am and always have been a firm believer that all children learn differently. In order to create a positive learning experience, we should be making learning meaningful and try to help them make connections. Along with this, educators should be choosing multiple teaching strategies to target individual needs of students. For this, we include Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences.

Cooperative learning and problem-based learning are two other theories that I believe in. Teachers should not be standing in front of their class lecturing on a daily basis. Number one, the students will probably ignore everything that the teacher has said, and number two, this is when students tend to act out. If they are not engaged, they probably will not listen to a word that has been said. Being able to let them critically think and solve problems with one another will be a lot more beneficial for their futures. 

I have to say that I really do not feel my thoughts on the use of educational technologies, has changed much either. I decided to master in technology education so I would be able to make an impact on my students without only using an overhead or a SMART board as a glorified white board. Through the past few courses I have taken, I am starting to really include technology as a learning tool for my students. In doing so, I am seeing a positive change in the motivation of my students.

As a result of this course, I will definitely be including voice threads, concept maps, and virtual field trips. I actually have experimented with all three over the last seven weeks. Voice threads are a very new concept to me, as well as my students. Being able to teach them about a new technology that allows them to create something and then give each other feedback on the project itself has given my students a new meaning to the learning world. Concept maps and virtual field trips are very similar. I am no longer asking my students to read from a textbook and take a test. I am asking them to explore locations around the world through a virtual field trip and do more than just take notes in a notebook. Before this course, I had only created a blog for my classroom. I am so excited to help my students create exciting projects and take them somewhere through a virtual field trip that they would not be able to actually go to. 

In order to make my instructional practice regarding technology more effective, there are a couple of goals I am setting for myself. One goal I have is that I would like to use technology as more of a learning tool with my students as opposed to an instructional tool. I have allowed my students to use the SMART board, but I have found myself at it much more than they are. I plan on looking through my plans each week and find at least one point during each lesson that I can have the students really be included with the technology. I would also like to create a literacy center that allows them to use the SMART board in groups. Lastly, I would like to actually try the response clickers. I have heard wonderful reviews of having these in a classroom. This will allow the students to utilize the technology. 

The last goal I am striving for is to try and include at least one technology based project with each of my units in language arts and social studies. I would also like to try incorporating it into my math classes. As math is a new subject to me this year, I feel as though including technology in my language arts and social studies classes will be much easier, as I am familiar with the content. I plan on finding times for my students to use one of the computer labs in order to create a wiki, voice thread, or some other exciting project. In order to incorporate technology into my math lessons, I really need to collaborate with my teammates that have taught math over the past few years. If they are able to help me with what content I am teaching, I will be able to help them include some sort of technology tools to enhance the unit. Hopefully this will keep all of our students actively learning.
 

Students are Actually Able to Talk During Class?

Children growing up in the 21^st century are bombarded with so much information through so many different channels. They have access to television, Internet, newspapers, smart phones, and so much more. With this in mind, it does not surprise me that teachers have a difficult time reaching their students. Long overdue are the days of all-class novels and direct instruction. These children are growing up in a time where they need to be able to think critically, problem solve, and work collaboratively with others in order to succeed in their own futures. This means our students should be allowed to talk and work with their peers in order to enhance their learning experiences.

Social networks online have become the best interaction since A.O.L. Instant Messenger. Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, and so many more are drawing society in by helping people keep in touch with anyone and everyone they meet. The unfortunate piece to this puzzle is that schools are blocking these sites because they are a distraction to the education process. Due to this, sites have been developed to continue with social networking but in a safe manner. A site called Fakebook allows students to work together and create educational profiles for topics, events, famous people in history, and characters in a book. This lesson combines collaboration, content, and a project that the students can relate to. Other resources that would benefit a classroom are: webquests, blogging, wiki’s, and voice threads.

