Reflection Time Again!

My personal theory of learning remains the same-- a compilation of many theories working together to meet students’ needs. I have certainly added more information to my ideas about learning and remembered the “why” behind some of the things I thought I had just been doing naturally, such as positive reinforcement as a behaviorist trait.

One strategy I will employ more now in my language arts classes is using non-linguistic representations for definitions or making story boards to show comprehension. I used many pictures in my French lessons, but failed to see the value in English classes. What seemed like overkill to me will now be another chance for my students to make a visual connection with a word or concept. I will use voice thread as one of the major conveyors of non-linguistic communication. Students struggling to find a writing topic can look at a thread, either with or without sound, to spark their imaginations. Vocabulary can be reviewed by watching various student generated voice threads. I will also be using sites for mind mapping to give my students that visual aide to organizing material. I can see both voice thread and concept mapping as tools I will use as instructional, but will also assign to the class as learning tools that lend themselves easily to cooperative work.

For the long term, I think an overall goal will be to put more thought in to using technology as a learning tool rather than instructional. Students can get a tremendous benefit from opportunities to create. Although I use cooperative learning quite frequently, I do see the additional step of letting the group teach others as a possibility I have missed. It is obvious now that group members can all contribute to a voice thread or wiki from their home computers or one in our media center. I have already planned to add a technology project to three of my units next year: a voice thread or podcast book talk; a “Christmas Carol” wiki; and a career research blog.

Another goal is inspired by Dr. Pickering’s emphasis on students’ need for “explicit guidance” before independent practice. Although I do model most assignments for my classes by sharing the first paragraph or stanza I wrote, I sometimes skip giving the guidance of how to prewrite. The graphic organizers online will be a great help with this, as will the comparison process of identifying similarities and differences to classify things, like different types of writing. I can model my meta-cognitive process during prewriting with a voice thread or even take them through a virtual field trip of a poet going through this process. Technology makes taking these extra steps very easy on teachers and engaging to the students.

My Voicethread

http://voicethread.com/share/1191235/

Connectivism and Social Learning in Practice

Cooperative learning has been around all of the sixteen years I have taught and has stood strong as other trends came and went. I have used partners and groups of four on a daily basis in my French classes, and now try to incorporate grouping in language arts. The grouping itself is crucial, as recommendations include: using ability based sparingly; using base, formal and informal grouping; and keeping the size manageable (Pitler, 139-140). I like Ms. Ortiz's rubrics included in Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works for holding every participant accountable for their part in the task and letting them be the more knowledgeable other for one part. Discussing, teaching, hearing others, putting it all together validates the whole learning experience for the group as they are socially interacting to construct or solve something like a webquest or group project. On a smaller scale, breaking down long readings and using the jigsaw method Dr. Orey spoke of in the video also gives students the chance to specialize in one part and inform the others in the group. As George Siemens pointed out, with our information abundance and incredible networks, learners of today will have to work cooperatively with groups spread across the globe. Networking will be the best way to learn and continue to grow on the job.

Included in the social learning model, George Siemens spoke of the incredible tools we have now in visualization. The only interactive game I have used is to post the website for Admongo.com when we were studying propaganda. Students enjoyed jumping around and finding the questions and I even saw a few going to the site during free time on the computer. I know there is much more in this realm of virtual field trips and opportunities to connect with others using Skype, Delicious, and wikis. Some of the tools I have used for personal networking can certainly be brought in to the classroom to allow the social aspect of learning to cement the connections we make with our environment, the people in it, and our discoveries.

Behaviorism in Practice

Behaviorism in Practice
As I read the text I began to see behaviorism as a sort of lens we can look through for many aspects of classroom interactions. Positive reinforcement will never go out of practice with me. Although behaviorism may sound like an inhuman conditioning process there is much to the theory that applies to today's digital learners with their diverse needs and levels of competency.

