This week we took a look at cues, questions, advanced organizers; nonlinguistic representation; and summarizing notetaking.
Cues, Questions, and Advanced Organizers
I do not use advanced organizer in my classroom. A lot of the teachers that I work with use them as a component to their notetaking, but that is not something I do. I think there are a few instances when advanced organizers would come in handy, but at this point most of our activities are hands in so it is hard to utilize such a technique. Though, I do make sure, when questioning students to lead them on the path of finding the answer out themselves. Giving them the answer is what they want, but I want them to be able to tell me how they got to that point.
Nonlinguistic Representation
We use this a lot in my classroom since all of my classes are technology based. A lot of the assignments in my classes are geared toward the visual learner. Being a visual learner myself, I find it easier to teach this way, which must make it easier for students to learn. I know that this isn't true and do add an non-visual component to lessons. Last week we started with the creation of web pages to show the lay out of how students would arrange an apartment. They have to "purchase" everything and then describe why they picked the particular items, how it fit into their budget, etc. To me, this is a not only better than having them write a paper because they get to use technology, but they're also getting to let me see through their eyes their take on the assignment.
Notetaking
Like I've said previously I don't do a lot of notetaking in my classroom. Though, when we do, I usually do guided notes. The students are given an outline of the notes, but have to fill in specific sections while I'm lecturing. I find this not only keeps them in line, but it does help them remember those key words. I took a class in college on notetaking and it was the best class of my whole undergrad. It taught me how to take notes efficiently and how to pay attention while taking notes. I think there needs to be more classes like this at the secondary level because there are so many notes being taken in college and we're not prepared enough.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Setting Objectives, Providing Feedback and Providing Recognition
This week we were asked to reflect on the strategies we addressed in class this week, which were: Setting Objectives, Providing Feedback and Providing Recognition. We also had to read the article, Feedback that Fits. Below you will find my reflection of the previously stated topics.
Setting Objectives:
Setting objectives is something that I find extremely important as a teacher. Each unit that I start, I like to let the students know of the overall objective and what I expect them to learn. Some days I give the students our objective for the day. I do this so that students know what we are covering for the day an so they can also see how we will reach our final goal. Setting objectives not only lets the students know what we will be doing, but it also teaches them that using objectives can keep you on track to your final goal.
Providing Feedback:
What kinds of technologies can I use to help students provide feedback?
On a daily basis, I use the same 2 technologies to provide feedback to my students. All work is put into our online grade book, Zangle. Each student receives a grade for the assignment and I also try to note why points were taken off. Another way that I provide feedback through technology is through an online resource called My Big Campus. Students use MBC to submit their assignments or discussions. I, in return, give them instant feedback on the site based on what they completed. All of this feedback is efficient and very timely.
Providing Recognition:
Providing recognition is an area where I need a lot of work. I all to often give the students their assignments and grades, but forget to recognize those who are excelling. Ways that I could do this could include a simple phone call home to parents, certificates or maybe even a monthly newsletter showcasing what we've done for the month and maybe the top students. By providing more recognition to my students, they might have a more positive response to the work we do in class and feel accomplished.
Feedback that Fits
This article discussed a number of important topics regarding feedback and students. The one thing that I gained from reading the article is that not only does the feedback have to be understandable to the student, but they have to be able to use it. As a teacher, it is important to provide our feedback to the students so that they can run with it. We need to be specific and let the student not only know what they can do to improve, but also what stood out to us. This will only help the students to further excel in their work.
Setting Objectives:
Setting objectives is something that I find extremely important as a teacher. Each unit that I start, I like to let the students know of the overall objective and what I expect them to learn. Some days I give the students our objective for the day. I do this so that students know what we are covering for the day an so they can also see how we will reach our final goal. Setting objectives not only lets the students know what we will be doing, but it also teaches them that using objectives can keep you on track to your final goal.
Providing Feedback:
What kinds of technologies can I use to help students provide feedback?
On a daily basis, I use the same 2 technologies to provide feedback to my students. All work is put into our online grade book, Zangle. Each student receives a grade for the assignment and I also try to note why points were taken off. Another way that I provide feedback through technology is through an online resource called My Big Campus. Students use MBC to submit their assignments or discussions. I, in return, give them instant feedback on the site based on what they completed. All of this feedback is efficient and very timely.
