My view on instructional technology has changed a bit over the course of the semester; while I found that a lot of the material was not designed for agricultural education, I found that I could easily alter a lot of the resources to make it suitable for my classroom. I think that integrating video making and podcasts could be very beneficial, as well as having my own wiki page for my class. The wiki page could help the most I believe because it can give students clarification to homework assignments or projects or specific links that I want them to view. This has drastically changed from when I was in high school and the most I could do for clarification was to email my teacher and hope they responded back in time for me to get the project done. With the wiki, students can first look at the assignment posted, if that's not clear, they can go on the discussion forum and ask their peers and if that doesn't work, last resort would be to email me through the page or on my email listed on the page, the possibilities are endless really!
In some instances, the appropriateness was a little lacking in some of the material we learned throughout the semester; the voki's were a bit of a stretch for what we are doing and perhaps so was the animoto video, although it's a good ice breaker for us and other students. Otherwise, the video, podcast, wiki, jing and the assessment tools can potentially be very very helpful, and I believe that if teachers invest some of their time into these projects, they can make the classroom interactive, fun and an overall good learning experience.
Overall, I feel great with the technology we have used, and I feel confident going ahead and using them outside of this class. With technology I am a quick learner and adapted quickly to the material, so I think I will also be able to use what we learned and continue to make it better throughout my career.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
EDCI 5825 Week 6
After using Google Reader this week, a whole new world has kind of been opened for me. I can read so many ideas and thoughts at the click of a button, and it's fascinating! I now understand too how teachers can view 40+ students' blogs without having to go blog by blog, which makes it a lot easier.
I saw some very neat and in depth blogs when I looked over the classes' blogs; I saw a lot more interaction such as in Dave's and Meghan's blogs, where they post a lot of pictures and quotes and other relative material. In Meghan's blog, the use of staggered text really helps the reading aspect of the blog instead of just one paragraph. It helps the overall reading and helps the reader connect more to the material.
I think that in the future I will definitely try to post relative material so that people reading can connect more to what I am talking about- videos, links and pictures would help a lot! It looked great in my classmates blogs so I think I'll have to use that!
An idea that stood out was in 'A to Zed's' blog, where in there T2P they said students should be encouraged to take risks in the classroom. While this to the extreme can be hazardous, I believe students should be able to explore and take risks so that they can learn on their own and get out of their comfort zone so that they can really learn new material. Of course I have to be careful in an ag-ed setting because risks are everywhere, especially in hands on material, so a healthy balance of risk taking should be admitted in my classroom so no harm can occur.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Web Resources Week 5
With all of this technology, it is nearly impossible, and becoming unethical to leave it out of class in today's society. With in my ag-ed class, what I would like to do is incorporate some of the earth web cams available online. Especially in the natural resources aspect of ag-ed, global imagery and global information systems are huge; The natural resources program at UConn even has its own concentration in global information systems.
What I would first use is Earthcam, (http://search.earthcam.com/search/ft_search.php?newcams). I would use this website to show students actual live feeds from around the world. I would then ask students to develop theories of what resources are available in those specific areas of the world. For example, if a student came across a live feed of Hotham, Australia, the mountainous regions of Australia would be viewed. The students could assume that the region has some area of aridity, some forested regions, and perhaps a large quantity of minerals stored within those mountains. After that, an assignment could be to further research an area of interest that the students came across to really see what natural resources are available.
Another way to incorporate this technology would be to use GoogleEarth, (http://www.google.com/earth/index.html), which could be used for students to research things such as deforestation, mountaintop blast mining, strip mining and contour farming. The students could zoom in on areas of the Amazon forest to see the effects of fish-bone forestry, or the tops of Appalachian mountains which have been blasted as a technique of mining. The students could either make assumptions based on the images or use the images to be integrated into a project the students are assigned.
With all of these capabilities, the future of ag-ed will most definitely be altered, and will hopefully become more global oriented as opposed to locally oriented. This will hopefully inspire students to make a difference in the world.
Refrences:
EarthCam, retrieved from http://www.earthcam.com/, (June 29, 2011).
GoogleEarth, retrieved from http://www.google.com/earth/index.html, (June 29, 2011).
What I would first use is Earthcam, (http://search.earthcam.com/search/ft_search.php?newcams). I would use this website to show students actual live feeds from around the world. I would then ask students to develop theories of what resources are available in those specific areas of the world. For example, if a student came across a live feed of Hotham, Australia, the mountainous regions of Australia would be viewed. The students could assume that the region has some area of aridity, some forested regions, and perhaps a large quantity of minerals stored within those mountains. After that, an assignment could be to further research an area of interest that the students came across to really see what natural resources are available.
Another way to incorporate this technology would be to use GoogleEarth, (http://www.google.com/earth/index.html), which could be used for students to research things such as deforestation, mountaintop blast mining, strip mining and contour farming. The students could zoom in on areas of the Amazon forest to see the effects of fish-bone forestry, or the tops of Appalachian mountains which have been blasted as a technique of mining. The students could either make assumptions based on the images or use the images to be integrated into a project the students are assigned.
With all of these capabilities, the future of ag-ed will most definitely be altered, and will hopefully become more global oriented as opposed to locally oriented. This will hopefully inspire students to make a difference in the world.
Refrences:
EarthCam, retrieved from http://www.earthcam.com/, (June 29, 2011).
GoogleEarth, retrieved from http://www.google.com/earth/index.html, (June 29, 2011).
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
A Good Teacher...
A good teacher is one who does not teach for the sake of a job. The job is in place to help the students, and eventually the world become better.
A good teacher is one who has solid moral values and exemplifies them to the students, so that the teacher can be looked upon as a mentor or model.
The good teacher is able to connect with students, the material being taught and their own inner philosophies so that the class is mutual and reciprocative.
A good teacher strives to make every student a success, and wants no less than 100% effort from all students and themselves. Through this, the students should be made willing to come to class fully prepared to live and learn, and leave inspired and full of knowledge through both curriculum and hidden curriculum.
A good teacher leaves a great legacy, tries to find potential in all and plants many seeds for the future.
A good teacher is one who has solid moral values and exemplifies them to the students, so that the teacher can be looked upon as a mentor or model.
The good teacher is able to connect with students, the material being taught and their own inner philosophies so that the class is mutual and reciprocative.
A good teacher strives to make every student a success, and wants no less than 100% effort from all students and themselves. Through this, the students should be made willing to come to class fully prepared to live and learn, and leave inspired and full of knowledge through both curriculum and hidden curriculum.
A good teacher leaves a great legacy, tries to find potential in all and plants many seeds for the future.
Learning Theories Week Two T2P 2
Today in class we examined multiple sources of educators in either their teaching environment or through their reviews and observations of different teachers or practices. Through each teacher, we observed as well as reflected what their personal teaching philosophy is. We asked this through reflecting on how they believe people learn, as well as asking how they think competency is developed in the subject area. Through the examples, we witnessed a large spectrum of philosophies which included Robin Williams' character in The Dead Poet Society, who encouraged creativity, risk taking and mutual respect and then later viewed the whole brain teaching concept in the mathematics course, where the teacher valued a dominant role as teacher, repetition, structure and performance.
From these observations, I started to reflect on what philosophy I will develop as a teacher and how should I structure (or not structure) my classroom. What boggled my mind and perhaps others and altered immediate views after the whole brain teaching video, was the fact that that style of 'teaching' may not actually invoke learning, but rather regurgitation for a short termed performance.