Collaborative learning is a wonderful teaching strategy to implement in the classroom. I had always heard the phrase, “two heads are better than one,” yet while I was in school, that was never really the case. As an educator now, I am seeing my students achieve more when they are able to discuss their knowledge and learning with others. According to Beaumie Kim (2001), knowledge and learning are built through social interactions.

Here is a link to a wonderful video lesson of a teacher explaining how he uses collaboration in his math class.

I was very impressed by the teacher’s techniques and how engaged the students were in the lesson.

In my own classroom, I try to use social learning daily. While teaching math, I use think, pair, and share. In Social Studies, I have them complete projects in groups, and in Language Arts, they can participate in some social work stations. I have found managing social groups somewhat difficult, as my sixth graders tend to fly off topic quickly. I am hoping in the future, when I can incorporate more exciting technologically based projects, my students will have more focus.

Resources:

Kim, B. (2001). Social Constructivism.. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved <insert date>, from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/

Help! I am Drowning in a Sea of Papers, Projects, Books, and More!

Below is a link to a voice thread I created about the lack of organization I have in my classroom.  I have been struggling with keeping my room clean and organized for years. I am so tired of not being able to find anything when I need to. Please take a look at the images I have captured of the disaster area that is my classroom. If you have any suggestions for me on how I can solve this problem please feel free to share your comments on the voice thread!


Miss Constantine's Lack of Organization Voice Thread

Teachers, It is Time to Stop Babbling to a Brick Wall! Kids Should be Teaching Themselves!

 Generating and testing a hypothesis is one of Robert Marzano’s ten teaching strategies. For those of you non-teachers out there, these are strategies that a teacher should be using in order to differentiate instruction. Oh wait, that’s another teaching buzzword many do not know. Let me try again…

Teachers in the 21^st century face a problem every single day. It is extremely difficult to meet the needs of every student in the classroom. It is no longer possible to have every student read the exact same book, or for the teacher to stand up in front of a class and lecture while the students take notes on their own. Every child learns differently and as a teacher, we need to utilize a variety of strategies for our students to achieve.

Currently, I have 21 students in my homeroom for math and language arts, and two classes of 22 or so for social studies. For the last five years, I had only ever taught language arts and social studies. These subjects are two of the most difficult content areas to teach. #1, Kids in sixth grade are often at the point in their education where reading and writing are not cool. #2, they constantly ask why they need to learn about the past and that it should not matter to them if they know about it because it does not relate to them. Now I have to teach math, a subject that most children loathe because it has always been to hard for them? How on earth am I supposed to reach these kids?

I have to admit; I am guilty of direct instruction, probably more than I should be using it. However, as I teach, I look out at my students and see some with their heads on desks, some whispering, or drawing pictures in their notebooks, and realize I am talking to a brick wall. These kids are bored out of their minds. These kids are so used to having technology in their faces, but in school they are expected to focus and listen to a teacher babble about a place called Mesopotamia. BORING! Honestly, I would probably have fallen asleep too. I really need to start thinking about different teaching strategies and learning theories.

Problem, project, or inquiry based learning are three exceptional examples of constructivism or constuctionism. With these theories, students can develop a project based on their curriculum or participate in some sort of experiment. While students are actively involved in their learning, they tend to have more fun, and will learn more in the end (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007). A wonderful example of this is Robert Marzano’s teaching strategy, generating and testing a hypothesis.

Until this week, I had never really thought about generating and testing a hypothesis as more than a science experiment for a science class. In reality, we can hypothesize in any subject and work towards figuring it out. Yes, it is much more simple to use this strategy in math or science, but what about language arts or social studies? With technology, anything can be possible. If a student starts out with a question about a topic, instead of giving them the answer, have them research it on their own through a web quest, or create a project on power point, or a movie on primaryaccess.org. As long as our students are questioning, there can be active learning.