The projects discussed in "Reinforcing Effort" showed the behaviorist qualities of connecting effort with results, almost the way a prize (good grades) is offered for good behavior (studying and practicing) rather than for the learning itself. I don't mean to sound like I think that is a negative thing, but I see it being more applicable in math classes, and perhaps foreign language, than in other classes that require some synthesis or analysis of the material in order for it to become internalized. Of course the use of spreadsheets and data tracking is a very significant way to drive home the connection of effort and success, and technology makes it doable.

The multiple exposures advocated in "Homework and Practice" also sound like the drill and shaping of behaviorism. The instant feed back given with these programs is necessary with the behaviorist schema of repeated practice to solidify a routine. The required "focused practice" of behaviorism can be aided by the word processing applications of having research tools right at hand, as well as thesaurus, dictionary, and other tools that might lead leaners away from their focal point.

However, these methods were not generated to "train" students in a behaviorist manner, they are based on brain research findings that repetitions make information more easily accessible once the neural path has been established and strengthened. But elements of behaviorism can be seen in many unplanned aspects of a school day as we model, communicate expectations, provide practice and reward. The technology used for tutorials and individualized homework may have been created for remediation, but in the hands of a teacher who differentiates in her classroom, this technology is not limited to the drill and kill sequence people associate with behaviorism. Any tool is only as useful as its user allows it to be.

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

Technology Demographic Podcast

Information about my students' accessibility and preferences in technology was compiled through surveys and four oral interviews. Visit this site to hear the results which include parts of the interviews.

http://podcastmachine.com/podcasts/4030/episodes/18002#SlideFrame_2

Time to reflect

The first question we addressed in this course made me rethink and revamp the way I use technology in my classroom, because upon reflection I realized that much of what I was doing was simply using technology to complete the same tasks in a different way. By practicing many of the programs, such as wikis and podcasts, I now feel comfortable enough to use them to broaden assignments for my students. I will still need to get to know the programs better before I use them so I can trouble shoot for students, but I also feel sure there will be students who can help me in that role. While not necessarily “digital natives,” students do seem to have an uncanny way of fearlessly figuring out any technological problem facing them.

I plan to continue expanding my knowledge of technology integration by completing my Walden course work and working closely with the media specialists at my school. We have an on-site trainer for Smart Board who can answer questions as I play with that technology to get the most out of its interactive features. Our librarian/media specialist is always happy to create lessons to fit our topic while also addressing how to evaluate websites and media sources for the best information. I feel my commitment to “modernizing” lesson plans I inherited will result in increasing student achievement by using technology to keep them involved, tailor assignments to their various skills and levels, and to appeal to the knowledge they already have while expanding their awareness of the role technology plays in their future.

My goals for my classroom environment are to help my students become more risk taking independent learners and for me to do the legwork necessary to be more of a facilitator. Our single gender program emphasizes how much boys like to have choices with assignments and I believe technology makes that easier to accomplish. Thus, my first aim at students’ achieving independence is to make the technology available to them. I actually started on this today when I saw several computers that had been donated to our school. I asked the TI if I could have two of them to fill my available spots and have five desk top computers. The next step there will be to get programs such as Audacity, Smart Board Notebook, and Photo Story on them. Finally, to give students more freedom, I will have to find ways to “work with” our school filter. When we find good sites we just have to ask permission to let them pass and then they can be added to the acceptable list. This leads in to my second goal of making my lessons more of a quest for my students than for me to just ladle out the information. This is definitely a long term goal as I have only taught this curriculum for one year. I plan to spend time over the summer and as I teach next year figuring out ways to let my students do more inferrencing, predicting, finding and sorting of information than they do now. These skills will help them to become critical thinkers and prepare them better for the digital workplace they will face.

Blogging movie reviews

My seventh grade language arts students are currently writing movie reviews, while addressing the concepts of bias and persuasive words. As I looked for reviews for them to read I noticed that many movie websites now have a blog attached for viewers to add their own comments to the critics' reviews. I would like to have my students include part of their review on a blog and then interact with others as they receive comments. This would enhance our goal of publishing their work--making it viewable to others--by letting them see and respond to the people who have viewed and commented on their original review. This would also be a good opportunity for them to use more persuasive techniques in their writing as they try to convince people with a different opinion from theirs.