This lead to the formation of my if..then..because statement, in which I really needed to focus down on the essentials of the acquired material from class. From the two papers we read for homework and discussed as well as the video clips we viewed together as well as the individual video (science is messy), I needed to invoke my personal philosophy to gather a statement based on what we learned. This lead me to the hypothesis of , 'If a teacher provides an environment that contains enthusiasm and mutual respect (which includes reciprocity), to a relevant/reflective curriculum, then whole person optimal learning can take place in the classroom.' I learned through the evidence in class that enthusiasm is a basic tool that invokes a positive attitude and encourages students to participate. Mutual respect, including reciprocity is a tool that 'humanizes' the teacher, and allows the students to connect on a 'deeper level' which has been found to instill trust and intrinsic motivation. If the teacher is respected and trusted, the student will not only pick up on the regular curriculum, but also recognize the hidden curriculum topics from the value-laden model (the teacher), whom the students will recognize as the mature expert. Of course the teacher must also show trust within the students as part of reciprocity, because the teacher must give back at least as much as he receives to maintain a mutual relationship. What can accentuate this form of reciprocity is pedagogical caring. By this I mean that the teacher should learn to care for the students in an obvious fashion, and the student will react in a positive form by creating a more in-depth relationship with the student. Nel Noddings would agree with this; she finds that teachers who care for students create a better relationship with each other. This will not only bring out the enthusiasm from one another, but create a new sense of intrinsic motivation for both individuals. From this, the teacher will also assume the role as master learner and will grow from each and every minute in the classroom.
Theory to Practice Week 5:
If a teacher or other adult guardian/model in a young (~5-9 years old) child's life allows the child to truly harness what they enjoy doing, then the student will more rapidly develop the skills involved with that task, and thus create a chance for whole person optimal learning to occur. This will occur because at that age, the density of the synaptic web within the brain will consist of a majority of what the student wants to learn, i.e. the enjoyable subject. The brain will then be able to connect the subject through neuron transmission with greater ease, and the amount of synaptic pruning will decrease, because the information being utilized will be in constant use, and unnecessary information will be minimal. The subject of choice will most likely be a hot cognitive process, in which the child will feel extremely positive towards. This will create a large intrinsic motivator within the child, which Patricia Kolencik views to be a necessity when learning at an optimal level.
The idea that the child harnesses this subject means that he or she will sooner be able to achieve the level of mastery within the subject, one of Daniel Pink's main ideas of motivation. Mastery, along with the autonomy to decide the subject being learned, as well as a purpose, which may occur later along the learning path are Pink's main aspects of motivation.
This idea of intrinsic motivation on the top a synaptic foundation is key to a children mastering a subject area. While this may be viewed as negative by some educators, a single area being truly explored and mastered by a child could prove to be a valuable asset to learners. The learners autonomy, mastery and purpose could lead to a child truly developing a mastery that he or she can enjoy and utilize in life.
From these observations, I started to reflect on what philosophy I will develop as a teacher and how should I structure (or not structure) my classroom. What boggled my mind and perhaps others and altered immediate views after the whole brain teaching video, was the fact that that style of 'teaching' may not actually invoke learning, but rather regurgitation for a short termed performance.
Theory to Practice Week 5:
If a teacher or other adult guardian/model in a young (~5-9 years old) child's life allows the child to truly harness what they enjoy doing, then the student will more rapidly develop the skills involved with that task, and thus create a chance for whole person optimal learning to occur. This will occur because at that age, the density of the synaptic web within the brain will consist of a majority of what the student wants to learn, i.e. the enjoyable subject. The brain will then be able to connect the subject through neuron transmission with greater ease, and the amount of synaptic pruning will decrease, because the information being utilized will be in constant use, and unnecessary information will be minimal. The subject of choice will most likely be a hot cognitive process, in which the child will feel extremely positive towards. This will create a large intrinsic motivator within the child, which Patricia Kolencik views to be a necessity when learning at an optimal level.
The idea that the child harnesses this subject means that he or she will sooner be able to achieve the level of mastery within the subject, one of Daniel Pink's main ideas of motivation. Mastery, along with the autonomy to decide the subject being learned, as well as a purpose, which may occur later along the learning path are Pink's main aspects of motivation.
This idea of intrinsic motivation on the top a synaptic foundation is key to a children mastering a subject area. While this may be viewed as negative by some educators, a single area being truly explored and mastered by a child could prove to be a valuable asset to learners. The learners autonomy, mastery and purpose could lead to a child truly developing a mastery that he or she can enjoy and utilize in life.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Assistive Technology: EDCI5825
- Please provide specific examples of technology/tools that you would recommend for a student with... (1) a hearing impairment, (2) low-vision, (3) a broken right arm, and (4) autism (non-communicative
With the advent of the technology age, there has been a huge influx of new mediums in which to learn through in our society. Not only do students who can function readily in society get a chance to use these advancements, but students who have special needs have been given a chance to fully participate in class with technology as well.
For example, a student with a hearing impairment will not be able to fully understand my lessons in class, unless he or she is fully able to read lips. This is not a safe assumption to make for a student, so it is critical that that my lesson gets transcribed to the student in need. With automatic speech recognition, my words could be instantaneously transcribed onto a computer. Therefore, if I am able to wear a microphone during class, (something that will not hinder my performance), the hearing impaired student will be able to follow along because my words will be on their computer.
Another issue that I may have to face is giving someone with low vision the quality education they deserve. One way to help this problem is to utilize the Digital Accessible Information System, or DAISY. Daisy was in fact first designed to help readers read an entire text, cover to cover without problem, "DAISY provides direct access to specific points, enabling readers to move from heading to heading, page to page, and word to word," (Assistive Technology in Education, 2009). The sight impaired students will now be able to magnify the information they need and be able to read it in an effective manner so that they can continue with regular education.
If a student were to come into class with broken right arm, there could be many issues at stake. However, the largest issue may occur if there is a large term paper due in a week or two. The student, assuming he or she's a righty, will not be able to write or type effectively to meet the deadline of the paper. Thanks to the speech recognition system, the student will not only be able to navigate through the internet by voice, but will eventually be able to "type" their paper by communicating into a microphone and having the program transcribe the voice into electronic words.
Non-communitive autistic students are receiving special attention from technology developers because it has become more and more apparent that simple (or high tech) technology can be used to truly engage non-communitive autistic students. One way to help them is the use of touch screens on computers or new smart computer items. The goal here is to help the students navigate as well as interact with the computer and information being presented, ("High" Tech Strategies, 2011). This would discontinue the lack of understanding between the student-mouse-computer connection, and fully engage the student. New smart devices, such as an iPhone or iPad can also be used due to their touch screens.
These practices all encompass the the NET-S standards, which strive to incorporate technology in the classroom for all children. By allowing the students with special needs to be incorporated with classroom activities, the standards are being met by the teachers implementing these strategies.
These practices all encompass the the NET-S standards, which strive to incorporate technology in the classroom for all children. By allowing the students with special needs to be incorporated with classroom activities, the standards are being met by the teachers implementing these strategies.
References:
Assistive Technology for Children with Autism. (2011)"High" Tech Standards. Retrieved from http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=educational+tools+for+autistic+children&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8#sclient=psy&hl=en&client=safari&rls=en&source=hp&q=technology+for+autistic+students&aq=2&aqi=g4g-m1&aql=&oq=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=defeb86aaab16f6&biw=1267&bih=616, June 22, 2011.