One goal I would like to set for myself this year is for each ancient civilization we learn, have my students develop one to three questions they would like answered about a certain topic, have them figure out the answers on their own, and develop a project to share their knowledge with everyone else. A webquest would be a great way to begin. By supplying this to my students in the beginning, I can offer them some background knowledge on the topic and from there, they can create their questions about what they would like to learn more about (Glazer, 2001). One site that I found that offered many wonderful webquests for numerous content areas is http://bestwebquests.com/default.asp. This site actually rates the quests with stars. Another possibility is to have my students develop their own web quest for future students based on questions they come up with. In the end, I hope that they will take more out of what they wanted to learn and did learn, than what I would have them read, take notes, and a test on. 

References: 

Glazer, E. (2001). Problem Based Instruction. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/

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

Students Should Never Dislike Social Studies Again!

Confucius once said, “Tell me, and I will forget. Show me, and I may remember. Involve me, and I will understand” (Oxensine, Robinson, & Willson, p 1, 2004). I wholeheartedly agree with this statement. As a child growing up, I had some teachers who used direct instruction, had us read and take notes from a book, study and take a test. Once the test was over and I had gotten a C, everything I had learned was gone because we were on to something new. For this very reason, I absolutely abhorred social studies.

Once I went to high school, that same process was true, memorize for a test and then it was gone. Except they added midterms and finals forcing us to remember all of the information we had already forgotten. I struggled so much with this, and when the time came for me to get a job teaching, what class I was offered a job to teach? Yes, social studies. Feeling incredibly apprehensive, I started my year doing exactly how my teachers taught. I was realizing that I was losing my students interest and their grades were suffering. I saw, in these students, the horrible experiences I had and vowed to change my teaching style and make social studies fun and memorable. To this day, I still have students coming to me saying how much they love the subject and I owe this all to “Learning by doing.”

Cognitive learning theory is basically how information is processed (Laureate Education, 2011). Many students struggle with processing knowledge when it is spoken to them or if they only read it, just as it was my own struggle as well. In order to transfer information to long-term memory, Dr. Orey (2011) states that we should be using images as well as create connections. Concept mapping and virtual field trips are extremely wonderful examples of this.

Concept mapping is a tool that allows information to be organized in a visual way. This is extremely new for me, as I have never actually used one before. However, after reading about them, I am seeing an advantage for my own classroom. By starting out with a focus or essential question, the students will be guided through the process of creating the concept map (Novak & Cañas, 2008). From here, students find concepts or terms that connect with their original question. This visually shows the students how the concept works. As an example, I created a basic concept map for my social studies class. We have been working on geography. 

Concept Map for Geography

I would love for my students to create a concept map to show the learning that they have accomplished thus far. In the process of the creation, they should be able to visually see the connection between the themes and all of their characteristics, as well as possibly even including examples for themselves.

Virtual Field trips are also an incredibly new experience for me. Up until last year, I did not have access to a SMART board, so this would have been extremely difficult. Viewing this allows students to really experience the trip, without actually having to be there. As I teach about Ancient Civilizations, it may be interesting for my students to take a “trip” to Pompeii, Greece, or even through the Renaissance. Just a basic search from google, one could find numerous exciting trips that would correspond to curriculum. With my subject area, being able to see images and experience what it was actually like over 2000 years ago, would be incredibly beneficial.

Effective teaching strategies are also geared towards Cognitive Learning Theory. To be perfectly honest, I really did not understand the strategy of cues, questions, and advance organizers until reading the chapter. However, summarizing and note taking have become a real strength for me. Cues are hints to the student, questions bring back background knowledge, and advance organizers are basically an activity to organize the information they are about to learn (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007). By incorporating technology into unit, students are able to create organizers, see rubrics, design graphs and charts, or create a multimedia presentation. Summarizing and note taking can be done the same way. Instead of paper and pencil, using technology adds something for the students. Although paper and pencil can still be used, note taking and summarizing are nowhere near what they used to be. Outlining does not really work for children. Using 2-column notes, concept maps, or pictographs allows the students to work within their strengths. With this, they should achieve at a higher rate than being forced to use a strategy that they do not understand.

