Cooperative Learning and Constructivism

In this week’s module, we read and discussed a lot of the strategies that many teachers are relying on in the classroom today. We are emphasizing cooperative learning because we know that practice will help the students learn how to work with others. The career field is looking for future employees that can work with others well, so we want our students to be able to do this. Group projects are a huge part of cooperative learning and I personally like to use them in class often. I think they are a great way for students to set their own goals and objectives and figure out a way to meet them. This helps the students become more independent and able to work on projects without the always present oversight of the teacher.

Constructivism is a very modern approach to education. Many older teachers that I know have a big problem with this method because they feel that it takes too long, and would limit the amount of material that we can cover in a year even more than it already is. They also feel that there is too much of a chance that the students could understand the concepts incorrectly, misinterpret how they can be used, or use them incorrectly out of context. Constructivism is a new concept, and very different from direct instruction. I think it is a powerful tool that we can use, because students are building their own knowledge in their own words. Each student will own the knowledge themselves, rather than feel like they are absorbing the knowledge of others.

Small group work

Small group work is great for teaching between students. Students can explain concepts to each other and often the students who did not understand to begin with get a different perspective and the content mzakes more sense to them. The students who understood the content before the group work can internalize the material by teaching it to other students. However, there is always the danger of a couple students doing all the work, while the others just slide through without learning anything, or doing any work. Without self evaluation, there is no sure way to tell which students are actually learning and working, especially when the project contains work outside of class. I think small group work is valuable because the students can learn how to work with different types of students, which will be valuable to their futures

Meta-Reflection: Standard L: Knowledge of learners and their development in social contexts

I feel I have learned a lot about what this standard means in the past quarter. This standard calls for the teacher to personalize her teaching to individual learning strategies, and to help students succeed even with large obstacles in their way. I have many students that are dealing a variety of obstacles, and I have learned a lot this quarter about how to help them in my classroom and tailor my teaching to their needs without feeling like I am giving them an easy pass. In order to find out more about my students, I gave a student questionnaire during the first week of school, in order to give them a chance to tell me how they learn best, and if they have any issues they would like me to know about. I get 504 and IEP information directly from the school, but I wanted to know about all the issues students might have, not only the legal, documented students.

I have several 504, IEP and ELL students who all require some modification to their learning in the classroom. Nearly all of these students are placed up front in the seating chart, though not next to each other. I want to help them succeed by putting them near me, so I can help them be separated from distractions. I have also separated these students so that they are working with a student that will help them keep up with their classmates, whether that means someone who speaks their native language, or focused student that will help them be more focused, or away from other students who distract them even more.

For ELL students specifically, I allow them to continue working on their exams in their ELL classes. I feel that they need this extra time because of the English barrier. Even though their ELL teacher does not know much about science, she can help the students understand the English questions being asked. Sometimes I allow this extra time on assignments as well. I had one student complete an assignment, but received a low grade on it because he misinterpreted what most of the questions were asking him to do. I gave the assignment back to him and asked him to go over it with his ELL teacher. He turned it in the next day and received an A because of the help he received with the English. I also saw great improvement on his last couple exams, I think because of how much better his understanding of English is becoming. I made sure that, in both seating arrangements we have had so far, he is seated next to another student who speaks Chinese (I happen to have two other students who also speak Chinese in his class) so that he can translate with them, and get help when he does not understand things. On the first few exams, it was apparent that his English was preventing him from showing his understanding of the material. On the last two exams, he got As, which shows that he is improving greatly.

I tend to have a lot of group work in my classroom, because I feel that it helps connect the students to each other, and help each other learn. We have labs approximately every other week, which calls for students to work in their partners (they sit together). When we do other partner work, I try to mix it up so students can work with other students more often. I also switch up the seating chart once a quarter, to differentiate which students work together in labs. I feel that putting students into groups, and then mixing up those groups help the students develop a learning community with their classmates, and feel like the class is learning together, rather than everyone learning for themselves. Group work in the classroom also will help students develop the skills they need to work with others, because they will have to work with others in some way for the rest of their lives.