International Society for Technology in Education (2007). Standards. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-students/nets-student-standards-2007.aspx, June 15, 2011.
Wikibook. (2011). Assistive Technology in Education/DAISY. Retrieved from http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Assistive_Technology_in_Education/DAISY, June 22, 2011.
Wikibook. (2011). Assistive Technology in Education/eBooks. Retrieved from http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Assistive_Technology_in_Education/eBook, June 22, 2011
Wikibook. (2011). Assistive Technology in Education/Speech Recognition Technology. Retrieved from http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Assistive_Technology_in_Education/Speech_Recognition_Software, June 22, 2011.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Week Four T2P
So Far:
As it appears to me, through the all the complexity, the jargon, the homework and the mix of class, things seem to be getting easier. Not only am I developing my personal philosophies and creating curriculum assessments, but I am learning how students learn through theory before I put myself into practice.
Mark Twain once said, "how empty is theory in the presence of fact."What is beautiful about this quote is that when applied to leaning, there are no facts, so theory can always be reflected upon and applied to practice. What may be true for one student's learning habits is not always true for another. How else could so many theorists develop such a quantity of different, applicable learning theories, if there were always solid, concrete facts relating to how students learn.
Today:
An issue that arrises, especially after today's class is how to incorporate all of these theories and techniques and ideals into my own philosophy, especially when they all contain at least some merit. Skinner's theories touch upon the innate learning behaviors of humans, while Erikson focuses on the scaffolding of life and the effects of decision making throughout developmental stages; both contain incredibly valuable stances on human learning theories, and must both be considered when developing personal philosophies and curriculum. What I hypothesize is that if teachers envelop as many credible teaching theories as possible into their philosophy and curriculum, then the students will be able to become more rounded learners themselves, because they will be better able to look at their students and cater their teaching styles to fit their needs. Essentially, the more the teacher knows about different learning theories, the more the teacher can relate and try to fit those theories to specific students. Once the theory that fits the student can be recognized, than the teacher can then adapt their teaching methods to help out the student. As Skinner and Erikson both pointed to, the teacher's main job is to remain a facilitator of knowledge, one who can guide students through a lesson, as opposed to a drone who recites information. Jerrid Kruse further supports this hypothesis by incorporating a diverse quantity of teaching theories into his classroom, captivating the essential philosophies of behavior learning theory, developmental learning theory, cognitive learning theory, etc. If this can be done, students will be more willing to receive knowledge, because they make connections to the teacher as well as the content. This will initiate reciprocity and in turn create a better learning environment.
Furthermore, I also believe an issue will be teachers or pre-teachers who will too eagerly try to categorize themselves into a theorist's group. For example, one might say they are a Piagetian or Vygotskian follower. I believe this will hinder the teachers' ability to incorporate multiple theories into their classroom, and will essentially block students from getting quality education.
Learning theories, as we learned, can be broken into art and science. It is an art because it takes skill to incorporate the multiple theories, but also a science, because the teacher needs to observe and react to the students' needs and desires for education. I have hypothesized in conjunction with my first hypothesis, that if teachers are fully committed to their students through means of reflection and observation, then the students are receiving optimal education, because the teacher is recognizing how students learn and are applying multiple learning theories to the class lessons. This will cater to more students' needs, and create a better learning environment for the entire class. Nel Noddings's philosophies would agree with this, because she believes that a teacher should care for the students, and make it well known that the teacher has a caring relationship. When the teacher and student both share a reciprocative level of caring, they will be better able to move through information and knowledge. They can do this because at a primal level, teachers and students both want to be cared for and show more motivation when they are.
Tomorrow:
In future days, months and years, I hope to increase my knowledge of learning theories and develop a strong balance of applying my knowledge of other's theories to my own philosophies. As apparent in Jerrid Kruse's article on teaching theories, it is best to scaffold many different theories, such as behavior learning theory, developmental learning theory, cognitive learning theory, etc. with the lesson being taught. This way, students can develop comfortability with different teaching facets, and can hopefully grow personally from the experience.
It appears as though my journey to becoming an expert learner has a long way to go!
If...
Then...
Because...
Evidence...
Context...
Morals/ethics....
Theory to Practice: Self Determination.
VIcki Davis' pedagogy instilled very deep foundations of self determination. She used her class time with students to connect with not only each other, but also the entire world. Vicki's class incorporated student interaction with each other during projects to develop autonomy, in which the students could formulate their own project and presentations. This also led to relatedness, because students not only had to work together, but wanted to connect with others to enhance their learning. Of course, the hands on training with technology and other students led to an increase in competence within the student because they mastered the technology present and had to teach it to their teacher!
Vicki also used a practice of student teaching students in her classroom. She promoted autonomy by allowing student to choose what they teach, but also how they go about teaching it to the class and head teacher (Vickie). Competence was increased, because the students had to master their project, and be comfortable enough with the content to teach it fluently with others. Relatedness was somewhat increased, as the students teaching had to connect with the ones that were learning.
Overall, both methods of practice led students to enhance their performance, persistence (by way of having an innate desire to learn more and connect with more people), and creativity (creating lesson plans, developing projects and teaching styles).
With this in mind, it can be said that if a teacher incorporates a learning environment that not only encourages volition, but demands volition within students, then the learners will react by surpassing their own previous expectations. Students will do this because with the right motivation, their innate desire to achieve autonomy, competence and relatedness will blossom. If these achievements are obtained, it will lead to the results common with self determination theory; enhanced performance, persistence and relatedness, which is what all good teachers strive to achieve themselves.
This theory could be agreeable with George Siemens, who argues that students who connect with other students and collaborate frequently will become master learners. He, like Vickie, agree that teachers should not constantly be at the front of the room lecturing, but rather, letting the students explore their creativity and networking abilities.
Theory to Practice #3 for week 4:
If a teacher conducts their classroom in a manner in which the teacher-student relationship is considered mutual, equal and interchangeable, then the students will be involved in the process of optimal learning. This will occur because the students as well as the teachers will harness their intrinsic motivation (see, I know that term now) to learn and succeed in that setting. By saying that the relationship should be mutual, equal and interchangeable, it addresses that the teachers and students must both take on the role of learner and teacher at various points of their relationship. When they are in their 'given role,' they should remain reciprocative, so that ideas, questions and concerns may be addressed; this will instill a sense of equality as well as care between the teacher and students. Paulo Freire would agree to this notion. He believed in allowing students and teachers to have role reversal experiences that allowed teachers to learn what students bring to the table, but also gave the students an opportunity to develop and share their critical voice. This will also help students and teachers to mutually care for each other as well as begin to care about other ideas, a concept that Nel Noddings describes. Nel describes caring for as essential between human relationships and development, and will eventually lead to 'caring about,' which is the desire to act upon an injustice or issue, another similarity with Freire. Acting upon an issue or injustice learned about in class on one's own will is a product of receiving optimal education. It shows that the student or teacher has accomplished a deep understanding of a topic and have synthesized a solution as well as alternatives. If the teacher's relationship with their students is oppressive or dominant, than the students will have a barrier to overcome before they can care about an issue, therefore making a it impossible to achieve optimal learning.
Link to Week Four HW Spreadsheet:
Learning Theorists
Second attempt at learning theorists spreadsheet:
Learning Theorists
As it appears to me, through the all the complexity, the jargon, the homework and the mix of class, things seem to be getting easier. Not only am I developing my personal philosophies and creating curriculum assessments, but I am learning how students learn through theory before I put myself into practice.
