Nine Elements of Digital Citizenship

The linked poster I created as an artifact of my Teaching with Technology class, meeting the ISTE NETS standard 4 for teachers. During the class, I have read various articles and these nine elements of digital citizenship really spoke to me, particularly because they elude to the fact that being good with digital technology is more than just a cell phone or a website. You can find my poster here at Piktochart. https://create.piktochart.com/output/26565222-9-elements-of-digital-citizenship

Professional Development for Busy Educators

My triggering question: What are some digital resources I can use to connect with other educators and improve my professional practice and theirs?

To this week’s question, I found more answers in new ways to use websites and applications I already knew. One known application made new is the use of Twitter and their ability to make temporary discussion spaces through the use of hashtags. #edchat has been a twitter discussion space since 2009 and found the space full of uplifting memes and side discussions. Devin Barrett reminded the discussion board that Pinterest is a great resource for all aspects of teaching. The article Consuming and creating: Early-adopting science teachers’ perceptions and use of a wiki to support professional development was about a small group of science teachers in New Zealand that was creating a private wiki between them to map out the key principals of their units (CoRes) and then generate lessons beneath them (PaPers). Some of the teachers found it useful, some generated content though they felt it very time consuming, and many were concerned with getting feedback or others editing their PaPers. For the teachers in rural New Zealand, they found it nice to have peer collaboration in their subject. Clearly the CoRes and PaPers wiki was tenuously adopted for use by the end of the article.

I think the best way to grow professionally is to venture out of one’s own space. Taking a class can help you to find other tools to use and inspiration through other’s recommendations, exactly like this class. There are great online options emerging every day, exemplified by the SPU brochure that arrived in my mailbox this week advertising online professional growth. This week Muddy Kinzer found a wonderful website and resource for teachers edtechteacher.org. They provide online learning, workshops, conferences, and links to free applications. They focus on technological professional development. Kimberly Russell also found PBS.org Teacherline which provides classes.

I think Dr. Wicks advocation of Twitter has been the most impactful to me and finding out how to use it for professional development. He recommended several people to "follow" and Twitter hashtag spaces to watch. I enjoy using my Twitter to aggregate other interests of mine which don’t mesh with teacher tweets that well. I found “lists” so I can make Twitter sort the tweets between the different types of things I want to follow. I can see Twitter providing me the real-time, short-time-commitment, on-going professional development I will need as a practicing teacher. 

References

Donnelly, D. F., & Boniface, S. (2013). Consuming and creating: Early-adopting science teachers perceptions and use of a wiki to support professional development. Computers & Education,68, 9-20. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2013.04.023

EdTech Teacher Inc. (2017). Retrieved December 1, 2017, from http://edtechteacher.org/ 

Greenhalgh, S. P., & Koehler, M. J. (2017). 28 Days Later: Twitter Hashtags as "Just in Time" Teacher Professional Development. Techtrends: Linking Research And Practice To Improve Learning, 61(3), 273-281.

Public Broadcasting System (2017).  PBS TeacherLine: Online Professional Development.  Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/teacherline/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. (Links to an external site.)
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Twitter, Inc. (2017). Retrieved December 1, 2017, from http://twitter.com

Digital Citizenship

How and when can I integrate promotion of digital citizenship and responsibility into my math or chemistry classes?

Society now views that it is the responsibility of the schools to educate this generation on social responsibility and that student’s online life can and does have effects in the real world. Student’s online audiences are bigger and that they need to understand “how to be clear to avoid misunderstandings when there is no way to see reactions, facial expressions, etc.” (Ribble and Miller) Educational Leadership in an Online World spoke of cyberbullying and that California gave power to school administrators to suspend students in cases of cyberbullying. Nine other states have anti-cyberbullying laws. Teachers are learning how to be digital citizens and teaching about being a good digital citizen at the same time. In Digital Citizenship for Educational Change, Ribble urges breaks digital citizenship into nine areas:

• ·        digital access – full participation in society,
• ·        digital commerce- buying and selling goods,
• ·        digital communication- when to email and when to Tweet,
• ·        digital literacy- how to learn,
• ·        digital etiquette- appropriate conduct,
• ·        digital law- things that are not allowed,
• ·        digital rights and responsibilities- free speech,
• ·        digital health and wellness- stretch and eye strain,
• ·        digital security (self-protection) – don’t share super personal data.  

Ribble provided several websites that offer support for digital education including Common Sense Media, a much talked about website this week by fellow students Muddy Kinzer and Olivia Lewis.

