My first online workshop this semester was exploring the web tool Scratch. I enjoyed the discussion we had at the beginning of the workshop where Jim took us back to the days of DOS, The Oregon Trail and the Turtle. It made me think back to how I used computers before Windows had come along! It actually made me appreciate how far technology has come in what is really a short amount of time.
I liked the format of the workshop where Jim took us through the different tools for the program, then gave us time to experiment independently, and then brought us back together to share. If I were doing this with students, I think that I would do it the exact same way. I could really appreciate how this would be an amazing tool for older students in that it teachers them how to think problems through, analyze possible outcomes, and see the bigger picture while also thinking of the details. Unfortunately I do not think this program would be in any way appropriate for my population of students, however I am glad that I now know about it and can share it with my colleagues.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Embracing Our Differences Workshop Part I and II
This workshop introduced us to the program Clevr. As I learned, this program allows users to create panoramic views of any location. I created a panoramic view of Hecksher Museum's exhibit on tolerance. I felt like I truly became a student again as I learned the process through trial and error. At first I took a set of pictures but I came to find that I was too close and therefore the pictures did not "stitch" together well. I then tried again from a different vantage point and it worked so much better. I really feel like I can use this for my students but also for the parents of my students as well. Before the beginning of next year, I am going to create a panoramic view of my classroom. I feel like it will give the parents a better sense of what they can expect and the type of environment they are sending their child to.
I also liked the program we experimented with where you can show pictures, create a slide show, and then record your voice and draw on the pictures. I think this is AMAZING for my students to look at before they come into the classroom. I can literally show them every nook of the room and explain what goes on there. For Meet the Teacher Night, I want to have the students tell their parents about what goes on in every part of the classroom. I think it is so much more powerful coming from them. I look forward to using these programs to improve my communication with students and parents.
I also liked the program we experimented with where you can show pictures, create a slide show, and then record your voice and draw on the pictures. I think this is AMAZING for my students to look at before they come into the classroom. I can literally show them every nook of the room and explain what goes on there. For Meet the Teacher Night, I want to have the students tell their parents about what goes on in every part of the classroom. I think it is so much more powerful coming from them. I look forward to using these programs to improve my communication with students and parents.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Constructivist Approach to Sorting
The lesson I have included below is a lesson that I did which was differentiated in a way that allowed students to show that they truly understood the differences between each long vowel sound. I think that this lesson could really be improved by the addition of technology. I think that the motivation factor that exists in both the cognitive information processing and constructivist theories would be improved by the use of technology. I think that the lesson could become more constructivist if it was tweaked so that the students had to choose the pictures and figure out a way to sort them into three groups. Then the students would have to label each group and say how they were similar. It would force them to explain their thinking and would allow them to be the creators rather than just the producers of work designed by me.
LESSON / UNIT: Long Vowel Sounds
DESIRED RESULTS
What are the goals for the lesson? What do you want students to know, understand and be able to do? How does this lesson fit with a larger unit?
K: How do we read and write words that have long a, long e, and long i vowel sounds?
U: We write words with long vowel sounds by knowing the vowel combinations, stretching out the sounds in each word, and writing the sounds we hear. We read words with long vowel sounds by knowing the vowel combinations, saying the sounds in the word, and blending the sounds together.
B: As a group, students will be able to make a list of the vowel combinations for long a, long e, and long i words. Students will sort objects based on the long vowel sound they hear. Individually, students will be able to sort pictures by the vowel sound they hear. Some of the students will have the words on the cards, will read the words, and draw a picture. Other students will have to write the words on the pictures as they sort them.
*Over the past 3 weeks, students have been learning on one long vowel a week. This week students will be learning long i. I have found that students have difficulty retaining the sounds and applying them to their writing. This activity serves as a review of previously learned sounds. In addition, some of my higher readers who made be able to read these words, have a very difficult time applying these learned sounds to their independent writing.
LEARNING PLAN
How do you plan to engage students in the content? What will you do? What will the students do?
-On the mat, students will list the vowel combinations that make each long vowel sound:
Long a Long e Long i
-Students will get into a circle on the mat surrounding 3 hula-hoops labeled with long a, long e, and long i.
