Final Blog Posting: February 23, 2010
This course has forced a modification of my personal theory of learning in that I realize my own learning is identical to my students. I have needed to learn to use new technology and understand how it will help my learning and understanding of a topic. I have had to step out of my comfort zone with new technology that I was not comfortable using, such as the VoiceThread assignment. But now I am determined to have my students use the site to present their topics for their science fair projects, a major assessment in the last nine weeks of the year.
It is my hope the concept mapping site will help the students become more organized with their project planning. I have a timeline they will follow, but the technology use of the concept mapping site Bubbl.us and their organization hopefully will improve this year. These technology tools will be integrated into the lesson plan and will also give the students experiences to help their understanding of the technology itself and future uses of the technology applied in future units. With such artifacts being constructed, the Constructivist Theory is heavily involved with this unit of study. I think the technology being used by the students will enhance their learning and increase their involvement in a topic, Science Fair, which has been lacking for many years.
My long term goals will be to integrate more technology that is student-oriented, such as the Bubbl.us site for students and the VoiceThread. I use the Inspiration software now, but the Bubbl.us site helps students to use the technology tool at home as well as school. I don’t want the students to only use the presentation skills, but also learn new software such as these new tools. I also will have a long term goal of using my technology in the classroom in a more student-friendly way, not reading the presentations and installing more images to enhance student learning. With these two goals, student-oriented technology and changing my own presentation and usage, I hope to have an engaging classroom. These two goals are long term, but with each addition of technology experiences in my teacher toolbox, they should not be difficult to achieve.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Saturday, February 6, 2010
voicethread url
http://voicethread.com/share/896718/
This is my voicethread url, be sure to check it out.
I talked about science fair projects and the problem of making sure students do a project that they are interested in.
This is my voicethread url, be sure to check it out.
I talked about science fair projects and the problem of making sure students do a project that they are interested in.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Feb. 2: Connectivism and Social Learning in Practice
There has been a definite push for the Connectivism strategy to be present in classrooms at the middle school level in our classes. This theory is not new, but there are many exciting applications of it with the new technology available in our classrooms every day. I do like the More Knowledgeable Other term, whether it is applied to a computer available with a great web site for data, or an individual who knows about the topic.
One of the best activities I have used in the past is the Jigsaw, which is just what it sounds like. You assign groups (I always use a variety of skill levels in my groupings) and assign a topic or vocabulary to each of the different groups. They are then charged with the responsibility to learn about the topic and choose a way to present and teach to the rest of the class. Each group has a piece of the puzzle to bring back and teach. Then the groups present and a class can learn together. But this definitely needs to be modeled for the students, making sure that they are aware of the expectations for each of their own jobs, their group’s responsibility, and product expectations. I do find that once a class has experienced this strategy, they will ask to do it again in another topic or content later in the year.
This is another area where the middle school teacher has advantages as we are teams in my county. We meet within our curriculum areas and share ideas. I have never liked the concept of reinventing the wheel every year, so when a colleague has a great idea for a collaborative activity we all share the good (and warn each other of the problems) activities that we are doing in our classrooms.
One of the best activities I have used in the past is the Jigsaw, which is just what it sounds like. You assign groups (I always use a variety of skill levels in my groupings) and assign a topic or vocabulary to each of the different groups. They are then charged with the responsibility to learn about the topic and choose a way to present and teach to the rest of the class. Each group has a piece of the puzzle to bring back and teach. Then the groups present and a class can learn together. But this definitely needs to be modeled for the students, making sure that they are aware of the expectations for each of their own jobs, their group’s responsibility, and product expectations. I do find that once a class has experienced this strategy, they will ask to do it again in another topic or content later in the year.
This is another area where the middle school teacher has advantages as we are teams in my county. We meet within our curriculum areas and share ideas. I have never liked the concept of reinventing the wheel every year, so when a colleague has a great idea for a collaborative activity we all share the good (and warn each other of the problems) activities that we are doing in our classrooms.
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