Monday, September 23, 2013
Blog Post #6
Students learn and gain understanding of the material being taught if teachers ask questions. It not only benefits the students, but also allows the teacher to see if the students are learning the material efficiently while they are teaching the lesson.
There are certain aspects teachers should think about when asking a question to students. It is important for teachers to ask questions during the lesson and not wait until the end of class. Students tend to tune the teacher out when it is getting close to dismissal. Teachers do not need to ask more than one question at once. The students need to be thinking and elaborating on one question at a time, to get the full learning benefit from the question. Teachers need to follow a "yes or no" question with another question. This will allow the students to provide examples or further discuss the "yes or no" answer from another student.
Teachers need to avoid asking “leading questions” and ask “open” questions to students. A leading question is a question in which can only be answered with one response. It does not allow the students to think and brainstorm on the answer. There are many reasons why teachers should ask “open” questions. These types of questions can teach a student to clarify a vague comment, prompt students to explore attitudes, values, or feelings, see a concept from another perspective, and predict possible outcomes.
When teachers plan lessons for a class session, they need to include notes for when they need to pause and ask a question to the class. This will make the class more interactive, and the students will learn while listening to the other students answers the questions. It is a great way for teachers to see if their students understand or misunderstand the material that is being taught throughout the lesson.
There are certain aspects teachers should think about when asking a question to students. It is important for teachers to ask questions during the lesson and not wait until the end of class. Students tend to tune the teacher out when it is getting close to dismissal. Teachers do not need to ask more than one question at once. The students need to be thinking and elaborating on one question at a time, to get the full learning benefit from the question. Teachers need to follow a "yes or no" question with another question. This will allow the students to provide examples or further discuss the "yes or no" answer from another student.
When teachers plan lessons for a class session, they need to include notes for when they need to pause and ask a question to the class. This will make the class more interactive, and the students will learn while listening to the other students answers the questions. It is a great way for teachers to see if their students understand or misunderstand the material that is being taught throughout the lesson.
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Blog Post #4
After listening to this adorable podcast made by the first grade students, I now get a sense of what it is like to make a podcast. The children expressed a sense of excitement in their voice while reading their segment in the audio recording. The change in their voices and the sound effects helped the listener know what was happening in the audio segment.
I will definitely use sound effects and change the tone of my voice when completing my podcast assignment.
After reading and listening to this post, I now realize the value of podcasting for children. The students learned the sounds of the Hebrew words when doing this exercise of recording the story of Purim. The children also showed off their creativity with their parents, which will motivate them to be more imaginative and resourceful.
Langwitches' Blog post Podcasting with First Grade is about a class of first graders who were reading Vacation under the Volcano by Mary Pope Osborne which is from the Magic Tree House Series.
What did the students learn from this lesson? They learned many skills such as:
- listening
- speaking
- presenting
- comprehension
- storytelling
- performance
- voice acting
- oral fluency
- media
- technology
This blog post showed me that students can learn many skills from podcasting. I never realized how out of date some of the classrooms are that I have seen lately. I can not wait to have a classroom of my own, and use technology to its fullest to get students involved with collaborating and communicating with one another.
Monday, September 9, 2013
Thursday, September 5, 2013
Blog Post #3
When Dr. Strange first told us we were going to edit our group member’s work, I got anxious. I do not like to tell someone their work is wrong or give them negative feedback. After reading Paige Ellis' Blog Assignment # 12, watching the videos on peer editing, and the slide show on peer edit with perfection, I understand how to correct some ones writing in a pleasant way to help my classmates. Peer editing is very important in a classroom because not only are you helping your classmates, but also reminding yourself what you need to do in your own post.
There are three steps that the video offers to take when editing your peer’s work. My favorite is to always starting your edit with a compliment. This is such a great idea because it sets the mood of your comment that you are not trying to be negative. Suggesting how to make the post better by word choose, detail and organization is a great way to show someone how to better their work for their next post. Correcting your peers work is the final step to peer editing. These are things such as punctuation and grammar. I do agree with Paige in that some things might be embarrassing to your peers, and should be sent privately in an e-mail. Peer editing is very important, so you will not continue to make mistakes time after time.