-Students will look at an object, say the objects name, say the sounds in the object, and sort it into its correct circle.
-Students will move into small groups. The most independent group of students will be at the kidney table with me so that I can circulate while they are working. The other two groups will be with the classroom Para and the 1:1 Para.
-Independently, students will sort pictures into three columns. The higher students will have to write the words under each picture as they sort. The students who are struggling more with these sounds will read the word, draw a picture, and sort the picture.
Long a Long e Long i
-Students who finish early will come up with more words that follow the same rule at the bottom of each column.
-After students complete this activity, they will return to the mat and share their answers by writing the words on a class chart.
ASSIGNED EVIDENCE
How do you plan to assess student achievement of the goals? What procedures will you use? (Attach any tests or performance tasks, with rubrics or scoring guides.) How do you plan to use the results of the assessment?
-I will be assessing students based on their ability to complete the sorting activity independently at their seats. After any small group activity where I have my Paras running a group, I always converse with them after to get their feedback on how their group of students did. Since my goal for the lesson is to have students generalize these skills to their daily independent writing, I will continue to monitor their writing work to see if they are applying the long vowel combinations.
LESSON / UNIT: Long Vowel Sounds
DESIRED RESULTS
What are the goals for the lesson? What do you want students to know, understand and be able to do? How does this lesson fit with a larger unit?
K: How do we read and write words that have long a, long e, and long i vowel sounds?
U: We write words with long vowel sounds by knowing the vowel combinations, stretching out the sounds in each word, and writing the sounds we hear. We read words with long vowel sounds by knowing the vowel combinations, saying the sounds in the word, and blending the sounds together.
B: As a group, students will be able to make a list of the vowel combinations for long a, long e, and long i words. Students will sort objects based on the long vowel sound they hear. Individually, students will be able to sort pictures by the vowel sound they hear. Some of the students will have the words on the cards, will read the words, and draw a picture. Other students will have to write the words on the pictures as they sort them.
*Over the past 3 weeks, students have been learning on one long vowel a week. This week students will be learning long i. I have found that students have difficulty retaining the sounds and applying them to their writing. This activity serves as a review of previously learned sounds. In addition, some of my higher readers who made be able to read these words, have a very difficult time applying these learned sounds to their independent writing.
LEARNING PLAN
How do you plan to engage students in the content? What will you do? What will the students do?
-On the mat, students will list the vowel combinations that make each long vowel sound:
Long a Long e Long i
-Students will get into a circle on the mat surrounding 3 hula-hoops labeled with long a, long e, and long i.
-Students will look at an object, say the objects name, say the sounds in the object, and sort it into its correct circle.
-Students will move into small groups. The most independent group of students will be at the kidney table with me so that I can circulate while they are working. The other two groups will be with the classroom Para and the 1:1 Para.
-Independently, students will sort pictures into three columns. The higher students will have to write the words under each picture as they sort. The students who are struggling more with these sounds will read the word, draw a picture, and sort the picture.
Long a Long e Long i
-Students who finish early will come up with more words that follow the same rule at the bottom of each column.
-After students complete this activity, they will return to the mat and share their answers by writing the words on a class chart.
ASSIGNED EVIDENCE
How do you plan to assess student achievement of the goals? What procedures will you use? (Attach any tests or performance tasks, with rubrics or scoring guides.) How do you plan to use the results of the assessment?