Mark Twain once said, "how empty is theory in the presence of fact."What is beautiful about this quote is that when applied to leaning, there are no facts, so theory can always be reflected upon and applied to practice. What may be true for one student's learning habits is not always true for another. How else could so many theorists develop such a quantity of different, applicable learning theories, if there were always solid, concrete facts relating to how students learn.
Today:
An issue that arrises, especially after today's class is how to incorporate all of these theories and techniques and ideals into my own philosophy, especially when they all contain at least some merit. Skinner's theories touch upon the innate learning behaviors of humans, while Erikson focuses on the scaffolding of life and the effects of decision making throughout developmental stages; both contain incredibly valuable stances on human learning theories, and must both be considered when developing personal philosophies and curriculum. What I hypothesize is that if teachers envelop as many credible teaching theories as possible into their philosophy and curriculum, then the students will be able to become more rounded learners themselves, because they will be better able to look at their students and cater their teaching styles to fit their needs. Essentially, the more the teacher knows about different learning theories, the more the teacher can relate and try to fit those theories to specific students. Once the theory that fits the student can be recognized, than the teacher can then adapt their teaching methods to help out the student. As Skinner and Erikson both pointed to, the teacher's main job is to remain a facilitator of knowledge, one who can guide students through a lesson, as opposed to a drone who recites information. Jerrid Kruse further supports this hypothesis by incorporating a diverse quantity of teaching theories into his classroom, captivating the essential philosophies of behavior learning theory, developmental learning theory, cognitive learning theory, etc. If this can be done, students will be more willing to receive knowledge, because they make connections to the teacher as well as the content. This will initiate reciprocity and in turn create a better learning environment.
Furthermore, I also believe an issue will be teachers or pre-teachers who will too eagerly try to categorize themselves into a theorist's group. For example, one might say they are a Piagetian or Vygotskian follower. I believe this will hinder the teachers' ability to incorporate multiple theories into their classroom, and will essentially block students from getting quality education.
Learning theories, as we learned, can be broken into art and science. It is an art because it takes skill to incorporate the multiple theories, but also a science, because the teacher needs to observe and react to the students' needs and desires for education. I have hypothesized in conjunction with my first hypothesis, that if teachers are fully committed to their students through means of reflection and observation, then the students are receiving optimal education, because the teacher is recognizing how students learn and are applying multiple learning theories to the class lessons. This will cater to more students' needs, and create a better learning environment for the entire class. Nel Noddings's philosophies would agree with this, because she believes that a teacher should care for the students, and make it well known that the teacher has a caring relationship. When the teacher and student both share a reciprocative level of caring, they will be better able to move through information and knowledge. They can do this because at a primal level, teachers and students both want to be cared for and show more motivation when they are.
Tomorrow:
In future days, months and years, I hope to increase my knowledge of learning theories and develop a strong balance of applying my knowledge of other's theories to my own philosophies. As apparent in Jerrid Kruse's article on teaching theories, it is best to scaffold many different theories, such as behavior learning theory, developmental learning theory, cognitive learning theory, etc. with the lesson being taught. This way, students can develop comfortability with different teaching facets, and can hopefully grow personally from the experience.
It appears as though my journey to becoming an expert learner has a long way to go!
If...
Then...
Because...
Evidence...
Context...
Morals/ethics....
Theory to Practice: Self Determination.
VIcki Davis' pedagogy instilled very deep foundations of self determination. She used her class time with students to connect with not only each other, but also the entire world. Vicki's class incorporated student interaction with each other during projects to develop autonomy, in which the students could formulate their own project and presentations. This also led to relatedness, because students not only had to work together, but wanted to connect with others to enhance their learning. Of course, the hands on training with technology and other students led to an increase in competence within the student because they mastered the technology present and had to teach it to their teacher!
Vicki also used a practice of student teaching students in her classroom. She promoted autonomy by allowing student to choose what they teach, but also how they go about teaching it to the class and head teacher (Vickie). Competence was increased, because the students had to master their project, and be comfortable enough with the content to teach it fluently with others. Relatedness was somewhat increased, as the students teaching had to connect with the ones that were learning.
Overall, both methods of practice led students to enhance their performance, persistence (by way of having an innate desire to learn more and connect with more people), and creativity (creating lesson plans, developing projects and teaching styles).
With this in mind, it can be said that if a teacher incorporates a learning environment that not only encourages volition, but demands volition within students, then the learners will react by surpassing their own previous expectations. Students will do this because with the right motivation, their innate desire to achieve autonomy, competence and relatedness will blossom. If these achievements are obtained, it will lead to the results common with self determination theory; enhanced performance, persistence and relatedness, which is what all good teachers strive to achieve themselves.
This theory could be agreeable with George Siemens, who argues that students who connect with other students and collaborate frequently will become master learners. He, like Vickie, agree that teachers should not constantly be at the front of the room lecturing, but rather, letting the students explore their creativity and networking abilities.
Theory to Practice #3 for week 4:
If a teacher conducts their classroom in a manner in which the teacher-student relationship is considered mutual, equal and interchangeable, then the students will be involved in the process of optimal learning. This will occur because the students as well as the teachers will harness their intrinsic motivation (see, I know that term now) to learn and succeed in that setting. By saying that the relationship should be mutual, equal and interchangeable, it addresses that the teachers and students must both take on the role of learner and teacher at various points of their relationship. When they are in their 'given role,' they should remain reciprocative, so that ideas, questions and concerns may be addressed; this will instill a sense of equality as well as care between the teacher and students. Paulo Freire would agree to this notion. He believed in allowing students and teachers to have role reversal experiences that allowed teachers to learn what students bring to the table, but also gave the students an opportunity to develop and share their critical voice. This will also help students and teachers to mutually care for each other as well as begin to care about other ideas, a concept that Nel Noddings describes. Nel describes caring for as essential between human relationships and development, and will eventually lead to 'caring about,' which is the desire to act upon an injustice or issue, another similarity with Freire. Acting upon an issue or injustice learned about in class on one's own will is a product of receiving optimal education. It shows that the student or teacher has accomplished a deep understanding of a topic and have synthesized a solution as well as alternatives. If the teacher's relationship with their students is oppressive or dominant, than the students will have a barrier to overcome before they can care about an issue, therefore making a it impossible to achieve optimal learning.
Link to Week Four HW Spreadsheet:
Learning Theorists
Second attempt at learning theorists spreadsheet:
Learning Theorists
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
EDCI 5825 Week 3 Blog Question
- What are some ways that you can create authentic collaborative projects in your current/future classroom? Please provide specific examples.
One way that I could create a collaborative project would be to create a wiki site for sustainable agriculture. Seeing as there are many different aspects and disciplines in agriculture, it is very hard to be an expert in all areas involved. The site could be used to gather students with different concentrations to collaborate on a project that would entail designing the perfect sustainable farm. The project could start with an initial budget, and theoretical parcel of land with many different resources. One student could be in charge of cattle or sheep or chicken (animal science) aspects and generate the needs of the animals and create a list of feed and shelter requirements. This is where a plant science and nutritional science student could be involved, where they would create rationing schemes and decide how and what food would best be planted and where to provide for animals. Mechanically inclined students or architect students could then be brought aboard to design the barn to house all the animals and equipment. The possibilities are endless really, and students could be included from the same class, program, school, city, county, state, nation, wherever really! The wiki page has endless possibilities in this sense.