I am hoping to include or of these strategies into my every day teaching. As a matter of fact, I would really like to include concept mapping. What I find unfortunate is that I only have two computers in my room and a lack of availability in the computer labs. Any suggestions on how to make this a successful task?

References:

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010). [Webcast]. Cognitive Learning Theory. Baltimore: Author.

Novak, J. D., & Cañas, A. J. (2008). The theory underlying concept maps and how to construct and use them, Technical Report IHMC CmapTools 2006-01 Rev 01 2008. Retrieved from the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition Web site. http://cmap.ihmc.us/Publications/ResearchPapers/TheoryUnderlyingConceptMaps.pdf

Oxendine, C., Robinson, J., & Willson, G. (2004). Experiential learning. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/

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

Should We "Train" People The Same Way We Train Animals?

A few years ago, a friend of mine got a new puppy. In order to train said puppy, my friend bought a training book called “Don’t Shoot the Dog!” I thought to myself that it was such a strange name. For the next few weeks, he was absolutely raving about how wonderful the book was and I became very curious about it. He took out the book and showed me a review on the front cover by Carol Tarvis, Ph.D., author of the book “Anger”, “This delightful, clear, and utterly helpful book is for anyone who wants to understand or change the behavior of an animal – whether the animal in question is a barking dog, a nosy neighbor, a hostile cat, or you and your own bad habits” (Pryor, 1999). What hit me was that this book was not necessarily about how to train a dog, but how to use positive reinforcement for teaching new behaviors. It was at this point, as a teacher, I knew I had to read it. I am always looking for new ways to improve my classroom management and this was perfect! After reading it, I had learned so much! If you are a teacher, own a pet, or have a habit you want to break, you should definitely check it out. "Don't Shoot the Dog"

So, now you are probably asking yourself, why is this girl telling me all about a book on training dogs? An assignment for class this week required us to think about behaviorist learning theory. Over the course of many years, there have been many different learning theories that are related to education. Behaviorism basically began with Ivan Pavlov and his study with dogs and salivation. Pavlov was able to train a dog to salivate once a bell was rung (Standridge, 2002). It was after this research was completed that John B. Watson and B.F. Skinner developed their theory of operant conditioning.

The operant conditioning model describes that a person will respond positively if there was some sort of reward in the end (Standridge, 2002). In this case, a person will most likely be willing to repeat the task or behavior, in order to receive the reward. The positive reinforcement is what Karen Pryor (1999) was talking about in her book. On the other hand, if a person receives a consequence or punishment, the targeted behavior may decrease over time (Standridge, 2002). This would also be considered negative reinforcement (Pryor, 1999). It may not be something a person wants, but the behavior may cease.

There are two instructional strategies that I was asked to read about that actually correlate well with the behaviorist theory, reinforcing effort and homework/ practice. Reinforcing effort is an incredibly important component in education today. This follows Skinner’s idea of operant conditioning perfectly. When we are reinforcing the effort a student puts into an assignment, we are most likely going to see a positive result. Students have a very difficult time understanding how the effort they put in to a task reflects their achievement (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007). To watch them achieve, we should be asking our students to graph the amount of effort they put in to an assignment and then have them compare it to the grade they receive. If they did not study enough, they will most likely receive a lower grade on the test, but if they did study often, they should receive a higher grade. One goal I am setting for myself this year is to have my students track the effort they are putting in to their reading. I hope to see more effort from my students and I will be able to see if they achieve with their DRA levels and CMT data.

Homework and practice is another strategy that follows the behaviorist learning theory. The more a student practices something outside of the school day, the more a child will understand and be able to replicate what was learned. Robert Marzano et al (2001), found that students should practice something at least 24 times before they can achieve even 80% proficiency. If we, as teachers, reinforce this practice in our students, we will most likely see our students work harder and achieve higher.

