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