I want to promote good digital citizenship and netiquette in my class, but even the nine areas I have listed, they are not an easy integration into math content and only slightly easier in a chemistry class. I found the Lester B Pearson School Board has a blog that talks about how to integrate digital citizenship discussions into a math classroom. They have three main suggestions, students blogging about their thought process, students participating in classroom discussions on Edmodo/Schoology/ Google Groups, or to have students make a digital portfolio of their best work using Google Sites. All of these put a cross-curricular blend to the standard symbolic logic content. I am interested in the portfolio idea and would have to create a space with my district’s chosen platform. With math often things are right or wrong and having students post math solutions could make mistakes just as permanent as a portfolio of success. Mistakes that the student could be heckled about for years. As Phineas and Ferb say, “The internet is forever”.

References:

Digital citizenship in the math classroom. (April 2015). Retrieved November 9, 2017, from http://dcp.lbpsb.qc.ca/digital-citizenship-in-the-math-classroom/

Disney’s Phineas and Ferb. Retrieved November 19, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_-XDGkfDSM

Ribble, M. (2012). Digital Citizenship for Educational Change. Kappa Delta Pi Record, 48(4), 148-151

Ribble, M. and Miller T., (n.d.). Educational leadership in an online world: connecting students to technology responsibly, safely and ethically. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, Vol 17:1. Retrieved November 8, 2017, from https://spu.instructure.com/courses/24664/files/759118?module_item_id=170214

A Quest for an Authentic Real-World Feel in Math and Chemistry

My question this week is how can I bring an authentic, real-world feel to my classroom through technology? It shouldn’t be a hard question unless I am asking about math, or the second most math-filled science, chemistry.

My initial research took me toward creating a blended or a flipped class (Fulton, 2012) which I have witnessed as a chemistry class. Watching the video lectures as homework allowed students to get help and extra instruction in-class and work collaboratively. It is closer to a workplace model, as when I was an engineer, I tended to read or watch videos about things I need to learn at home and then go to work to do my work and collaborate with my co-workers. I am not sure if students would think a flipped class as feeling authentic. They certainly might enjoy it as feeling different than what they are used to.

In the Google Hangout discussion, David Wicks recommended I look into “serious gaming”. I found an article that described serious gaming for social decision-making. They described taking a room full of people and breaking them down into small groups to role-play the different sides of an issue. The groups get a much clearer sense of the problem and can recommend resolutions to stakeholders (Susskind & Kim, 2016). For some discussions in science, this may work well. David had offered an idea that there may be a chemistry serious game. There is. Zachtronics produces the game SpaceChem where the player runs the chemical synthesizer for frontier colonies. The player has to figure out how to construct the process to construct the molecules. It has been very popular, very addictive, I have heard of its use at the collegiate level but its learning curve for initial play is steep and it costs per license. It is much more like real-world chemical engineering than anything else I have seen.

One of the guidance articles I read this week intrigued me with its emphasis on online learning and encouragement of teachers to be prepared to teach an online course for K-12 students (Kennedy, n.d.). This article encouraged me to look for applications that could handle messaging, documents, reports, videos, pictures, homework and everything as an online class needs a robust classroom online infrastructure to rest on. In my search, I found the article How to Do More With Less (Pape, Sheehan, & Worrell, 2012). It recommended tools for all different areas of studies and ones that could message with students and parents.

 I intended to look at my question through a lens of how to make my classroom feel more like a workplace. Workplaces have all kinds of different feelings and structures even within different rooms of the same building. What I did and the technological tools I used in the repair engineering department were different than the tools and the environment I had across the hall in the software engineering department. Maybe having different feeling classes, like a blended class or online class, can imitate the real-world. It is hard to say what will feel authentic to my math or chemistry students in my future room and district. My peers have affirmed my blended and flipped class readings. I am eager to try flipping and/ or blending my class, using online tools, trying some “serious gaming”, using some POGIL activities in what seems to be a never-ending quest to find what will feel authentic for my classes.

References

Fulton, K. (2012). Upside down and inside out: Flip Your Classroom to Improve Student Learning. Learning & Leading With Technology, 39(8), 12-17.

Kennedy, K. (n.d.). Cross-Reference of Online Teaching Standards and the Development of Quality Teachers for 21st Century Learning Environments. Retrieved November 1, 2017, from https://spu.instructure.com/courses/24664/files/759126?module_item_id=170183

Pape, L., Sheehan, T., & Worrell, C. (2012). How to Do More with Less: Lessons from Online Learning. Learning & Leading With Technology, 39(6), 18-22.