With all of this said, I leave you with the following quote to ponder: “Some people have seen reinforcement theory as a method of control, of manipulation, of restriction of individuals and society. But society changes must begin with personal changes” (Pryor, 1999, p 163).

References:

Marzano, R. J., Pickering, D., & Pollock, J. E. (2001). Classroom instruction that works: research-based strategies for increasing student achievement. New York: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

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

Pryor, K. (1999). Don't shoot the dog!: the new art of teaching and training (Rev. ed.). New York: Bantam Books.

Standridge, M. (2002). Behaviorism. In M. Orey (ed.), Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/index.php?title=Main_Page

Reflection: The Technological Role of a Teacher

As my class comes to an end, I am asked to reflect upon the journey I have taken over past few weeks. Before taking this class, I had found that I did not participate in many of the 21st Century Skills within my classroom. I may have an interactive white board, but I only used it as a glorified whiteboard to save and print notes that we were taking. According to a technology checklist that I completed at the beginning of the course, I realized that I was failing to provide my students with the technology rich environment they need. The class, Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work, and Society, has not only taught me about the importance of including 21st Century Skills in the classroom, but pushed me and opened my eyes to a world of technology I had never known existed. This is the world of wikis, blogging, podcasting, and more.

Our students are growing up in a society where they need to learn how to work cooperatively. In the business world, most, if not all, jobs require interaction and teamwork in order to complete a task. In the past, teachers were standing in front of a classroom and lecturing. Students had to read from the textbook and take notes. This is not the world we live in today. Students today need to feel empowered to discover on their own, to question, and to problem solve.

As teachers we cannot teach our children the way we used to. If thought about for a minute, try being in their shoes. How often have we sat during a meeting or a professional development doodling, texting, correcting papers, playing ‘words with friends’ on our cell phones, or anything else that is a distraction from the learning that is supposed to be going on in front of us? In an article “Listen to the Natives,” Prensky (2005) compares kids with adults. Why is it that we get so frustrated with kids when they start texting or doodling during class or writing notes? Our students are bored. They are so used to having something flashing in front of them instantly on a screen or teaching themselves how to use a new program or play a new game. We need to start taking this boredom as a sign to change our own teaching styles by incorporating 21st Century Skills and utilizing a more cooperative learning process.

With school beginning in a couple of weeks, I would really like to improve my use of blogging within the classroom. According to Hall Davidson and Dr. Thornburg, students will most likely be more engaged in something if they have an audience, other than the teacher (Laureate, 2010). In the past, I only posted articles for my students to comment on. What I would like to begin doing is allow my students to post their own creations and be able to comment on each other’s posting. I will hopefully see an improvement in writing, as well as with the topic we are studying about.

Another goal I have set for myself is to create a classroom social studies wiki where my students will be creating their own social studies text. I have noticed over the past few years that my students are unable to fully comprehend the textbook we have in the classroom. I have always found myself looking up items for them to read and learn. By incorporating a wiki, I can allow my students to work cooperatively, question the topics, research the information they would like to know about, and finally be able to share it in a student created wiki.

Being on summer vacation throughout this course has made it very difficult to really test out what I have learned. I hope that once school begins, I will be able to help my students enjoy learning by including the 21st Century knowledge I have acquired over these past few weeks. After a month or so of teaching, I plan on looking at the technology checklist again to see if I really have improved my teaching practices.

References

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010). Transforming the Classroom With Technology: Part 2. Baltimore, MD: Author

Prensky, M. (2005). Listen to the natives. Educational Leadership, 63(4), 8–13.

Technology and Today's Students

This week, the task for my master's class was to create a podcast about the children and their experience with technology. Unfortunately, not teaching over the summer made this project incredibly difficult for me. I would like to thank the parents and three incredible children for their help in this process. I also appreciate all of my friends on facebook for taking time to interview their kids, so I would be able to support my findings more effectively. Finally, I huge thank you to a friend with superior knowledge in broadcast communications; I learned so much from you during this process and I cannot wait to incorporate podcasts into my classroom.