C4T #1 & Post #2
C4T#1 comment 1
Mary Worrell is an English teacher. Mary's post Building Experiences to Mine was about how teachers should know a lot about the subject they teach. She, for example, went without reading and writing, and she felt that if she was going to be an excellent teacher in reading and writing she needs to do both of those things. She got caught up in teaching, and she was only doing school work. She then realized she needed to be reading and writing to be an inspiration to her students. She completed four books within a couple of weeks, and said she felt a lot better. She is also going to start writing in the summer.
I commented on this post about how I could not agree with her more. I have the same opinion as her about some college professors. Several of them are just teaching facts out of a book, when you can tell they have no idea what they are teaching. I agree that a teacher not only should have practiced or learned a lot about what they are teaching, but also should love the subject they are teaching.
I am in school to be an elementary teacher, and I know that an elementary teacher, teaches all subjects and might not be as good at one subject compared to the other. I think they need to have some experience in all of the subjects, and also learn to love teaching them.
After reading Mary’s post, I am looking forward to being a teacher and whatever subjects I teach, I will make sure that I know and practice what I am going to be teaching my students. I do not want to be one of the boring teachers teaching just facts.
C4T#1 comment 2
In Mary's post When Boundaries don't protect, she writes about the first time she went into the first class she was teaching. She was always told to wear high heels because she was shorter then most of her students, and they would take advantage of her if they were taller. She thought she should be strict and put on a different persona. She recognized that the students looked past that and realized that she should be more of herself. She eventually shared some of her personal life with her students.
I commented on her post, "My biggest fear of when I become a teacher is knowing how close I should get to my students. I always thought that comes with experience." After reading Mary's post, I realize that it does come with experience, but I am not going to put my guard up as much when I first start teaching. I probably would have done the same thing she did when I went into my first class before reading her post. This was a great and inspirational post.
Mary Worrell is an English teacher. Mary's post Building Experiences to Mine was about how teachers should know a lot about the subject they teach. She, for example, went without reading and writing, and she felt that if she was going to be an excellent teacher in reading and writing she needs to do both of those things. She got caught up in teaching, and she was only doing school work. She then realized she needed to be reading and writing to be an inspiration to her students. She completed four books within a couple of weeks, and said she felt a lot better. She is also going to start writing in the summer.
I commented on this post about how I could not agree with her more. I have the same opinion as her about some college professors. Several of them are just teaching facts out of a book, when you can tell they have no idea what they are teaching. I agree that a teacher not only should have practiced or learned a lot about what they are teaching, but also should love the subject they are teaching.
I am in school to be an elementary teacher, and I know that an elementary teacher, teaches all subjects and might not be as good at one subject compared to the other. I think they need to have some experience in all of the subjects, and also learn to love teaching them.
After reading Mary’s post, I am looking forward to being a teacher and whatever subjects I teach, I will make sure that I know and practice what I am going to be teaching my students. I do not want to be one of the boring teachers teaching just facts.
C4T#1 comment 2
In Mary's post When Boundaries don't protect, she writes about the first time she went into the first class she was teaching. She was always told to wear high heels because she was shorter then most of her students, and they would take advantage of her if they were taller. She thought she should be strict and put on a different persona. She recognized that the students looked past that and realized that she should be more of herself. She eventually shared some of her personal life with her students.
I commented on her post, "My biggest fear of when I become a teacher is knowing how close I should get to my students. I always thought that comes with experience." After reading Mary's post, I realize that it does come with experience, but I am not going to put my guard up as much when I first start teaching. I probably would have done the same thing she did when I went into my first class before reading her post. This was a great and inspirational post.
Sunday, September 1, 2013
Blog Post #2
Professor Dancealot:
written by Jamie Baxter, Savannah Rhodes, and Thomas Leytham
Professor Dancealot is a humorous video posted on youtube by Michael Johnson that shows how much can go wrong when a course's goals, assessments, and learning activities aren't aligned. Professor Dancealot, who is in charge of teaching a social dancing class, uses powerpoints to teach his students how to dance. The students are expected to sit there quietly and take notes without participating. As you can imagine, it'd be pretty hard to learn a dance without any hands on practice or experience! When it's time to take the final exam, everyone is confused and doesn't even know where to begin, even though they tried to prepare with the notes they were given.