Susskind, L., Kim, E. (January 2016). Playing 'serious games,' adults learn to solve thorny real-world problems. Retrieved November 03, 2017, from http://theconversation.com/playing-serious-games-adults-learn-to-solve-thorny-real-world-problems-52405

Formative Assessment Using Technology In a BYOD Class

This week’s inquiry was based around how I can assess learning in my math or chemistry classroom using digital tools/ technology in a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) setting. I read Deepening Connections: Teachers Increasingly Rely on Media and Technology. It quantifies teacher’s adoption of technology into the classroom. It said that teachers felt laptops have the greatest potential to affect learning, however, iPods, game devices, and cell phones are largely banned in many schools making their percentage of use difficult for my BYOD focus. In 4 Things You’ll Miss by Banning Cellphones in Your Classroom the author encouraged cellphones in the class for teaching soft skills like responsibility, independence, and management. Fellow student, Muddy Kinzer recommended I view the NMC Horizon Report as the panel of experts recommend teachers embrace the BYOD model.  I also read The Brutal Authenticity of BYOD about leveraging the devices already owned by students so they do not have to navigate unfamiliar software at school and then at home, acerbating the learning gap.

Using technology for assessment can make things easier on the teacher if they are using the right tool for their needs. Technology can aggregating data, grade, adapt to the learner's strengths, create artifacts, or collect student voice. Because Deepening Connections: Teachers Increasingly Rely on Media and Technology spoke to the fact that school media budgets are shrinking and teachers are turning to free online applications and even opening their own wallets to get the online resources they need. I spent much of my energy looking for formative assessment tools of the free, or cheap and robust variety. I investigated each one to get a feel for the tools it offered me and any overt student privacy issues. I viewed them on my laptop, but I did not get the time to vet them on my cellphone. I created for myself a toolbox with the following inside:

* Khan Academy - https://www.khanacademy.org/ - My favorite math tutoring site, now offers science, history and more.

* Kahoot!  - https://kahoot.com/ - You can design quizzes and reviews to be played by the whole class.

* Quizlet - https://quizlet.com/ - Create quizzes for your class to play.

* Quizizz - https://quizizz.com/ - Create quizzes for your class to play.

* Plinkers - https://plickers.com/ - Students respond anonymously using symbol cards and the teacher’s cell phone translates and gathers the data. Great implications for on the fly questions during class.

* Survey Monkey - https://www.surveymonkey.com/ - Use technology to gather student voice.

* Formative - https://goformative.com/ - A more robust tool for gathering formative data from many sources.

* Zipgrade - https://www.zipgrade.com/ - Fast bubble sheet grading from a cellphone.

* Desmos - https://teacher.desmos.com/ - An excellent graphing app. Has math activities too.

* GeoGebra - https://www.geogebra.org/ - Graphing and geometry and a few math activities.

* MobyMax - http://www.mobymax.com/ - A robust tool for differentiating and adaptive learning.

* Brilliant  - https://brilliant.org/courses/ - Has content in math, physics, and computer science in a quiz format. It is limiting without paying for it. It might be best used as differentiation for advanced learners.

* LearnBop  - https://www.learnbop.com/ - Is a robust tool for math grades 3 through Algebra. It is built for teachers, particularly in reference to assessments. It is roster-ready but I would scrutinize their privacy policy.

* Math Reasoning Inventory (MRI) - https://mathreasoninginventory.com/Home/Index -  It is a free pre-assessment tool to look at how students are learning for mid-grade math teachers.

I created the above list as a quick reference and aggregation of my fellow student’s recommendations for digital tools for assessment and more that will hopefully inspire student engagement. The NMC Horizon report spoke of new tools that will soon be affecting my classrooms. My house already has a maker space, 3D printing, and embraces digital badging. I am excited to see these in my future classroom.

Heick, T. (February 2015). The Brutal Authenticity of BYOD. Retrieved October 19, 2017, from https://www.teachthought.com/the-future-of-learning/byod-is-shortest-path-to-student-centered-learning/

Kinzer, M. (2017). Retrieved October 19, 2017, from https://spu.instructure.com/groups/6245/discussion_topics/48018

NMC Horizon Report: 2015 K-12 Edition. Retrieved October 19, 2017, from https://spu.instructure.com/courses/24664/files/759106?module_item_id=170163

PBS & Grunwald Associates LLC. (n.d.). Deepening Connections: Teachers Increasingly Rely on Media and Technology. Retrieved October 15, 2017, from https://spu.instructure.com/courses/24664/files/759125?module_item_id=170160

Sterner, R. (February 2015). 4 Things You’ll Miss by Banning Cellphones in Your Classroom. Retrieved October 19, 2017, from https://www.teachingquality.org/content/blogs/robert-sterner/4-things-you%E2%80%99ll-miss-banning-cellphones-your-classroom

To Inspire Student Learning With Games - Teaching with Technology

This week in Teaching With Technology, I inquired how can I create equitable use of technology and incorporate real-world applications into algebra and geometry lessons when not all of my students have a device or the same device (smartphone, laptop, tablet, Chromebook, etc…).  This question was inspired by my observations of districts that provide laptops for their students however, my daughter’s district has a “Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy. If I teach in a BYOD district, I want to find some tools that will work for all students.