Already this quarter, I have had many conversations with several different parents, over e-mail, on the phone and in person. I have come to understand that a lot of teaching is responding to parent concerns about their students, even in high school! Many parents just want to know how to help their students do better, and my mentor has been great about helping me respond to these queries. Most e-mails and phone calls can be answered quickly, noting what areas the student needs to put more effort in, giving examples of how they can improve (i.e. making flash cards, attending after-school tutoring or coming in after school to see me). Some meetings can be this simple as well. Some other e-mails and meetings, however, need a little bit more. Some parents need specific lists of what their students are missing, although Skyward (an online grade book) helps greatly with that, and some parents even need e-mail attachments of assignments, especially in cases of IEP students. I try to keep these parents informed; I even do weekly e-mails for one student with his Learning Strategies Teacher and his mom. I have attended a few conferences, with parents and the student, with the parents and other teachers, even with parents, teachers and administrators. I have learned that it is much easier for the parents if you have something positive to start out with, even if it is as simple as “your student does not disrupt class” or “your student seems to be engaged when we do hands-on activities.” There are a lot of issues to keep track of, but I think keeping track of everything is important to help all students do their best.

My biology mentor is very much an environmental biologist. Our most recent unit was ecology and we will begin human impact when we return from break. She always makes a point to discuss the environment and our effect on it many times during this unit. This idea is built into the power points, Populations and Ecological Pyramids, for this unit. During the Populations lecture, we discussed how different countries have contributed to our advances to extend Earth’s carrying capacity. We also discussed how these actions affect other organisms, including other humans. In the Ecological Pyramids lecture, we discussed how we could stretch our resources even more, and how differences in eating habits between countries can affect our use of resources differently. We are trying to help students become aware of their impact on the environment, and I think the next topic (Human Impact) will open their eyes to the idea that they have an effect on the world they live in.

Although I mostly have reflective evidence for this standard, I think my knowledge has still greatly increased in fulfillment of this standard. I hope to collect more hard evidence, especially student-based, over the next two quarters.

Meta-Reflection: Standard T: Knowledge of Teaching

Over the summer, I felt prepared to fulfill this standard in my classes. In my SPU classes, we talked a lot about each of the pieces of the standard. We even came up with our own lesson plans for different ways to fulfill this standard. I developed two different lesson plans over the summer that both fulfilled this standard.

One was a lesson on the characteristics of life, involving a debate on whether Lord Voldemort should be considered alive. I used written and oral communication and individual, paired and group work. I paired the students as best I could with similar ability levels, so that each student could feel that they had a chance to win the debate. Each of formative, summative and self-assessment was used, as students needed use the characteristics of life as evidence of their learning, which means they can check themselves to see if they remember them, the teacher can tell how much students have learned by listening to individual discussions and debates and then at the end of the class, the teacher can see how much the class has learned in the final discussion where the class has to come to a collective decision. I felt like this debate helped the students internalize how we view the characteristics of life and how we apply them to organism today. I think this lesson would also be fun for high school age kids because Harry Potter is very popular in that age group. I feel like this lesson would be one of those that students have a lot of fun, and do not really realize that they are applying their knowledge. Problems I foresee would be students getting off topic, and not using the characteristics of life, but I feel like this could be taken care of with careful direction.

The second was a lesson in which the students needed to discover why we classify living organisms in a specific way by creating their own classification system of one shoe from each class member. This lesson mostly uses self and formative assessments, because it is an introductory activity. The one piece of assessment that could be considered summative would be applying their knowledge from note-taking on each category of the Linnaeus classification system to their own shoe-classification scheme (see the lesson plan). I think this lesson would be accessible to all students, because it is dealing with shoes, which they wear every day. This lesson seemed very easy for the female students, as they probably think about the different aspects of shoes when getting dressed in the morning. I tried to use many instructional strategies, including individual, group and full class work. Because we were classifying shoes, I think every ability level and cultural background could understand this activity. Students with language barriers would be put in a group with at least one other student that they are familiar with to help them understand everything going on. When I entered the classroom this quarter, I found there was a similar activity, classifying household items, already built in to the curriculum which accomplished the same thing.

This quarter, I have seen many lessons built into our biology curriculum that are informed by standards based assessment, intentionally planned and influenced by multiple strategies. Our lessons in biology and chemistry start with a warm up, which is either a formative assessment to gauge what students know about a specific concept before we teach, or see how well they learned the material from the day before. We intentionally organize our lessons in a sequence that makes sense, and make small changes to accommodate all of our students and their needs. We use many strategies, including individual, pair and group work, written and oral work, and using sentences and pictures to convey a concept. The biggest change this quarter however, has been the amount I’ve learned about how to implement technology into the classroom from my educational technology class.