-I will be assessing students based on their ability to complete the sorting activity independently at their seats. After any small group activity where I have my Paras running a group, I always converse with them after to get their feedback on how their group of students did. Since my goal for the lesson is to have students generalize these skills to their daily independent writing, I will continue to monitor their writing work to see if they are applying the long vowel combinations.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Technology Tools in the Classroom
Initially, being a second grade self contained teacher I found it to be more of a challenge to figure out which tools would be developmentally appropriate and beneficial for my students. I always want to be careful to only use technology that really strengthens the lesson rather than just using technology for technology's sake. At this point, I do not feel comfortable enough to have my students create and read blogs because I'm not sure how they could access the blog safely with no option of going to other websites (the students' Internet access does not allow them to type in a web address-they are only allowed to click on pre-determined websites from our Eboards). However, I do think that I am going to have my students use the i-note feature on my Eboard as a blog because then I know it is safe and secure. I can also monitor all responses before they post. For example, I will ask the students an open-ended question and have them post their responses for other students to read and then respond to. In this way, students are constructing their own understanding of a given topic based on their knowledge and the knowledge of their classmates. In addition, I think I will attempt to use googledocs to create quizzes and tests. As we have learned, motivation is a key factor in both constructivist theory and cognitive information processing. The googledocs quizzes and tests will allow me to keep the same short answer or multiple choice formats but the students will be more excited to take it on their laptops rather than with a pencil and paper. It also allows me to analyze the test results in new ways through the use of the googledocs spreadsheet. Although I do not think I will use the webspiraton software, I will continue to use the more kid friendly kidspiration software. I use kidspriation for fact families, life and water cycles, comparing and contrasting rural, urban, and suburban communities, among other units. I think the variety of pictures is more appropriate for my group of students. I think that the organizers help students to process the information and visually organize it which helps them commit it to memory.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Graphic Organizers
As a special education teacher I find graphic organizers an invaluable tool. All of my students have auditory processing difficulties and are strong visual learners. However, I think that all students benefit from visual aides as it said in the articles. My students with processing difficulties use organize to plan their writing and literally organize their thoughts. It gives them a mode to get the ideas, which are floating around, in their heads onto paper. One popular organizer is the KWL chart. “Teachers set the stage for learning by finding out what students already know, then connect new ideas to students' existing knowledge base.” However, I think KWL charts are often misused. Teachers ask students what they know and want to know. Many times teachers don’t address what the students want to know because they already have their objectives laid out. Some teachers also don’t go back and revisit the chart to see what students have learned. I think the most effective organizers are the most basic organizers. My favorite organizer to use is the 4 square
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Learning Styles
I always considered it to be part of my teaching pedagogy that I would teach to all learning styles and in doing so, I would be making my best attempt to reach all of my students. While I still believe it is important to consider the multiple intelligences and various learning styles of my students, after reading Willingham's article, I have come to appreciate that it is not necessarily all about my students' learning styles but rather, I should also consider the content that I am teaching.
As I was reading, I started to wonder about memorization verses making meaning. Willingham wrote, “some memories are stored as visual and auditory representations but most memories are stored in terms of meaning”. My ultimate goal is that the students are taking the information that I am presenting and fitting the new content into their existing schema. At the end of the day, the information that the students were able to connect to their own lives is that information that will stay with them. In this sense, even if I was to teach to a child’s superior memory it wouldn’t matter because it is not the surface level understanding that I am concerned about.
In addition, as Willingham stated, “different representations are either more or less effective depending on the information; they cannot be substituted”. I liked his example of if a question about a share of green verses the level of a person’s voice. Therefore, if I were to attempt to teach to a child’s specific learning style I may be fighting the way the information would naturally be stored.
I think that by considering content over a students’ perceived learning style, I will be more likely to aide my students in their ability to make meaningful connections and at the same time, I won’t have to fight the way the brain naturally stores information. I also believe that teaching to a content’s modality will force me to examine each unit in a new light. As a lifelong learner , I always look forward to the chance for gaining new perspectives.
As I was reading, I started to wonder about memorization verses making meaning. Willingham wrote, “some memories are stored as visual and auditory representations but most memories are stored in terms of meaning”. My ultimate goal is that the students are taking the information that I am presenting and fitting the new content into their existing schema. At the end of the day, the information that the students were able to connect to their own lives is that information that will stay with them. In this sense, even if I was to teach to a child’s superior memory it wouldn’t matter because it is not the surface level understanding that I am concerned about.
In addition, as Willingham stated, “different representations are either more or less effective depending on the information; they cannot be substituted”. I liked his example of if a question about a share of green verses the level of a person’s voice. Therefore, if I were to attempt to teach to a child’s specific learning style I may be fighting the way the information would naturally be stored.
I think that by considering content over a students’ perceived learning style, I will be more likely to aide my students in their ability to make meaningful connections and at the same time, I won’t have to fight the way the brain naturally stores information. I also believe that teaching to a content’s modality will force me to examine each unit in a new light. As a lifelong learner , I always look forward to the chance for gaining new perspectives.
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