We believe this video shows how important it is to teach students in a way that they feel involved. It’s important to use class time as an opportunity to really learn, and soak in material instead of just sitting there taking notes. That definitely has its place, but if it’s possible we feel like it’s important to come up with ways to make students feel involved. When you let students practice something in a hands on kind of way, they really pick up information and remember it.
Along with that, it’s also important to make sure that all of the class materials line up with what is expected from students in the end. You can't expect someone who has never touched a computer before to be able to write a blog post. They have to have practice and experience doing it. The same can be said about science experiments. It's likely that a student won't be able to learn from a science lab experiment just from having a teacher give them the steps through a PowerPoint. They need to try it themselves, make mistakes, and learn from them.
The video showing Professor Dancealot’s class shows what teachers are not supposed to be like. Students learn a lot better, especially in dance class, if they do the moves on their own and practice while the teacher is teaching.
Teaching in the 21st Century video by Kevin Roberts
written by Jamie Baxter
There are many things that I think about after watching the Roberts’ video. Where is teaching going to be in the 21st century? What does it mean to teach? The video got me thinking about what the schools are going to be like in just a few years.
When I was in elementary school, all teachers used to teach were chalkboards. Teachers in the 21st century will be able to use tablets and many different computer programs to aid in teaching their students. Students will be able to find any information at any time through the internet. There will be many different forms of technology in the classroom. Students will be able to communicate with one another through internet at any time of the day, which will make group projects more common. This will bring students together in the classroom, and not only will they learn from the teacher but from the other students as well.
Teachers teach their students skills and facts. In elementary school, teachers teach the students more facts then you would in high school. For example, students come to school in kindergarten and do not know what the alphabet is, so the teacher has to teach the students the letters of the alphabet and the sounds. Once they learn those then they use skills to put them together to form words.
The Robert’s video made me think about many different aspects of teaching, and also made me realize how different teaching is going to be in just a few years.
Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts:
written by Savannah Rhodes
Harness Your Students’ Digital Smarts is a video post from Edutopia about all of the cool things that Vicki Davis is doing in her classroom. She brings up the point that she thinks every child is capable of learning, but when you only use paper and pencils in the classroom only certain types of learners are going to succeed. Mrs. Davis is able to teach the same curriculum in all of her classes, but customizes the specifics based on her students’ individual interests. Using this method, Mrs. Davis teaches her students how to use new software, how to blog, and how to collaborate with their own classmates as well as other students from around the world.
Mrs. Davis allows her students to share their projects and assignments through a website called DigiTeen, which encourages them to communicate and start discussions with other students about the material. One unique thing about Mrs. Davis is that when she introduces a term that her students are unfamiliar with, she expects them to google it and find out! It's important for students to be able to figure out some things for themselves in this day and age, especially when so much technology is available right at our fingertips. Not only does she expect this from her students, but they are also responsible for teaching some of the lessons! When a student really understands and grasps a concept, they are allowed to get up in front of the class and teach their fellow classmates what they know. Mrs. Davis believes that this gives them the empowerment that they need to be confident their skills, and to keep striving to be self learners.
The Networked Student by Wendy Drexler
written by Thomas Leytham
The Networked Student is true story based on a student utilizing connectivity to learn. The idea behind this learning comes from the theory of connectivism. The video defines this as, “a theory that presumes that learning occurs as part of a social network of many diverse connections and ties, which is made possible through various tools and technology. The tools are not as important as the connections made possible by them.”
The teacher’s role changes slightly in connectivism. In this class, there is no text book and the teacher rarely lectures. Instead of teaching a subject, the teacher teaches the student how to learn on their own. This is done by teaching how to assess data and insure its’ credibility. The teacher also helps when the student is stuck or needs to be pointed in a different direction.
This particular student utilizes technologies to make a list of sources, subscribe to audio and video podcasts made by professors from elite colleges, use the internet to find other experts on the topic and asks them for information, and show what he has learned through blog posts. He then shares his organized research and threads with the world so that others may utilize his work.
There are quite a lot of good things provided by this video. However, I am not sure how I feel about them. The idea of connectivity can be wonderful. It is exciting to see students learning on their own, and having a surplus of knowledge to attain. But I am unsure if this learning should be used for all students. We all learn differently. Sometimes people need exact instruction and lectures. They shouldn’t always have to search for information.