One other collaborative idea would be to have students create a presentation on genetically modified organisms to present to class. However, due to the time constraints, the project would have to be conducted outside of class, and the students would need a way to put their project together. Instead of emailing presentation bit after presentation bit back and forth, the students could open up a google presentation document so that at home they can collaboratively and simultaneously work on the project together, therefore saving time and effort and making a final product they can both view and edit together. Google docs states that using the presentation feature will allow you to, "share and collaborate with your team. Invite anyone to either edit or view your presentation, (Google, 2011). This is the essence of the collaborative creating and sharing design, and should be utilized often.
Both projects would instill creativity as well as innovation using technology which meets the first and sixth NETS-S standard. Furthermore, to meet the second standard, students are interacting and collaborating with other students from either class, state, or any other level that other students come from to work on the project. Of course, to create these projects, the students will need to conduct research online to fulfill their tasks and will satisfy the fourth standard. The fifth standard may be a result of tacit learning, in that students will hopefully conduct themselves in a legal manner and will learn about other people's ways of performing the assessment.
Google docs (2011). Free, embeddable presentations from Google. Retrieved from http://www.google.com/google-d-s/presentations/#utm_campaign=en&utm_source=en-ha-na-us-bk&utm_medium=ha&utm_term=docs, June 15, 2011.
International Society for Technology in Education (2007). Standards. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-students/nets-student-standards-2007.aspx, June 15, 2011.
Both projects would instill creativity as well as innovation using technology which meets the first and sixth NETS-S standard. Furthermore, to meet the second standard, students are interacting and collaborating with other students from either class, state, or any other level that other students come from to work on the project. Of course, to create these projects, the students will need to conduct research online to fulfill their tasks and will satisfy the fourth standard. The fifth standard may be a result of tacit learning, in that students will hopefully conduct themselves in a legal manner and will learn about other people's ways of performing the assessment.
Google docs (2011). Free, embeddable presentations from Google. Retrieved from http://www.google.com/google-d-s/presentations/#utm_campaign=en&utm_source=en-ha-na-us-bk&utm_medium=ha&utm_term=docs, June 15, 2011.
International Society for Technology in Education (2007). Standards. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-students/nets-student-standards-2007.aspx, June 15, 2011.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
T2P Week THREE!
So Far:
As it appears to me, through the all the complexity, the jargon, the homework and the mix of class, things seem to be getting easier. Not only am I developing my personal philosophies and creating curriculum assessments, but I am learning how students learn through theory before I put myself into practice.
Mark Twain once said, "how empty is theory in the presence of fact."What is beautiful about this quote is that when applied to leaning, there are no facts, so theory can always be reflected upon and applied to practice. What may be true for one student's learning habits is not always true for another. How else could so many theorists develop such a quantity of different, applicable learning theories, if there were always solid, concrete facts relating to how students learn.
Today:
An issue that arrises, especially after today's class is how to incorporate all of these theories and techniques and ideals into my own philosophy, especially when they all contain at least some merit. Skinner's theories touch upon the innate learning behaviors of humans, while Erikson focuses on the scaffolding of life and the effects of decision making throughout developmental stages; both contain incredibly valuable stances on human learning theories, and must both be considered when developing personal philosophies and curriculum. What I hypothesize is that if teachers envelop as many credible teaching theories as possible into their philosophy and curriculum, then they will be able to become more rounded learners themselves, because they will be better able to look at their students and cater their teaching styles to fit their needs. Essentially, the more the teacher knows about different learning theories, the more the teacher can relate and try to fit those theories to specific students. Once the theory that fits the student can be recognized, than the teacher can then adapt their teaching methods to help out the student. As Skinner and Erikson both pointed to, the teacher's main job is to remain a facilitator of knowledge, one who can guide students through a lesson, as opposed to a drone who recites information.
Furthermore, I also believe an issue will be teachers or pre-teachers who will too eagerly try to categorize themselves into a theorist's group. For example, one might say they are a piagetian or Vygotskian follower. I believe this will hinder the teachers' ability to incorporate multiple theories into their classroom, and will essentially block students from getting quality education.
Learning theories, as we learned, can be broken into art and science. It is an art because it takes skill to incorporate the multiple theories, but also a science, because the teacher needs to observe and react to the students' needs and desires for education. I have hypothesized in conjunction with my first hypothesis, that if teachers are fully committed to their students through means of reflection and observation, then the students are receiving optimal education, because the teacher is recognizing how students learn and are applying multiple learning theories to the class lessons. This will cater to more students' needs, and create a better learning environment for the entire class.
Tomorrow:
In future days, months and years, I hope to increase my knowledge of learning theories and develop a strong balance of applying my knowledge of other's theories to my own philosophies. As apparent in Jerrid Kruse's article on teaching theories, it is best to scaffold many different theories, such as behavior learning theory, developmental learning theory, cognitive learning theory, etc. with the lesson being taught. This way, students can develop comfortability with different teaching facets, and can hopefully grow personally from the experience.
It appears as though my journey to becoming an expert learner has a long way to go!
As it appears to me, through the all the complexity, the jargon, the homework and the mix of class, things seem to be getting easier. Not only am I developing my personal philosophies and creating curriculum assessments, but I am learning how students learn through theory before I put myself into practice.
Mark Twain once said, "how empty is theory in the presence of fact."What is beautiful about this quote is that when applied to leaning, there are no facts, so theory can always be reflected upon and applied to practice. What may be true for one student's learning habits is not always true for another. How else could so many theorists develop such a quantity of different, applicable learning theories, if there were always solid, concrete facts relating to how students learn.
Today:
An issue that arrises, especially after today's class is how to incorporate all of these theories and techniques and ideals into my own philosophy, especially when they all contain at least some merit. Skinner's theories touch upon the innate learning behaviors of humans, while Erikson focuses on the scaffolding of life and the effects of decision making throughout developmental stages; both contain incredibly valuable stances on human learning theories, and must both be considered when developing personal philosophies and curriculum. What I hypothesize is that if teachers envelop as many credible teaching theories as possible into their philosophy and curriculum, then they will be able to become more rounded learners themselves, because they will be better able to look at their students and cater their teaching styles to fit their needs. Essentially, the more the teacher knows about different learning theories, the more the teacher can relate and try to fit those theories to specific students. Once the theory that fits the student can be recognized, than the teacher can then adapt their teaching methods to help out the student. As Skinner and Erikson both pointed to, the teacher's main job is to remain a facilitator of knowledge, one who can guide students through a lesson, as opposed to a drone who recites information.
Furthermore, I also believe an issue will be teachers or pre-teachers who will too eagerly try to categorize themselves into a theorist's group. For example, one might say they are a piagetian or Vygotskian follower. I believe this will hinder the teachers' ability to incorporate multiple theories into their classroom, and will essentially block students from getting quality education.
Learning theories, as we learned, can be broken into art and science. It is an art because it takes skill to incorporate the multiple theories, but also a science, because the teacher needs to observe and react to the students' needs and desires for education. I have hypothesized in conjunction with my first hypothesis, that if teachers are fully committed to their students through means of reflection and observation, then the students are receiving optimal education, because the teacher is recognizing how students learn and are applying multiple learning theories to the class lessons. This will cater to more students' needs, and create a better learning environment for the entire class.
