The Art & Science of Teaching, Chapter 2: What will I do to help students effectively interact with knowledge?
Posted on: October 7, 2011
Simple question this time! I am going to guide my students and help them learn. As a teacher with many second language learners many strategies have been incorporated into my classroom for years. Below are strategies I have routinely used in my technology classroom are:
- Pictures and diagrams explaining what they have learned
- Providing students with questions that require elaboration and possibly an on-line investigation
- Chunking new information in small bits
- Making connections with previous knowledge
- Graphic organizers
- Interactive activities rather than “telling”
I have left one off my list since I am still developing activities in my classroom based on cooperative learning, no not group work but true cooperative learning. Earlier this year I attended a Kagan training, I have since had a chance to incorporate a few of their structures into my classroom, and the students love them. A structure is a procedure with rules on how students are to interact and share knowledge, develop ideas and possibly report a conclusion. I can know hear from many students instead of just asking one student a question and they have the opportunity to explain and elaborate their responses to each other as well as question. They are becoming THINKERS rather than parrots.
It is vital that all of my student’s knowledge building experiences support their learning goals, which means my goals and formative assessments must be developed before I begin the task of guiding my students down the new path of knowledge building. I guess I am like an architect; my blue prints (plans) must be clear before I can begin to construct knowledge within my students.
Do you have information to add, don’t be shy. Type away, we all learn by sharing.
As I begin to resurrect my blog after a year of inactivity, I begin on my quest to review a book by Robert J Marzano. I will be periodically looking at each one of Marzano’s design questions to improve my instructional abilities. I am looking forward to others providing input on this blog so we can grow as educators. I should also note that my school district will be evaluating my instructional abilities on the basis of these design questions and four other domains. One of which happens to be Domain 4: Collegiality and Professionalism, a blog seems to be a great place to develop collegiality with educators from all over the world to obtain new ideas beyond the walls of my school. Feel free to take part and share your thoughts so we may all grow as professionals.
Design Question 1:”What will I do to establish and communicate learning goals, track student progress and celebrate success?”
There are three basic elements that should be present in the classroom:
- Communicate learning goals to the students
- Tracking student progress using formative assessments and charting students progress on individual learning goals
- Celebrating success in all knowledge gained
All of these elements seem simple in theory, especially element number 1-communicating learning goals to the students. I have been posting learning goals or essential questions in my classroom for many years. I have discovered this element insures I the instructor stay on target and my students understand my expectations, allowing for improved success. These learning goals are also posted in the lesson for all second through fifth grade students in their learning management system account. My district utilizes Angel which is similar to Blackboard.
Tracking student progress seems easy to me, I can evaluate what how a student is progressing through observation or perhaps a formative assessment requiring the completion of tasks in the middle of a unit so I understand the progress of all learners. This information will also lead to targeted instruction and support for all students. But how will the students track their data and chart their learning? Please note I am a teacher with over seven hundred students, I see every student for forty-five minutes every six days. In an attempt to provide students with more information about their progress I have created rubrics that are posted on the wall and electronically in the Learning Management System, so they may self-assess their progress.
Now the last element is easy, as I teach elementary school it could be a sticker, hanging their work up for all to see or simply a word of praise. Perhaps the last option is most effective since I always receive a huge smile in return.
Has the chapter provided me with new knowledge? I would say no, it has reinforced my previous knowledge. It has caused me to think about formative assessments, how can I incorporate more checkpoints for learning in my lessons?
Please provide any insights you may have if you have read this book, or responses to my blog. I believe it is through professional sharing all educators will grow.
Resources:
Dodge,J (n.d.). What are Formative Assessments and Why should we use them? Retrieved October 2, 2o11 from Scholastic http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3751398
Marzano, Robert J. The Art and Science of Teaching. Alexandriam: ASCD.
Eyes Wide Open
Posted on: August 18, 2010
As I reflect on the changes that have occurred with in me I realize my eyes are open wider. I have a better understanding how of differentiated instruction and universal design for learning should be integrated into my classroom lessons. Do I need to throw everything out from the past? No, I just need to modify my lessons and incorporate new ideas that will engage my students utilizing technology. As I integrate technology in my lessons I need to insure that all components of my lesson support my learning objective, technology should not be integrated just to add technology.