In our classrooms as Skyline, I have access to smart boards, document cameras, and computers, all of which we (my mentors and I) use in our lessons on a daily basis. Students are given the opportunity to see these technologies in use, as well as use them individually for presentations. We also have access to active voters (multiple choice remotes to check student understanding using multiple choice questions) but have not had the chance to use them yet. Through this class, I was able to see many other forms of technology in the classroom, including how to use blogging in the classroom, ideas for projects that collaborate with other classrooms, and how to incorporate technologies that students may need to know how to use in the later careers. I came up with some other ideas for helping students really internalize the skills and concepts they learn in the classroom, such as using computer games and podcasts to give students the means to apply their knowledge to see how well they understand the concepts and skill they have been taught. These new technologies may require use at home, which cannot always assume that students have access to these technologies. We can get around this by creating in class activities that teach students how to use these technologies, which we have done in my classrooms this quarter. Even giving students an option to use technology could help inform all students about technology, as the presentation would show students how the technology can be used. I had two projects, Organelle Commercial and Salting a Slug, that did this, and in both cases, only one group chose to use technology in their project.

Finally, in my technology class we needed to develop a website to help other teachers incorporate technology into their secondary math and science classrooms. We put up several ideas of tools to use in the classroom and example lessons using those tools for each for each component of Tech EALR 1: Integration: Students use technology within all content areas to collaborate, communicate, generate innovative ideas, investigate and solve problems. We also developed a digital narrative that discussed our view of technology incorporation in to the classroom. We had to develop a script and use technology to put pictures together that made sense with our script. I feel like I understand this standard a little better than over summer, especially in the technology component. I am constantly learning more ways to fulfill this standard from my mentors. I know that I will learn more as I go through the year and I hope to keep adding to my experience long after I graduate from this program.

Welcome to the Future… In Educational Technology

When making my digital narrative, I felt that what I was discussing was a good summary of everything I had learned over the quarter in this class. I had a lot of fun taking pictures of my students actually using technology in the classroom, but I noticed some interesting things. I saw that students were very familiar with using some aspects of technology in the classroom, while other technologies are not so wide spread. For example, most high school students are fluent in most Microsoft office programs, including Word, Power Point and Excel. Students can surf the internet with ease, though have trouble with determining whether a site is reliable or not. I also did not see a wide use of blogging in the classroom. Although students are familiar with social networking with facebook, myspace and twitter, they do not really use blogging. Blogging can be used for student collaboration; students can teach each other by explaining a concept in their own words. As blogs are public, the students’ work is being published. Students will work much harder if they know their work is being read and scrutinized by their peers, and the rest of the online community (November, 2006). If I were to have students begin a blog for the creative stories we write about science concepts, they may work harder to make sure it is their best work, and we could even talk about other ways of publishing their stories. Incorporating these kind of projects for students fulfills EALR 1 component 1.1 and EALR 2, component 2.4 of The Educational Technology Learning Standards.

I feel that are doing a pretty good job of preparing our students for their future careers, but we can do more. I think introducing them to technologies such as wikispaces, videoconferencing, or even website building would benefit their preparation immensely. Technology classes in schools may do this, but I think all students should be given sufficient practice with these programs. I think if we keep working to incorporate problem solving and creativity, such as incorporating computer games (http://medmyst.rice.edu/) or real life simulations (http://www.youdagames.com/online-simulation-games/) into our teaching, we will have prepared our students very well for their future careers. This incorporation will fulfill EALR 1, component 1.3 and EALR 2, component 2.4 of The Educational Technology Learning Standards.

I think we do a good job of talking about multiculturalism in the classroom, but the only way our students learn first-hand is if a student in our class has traveled, or if a student has moved to the US from another country. Using services like global-leap.org, we could connect our classrooms across the globe. Students could work with students from another country to compare ecosystems surrounding their schools. For example, my mentor just did a lab with her IB Environmental Systems and Societies class where they studied the numbers of three types of trees in the environment surrounding Skyline High School, as well as looking at what other organisms and biotic factors are present. We could connect with a classroom in other country (for example, somewhere in England or Australia) and run the same experiment, comparing the ecosystems and making conclusions about why the ecosystems are similar or different. This project could be used to fulfill all components of EALR 1 of The Educational Technology Learning Standards.