Tomorrow:
In future days, months and years, I hope to increase my knowledge of learning theories and develop a strong balance of applying my knowledge of other's theories to my own philosophies. As apparent in Jerrid Kruse's article on teaching theories, it is best to scaffold many different theories, such as behavior learning theory, developmental learning theory, cognitive learning theory, etc. with the lesson being taught. This way, students can develop comfortability with different teaching facets, and can hopefully grow personally from the experience.
It appears as though my journey to becoming an expert learner has a long way to go!
Learning Theories Week 3 Post 1
Q1: What did Vygotsky mean by 'zones of proximal development?'
A: This question fits into the first level in Bloom's taxonomy; it focuses on asking a definition, and does not ask to apply or relate the term to real life or other theories, which would make it a higher level question.
B: Vygotsky was referring to a range in which students' learning capabilities are effective. The zpd is where a student feels comfortable with the information being taught. If the material is too low, the student will lose interest, however, if the material is to high and out of the zpd, the student will be lost, and unable to connect previous understanding to the one being presented.
Q2: Did we learn anything about Piaget's way of coming to his theory that might disprove or make you question his theory?
A: This question fits into either the 4th or 5th level of Bloom's taxonomy, because it asks you to analyze Piaget's history, but also synthesize a hypothesis as to why his history lead to his theory.
B: What we learned about Piaget, was that he used his own children as case studies in his theories. He constantly observed them and then was able to develop his ideas. What could be used to disprove his theory is the amount of bias present by using your own children as case studies. Of course they could be perfect specimens to analyze, but more likely, the children would be altered in a way that they would not represent the majority of children to base a theory around.
Q3: Support the following quotation: "When we cater to students' preferences, as expressed by "learning style," we do not help them become well-rounded learners with the flexibility to take on any challenge that comes their way."
quote
A: The question fits into the 6th level of Bloom's taxonomy, because it asks us to not only develop a position on the, but it asks us to bring in previous knowledge to support the statement.
B: This statement is true because if we teach them in a monolithic fashion that only supports the way they learn, they are not developing the skills to deal with other mediums of education. Throughout life, students will not only interact with what they are comfortable; they will be forced to comply with other facets of life. What should happen, is challenge the students to make them more capable to handle most situations that they will be forced to deal with throughout life. Catering only keeps the student in their comfort zone, and will create 'idiot savants,' where they know what they do in their own context and will not be able to go outside of their comfort zone to challenge themselves, become flexible and become well rounded.
A: This question fits into the first level in Bloom's taxonomy; it focuses on asking a definition, and does not ask to apply or relate the term to real life or other theories, which would make it a higher level question.
B: Vygotsky was referring to a range in which students' learning capabilities are effective. The zpd is where a student feels comfortable with the information being taught. If the material is too low, the student will lose interest, however, if the material is to high and out of the zpd, the student will be lost, and unable to connect previous understanding to the one being presented.
Q2: Did we learn anything about Piaget's way of coming to his theory that might disprove or make you question his theory?
A: This question fits into either the 4th or 5th level of Bloom's taxonomy, because it asks you to analyze Piaget's history, but also synthesize a hypothesis as to why his history lead to his theory.
B: What we learned about Piaget, was that he used his own children as case studies in his theories. He constantly observed them and then was able to develop his ideas. What could be used to disprove his theory is the amount of bias present by using your own children as case studies. Of course they could be perfect specimens to analyze, but more likely, the children would be altered in a way that they would not represent the majority of children to base a theory around.
Q3: Support the following quotation: "When we cater to students' preferences, as expressed by "learning style," we do not help them become well-rounded learners with the flexibility to take on any challenge that comes their way."
quote
A: The question fits into the 6th level of Bloom's taxonomy, because it asks us to not only develop a position on the, but it asks us to bring in previous knowledge to support the statement.
B: This statement is true because if we teach them in a monolithic fashion that only supports the way they learn, they are not developing the skills to deal with other mediums of education. Throughout life, students will not only interact with what they are comfortable; they will be forced to comply with other facets of life. What should happen, is challenge the students to make them more capable to handle most situations that they will be forced to deal with throughout life. Catering only keeps the student in their comfort zone, and will create 'idiot savants,' where they know what they do in their own context and will not be able to go outside of their comfort zone to challenge themselves, become flexible and become well rounded.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Science is Messy
---How people learn philosophy:
It appears as though Jerrid believes in a mix of structure as well as freedom. While his lesson is very organized and correlated, he still allows his students to freely give answers to the topic discussion. Jerrid also uses a strategy that sort of funnels the question down from a very large, broad topic down to a narrow and defined lesson. One of the essential questions was for the students to answer what makes science messy, and at first the students took it to very obvious levels of answers. However, Jerrid enabled a structure in the conversation and funneled the topics down to make the case and point of the lesson. Jerrid also uses a certain level of reciprocity in which he communicates back and forth with his students in an effective manner, and allows them to grasp the material being taught.
---How competency is developed:
It appears in this classroom, competency is developed through dialog, as the entire lesson focuses on a reciprocating conversation between teacher and students. Observation was also used and was apparent when not only Jarrid had to observe his students and read what they needed in order to learn from the lesson, but the students also had to read what Jarrid was striving to achieve by asking the specific questions throughout the lesson. At a certain level, Jerrid also believes trial and error will develop competency because he threw many questions out to students and wanted to see where they would take the conversation.
It appears as though Jerrid believes in a mix of structure as well as freedom. While his lesson is very organized and correlated, he still allows his students to freely give answers to the topic discussion. Jerrid also uses a strategy that sort of funnels the question down from a very large, broad topic down to a narrow and defined lesson. One of the essential questions was for the students to answer what makes science messy, and at first the students took it to very obvious levels of answers. However, Jerrid enabled a structure in the conversation and funneled the topics down to make the case and point of the lesson. Jerrid also uses a certain level of reciprocity in which he communicates back and forth with his students in an effective manner, and allows them to grasp the material being taught.
---How competency is developed:
It appears in this classroom, competency is developed through dialog, as the entire lesson focuses on a reciprocating conversation between teacher and students. Observation was also used and was apparent when not only Jarrid had to observe his students and read what they needed in order to learn from the lesson, but the students also had to read what Jarrid was striving to achieve by asking the specific questions throughout the lesson. At a certain level, Jerrid also believes trial and error will develop competency because he threw many questions out to students and wanted to see where they would take the conversation.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
EDCI 5825 1st Blog
All four of the projects mentioned are in many ways connected. Obviously they involve the internet, but also use the tactic of having the students directly involved in the discovery process. This is done by having the students actively seek information from a given bookmarked website and fill out either predetermined worksheets such as in 'internet workshop,' or by having students create 'internet projects' which involves any number of topics that students will be able to collaborate on and work together with. This can be related to 'WebQuests' in which students are a bit more limited in creativity, as they are 'herded' to the correct website and resources available to complete a task. However, the students are still able to explore through a number of resources through the website and is controlled by teacher discretion. As Leu (2000) states, "students simply follow the directions and complete their learning experiences at a WebQuest site."
One of the key differences in the WebQuest site method is that the students are not given any freedom to choose topics of their choice, it is very cut and dry as opposed to a creative project in 'internet project,' which would require the student to think about where their research should take them in addition to discussion with peers and eventually cuts out the discovery of websites they could find for information. WebQuest and Internet Workshop both have that similarity of being one dimensional.