Recently I have developed a lesson that will allow students to investigate how temperature affects how a variety of solids dissolve in water. The students will have multiple video clips to view in English and Spanish as well as complete a virtual lab and design real hands on experiment to test their knowledge. By making learning collaborative, authentic and multimodal, technology can create new learning opportunities (Lemke & Coughlin, 2009). As a culminating activity the students will create a final project documenting their new knowledge possibly through a video, PowerPoint, or web-page using Glogster, this final project will provide the students with an opportunity to learn twenty-first century skills and provide them with a chance to be creative.
As I look to the future I realize I need to alter many of my past lessons or possibly start with a new fresh approach, even with lessons that went well. I need to become a risk taker and not be afraid of new experiences that may fail, after all I have created lessons that did not go well before and I am sure they are in my future. . Thomas Edison said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work,” when asked about inventing the light bulb, so will I in designing new lessons. As I step into my new role as a risk taker, I hope to show my co-workers my success and guide them into joining me into becoming risk takers with a purpose. In order to accomplish this goal I will need to keep my eyes wide open and ready to learn.
References:
Lemke, C., & Coughlin, E. (2009). The change agents. Educational Leadership, 67(1), 54–59.
What follows is a video I prepared to share with my co-workers concerning our districts learning management system. The Collier County school district has utilized Angel Learning since 2007, initially this application was utilized in all new schools in the district. Currently Angel Learning is accessible to every student in the Collier County School System. Angel is also utilized for staff training especially in the area of technology. I have created a movie utilizing Windows Movie Maker concerning why my co-workers should incorporate Angel into their classroom usage. The video can be found by clicking on this link: Angel Learning and Education.
Resource Links:
Angel Learning Website
Collier County Public Schools:Accomplishing Many Different Objectives with a Single Solution
As I begin to reflect upon all the knowledge I have gained during a course I have just completed, “Reaching and Engaging All Learners Through Technology”, this course exposed me tot the concepts of Differentiated Instruction (DI) and Universal Design for Learning (UDL). The task before me is to reflect upon this new found knowledge and integrate it into my classroom utilizing technology. As I begin to accomplish this task a plan is formulating in my head, I need to move the plan from a mental image to a flexible image on paper, so perhaps I should use a pencil, so changes can be made on the fly to insure actively engaged students.
My first action of the year will be to use a survey to determine the student’s intelligence type and a survey to determine what type of technologies they have at home. In the past I have found out about a students home computing capabilities which has been informative. This information can guide who will need extra support at the beginning of the year in technology class. A few of the survey’s I will use are listed in the chart below:
| Tool | Resource | Information |
| Survey | What is my personnel Learning style? | Determine Multiple Intelligence typeàGraph is created, good for 3-5 |
| Discover Your Learning Style | Determine intelligence type ( Visual, auditory or kinesthetic)
Grade 2-3 |
|
| MI Indentified | Students can read about their intelligence type and traits. |
In thinking about surveys and initial content assessment I do wonder if the students will will become bored and not respond honestly, to solve this potential problem I will utilize my classroom response system (clickers) for some information and a computer survey for other information.
Currently my school has jumped on the RTI bandwagon that seems to be the new key term everyone is talking about, but after completing this course and being exposed to the concepts of universal design for learning and differentiated instruction I am convinced that effective teaching is what it should be called. As educators we are responsible for teaching our students, if they do not respond to our initial teaching strategies, then we need to change, that is simply what a good teacher does. As a teacher I need to provide different learning activities that include technology especially since I am the technology teacher, I need to monitor my students learning in progress, and I need to offer options for my students to show me what they know. I also believe I need to provide my students with assessments similar to the state standardized test they are expected pass each year, otherwise I am doing my students an injustice.
As I venture into next year I plan to utilize more lessons that offer more choices for students to choose how they wish to learn. Students will be offered video clips, musical raps, and books on line, audio books and bilingual materials as well as text to audio resources. I will also allow students to choice how they share their new knowledge with me, however I may require my students to use different methods for every other project, I do not want them to become stuck in a Power Point rut. All in all the year should be challenging for the students and me. We will grow and learn together.