The first web page I went to help me answer my question was my daughter’s district’s website. The district recommends a laptop, a Chromebook, or a tablet. However, the research paper, Pockets of Potential (Shuler, 2009), they use as the basis for their BYOD model refers to a cell phone, game console, and some tablets. The equitability stated for Pockets of Potential  (Shuler, 2009) makes sense because of the pervasiveness of cellphones, and the district cites the same equitability for their larger devices. What I realized is this is probably a political issue and this blog is not my place to discuss my opinion on this policy.

If I have a classroom in this district or another district with a BYOD policy, I want to be prepared to teach with whatever device students bring to class. My classmate Middy Kinzer (2017) cited an article that proposed several tools for a biology classroom that could be used on an ActivBoard or projected from the teacher’s computer or be used by the students in classes with 1:1 laptop ratios. In her discussion post, she reminds me that integrating technology into the classroom does not mean it has to be at the student’s fingertips. I can project games and interactive educational material for all the class.

Searching for my answer, I read Learning, Teaching, and Scholarship in a Digital Age (Greenhow, Robelia, and Hughes, 2009) about how the Web has changed since I learned how to navigate it. My students will view it as a tool and resource as much as a source of entertainment and games. I can have my students use it for answers and create their own personal identities. Identities they can transfer from my class to home via their device of choice. They can play games in my class and take their identity with them to continue the game outside of class, starting from where they left off. To that end, I found the following websites contain math applications that can cross platforms and even integrate with each other. Using Kahoot! or Quizlet Live students can make their own avatar and answer review questions across platforms. I found the BrainPop website contains more real-world-like videos, games, quizzes and more, to use on the ActiveBoard or let the learner drive their speed through the content. Manga High website contains very addictive math games with a high production value so they are very engaging. With these applications, I hope to facilitate creativity and inspire student learning by engaging my students with immersive games and visually appealing content. I will find it more challenging to find applications that will run on any device my students bring to my class and to provide equitable opportunities for students who may not have a device.

Kinzer, M. (2017). Retrieved October 07 2017 from https://spu.instructure.com/groups/6245/discussion_topics/48016

Shuler, C., ED.M. (January 2009). Industry Brief: Pockets of Potential: Using Mobile Technologies to Promote Children’s Learning. Retrieved October 03, 2017 from http://joanganzcooneycenter.org/publication/industry-brief-pockets-of-potential-using-mobile-technologies-to-promote-childrens-learning/.

Greenhow C., Robelia B., and Hughes J.E. (June 2009). Learning, Teaching, and Scholarship in a Digital Age. Retrieved September 29, 2017, from https://spu.instructure.com/courses/24664/files/759107?module_item_id=170140

Reflecting Upon My Educating Exceptional Students Coursework

When I wrote my peer review paper on Mathematics Learning Disabilities (MLD) I had not realized my lesson plan would need to be planned around a student with an MLD. In a perfect world, lesson plans would be perfect for all students with learning or behavioral or social or physical abilities. This will never be the case and it will never be perfect for all students, disabled or not. I would have liked to find more information on how to support and serve students with MLD, but I found not on supporting them above fractions. I want tools for my practice of secondary math. I did find a website that had good general recommendations for accommodations I incorporated. This does not feel like enough support. I wish I knew what I could do more for my students with MLD and integrate it into my lesson plan.

I would have liked to integrate the Autism Spectrum better into my plan as well. I have several friend’s children who are on the spectrum. They make up the largest portion of disabilities among the children I know and therefore I feel I need to know more about Autism Spectrum students that will be in my classroom. Reflecting on my lesson plan through the lens of a student with Autism and I can see some challenges. The amount of time my students will spend in a social collaborative experience is most of the class. This time will be noisy, maybe distracting, and their senses may go on overload. The instructor who taught me about using the “roles” said her students with spectrum disorders would follow the scripted line on their role cards, providing them a feeling of social security. She said when they followed the scripts they received positive social feedback about their participation, boosting their social efficacy. She had one Autistic student reflect that her class was his favorite because of the positive social reinforcement he got during the investigations. I have hope that the format will work with Autistic Spectrum students, but I worry that the way the investigations lead the students through the new material will not be in the “chunks” that Autistic minds use. I may need to support with additional graphic organizers. I realize that much of what I need to incorporate into my lessons will be based on the students in my class and how they learn.