Providing Recognition:
Providing recognition is an area where I need a lot of work. I all to often give the students their assignments and grades, but forget to recognize those who are excelling. Ways that I could do this could include a simple phone call home to parents, certificates or maybe even a monthly newsletter showcasing what we've done for the month and maybe the top students. By providing more recognition to my students, they might have a more positive response to the work we do in class and feel accomplished.
Feedback that Fits
This article discussed a number of important topics regarding feedback and students. The one thing that I gained from reading the article is that not only does the feedback have to be understandable to the student, but they have to be able to use it. As a teacher, it is important to provide our feedback to the students so that they can run with it. We need to be specific and let the student not only know what they can do to improve, but also what stood out to us. This will only help the students to further excel in their work.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Principles of Teaching and Learning/A Meta-Analysis of the Effectiveness of Teaching and Learning
For 525 we read two articles. The first was Principles of Learning and Teaching and the second A Meta-Analysis of the Effectiveness of Teaching and Learning. Below you will find my reactions to the articles and how they apply to my world.
Principles of Learning and Teaching
This article addressed 7 principles of Learning and Teaching.
Principles of Learning
1. Students' prior knowledge can help or hinder learning
2. How students organize knowledge influences how they learn and apply what they know
3. Students’ motivation determines, directs, and sustains what they do to learn
4. To develop mastery, students must acquire component skills, practice integrating them, and know when to apply what they have learned
5. Goal-directed practice coupled with targeted feedback enhances the quality of students’ learning
6. Students’ current level of development interacts with the social, emotional, and intellectual climate of the course to impact learning
7. To become self-directed learners, students must learn to monitor and adjust their approaches to learning
Principles of Teaching
1. Effective teaching involves acquiring relevant knowledge about students and using that knowledge to inform our course design and classroom teaching
2. Effective teaching involves aligning the three major components of instruction: learning objectives, assessments, and instructional activities.
3. Effective teaching involves articulating explicit expectations regarding learning objectives and policies
4. Effective teaching involves prioritizing the knowledge and skills we choose to focus on
5. Effective teaching involves recognizing and overcoming our expert blind spots
6. Effective teaching involves adopting appropriate teaching roles to support our learning goals
7. Effective teaching involves progressively refining our courses based on reflection and feedback
As an elective teacher, I agree with most of the principles of learning. A lot of what I teach is technology and business based. When the students have prior knowledge on a topic we are studying, not only is it easier for them to make connections, but also for us to enhance their knowledge further. Even as a student myself, I found it easier to learn about a topic when I have some sort of background knowledge on it.
Another thing that I agreed with is that students need to acquire their skills, practice them and know when to integrate them in order to obtain mastery. This past week, in 8th grade, we spent 4 days calculating sales tax and income tax. The students complained over and over as to why I was making them do so many problems. I had to explain to them that not only did they need to understand why their jeans didn't cost 29.99 even though the tag said, but also why their paycheck would be less than they thought. To me, the repetition not only helps instill the task in their minds, but also will help to better make sense when they are in such a situation.
Not only do I agree with the principles of teaching, but I also implement some of them. The first two principles, acquiring prior knowledge and aligning the three major components, are practices I like to use especially at the beginning of a new unit. To acquire prior student knowledge, I often do some sort of a pretest when we study something new. These pretests may consist of a vocabulary quiz or an informal raising of hands to answer questions I ask. This helps me to know what areas I need to spend more time focusing on and what areas I can just skim over. I also like to let the students know the overall objective of the unit, how they will be assessed and different activities we will complete. I've found that it eliminates student questions, but also lets them know what to expect as we further with the units.