Students are excited about using all the modern technologies available today, but they do not necessarily know the safest practices for using them. Our students need to know how to protect themselves and their identities against predators, especially those online because it may not be apparent that they are present. We can use interactive means, such as the PBS Official Web License. We can also help counteract cyber bullying by reminding students to report any name calling or mean commenting they encounter. These interactive means fulfill EALR 2, components 2.1 and 2.2 of The Educational Technology Learning Standards.

Often times, students respond more strongly to their peers than they do to authority figures, even if both are relaying the same message. If students can discuss legal, ethical and moral issues associated with modern technologies with each other, their thoughts may have a greater impact on each other than my own thoughts. This is probably one of the reasons the commercials countering pirated music now star children and teens. If we can have a serious class discussion about what students consider appropriate actions when it comes to using modern technology, such as creative content posted online, the students may consider looking at creative content differently than they have in the past. We want to see a change in their behavior and perceptions towards content posted online (Microsoft, 2008). These discussions would fulfill EALR 2, components 2.1 and 2.2 of The Educational Technology Learning Standards.

References:

Freedman, Terry. (2006). Coming of age: An introduction to the new world wide web. Great Britain: Terry Freedman Ltd.

Global Leap. (2006). Videoconferencing in the Classroom. Retrieved from: http://www.global-leap.org/about/.

Microsoft. (2008). Digital citizenship and creative content curriculum. Retrieved from: http://www.digitalcitizenshiped.com/Curriculum.aspx.

Public Broadcasting Company. (2007). Get your official web license. Retrieved from: http://pbskids.org/license/result.html?a1=n&a2=n&a3=n&a4=n&a5=n&a6=n&a7=n&a8=n&a9=n&a0=n&name=Kirstin&x=125&y=36.

Implementing 21st Century Technology into the Classroom

As I browsed through the readings and the delicious posts of this week, there were many different ideas about 21st century skills and how to implement them in the classroom. There are many skills that the articles deemed “21st century.” One of the skills the articles discuss is the different forms of technology that are used in the world today. Students need to be familiar with them when they graduate so they will be marketable employees. 21st Century Skills, Education and Competency Guide discusses how other countries are teaching their children the technologies required, which mean children of other countries will be more marketable for 21st century jobs than American children. If our children are not marketable once they graduate, then our country will slowly fall behind in the global market and economy, which is something no one wants (21st century skills 2008).

The job market today requires their employees to have a different skill set than past generations. Today, employers want their workers to be able to work out complex problems, both individually and in groups, communicate with others effectively, both locally and over long distances, and be able to efficiently manage information. All of these skills could require some type of recent technology, such as Skype, facebook.com, blogging tools (i.e. wordpress.com) or wikispaces (Nielson 2009). We need to prepare students for this essential skill set for their future.

In order to help students learn how to use these tools appropriately and effectively, we should work on incorporating these technologies into our lessons. For example, we could have students record a phone call on Skype at home, where they are using all the elements, including vocal communication, instant chatting, and sending documents, pictures or videos. They could collaborate on a project, each doing one part and then sending those parts to each other. They could keep a log of their collaboration (chat does this automatically) and record their vocal communication. In another project, students could collaborate on a wiki or blog to present a concept for their peers. The project could involve students creating their own website, viewing and commenting on their peers’ sites.

This idea has huge implications for education. If we want to ensure that the next generation of Americans is on par with the rest of the world, we may need to create laws and policies to guarantee that every classroom provides the technology training for the students. If policy dictates that we must provide this technology training, we must be provided with the resources to give students experience with these technologies. This will probably require a lot of money, and may not even be possible in the current economy. If we do not have the support money however, it will be very difficult to ensure that are students will graduate with the skills to operate some of these technologies. We need to do the best we can to introduce, and possibly demonstrate these technologies, even if we cannot provide students the opportunity to individually experience them.

References:

Nielsen, Lisa. (2009, August 14). Ten Ideas for Getting Started with 21^st Century Teaching and Learning. Message posted to http://www.techlearning.com/

(2008). 21^st century skills, education and competitiveness. Retrieved from http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/index.php