Voice thread- student motivation

http://voicethread.com/share/898409/

Connectivism and Social Learning in Practice

My desks are organized in sets of four to allow for group activities. Within each group, the students have a specific role: resource representative, scribe, manager, presenter. When assigning seats, I use a mixed ability but common interest approach. Since class sizes have been increased to thirty, I do have a group of two that I will use sometimes for higher or lower level learners. By having my students used to sitting in groups, it forms a sense of consistency and a sense of camaraderie among the children. This method makes classroom management much easier because the manager is the discussion facilitator and group mediator while the resource representative is in charge of gathering, returning as well as monitoring the use of any classroom materials. Presenters share with the class the conclusions their group has drawn, and the scribe writes all needed data during labs. The students know what their role is, what is expected of them and how to effectively complete their task.

Our textbook mentions the use of positive interdependence (p. 140) which I use during my labs. Since the scribe is the only one writing down data, the entire group gets the grade from the paper that the scribe turns in. This approach creates less papers for me to grade, as well as a sense of importance for teamwork. Overall, I love my use of group assignments because it promotes accountability, interpersonal skills, and promotive interaction.

In our resources from this week, I found several useful tools in order to integrate technology in my classroom, while still holding true to my group-based class. My favorite tool I discovered is the JASON project (www.jasonproject.org). Since I am a science teacher, this resource is highly useful for allowing students to complete online labs and explore other areas of scientific study.

Constructivism in practice

During Dr. Orey's presentation, constructivism was defined as "a theory of knowledge stating that each individual actively constructs his/her own meaning" while constructionism was explained as "a theory of learning that states people learn best when they build an external artifact of something they can share with others" (2009). While I agree with his statement that constructionism is more relevant to teachers in the classroom, I do also believe that it is vital for educators to be familiar with constructivism and how it can be applied. Inquiry learning is the first thing that comes to my mind when I read the above meaning of constructivism. Students who are engaged in order to discover a concept requires them to actively construct his/her own meaning. Constructionism, however, I think is not necessarily the answer one hundred percent of the time. Some students thrive more with dialogue and would prefer to talk out a solution rather than create an artifact. The truth of education is, though, that we must have some sort of proof that the students know the information. The easiest way to do this is to have the students create the artifacts themselves, but there may be other ways to achieve the same result. For students who prefer dialogue, the students could record themselves explaining a concept and thus have an audio file as their artifact. There are many ways to use technology to a student's advantage, and I think some educators try to make things too difficult and fancy, thus creating a sense of anxiety when students use technology in learning.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Bridging learning theory, instruction, and technology. Baltimore: Author.

Behaviorist learning theory

"Not all students realize the importance of believing in effort" (Pitler et al, 2007, p. 155). The authors of this book show the ways that a teacher can demonstrate expectations and collect and interpret data on students' effort. By the educator providing feedback on assignments/behaviors, the students are receiving a form of operant conditioning to either reinforce or redirect a student's effort.

I have my students draw diagrams of scientific concepts and I always tell them that I grade on effort. I know what a child's best work looks like and I grade accordingly to his/her effort on the assignment. For instance, a student who reproduces a diagram exactly will not get full credit if turning in a stick person. I am specific on ways that students could put forth more effort on the assignment and students are reinforced when doing well by getting a high grade on the assignment. I do not, however, find the need to graph and calculate the percentages of effort put forth by the students. It seems like a large waste of time that does not directly benefit the students.

The overall theme of this week's lesson can be summarized as teacher commentary. When it comes to homework and practice, "If homework is assigned, it should be commented upon" (Pitler et al, 2007, p. 187). This also can be considered as part of operant conditioning depending on the comments made by the teacher.

It seems like common sense to provide feedback for a child on every assignment; however, a trend that I see many times is no comment on a paper that received a perfect score. These students should be receiving positive reinforcement for their excellent work. It does take more time when grading papers, but I find that the students care more about assignments because they want to receive a positive note from me. Also, when writing commentary, it is important to be specific on what the child needs to improve or did well. For instance, a teacher could write "needs more effort" but the child does not know which aspect of the assignment needed more. Or instead of "good job" an educator should tell the student specifically what s/he did well.