A Meta-Analysis of Effective Teaching and Learning with Technology
I found this article very hard to follow, as it addressed many different studies and used a lot of jargon. The article addressed how those who learned with technology did better than those that didn't. I'm two-fold when it comes to this topic. As I've stated in previous blogs, I teach at a 1:1 Middle School. Each student has their own laptop, each teach has a laptop and either an iPad or an iPod touch, and a number of teachers have interactive whiteboards. As a teacher of technology, I can see how all this is useful, but I can't help but ask myself, what good are we doing by allowing them to use these tools when they won't have these in their high school years? Also, we're teaching them to rely on the tools at hand. Just like in math, we have to learn how to do it on paper before we are allowed to do it with a calculator. We're now showing our students a whole new world of technology, but are they really getting the purpose of it? Do I think our kids learn better with technology? On any given day that response always changes for me. Some days I'd like to wipe out what we have at our finger tips and make the students learn how our parents did. Other days, I'm so intrigued at what my students can do with technology. Overall, I think it's effective, how it's applied and used on a daily basis puts me on the fence.
Principles of Learning and Teaching
This article addressed 7 principles of Learning and Teaching.
Principles of Learning
1. Students' prior knowledge can help or hinder learning
2. How students organize knowledge influences how they learn and apply what they know
3. Students’ motivation determines, directs, and sustains what they do to learn
4. To develop mastery, students must acquire component skills, practice integrating them, and know when to apply what they have learned
5. Goal-directed practice coupled with targeted feedback enhances the quality of students’ learning
6. Students’ current level of development interacts with the social, emotional, and intellectual climate of the course to impact learning
7. To become self-directed learners, students must learn to monitor and adjust their approaches to learning
Principles of Teaching
1. Effective teaching involves acquiring relevant knowledge about students and using that knowledge to inform our course design and classroom teaching
2. Effective teaching involves aligning the three major components of instruction: learning objectives, assessments, and instructional activities.
3. Effective teaching involves articulating explicit expectations regarding learning objectives and policies
4. Effective teaching involves prioritizing the knowledge and skills we choose to focus on
5. Effective teaching involves recognizing and overcoming our expert blind spots
6. Effective teaching involves adopting appropriate teaching roles to support our learning goals
7. Effective teaching involves progressively refining our courses based on reflection and feedback
As an elective teacher, I agree with most of the principles of learning. A lot of what I teach is technology and business based. When the students have prior knowledge on a topic we are studying, not only is it easier for them to make connections, but also for us to enhance their knowledge further. Even as a student myself, I found it easier to learn about a topic when I have some sort of background knowledge on it.
Another thing that I agreed with is that students need to acquire their skills, practice them and know when to integrate them in order to obtain mastery. This past week, in 8th grade, we spent 4 days calculating sales tax and income tax. The students complained over and over as to why I was making them do so many problems. I had to explain to them that not only did they need to understand why their jeans didn't cost 29.99 even though the tag said, but also why their paycheck would be less than they thought. To me, the repetition not only helps instill the task in their minds, but also will help to better make sense when they are in such a situation.
Not only do I agree with the principles of teaching, but I also implement some of them. The first two principles, acquiring prior knowledge and aligning the three major components, are practices I like to use especially at the beginning of a new unit. To acquire prior student knowledge, I often do some sort of a pretest when we study something new. These pretests may consist of a vocabulary quiz or an informal raising of hands to answer questions I ask. This helps me to know what areas I need to spend more time focusing on and what areas I can just skim over. I also like to let the students know the overall objective of the unit, how they will be assessed and different activities we will complete. I've found that it eliminates student questions, but also lets them know what to expect as we further with the units.
A Meta-Analysis of Effective Teaching and Learning with Technology
I found this article very hard to follow, as it addressed many different studies and used a lot of jargon. The article addressed how those who learned with technology did better than those that didn't. I'm two-fold when it comes to this topic. As I've stated in previous blogs, I teach at a 1:1 Middle School. Each student has their own laptop, each teach has a laptop and either an iPad or an iPod touch, and a number of teachers have interactive whiteboards. As a teacher of technology, I can see how all this is useful, but I can't help but ask myself, what good are we doing by allowing them to use these tools when they won't have these in their high school years? Also, we're teaching them to rely on the tools at hand. Just like in math, we have to learn how to do it on paper before we are allowed to do it with a calculator. We're now showing our students a whole new world of technology, but are they really getting the purpose of it? Do I think our kids learn better with technology? On any given day that response always changes for me. Some days I'd like to wipe out what we have at our finger tips and make the students learn how our parents did. Other days, I'm so intrigued at what my students can do with technology. Overall, I think it's effective, how it's applied and used on a daily basis puts me on the fence.
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