The Internet Inquiry method however is a tactic that allows students to find a topic, gather information on their own and to process the information collected and as the video implies, allows students to enhance their problem identification and solving skills. This is drastically different from the other models, because it requires students to think on their own and react to a problem or larger question. This method would help students achieve the nets-s standards, because the goals are to demonstrate creative thinking, critically think, problem solve and decision make using technology as well as understand technology concepts and operations, which are all covered under the Internet Inquiry technique.
However, what truly ties all of these methods together is the availability to easily insert into them into a lesson plan of any sort. This idea was especially present with the 'internet workshop' idea in that, "Because Internet Workshop fits easily into the instructional schedule of any classroom, it can be used without sacrificing another element of the curriculum," (Leu 2002). This is the fundamental premise behind all of these teaching techniques, in that technology should and can be integrated into a curriculum without any penalty or loss of time.
Leu, D.J., Jr. (2002, February). Internet Workshop: Making time for literacy [Exploring Literacy on the Internet department]. The Reading Teacher, 55(5). Available: http://www.readingonline.org/electronic/elec_index.asp?HREF=/electronic/RT/2-02_Column/index.html
One of the key differences in the WebQuest site method is that the students are not given any freedom to choose topics of their choice, it is very cut and dry as opposed to a creative project in 'internet project,' which would require the student to think about where their research should take them in addition to discussion with peers and eventually cuts out the discovery of websites they could find for information. WebQuest and Internet Workshop both have that similarity of being one dimensional.
The Internet Inquiry method however is a tactic that allows students to find a topic, gather information on their own and to process the information collected and as the video implies, allows students to enhance their problem identification and solving skills. This is drastically different from the other models, because it requires students to think on their own and react to a problem or larger question. This method would help students achieve the nets-s standards, because the goals are to demonstrate creative thinking, critically think, problem solve and decision make using technology as well as understand technology concepts and operations, which are all covered under the Internet Inquiry technique.
However, what truly ties all of these methods together is the availability to easily insert into them into a lesson plan of any sort. This idea was especially present with the 'internet workshop' idea in that, "Because Internet Workshop fits easily into the instructional schedule of any classroom, it can be used without sacrificing another element of the curriculum," (Leu 2002). This is the fundamental premise behind all of these teaching techniques, in that technology should and can be integrated into a curriculum without any penalty or loss of time.
Leu, D.J., Jr. (2002, February). Internet Workshop: Making time for literacy [Exploring Literacy on the Internet department]. The Reading Teacher, 55(5). Available: http://www.readingonline.org/electronic/elec_index.asp?HREF=/electronic/RT/2-02_Column/index.html
Leu, Donald J., Jr. & Leu, D. D. (2000). Teaching with the Internet: Lessons from the classroom
(3rd ed.). Norwood, MA: Christopher-Gordon.
Available Technology at my cooperating school:
Unfortunately, Rockville High School is a little behind in the technology curve. The ag-ed department has a computer lab with approximately 14 computers, however, only 6 are currently working (and will likely continue to drop). Ms. Harlow explained to me that there is a grant in process which would fund new technology in the department, however it is going to take at least a year or two before any money is received. There are no smart boards presents in the departments, so classic whiteboards will be utilized unfortunately. What Ms. Harlow would like is to integrate the classes with technology, especially in real world applications such as time schedules for animals and budgets for farms. However, with the limited technology, right now, she finds that difficult. On the positive side, ag-ed uses hands on training as a staple to the program, so until the technology arrives, hands on education will still persist and students will still learn effectively. Lessons I could teach however could involve using excel to create a budget spreadsheet, diigo.com to bookmark sites for public speaking references and various websites which I have seen that involve a 'game' about livestock, where students have a virtual cattle farm and are in control of breeding, feeding, etc.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Learning Theories Week Two T2P 2
Today in class we examined multiple sources of educators in either their teaching environment or through their reviews and observations of different teachers or practices. Through each teacher, we observed as well as reflected what their personal teaching philosophy is. We asked this through reflecting on how they believe people learn, as well as asking how they think competency is developed in the subject area. Through the examples, we witnessed a large spectrum of philosophies which included Robin Williams' character in The Dead Poet Society, who encouraged creativity, risk taking and mutual respect and then later viewed the whole brain teaching concept in the mathematics course, where the teacher valued a dominant role as teacher, repetition, structure and performance.
From these observations, I started to reflect on what philosophy I will develop as a teacher and how should I structure (or not structure) my classroom. What boggled my mind and perhaps others and altered immediate views after the whole brain teaching video, was the fact that that style of 'teaching' may not actually invoke learning, but rather regurgitation for a short termed performance.
This lead to the formation of my if..then..because statement, in which I really needed to focus down on the essentials of the acquired material from class. From the two papers we read for homework and discussed as well as the video clips we viewed together as well as the individual video (science is messy), I needed to invoke my personal philosophy to gather a statement based on what we learned. This lead me to the hypothesis of , 'If a teacher provides an environment that contains enthusiasm and mutual respect (which includes reciprocity), to a relevant/reflective curriculum, then an optimal amount of learning can take place in the classroom.' I learned through the evidence in class that enthusiasm is a basic tool that invokes a positive attitude and encourages students to participate. Mutual respect, including reciprocity is a tool that 'humanizes' the teacher, and allows the students to connect on a 'deeper level' which has been found to instill trust and a desire to learn. If the teacher is respected and trusted, the student will not only pick up on the regular curriculum, but also recognize the hidden curriculum topics from the value-laden model (the teacher), whom the students will recognize as the mature expert. Of course the teacher must also show trust within the students as part of reciprocity, because the teacher must give back at least as much as he receives to maintain a mutual relationship. From this, the teacher will also assume the role as master learner and will grow from each and every minute in the classroom.
All together, the journey of life and learning will be continued, because each day learning takes place under many curriculums, and self actualization is furthered. The learning map we created portrayed this concept, and showed me that learning is not only a formal study, but is always attained through personal reflection and environmental settings. While this is separate from formal schooling, as we portrayed on the map, it is all interconnected into a higher goal, which is to grow from every experience in life. All of the forms of development we reviewed (cognitive, psycho-social, emotional, etc.) are altered through each second of life through content and context, in which we as teachers are largely responsible for providing.
From these observations, I started to reflect on what philosophy I will develop as a teacher and how should I structure (or not structure) my classroom. What boggled my mind and perhaps others and altered immediate views after the whole brain teaching video, was the fact that that style of 'teaching' may not actually invoke learning, but rather regurgitation for a short termed performance.
This lead to the formation of my if..then..because statement, in which I really needed to focus down on the essentials of the acquired material from class. From the two papers we read for homework and discussed as well as the video clips we viewed together as well as the individual video (science is messy), I needed to invoke my personal philosophy to gather a statement based on what we learned. This lead me to the hypothesis of , 'If a teacher provides an environment that contains enthusiasm and mutual respect (which includes reciprocity), to a relevant/reflective curriculum, then an optimal amount of learning can take place in the classroom.' I learned through the evidence in class that enthusiasm is a basic tool that invokes a positive attitude and encourages students to participate. Mutual respect, including reciprocity is a tool that 'humanizes' the teacher, and allows the students to connect on a 'deeper level' which has been found to instill trust and a desire to learn. If the teacher is respected and trusted, the student will not only pick up on the regular curriculum, but also recognize the hidden curriculum topics from the value-laden model (the teacher), whom the students will recognize as the mature expert. Of course the teacher must also show trust within the students as part of reciprocity, because the teacher must give back at least as much as he receives to maintain a mutual relationship. From this, the teacher will also assume the role as master learner and will grow from each and every minute in the classroom.
