Reflection on my theory and more...

As I looked back at the theory I produced several weeks ago involving my views on learning and teaching, I realized that I haven't really changed it. I still follow more of a behaviorist view. I still base my teaching on what is best for my students to learn. I try to teach them using methods most rewarding to them. If that means that I involve more "hands on" activities, then so be it. However, after taking this class and learning about different ways to use technology in my classroom, I have perhaps learned a few things that will enhance my teaching and support my theory. I think that if I were to make any immediate changes to my teaching it would be to simply use more of it. I think one thing that would be helpful is to do a virtual field trip, even if that means doing it together using a projector. Since my school does not currently allow field trips due to the cost, this would be the best way for them to experience things. Another tool I might use is to make slide shows on Power point and maybe allow my students to take part in making one themselves. My students are very visual learners so I think that this would be helpful for them.

If I had to make two long-term goals for incorporating technology, it would be first to learn and master the technology pieces in my building such as a smart board and a Mimeo board. I think that these tools would be useful for me as a teacher and for my students to learn, but until I learn how to use them myself, they are useless to me. To accomplish this, I will seek help from one of my building's technologically savvy teachers and set aside a small amount of time once a month to learn from them. I will also make myself "play" with these tools at least once every two weeks to become more familiar with them. Another goal is to teach at least one lesson a month that involves my students (not me) using technology whether it be making a power point, blogging, concept mapping, etc. To do this, I will choose a certain week of each semester (for example, week 6) and plan a lesson that aligns with the pacing guide for that week. At the beginning of the semester I will either develop a new lesson plan or modify an existing one. I think that the more I have my students use technology, the more proficient they will be at it, thus preparing them for our technology-filled world.

Voice Thread

Here is the link to my voice thread: voicethread.com/share/785991

Cooperative Learning.

I think that cooperative learning is a great thing. I think that by working with one another, our students learn a lot more than the curriculum. One way our students can do this is by constructing a website with one another. They can be given a topic and need to work together create an informative website that can be viewed by others in the class. I think that this is a great way to collaborate and also showcase work.

Constructionism in the classroom

This week, we learned about constructionism and what that means for the classroom. From what I understand, constructionism involves learning through creating a project of some type. I think that one way to support this is by making rubrics. I like the idea of rubrics because it clearly outlines what is expected. This way, if there is ever a question of the grades, the teacher can simply refer to the rubric and that's that. I think that if you expect your students to learn by creating something, it might be best to give them a clear list of what you expect. Has anyone used rubrics in your classroom? Has it had a positive or negative impact on your teaching?

Tools used to support the cognitive learning approach

The cognitive approach is all about how information enters the brain, is stored, and is used. In order to support this, their are several different tools that can be used. I think that it is a great idea to create advance organizers. This can easily be created on a word document. One type of advance organizers is a graphic organizer which can be represented as a table, chart, or artistic work. I think that this supports the cognitive approach by giving a clear way for information to enter the brain. I am a visual learner and so are many of my students so seeing some sort or chart or graph is very helpful.

Strategies to Incorporate the Behaviorist Learning Theory in the Classroom

For this week, I am going to talk about a strategy that I learned about. According to Dr. Michael Orey in a video I watched, the behaviorist theory involves either reinforcing a desired behavior or punishing a negative behavior. One way that this could be incorporated in a classroom is to use an online tutorial. A tutorial is a program on a computer that gives a small piece of information and asks you a question (usually multiple choice). If you get the answer correct, you get rewarded with a screen that says either "Correct!" or "You're right!" or some other positively reinforcing statement. If you are wrong, you get a screen that pretty much states the opposite. My district requires staff to do training for things like fire safety and communicable diseases by using tutorials. I would love to find some tutorials to reinforce learning topics for my students. I think that they would get a lot out of them.

References:
Orey, M. (2009) "Behaviorist Learning Theory." (video resource)

Hello again!

If anyone has been following my blog, I apologize for not submitting a posting for a couple months. I have to admit, I created this blog to fulfill a requirement for a class I am taking and now that I have to post to a blog for another course, I'm back. I hope to get into the swing of using this even when I do not have to.

For those of you who are subscribers of my blog for our current course, welcome. I hope to be getting comments from you soon!