Approximately eight weeks ago I began upon a GAME plan in my instructional practices, the idea was for me to state a goal, create an action plan, monitor my plan and evaluate my plan. This process can be seen in every aspect of our lives, although we usually do not write about it weekly. As I am thinking about what I have gained in completing this process, I am in the process of creating lessons that focus on NETS-S standards, previous to this I taught focused on teaching content standards in the technology lab, but I had not focused on the technology standards. I was in fact teaching technology standards, but it was not purposefully. I believe I now put more thought into integrating collaborative technology opportunities such as discussion groups, blogs and I am working on digital stories and voice threads. One thing to point out is that I am a technology teacher so technology is always present in my lessons but I think I am trying to incorporate Web 2.0 technologies as mush as I can and still follow my districts protocols for student communication on the web.
I think the most valuable aspect of most recent course at Walden University has been the importance an value of having my peers review lesson plans. In participating on a Wiki at http://masteringtechnologynoproblem.pbworks.com/ with 4 of my classmates I have discovered the value of feedback. My peers have given me wonderful ideas about future lessons and how to modify lessons I have created. My classmates viewed the lesson from other perspective and gave me another viewpoint which is something we all need. It would be great in the future to create a group of interested educators to post lesson plans on a topic and share ideas, imagine how much fun that would be.
In looking at the NETS-S standards I have realized I have always taught to those standards even if technology was not used in the lesson. Educators have always taught citizenship, research skills, creativity and critical thinking, now we are just integrating technology perhaps in the form of a computer, digital camera or cell phone. One can only wonder what the future will be but our students must be prepared to set a goal, plan, monitor and evaluate just as their teachers do.
Just as the orchid depends on the tree for shelter, a student depends on a teacher for guidance. An orchid receives it nourishment through the air and water however with the proper home , it can thrive. Just as a student can obtain information about technology through trial and error with direction and guidance a student can thrive and become a critical thinking technology wizard of the twenty-first century!
The ISTE has set forth a set of National Educational Technology Standards for students and teachers, they can be found at http://www.iste.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=NETS . The teacher set of standards/performance indicators support the students aquiring the skills described in the student version. Many of these performance indicators have been in existance in the non-digital world, such as teachers should inspire creativity and learning in students, now we should facilitate this utilizing technology. We need to update our methods and take the leap across the technological divide and become a “techie”. In the past teachers worked with students in small groups to develop communication and collaboration, think about PenPal projects, or a Flat Stanley project from the past, teachers have also taught students research skills, how to solve problems and how to be a good citizen, so are the NET-S standards new? Slightly, the NET-S standards take “old fashioned” targets/goals and update them to the twenty-first century. Teachers of the twenty-first century need to collaborate with each other so they may embrace the twenty-first century digital age and guide their students into the future.
Jennifer Hardy
A Broken Record
Posted on: April 7, 2010
Once again I am going to sound like a broken record and re- evaluate my Game plan, I apologize for the repeat. I am trying to be creative and write something witty, but I am at a loss for what to write. My Game plan is some ways has been rejuvenated since last week I was on spring break and my “energizer bunny cells” were recharged. Today I returned to school and my students had smiles and were so well behaved, we had fun together! We discussed new topics and finished up old projects that did not get finished. In thinking about my game plan, perhaps I should add an essential step “recuperation/re-energizing”. My recuperation was going fishing with my husband in a quiet spot surrounded by mangrove islands; the water is too cold so the fishing was terrible, but the sunshine was AWESOME.
Back to my game plan evaluation, I am still taking my small steps, I am utilizing my clicker system to evaluate my students existing knowledge about search engines and how to effectively use them, basically their knowledge is Google, so my students will embark on a mission to compare search engines. As we are working on our search engine evaluation I will also be helping them to generate better questioning skills which is vital to creating a research presentation. I have also discovered I need to educate the staff of my school, I am currently generating a PowerPoint explaining the features of few search engines “I like”. I am also going to help the teachers generate better search keywords and questions. My major problem is I have the tact of a sledgehammer, perhaps they are use to me and will accept my bluntness since no one has extra time to candy coat a lesson.
I am currently planning “quick” and valuable lessons involving search engines and questioning skills, but these are not going to be “big” projects since at most I will see my students for a total of 350 – 450 minutes before the year is over. I am also reevaluating past lessons that were “good”, I am trying to integrate a problem based approach to the lessons. Next year I will be the sci-tech teacher so I am developing resources and lessons to integrate the two subject areas in a creative way. Please note I am still taking my small baby steps to build a strong foundation of thinking in my students and in myself.