All together, the journey of life and learning will be continued, because each day learning takes place under many curriculums, and self actualization is furthered. The learning map we created portrayed this concept, and showed me that learning is not only a formal study, but is always attained through personal reflection and environmental settings. While this is separate from formal schooling, as we portrayed on the map, it is all interconnected into a higher goal, which is to grow from every experience in life. All of the forms of development we reviewed (cognitive, psycho-social, emotional, etc.) are altered through each second of life through content and context, in which we as teachers are largely responsible for providing.
- If a teacher employs a wide variety of learning activities throughout the daily lesson, then … because …
If a teacher employs a wide variety of learning activities throughout the daily lesson, then the students in the classroom will become more responsive to the curriculum because each student has a primary learning medium, whether it be physical, verbal, audial, etc. The variety of learning activities will appeal to different students, and will encourage engagement because the students will respond better to their stimulus of choice.
Learning Theories Week One T2P
Today's class was very interesting and me and was a relief away from the organizational and teaching skills of undergraduate professors.
This class incorporated many different teaching techniques, (if not all) that included physical (creating the learning maps), verbal lecture, visual, aural and social. The social technique (group work) was stressed during this class and was most likely an attempt to break us (the students) out of our shells so that we can begin to interact just as a teacher would. Not only do we break out of our shells, but we learn to listen and reflect on what others have to say, and give feedback to them.
What was also reiterated during class was repetition in the way that others had to not only absorb material, but either repeat it, comment on it or relate it to another issue. This got us in the habit of creating a level of reciprocity between our peer and eventually students.
As the 1st class of the semester, it did a great job of letting us get to know each other as it 'forced' us to work together. The first exercise we worked on as pairs got us to go a little bit deeper into what makes our learning experiences what they are.
With the scholarly review of the chapter we read, reviewed the 'what i bring to the mix' as well as the 'learning is...' assignment, we were able to put our opinion on paper, and made it matter. The attraction of key works made us focus on who we are and made us summarize very quickly, key concepts of our essence, so we are learning who we are so we can mold where we go from here.
This class incorporated many different teaching techniques, (if not all) that included physical (creating the learning maps), verbal lecture, visual, aural and social. The social technique (group work) was stressed during this class and was most likely an attempt to break us (the students) out of our shells so that we can begin to interact just as a teacher would. Not only do we break out of our shells, but we learn to listen and reflect on what others have to say, and give feedback to them.
What was also reiterated during class was repetition in the way that others had to not only absorb material, but either repeat it, comment on it or relate it to another issue. This got us in the habit of creating a level of reciprocity between our peer and eventually students.
As the 1st class of the semester, it did a great job of letting us get to know each other as it 'forced' us to work together. The first exercise we worked on as pairs got us to go a little bit deeper into what makes our learning experiences what they are.
With the scholarly review of the chapter we read, reviewed the 'what i bring to the mix' as well as the 'learning is...' assignment, we were able to put our opinion on paper, and made it matter. The attraction of key works made us focus on who we are and made us summarize very quickly, key concepts of our essence, so we are learning who we are so we can mold where we go from here.
Monday, June 6, 2011
EDCI 5065 Week 2 HW
Sustainable Farming YouTube Video
-This url brings you to a youtube video that explores a farm with its manager explaining the nature of the farm, which is fully sustainable and grows over 60 varieties of produce. This would appeal to visual learning students, and would be able to allow a good teacher to create a jumping point to a discussion on how students could create their own sustainable farm. This is a basic premise that will become huge in the future of our society. The students will learn by having an example of how sustainable agriculture works, and can jumpstart the brainstorming process, in which others can learn from the ideas that come forth.
How to become a better public speaker website
- This url connects you to a website that explains the process of becoming a good public speaker. This aspect is huge in agricultural education, so the website could serve as a great guideline to students and the teachers. The website gives many specific aspects of public speaking including audience and research, etc. A good teacher would use evidence such as this to create a loose set of guidelines to follow when preparing for a public speaking opportunity. This will get students physically involved when they must practice their speaking, but will also use verbal and visual aspects when teaching it to them. Students, I believe, learn best sometimes when there is a list of aspects they can enhance with a particular topic. If they can look and enhance each specific aspect, then they will learn better, although, real examples/evidence should be used, so perhaps a video of a great public speaker such as MLK should be used in conjunction with this website.
Horseback riding techniques; taking riding to the next level.
-This url brings you to a website that has all sorts of plans on how to teach different horse riding techniques and aspects. An effective teacher would incorporate a lot of these aspects into an equine curriculum and use the tips that they give on the website. The teacher would incorporate the physical, hands on aspects as the main tools, but could also create powerpoint lectures for the basic principles, which would stimulate auditory, verbal and visual learners. The people in the vocation, as I have learned, learn mostly by doing (the motto of the FFA includes "Learning to do, doing to learn" as its first two lines). Therefore, the physical aspects of the lesson will help students reach their potential, and a good teacher must realize this in order to succeed.
-This url brings you to a youtube video that explores a farm with its manager explaining the nature of the farm, which is fully sustainable and grows over 60 varieties of produce. This would appeal to visual learning students, and would be able to allow a good teacher to create a jumping point to a discussion on how students could create their own sustainable farm. This is a basic premise that will become huge in the future of our society. The students will learn by having an example of how sustainable agriculture works, and can jumpstart the brainstorming process, in which others can learn from the ideas that come forth.
How to become a better public speaker website
- This url connects you to a website that explains the process of becoming a good public speaker. This aspect is huge in agricultural education, so the website could serve as a great guideline to students and the teachers. The website gives many specific aspects of public speaking including audience and research, etc. A good teacher would use evidence such as this to create a loose set of guidelines to follow when preparing for a public speaking opportunity. This will get students physically involved when they must practice their speaking, but will also use verbal and visual aspects when teaching it to them. Students, I believe, learn best sometimes when there is a list of aspects they can enhance with a particular topic. If they can look and enhance each specific aspect, then they will learn better, although, real examples/evidence should be used, so perhaps a video of a great public speaker such as MLK should be used in conjunction with this website.
Horseback riding techniques; taking riding to the next level.
-This url brings you to a website that has all sorts of plans on how to teach different horse riding techniques and aspects. An effective teacher would incorporate a lot of these aspects into an equine curriculum and use the tips that they give on the website. The teacher would incorporate the physical, hands on aspects as the main tools, but could also create powerpoint lectures for the basic principles, which would stimulate auditory, verbal and visual learners. The people in the vocation, as I have learned, learn mostly by doing (the motto of the FFA includes "Learning to do, doing to learn" as its first two lines). Therefore, the physical aspects of the lesson will help students reach their potential, and a good teacher must realize this in order to succeed.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
First Intro
Hello everyone, I'm Mike, I just recently graduated from UConn with a bachelor's degree in Ag and Natural Resources, and now I am looking to get my master's degree in education in the UConn TCPCG program. In the past I have had plenty of experience with outdoor activity, farm work, greenhouse work and meat cutting. I have kept in close contact with E.O. Smith and with the students there, helping them with course work and FFA competitions. As for technology experience, I don't consider myself a wiz at any of it, but I do know my way around computers and other devices, and consider myself a quick learner. My hobbies include playing sports, working on our family farm, playing music and having fun with the game of life.
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