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.