As I begin to evaluate my game plan I reflect back upon my childhood; Sunday afternoons my family would watch The Wide World of Sports, I remember hearing “the thrill of victory or the agony of defeat”; are my students celebrating the victory of learning or are they the skier that is crashing down the mountain and not learning?
To begin the evaluation I wondered what my goal was. My goal is to inspire my students to utilize new technology resources to explore problems in their world and develop solutions. The solutions can be shared on the internet via blogs, wikis, or voice threads. Ultimately I would like my students to do this without guidance from me as their teacher. I can not loose sight of this and all my actions should support my goal, now for the evaluation.
Are my actions supporting my goal?
Yes, my actions are supporting my goal at a slow steady pace. I want my students to be effective thinkers and problem solvers so I am taking a step back and teaching them how to create “good” questions on a topic. I am teaching them how to surf the internet for answers effectively; these small steps will lay the foundation for future problem solving activities and research. Am I moving forward slowly, yes, I want them to be successful and I only see my students 50 minutes a week.
What have I learned and what do I need to learn?
I have learned there are many forms of assessment utilized in education, but I have a tendency to rely on student performance and short open ended responses for assessment. I rely on Multi-guess assessment to measure background knowledge to insure I “fill” in my students missing bits of knowledge. I need to learn more about creating rubrics and insuring my students understand the rubric, perhaps even having my students help me create their own rubric as a class. I probably also need to learn how to manage my time more effectively, but that could be a life problem not an educator issue.
What adjustments need to be made to my plan?
As I think about my Game plan, I came up with the acrostic poem shown above, the poem reminds me of what I need to do and monitor in my classroom. My plan seems to be moving along at a slow pace, but it is working. My students are beginning to ask more thought provoking questions, and they seem to be navigating the internet more effectively. As I approach a real world problem lesson, I wonder if jumping into a “big” project will frustrate the students since they like immediate gratification, I need to make small rewards along the way in solving the problem.
Another issue I am facing it is April, I will see my students at most nine more times this year for a total of 450 minutes, typically I get bumped due to a special event at least two times, so that makes in 350 minutes. Does it make sense to start a “big” project or should I stick with projects that are high in technology but simple?
As always your thoughts and comments are appreciated.
Jennifer Hardy
Once again I am revisiting my GAME Plan, it seems when one has a plan it must be reevaluated, adjusted, enhanced …all of the time. I am beginning to think I maybe just like a sports coach who is always changing the plays to meet the skills of his players although the goal never changes. Now let’s look at my new plays, strategies and connections.
What are my new connections? I could not believe it as I was loading students in cars; I noticed a parent had a park ranger shirt from the Everglades National Park. How lucky can I be! One of my possible real life problems was to investigate invasive species in the Everglades. At a later meeting during a “Family Feast” event I had an opportunity to speak with my potential new resource and discovered he was responsible for containing invasive plant species in our local area of the park. He would love to create a presentation for our students and work with them on a project. His family actually lives on the park and their daughters already know about this topic…hey I have built in experts! Sometimes it is important to look in your parking lot for help. I will note this project is slow to take off, mostly because of my lack of time and wanting to insure a successful project.
The project of turning the school’s butterfly garden into an inviting environment is taking off. I am supporting another teacher in this area, so the student groups have been created and they are energized. This week the students shared their knowledge with me and I asked several questions which caused them to create more questions. I think my “role” is guide and questioner, I will admit their energy is contagious.
Plan Modifications? I think my plans are still on track since I am taking “baby steps” and laying the foundation for success. My support project may have taken an additional role of teaching the students how to make a presentation to obtain funding. The students will need to learn how to show their enthusiasm an relay information in a concise manner.
What have I learned so far? I have met a local expert to aide me in one of my real problem learning experiences. I have also learned next year I will be teaching something different, which could alter my GAME plan, so perhaps I should focus on developing questioning skills in my students and basic technology skills utilizing search engines this year and worry about a “big’ project next year.
What new questions have arisen? Timing questions have arisen, such as how long will projects take? How long will it take my students to develop search engine and questioning skills? Please keep in mind I only see my students fifty minutes a week, so it seems to take forever to make progress.
Although I cannot say great progress is being made on my GAME plan, however small steps are occurring and I am reviewing it continuously to insure I can provide my students with an exciting and memorable learning experience.
Teach on the Edge 