Final Blog Post

Overall, my theory of learning has not really changed as a result of this course. I think that students learn through experiences and socially connecting with other students to discuss what they are learning about. They construct their knowledge through hands on engaging experiences, and can scaffold what they learned to their own lives by being able to work with other students. Learning happens when students can practice explaining, breaking down, and questioning what they have learned.

The most engaging tool that I used during this course was VoiceThread. I would like to make presentations on VoiceThread and give my first graders the chance to record their thoughts. With my class, it is hard for them to even understand what is being said and come up with a related comment because most of them don’t have a strong grasp of the English Language. Being able to use pictures and video with VoiceThread would help them to connect to the material. I would like to share the completed VoiceThread with the class after everyone has participated. I could even use it for sight words and have the word show as the image, my voice saying it, then each student could comment by using the word in a sentence.

Another tool that I would like to use is Kidspiration, which is a webbing tool. I have mentioned in many discussion boards and applications that I plan to use this tool more because it is very user friendly, which is important for young children that are still learning how to use a computer. The webbing tools can be used for any subject, and the practice of breaking the idea down into clear concepts is important as well.

One long term goal that I have is to explore and integrate more technology tools that are geared towards younger children. The application of the ideas in this course are very easy for high school and middle school students, but to adapt a program like VoiceThread to six and seven year olds is very challenging and requires a lot of creativity. I would like to devote time to seeking out more tools and developing ways to introduce them to my students so that they can use them independently in a meaningful way.

Another goal that I have is to create a year long calendar for the sequence of technology that the students are using as the year goes on. I want to think about what programs I want to introduce first, Microsoft Word, Kidspiration, Internet Explorer, and so on. Would working with Word first build the typing skills that could help with Internet explorer? Which programs fit best with each unit?

I’m looking forward to moving on with these goals and new tools in mind to plan more meaningful learning experiences for my students!

VoiceThread

http://voicethread.com/share/785220/

Ay my school, we are not allowed to retain students for any reason. Some have excessive absences, have spent less than half of the year in school, or have academic or social problems.

Connecting the Dots

The connections in "connectivism" refer to the connection between what students see modeled and what they can create and understand on their own. The model might be the teacher, a parent, or another student. That connection between seeing and discussion with others to explaining and doing independently carries through all levels of education and is highly effective because humans are social beings.

I've noticed that the most reluctant student to speak in front of the class can be the most expressive during a "pair share" with another student. I try to transition my children from the "I do, you watch" to "I help, you do", to "You do, I watch", especially in the area of writing. In college, I was always told not to model, because then the children would abandon creativity and just make what I made. But I've found that in this age of point and click visual learners, some students will literally sit and do nothing before they start working if they can't understand what something is "supposed" to look like. Also, I teach in a very impoverished neighborhood where most parents don't speak English, and for most students, they don't know what I'm talking about unless I can model and show them what to do. Sometimes it seems like individuality is a luxury when working as a team and showing examples yields much better results. Also, culturally,, my students are more comfortable working with another child because they come from large families and a large part of their identity seems to be how they interact with others.

In "Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works" the authors list a few ways to integrate cooperative learning experiences with technology, such as "multimedia projects" and having pen pals over the internet. (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski, 2007). I would love suggestions on how I could incorporate more group work with technology, but I am honestly stumped. I was thinking they could work together to make some kind of video using the Flipcam, but all that they would be able to do is film it, I would have to do with editing with or for them. Do you think that would be worthwhile? We've used the Flipcam to make a few "tutorials" for Literacy Stations, does that fall under this umbrella? Thanks in advance for your feedback.

Also, on a side note, I got engaged on Thanksgiving!

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

Constructivism and Technology

Constructivism and "generating hypotheses" go hand in hand when it comes to helping children learn. (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski, 2007). Constructivist theory states that people learn through "inquiry-based learning and social interaction". (Duffy, McDonald, 2008). Creating a hypothesis is the first step of the constructive learning process, and being able to communicate that to others is very important. In first grade, students develop their oral language skills, and just being able to put a "hypothesis" or idea into words is important. Working socially with others to talk about their ideas is constructivist theory also, because they are building on what they know with a partner or group.

Spreadsheet software like Microsoft Excel, as noted in the Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works, provide students with tools to test their hypotheses through entering data and using various functions such as graphing, to see the results. For first grade, we use the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives (http://nlvm.usu.edu/) to make graphs individually or on the Smartboard to test hypotheses. We start with general questions, like what is your favorite special (P.E., Art, etc.) and then move into using the graphs to test hypotheses like "A coin will land on heads and tails about the same number of times".

Other data collection tools help students amass data in an organized way so that they can analyze it sensibly and accurately. As the authors of Using Technology... note, it is important to provide students with examples and guidance in the different ways they can go about proving or disproving a hypothesis. I think it is important to note that students should not be discouraged from pursuing a hypothesis because the teacher knows it will be disproved. Sometimes finding out why something won't work is just as important as why it would work.