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

Reflection

This course has given me more confidence in using technology in my classroom. I am still hesitant in using a blog since I cannot monitor postings for inappropriate material. I am excited at the idea of using webcasts and have found several I would like to use this year, but I struggle with finding time to complete them with the ever growing subject demands. I am still growing towards being comfortable trusting my students' learning to more technology driven modes, but it is a process and I am making conscious efforts to reach this goal. I am excited to begin my next course so that I might learn more ways in which I can effectively teach my students through various technologies. One goal I set for myself when entering this course was to make a class website, which I have already begun (scmsearthscience.weebly.com). It is still a work in progress, but I am surprised at how easy it is to modify and the extent of applications I can use with it. Another goal of mine was to get at least one classroom computer so that I could send students to remediation or extension websites as necessary. Though this has not been accomplished yet, I have been promised a computer to be in my room in the coming week. My system is severely lacking in working technology and it is an almost miracle that I am getting this computer. I have been asking constantly for over a year and even offered to donate a system, but was told, "No." Before beginning my master's program, I had a private meeting with our superintendent, and I asked him how I would be able to use my degree to it's fullest if I do not have the equipment needed. Unfortunately, budget cuts have left updating technology as a last priority, and I will just have to be creative with what I have. Of course, I would love to have multiple classroom computers for my students, but I will use it as a station in a rotation for the time being until something becomes available.

Student profile on daily use of technology

Part one:
http://podcastmachine.com/podcasts/2410/episodes/10564/media_files/28395/download/13/file_320_240.wmv

Part two:
http://podcastmachine.com/podcasts/2410/episodes/10565/media_files/28399/download/3/file_128kb.mp3

Part three:
http://podcastmachine.com/podcasts/2410/episodes/10567/media_files/28401/download/13/file_320_240.wmv

Partnership for 21st Century Skills

http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/ This site has been listed on the American Association of School Librarians' top 25 educational websites list, and I can understand why. There are articles including implications and strategies for cross-curricula education including technology as well as links for state initiatives, events, resources and frameworks. I enjoyed visiting the links under "professional development affiliates" especially the blackboard.com site. I am planning on spending a couple of hours reading through the sites and writing the appropriate letters to request resources. I like the idea of including life and career skills into the framework and could not find anything that I disagreed with in the 21st century overview. My students will benefit from what this organization is doing through enhancing professional development opportunities and emphasizing technology in instruction as well as including the states in the program.

Blogs in the classroom

Honestly, I hesitate using blogs in the classroom. I teach sixth grade students and we have had issues in the past with students using inappropriate language and even threatening other people online. Is there a blog site that blocks certain words and/or phrases and will not allow them to be posted? I could of course make it so that I have to approve the blog before it is posted, but I am just looking for a short cut if it is out there.

Because I introduce groups of students to middle school, it is also my duty to teach them some increased personal responsibility. I think it would be ideal to have a class blog where students can ask each other for help on homework assignments- of course I will monitor and post as needed- because they need to learn how to ask others for help and a peer is much less scary than a teacher.

Another possible use for blogs includes project presentations. Students may research a topic and post their findings then leave questions for their peers who must then find the answers.

I have heard of some blog sites already set up for students across the world to chat about different content areas, but I am still unclear on who monitors those. How does it not become a purely social atmosphere?

Also, about 96% of my student population is considered economically disadvantaged. Very few have computers at home and even less have internet. The simple logistics of having time for my students to use the limited computers for our school just makes the whole idea a bit daunting. I am going to look into some grants for more computers for my school (my teacher computer is from the 80s and most in our computer labs don't work) but until that point I will come up with something. Perhaps tag-team with the other sixth grade science teacher and do a stations activity in which one station some kids are at the computers. We shall see. Any ideas? I have one class with 31 students and I would estimate that maybe 15 computers in our lab work. Partners could work, but I would prefer for it to be an ongoing thing. This is definitely something I'm going to have to think about.

I don't mean to sound like a Negative Nancy. I love my students, I love my demographics, I love my other teachers and I make the best of what is available. I am just being realistic. In an ideal setting I would create a class website, split my students into groups and create a link for each unit under which students must discuss certain prompts and respond to each other- very similar to our discussions in class.

First blog

I have never blogged before and I am quite nervous that I am doing something wrong. I am a bit ashamed of my ignorance in this area since I am only 23 and grew up in a family centered around technology. My father sheltered me from blog sites due to the potential of predators on the internet. I am old enough now to take the responsibility to learn how to professionally blog in order to further my own education. Any suggestions or comments are welcome.