In my opinion, it can possibly lead to two negative outcomes. One, it makes the students lazy and they don’t actually learn. Instead, they learn to tag sources and go to them whenever the information is required. Or two, the process become monotonous and the students lose intrigue in learning through this method.
I’m also fairly concerned with the teacher’s credibility. It requires little training in order to promote students learning in this manner. How is the teacher to know whether the student is actually learning correct information if they themselves can’t verify it? And even still, how could it be assured that the student is actually learning the material and not just regurgitating internet posts? And what if the student needs something hands on? Could this kind of teacher provide this to every student? I’m unsure of these lazy qualifications. We cannot allow a teacher to simply monitor, and not necessarily have knowledge. The public school system is already seen as baby sitters. I don’t think this would help much with their image.
Perhaps the teacher qualifications are overlooked because the students now have professors from elite colleges to “teach” them. I understand that it is fantastic to have the best professors in the world at your fingertips and the most new aged information. But what defines the best professors in the world? Do they have the most knowledge? Or do they have the most effective results? Could they teach elementary students, middle school students, or high school students? Who is to say that my AP English teacher was lesser than an English professor at Berkeley? And is new aged information better than the basics for all subjects? I can see the benefits to history, psychology, and literature. But would math, the sciences, and the arts be benefited in the same way? Is that even testable, and has it been tested?
I see Sugata Mitra’s ideas in connectivism, and though I find those to be exciting revelations, it could backfire if not handled properly. My fear is what would happen if we lost the internet for a week, a month, or a year? If we only teach in this method… we may find ourselves in trouble in the long run.
Overall the theory of connectivism has its’ benefits. The students are learning on their own, and can constantly be learning thanks to the internet. I’m excited to utilize these techniques. But I’m unsure whether this is the most effective for all students, all teachers, and all subjects.
written by Jamie Baxter, Savannah Rhodes, and Thomas Leytham
Professor Dancealot is a humorous video posted on youtube by Michael Johnson that shows how much can go wrong when a course's goals, assessments, and learning activities aren't aligned. Professor Dancealot, who is in charge of teaching a social dancing class, uses powerpoints to teach his students how to dance. The students are expected to sit there quietly and take notes without participating. As you can imagine, it'd be pretty hard to learn a dance without any hands on practice or experience! When it's time to take the final exam, everyone is confused and doesn't even know where to begin, even though they tried to prepare with the notes they were given.
We believe this video shows how important it is to teach students in a way that they feel involved. It’s important to use class time as an opportunity to really learn, and soak in material instead of just sitting there taking notes. That definitely has its place, but if it’s possible we feel like it’s important to come up with ways to make students feel involved. When you let students practice something in a hands on kind of way, they really pick up information and remember it.
Along with that, it’s also important to make sure that all of the class materials line up with what is expected from students in the end. You can't expect someone who has never touched a computer before to be able to write a blog post. They have to have practice and experience doing it. The same can be said about science experiments. It's likely that a student won't be able to learn from a science lab experiment just from having a teacher give them the steps through a PowerPoint. They need to try it themselves, make mistakes, and learn from them.
The video showing Professor Dancealot’s class shows what teachers are not supposed to be like. Students learn a lot better, especially in dance class, if they do the moves on their own and practice while the teacher is teaching.
Teaching in the 21st Century video by Kevin Roberts
written by Jamie Baxter
There are many things that I think about after watching the Roberts’ video. Where is teaching going to be in the 21st century? What does it mean to teach? The video got me thinking about what the schools are going to be like in just a few years.
When I was in elementary school, all teachers used to teach were chalkboards. Teachers in the 21st century will be able to use tablets and many different computer programs to aid in teaching their students. Students will be able to find any information at any time through the internet. There will be many different forms of technology in the classroom. Students will be able to communicate with one another through internet at any time of the day, which will make group projects more common. This will bring students together in the classroom, and not only will they learn from the teacher but from the other students as well.
Teachers teach their students skills and facts. In elementary school, teachers teach the students more facts then you would in high school. For example, students come to school in kindergarten and do not know what the alphabet is, so the teacher has to teach the students the letters of the alphabet and the sounds. Once they learn those then they use skills to put them together to form words.
The Robert’s video made me think about many different aspects of teaching, and also made me realize how different teaching is going to be in just a few years.
Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts:
written by Savannah Rhodes
Harness Your Students’ Digital Smarts is a video post from Edutopia about all of the cool things that Vicki Davis is doing in her classroom. She brings up the point that she thinks every child is capable of learning, but when you only use paper and pencils in the classroom only certain types of learners are going to succeed. Mrs. Davis is able to teach the same curriculum in all of her classes, but customizes the specifics based on her students’ individual interests. Using this method, Mrs. Davis teaches her students how to use new software, how to blog, and how to collaborate with their own classmates as well as other students from around the world.
Mrs. Davis allows her students to share their projects and assignments through a website called DigiTeen, which encourages them to communicate and start discussions with other students about the material. One unique thing about Mrs. Davis is that when she introduces a term that her students are unfamiliar with, she expects them to google it and find out! It's important for students to be able to figure out some things for themselves in this day and age, especially when so much technology is available right at our fingertips. Not only does she expect this from her students, but they are also responsible for teaching some of the lessons! When a student really understands and grasps a concept, they are allowed to get up in front of the class and teach their fellow classmates what they know. Mrs. Davis believes that this gives them the empowerment that they need to be confident their skills, and to keep striving to be self learners.
The Networked Student by Wendy Drexler
written by Thomas Leytham
The Networked Student is true story based on a student utilizing connectivity to learn. The idea behind this learning comes from the theory of connectivism. The video defines this as, “a theory that presumes that learning occurs as part of a social network of many diverse connections and ties, which is made possible through various tools and technology. The tools are not as important as the connections made possible by them.”
The teacher’s role changes slightly in connectivism. In this class, there is no text book and the teacher rarely lectures. Instead of teaching a subject, the teacher teaches the student how to learn on their own. This is done by teaching how to assess data and insure its’ credibility. The teacher also helps when the student is stuck or needs to be pointed in a different direction.
This particular student utilizes technologies to make a list of sources, subscribe to audio and video podcasts made by professors from elite colleges, use the internet to find other experts on the topic and asks them for information, and show what he has learned through blog posts. He then shares his organized research and threads with the world so that others may utilize his work.
There are quite a lot of good things provided by this video. However, I am not sure how I feel about them. The idea of connectivity can be wonderful. It is exciting to see students learning on their own, and having a surplus of knowledge to attain. But I am unsure if this learning should be used for all students. We all learn differently. Sometimes people need exact instruction and lectures. They shouldn’t always have to search for information.
In my opinion, it can possibly lead to two negative outcomes. One, it makes the students lazy and they don’t actually learn. Instead, they learn to tag sources and go to them whenever the information is required. Or two, the process become monotonous and the students lose intrigue in learning through this method.
I’m also fairly concerned with the teacher’s credibility. It requires little training in order to promote students learning in this manner. How is the teacher to know whether the student is actually learning correct information if they themselves can’t verify it? And even still, how could it be assured that the student is actually learning the material and not just regurgitating internet posts? And what if the student needs something hands on? Could this kind of teacher provide this to every student? I’m unsure of these lazy qualifications. We cannot allow a teacher to simply monitor, and not necessarily have knowledge. The public school system is already seen as baby sitters. I don’t think this would help much with their image.
Perhaps the teacher qualifications are overlooked because the students now have professors from elite colleges to “teach” them. I understand that it is fantastic to have the best professors in the world at your fingertips and the most new aged information. But what defines the best professors in the world? Do they have the most knowledge? Or do they have the most effective results? Could they teach elementary students, middle school students, or high school students? Who is to say that my AP English teacher was lesser than an English professor at Berkeley? And is new aged information better than the basics for all subjects? I can see the benefits to history, psychology, and literature. But would math, the sciences, and the arts be benefited in the same way? Is that even testable, and has it been tested?
I see Sugata Mitra’s ideas in connectivism, and though I find those to be exciting revelations, it could backfire if not handled properly. My fear is what would happen if we lost the internet for a week, a month, or a year? If we only teach in this method… we may find ourselves in trouble in the long run.
Overall the theory of connectivism has its’ benefits. The students are learning on their own, and can constantly be learning thanks to the internet. I’m excited to utilize these techniques. But I’m unsure whether this is the most effective for all students, all teachers, and all subjects.
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