Reflection on strategies this week

It's funny, but I have been thinking about this post for a while now and have discovered that I recall much easier the lessons that have gone bad compared to those that have gone well. Is that unusual? I find myself evaluating why a specific lesson had gone badly and reflected on how to make improvements. However when I think back to lessons that have gone well, I guess I did not make the mental reflection or spent time thinking about it again because it went well.

Throughout this degree program, I have learning about all of these exciting programs and/or online systems to use in my classroom. The conflict I am currently facing is what to use that will best fit my students? At my district, we are learning a lot about new technologies and what it is new that can help students better learn the material. However with all of the information on what is new and always changing, I do not want to become a teacher who constantly switches between programs. I don't think it is an issue of always wanting the newest/best option, it is more about settling down with one choice and I have not found that one system yet that does everyone I want it to do. Should I lower my expectations and realize that every piece of technology has its limitations? Given that technology is so advanced and in a constant state of flux, I don't believe I should sacrifice my high expectations. I expect the best out of my students and I hope that my students expect the best from me.

Feedback

An article we had to read this week was entitled Feedback that Fits, by Susan M. Brookhart. The discussion was on how to improve feedback to students so that learning for that child is paramount. Often times teachers can get into a routine of one type of feedback, immediate. This isn't always the best way and usually is not an efficient way to teach the student anything at all.

Feedback can be constructive but also demonstrate to the student the need for a possible other solution. The arts is a great way to help students develop this level of thinking. Often time, students in the arts are motivated to continue working on particular task but in order to complete the task, there might be a series of alternate options.

Teachers should learn that to truly get students to learn what it is we're teaching them, we have to empower the students and help with motivation and praise. Praise is not simply given outright, but used in a manner than motivates the student to discover another possible way of completing the assignment. Relating the feedback to the goal of the assignment is necessary for the student to understand where s/he must improve. We may be surprised at the outcome when a student understands what it means to fix something but not have the teacher point out the solution.

Reflection on the meta-analysis of teaching and learning

This was a bit heavy on the data than I usually read. But the work was done and for that I am grateful that I didn't have to do it. :)

I found from the reading that in classes where technology was used moderately (approximately 20% or more of the time), students were found to be more on task significantly more than in classes where technology wasn't used, or used infrequently. This wasn't much of a surprise to me however if a teacher finds a way to enhance the curriculum using technology, can that be measured in time using technology if the students are gaining an better understanding of the material?

There needs to be more research done on this topic and the meta-analysis even shows how this analysis can be effected by policymakers and the money spent on such studies. When researching these areas, recognition is needed to each individual school/classroom in which the research is done.

Reflection on Principles of Teaching and Learning

The article from Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence entitled Principles of Teaching and Learning is a great learning tool for teachers. The topics covered offer tips to teachers on different learning strategies and assessment ideas.

I found this article to be very worthwhile by its examples to the different content areas in teaching. As educators, we develop skills to help us multi-task and manage many ways in which to teach the material. It encourages teachers to try new ideas like simulations or using technology to enhance the current curriculum.

In the article, it separated the learner and teacher. I was particularly interested in the learner #5, where it discussed setting clearly defined goals for the students and then following up with each student by providing clear feedback. I think this is great when done consistently. Teachers have a huge job and if we can set goals for our students and help them achieve those goals by providing feedback to each task, students learn how to better organize their work.

Reflecting on teacher principle #7, effective teaching involves refining our courses based on feedback and reflection. I do this with every class I teach. I provide my students with a detailed exit survey that can be anonymous and helps me better my skills and keep the curriculum current and relevant.

Last Week

This last week, actually two weeks, has been awesome. We have learned a great deal involving copyright law, ethics and security to children while on the internet at school/library. These are great topics that really give teachers valuable resources to help students learn how be safe while on the internet.

Personally, I believe teachers go through copyright pretty regularly but may not understand all aspects. For example, last year we had a teacher create a power point on Black History Month and wanted to display it over our CCTV (Closed Circuit TV). She had to add music it the presentation and she wanted to simply get tracks from current CDs. Luckily we were able to help her find public domain music to add to the presentation and informed her that she needed to site the sources of her project. She had no idea about the music and was happy that we helped.

Research on Search Engines and Alerts

I found this weeks assignments to be very interesting. We have been working on search engines, Google Alerts, and the value of Wikipedia. These topics have been great to research and learn about because it is not something that I actively think about when I am on the internet or searching and doing research.

I admittedly do not use Wikipedia but after the assignment this week, I may begin using it more frequently. I think I will always be a little skeptical on the accuracy but as long as I understand that going into the site, I can be successful with my research.

I really enjoyed learning about Google Alerts. This is where you can set up a topic, say for example Milwaukee Summer Festivals. Google alerts will e-mail you news, blogs, videos, or everything based on that search topic. You can then select how frequently this alert is sent to you and how many results are sent. This is a great tool to use for finding out news in your community or school district. I have found that the larger the district, the less information is sent to staff regarding community news, happenings, or even news about the district. Google alerts will help solve that issue.

Where have you been?

Dear Blog, I am sorry I have not written in a while. Let's just say, this is a summer that will never be forgotten. I've missed you and I'm sure you have missed me, so let's move forward and I will tell you all about the summer some other time. :)

I am now onto my forth class in the program and it is called Internet Learning Resources. I am very excited about this course because I feel that I need probably the most work on this topic than any of the others we have encountered thus far. However, I say that with great reservations as I am also trying to catch up on work from the previous course, so I am working simultaneously on projects from two different courses.

As stated in one of the classes, this program is teaching so much more than I ever expected to go. I was overly confident when we started the cohort, but am now realizing that my knowledge of the internet was just scratching the surface. I know it is a little cliche to say, but feel that the more courses I take the more I realize how much I do not know about the internet and it's possibilities.