21st Century Learning

The topic of 21st century learning is not new for me. However, I had never really quite understood what it was. In today's society, our children are expected to know so much more than ever, in order to fully function in the working world. In looking at the The Partnership for 21st Century Skills website, I am realizing how much I did not know and how I have not fully been preparing my students for their future.  

The mission of the partnership states that all students in the United States need these skills in order to be successful in the business world. For those of you who are unfamiliar with these skills, they include knowing the general curriculum, (English, reading or language arts; mathematics; science; foreign languages; civics; government; economics; arts; history; and geography.)  as well as something called the "four c's" (critical thinking and problem solving; communication, collaboration; and creativity and innovation.) 

What I found surprising on the site is that there were many states working on this initiative and Connecticut was not one of them. Being a teacher in Connecticut, I am wondering why we have not jumped on board. Is it because our schools are behind in state testing? After reading an article about "The New Literacies," stating that many districts are behind in online reading skills because of state testing pressures, (Miners & Pascopella, 2007) I am beginning to think this may be true. At least coming from my own experience, I am under pressure to bring up those scores and I am not really thinking about teaching my students online skills that they should know, especially since they are not tested. However, what happens in the future when the state test is online? How can I support my students when this happens? These are the types of questions we should be asking ourselves. It would be nice to see Connecticut join the partnership eventually, for now, I may just start looking at the Massachusetts standards and resources. 

Resources: 

Miners, Z., & Pascopella, A. (2007). The new literacies. District Administration,43(10), 26–34

Classroom Blogging

Blogging has the ability to function in many ways within a classroom. Last year, I created a website for my sixth grade classroom and was able to actually get my feet wet blogging with my students. If you’re curious about it you’re welcome to check it out: Ms Constantine's Website

I mainly created the blog for my homeroom students to have somewhere to discuss and interact with topics and themes we were reading about during language arts class. However, it quickly turned into a current events blog for my three social studies classes, which seemed to go rather well for a while.

During the time I began the blog, Egypt was going through its government crisis. I thought, what better way to discuss Ancient Egypt in my classes than to have them connect what they are learning in the classroom to real life events in Egypt. Many students took on an active role in reading the articles I had chosen and responding with their thoughts and questions.

What I found unfortunate was there were some students who did not participate, mainly because they did not have internet access at home. Due to this, I allowed participation on the blog as extra credit. Some students used their time in the media center to log on and some went to the public library. I was beginning to notice that there were a couple of students who were incredibly engaged in online conversation and I was seeing a spark in their learning that I had not seen in a very long time. Unfortunately, we were so wrapped up in standardized testing that we stopped blogging.

I hope, in the future, I will be able to manage blogging much more effectively. As I am going through my classes for my master’s degree, I am learning so much about including technology into my lessons. Blogging is such an important skill for our students to learn about, especially since they will be using it for the rest of their lives.

Embarking a Technological Journey

As a part of my master's classes, I have been instructed to create a blog. In the past, I have always been incredibly leery of writing about my job and posting it all on the internet. Educators are looked upon as role models in this society and everything we say or do is under scrutiny. Many educators have lost jobs for posting something on a social networking site, and I have felt as though a blog could have the same issues. However, here I am, starting my journey.

Here is a little about me for those of you out there that I do not know. Currently, I am 27 years old and have been teaching sixth grade for 5 years at a school in a suburban district. I began working towards my master's degree this past January at Walden University in integrating technology into the classroom. Although I am incredibly excited about it, I am also very nervous. Technology has always been a scary thought in my mind and I chose this path because I know I need to be able to work with it and continue learning all I can because it changes constantly.

As this is my first posting, I am unsure of what I could be writing about in the future. So, I leave you with this question: what educational topics would you like to read about?