Web resources seem to abound for more advanced subjects like DNA and American History. However, for first graders, the best resource I have found is actually a Webkinz toy. A Webkinnz is a stuffed animal that comes with a passcode to the Webkinz website where a computer version of the toy lives. In first grade we learn about wants, needs, and what living things need to survive. Having that silly Webkinz was a great way to teach the children problem solving skills as well. They had to buy food for it so they could choose to play a game (there were several great math and problem solving games), or go searching for a gem in a mine that they could sell. They had to choose to buy it food instead of a fancy toy.

There was one problem solving game that was great. It was called "Home Before Dark". In the game, there was a map with the park along one side, and homes along the other. There were squares in the middle that had path sections, and student had to rotate the paths to get the pets home. At first, the students were just wildly tapping, thier internal hypothesis being, "If I hit as many as I can, eventually it will work". It didn't work. They started yelling at each other to stop tapping the squares and look at the paths. I would like to find more resources like this that involve our curriculum as well.

Resources:

Lever-Duffy, J. & McDonald, J. (2008). Theoretical Foundations (Laureate Education, Inc., custom ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

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

Cognitive Learning and Technology

Cognitive Theory and Instructional Technology

Cognitive theory centers on the idea that students need to be introduced to information, manipulate it mentally, and then store it to learn. Students need to understand information in their own way and be able to explain it in the context of their life. Activating prior knowledge and connecting the to material are key to learning.

Micheal Orey writes in regard to using technology as a cognitive tool, “students learn “with” as opposed to “from” computers”. (Orey, 2001). The computer is a malleable tool that is as sophisticated or simple as the questions the user asks as opposed to a teaching machine that just tells information in the same way to each student. One great way that Orey describes a student learning with technology rather than from it is by creating a virtual field trip of a journey around the world. This is great example of cognitive learning because the student is combining interests and experience from his life with information made available by technology.

In Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works, the authors state that “the instruction strategy cues, questions, and advance organizers focuses on enhancing students ability to retrieve, use, and organize information about a topic”. (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski, 2007) Being able to recall and organize information about a topic is crucial from a cognitivist perspective. With my first grade class, I use an organizer called “Kidspiration” which is a tool that lets students create simple webs with pictures or words. For children this young, just helping them along to think deeper about a topic and add details to what they know is important. They have trouble connecting facts about what they are learning about and deciding what are the main facts, and what is most important. However, by working on Kidspiration webs which require one main point and also doing concept sorts on the Smartboard, the students do understand that when they hear facts, they need to connect them to the main topic and filter what is important and not important.

In terms of the strategy, “Summarizing and Note Taking” I know that summarizing is a key element for young children in reading comprehension and in science and social studies subject knowledge. One way that students summarize using technology in my classroom is by adding Clipart to stories that they type in Word. They have to decide what their story is all about and choose just one picture that “summarizes” their work. Also, working together on the Smartboard allows students to create a shared document with things that they know about a topic (class notetaking) and they can share with one another to connect the facts to personal life by having to explain them to another child in a way that they can understand. Students also get a chance to do projects at the end of the year that require them to choose a topic, take notes, type their findings, locate pictures on the computer, and put it all together on a poster.

In the future with first graders or with older children, I would like to see if they could use a Powerpoint presentation to summarize information that they have learned. By having to explain and synthesize the information into their own words, students are following the cognitive process of learning and will be storing the knowledge and the ability to organize thoughts. The strategies suggested by Pitler et al. correlate directly to the cognitive theories because they stress repetition or the material and the students to put things "in their own words".


Resources:

Lever-Duffy, J. & McDonald, J. (2008). Theoretical Foundations (Laureate Education, Inc., custom ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

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

Orey, M.(Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/

Praiseaholics?

Thanks for your comment, Douglas. I remember an interesting article I read in undergrad that focused on the negative consequences of positive praise. It argued that it took away the intrinsic value of completing a task and didn't foster task oriented learning. To those reading, what do you think? I know we can't help ourselves from saying "well done" or "good job", but should we try?

Behaviorist Theory and Instructional Practice

Behaviorist theory seems to be inherent in schools, whether purposefully or not. I think that behaviorist methods are great for classroom management because it correlates to real life. When people act inappropriately, they face consequences and so I think that consequences for inappropriate behavior in class make sense.

When it comes to academics, I think that behaviorism can be too black and white at times. In real life, how many questions have a "correct" or "incorrect" answer? When it comes to academic matters, I see in shades of gray. I think that with homework and practice work, the experience itself is what is valuable, not necessarily the outcome. I also don't think that students should be punished for not making academic progress. It creates shame about their abilities, and with the first graders I work with making school a positive place is priority #1 so that they can learn and feel comfortable. I prefer to assess students more informally and provide intervention in positive terms, rather than as a punishment for not meeting the standards. Young children generally like one on one time with the teacher and it makes intervention much more effective.

Also, I don't think that it's appropriate to single students out for good or bad academic behavior. Although my favorite way to reinforce good behavior is to compliment one child that is behaving, I think that the academic aspect is not in the child's control at that age, and therefore it isn't fair to reward or punish their performance. I always think of the child that doesn't meet standards because of a bad home life or limited English, and they will not make the standard no matter how hard they work. I don't think that it's fair for that child to never be able to get the rewards that other children get.

For those reading, I teach first grade at a Title I school with a 75% ESOL population. How is your view different based on the age and community that you teach to?