Artifact: Algebra Lesson Plan on Functions

My Reflection of My General Inquiry, Teaching, and Assessment Methods Course

I generally felt that this course was the nuts and bolts of how to assemble a teaching practice. It heavily discussed lesson planning, objectives, learning targets, assessments, backward design, and parts of EdTPA, and touched on exceptional learners, diversity, and using technology in the classroom. This class aligns with objective 4, Content Knowledge of SPU’s program standards. I feel the majority of my growth from this class aligns with, “4.2 Setting Instructional Outcomes - All the instructional outcomes are clear, written in the form of student learning. Most suggest viable methods of assessment.” The most helpful readings for me were on objectives. I found the Verb Wheel Based on Blooms Taxonomy and The Glossary and Hierarchy of Terms for Organizing Lessons to be print outs I reference weekly. As the course went along and I began to create my lesson plan I realized I did not really know what Academic Language and Student Voice is. I struggled to find helpful descriptions on the internet. Then I found resources had been posted including the Overview of Academic Language and a video, PassedTPA, on Student Voice. They were immensely helpful in this and other classes.

This class felt the most rigorous of my classes so far, however, a lot of the rigor came from how I engaged with the material. Each week I managed to make it more challenging by finding additional articles to read, re-watching videos, completely re-writing lesson plans, and constructing my own worksheets. The discussion boards for each week’s topics were also more active, with a post count per week higher than any of my preceding classes. This meant we truly had a discussion and it was important to go back to the discussion to see my classmates’ viewpoints.

My artifact that I am most proud of from this course is my  Linear Equations Lesson Plan for Algebra II. I worked the longest and enjoyed creating it, twice. My first attempt was closely based on two direct instructions of the same material by two different teachers. After receiving feedback on my initial lesson plan, I was at a loss. How do I teach hard abstract math concepts without direct instruction? I took a weekend workshop on the Project Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL) method. I came home and scrapped my lesson plan’s delivery method and rewrote it as a POGIL lesson. I still am uncomfortable with the quiz at the beginning as I feel it takes too much time from the students engaging with the guided inquiry but I think that is something I will have to get a feel for in practice.  I also wished I had a demonstration and manipulatable for this lesson than a video, but this will give the students a little variety to how I like to present material. It is colorful with its revisions highlighted but I think it shows how I grow and learn with each time I look at it.

References:

Denton, D. (2013) PassedTPA Task1: Planning for Instruction and Assessment – Student Voice, retrieved from  https://youtu.be/2-HISj1LoOk

Overview of Academic Language, retrieved from https://spu.instructure.com/courses/18045/files/536182/preview

The Glossary and Hierarchy of Terms for Organizing Lessons, retrieved from https://spu.instructure.com/courses/18045/files/536146/download?download_frd=1

Verb Wheel Based on Blooms Taxonomy, retrieved from https://spu.instructure.com/courses/18045/modules/items/137021

How Does One Wrap up a Course Worth of Material into Three Easy Paragraphs?

I tried by making a list of the chapter topics I read in Models of Teaching. I listed sixteen topics in six model families so far. In Classroom Instruction That Works, I’ve read seven chapters totaling 116 pages. Add the 329 pages from Models of Teaching, the 42 supplemental pages from the syllabus, and the pages of reading from our discussion board and I am overwhelmed with content for this post.

I think the most influential item to me from the course was Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences. The methods started becoming cohesive as if I found the Rosetta stone to behaviors I have observed in class. In this piece of understanding, I can begin to plan what models I will use to impart information or give assessments in multiple forms. When I began this class I thought I needed to pick a model to be my best model to teach my topics. When I encountered Gardner’s Interview in the supplemental pages, I realized I would be doing a disservice to my students if I didn’t employ as many models as I can.

As for the sixteen models, there are several I know will make an appearance in my teaching style. I plan to employ Scientific Inquiry and Concept Attainment through Group Investigations while encouraging learning Inductively, but I’ll probably be applying Direct Instruction. There are several models I am skeptical that I will ever employ. I can’t see using the Picture Word Inductive model or Synectics or Role Playing, though who knows how the material will be laid out. I’m glad I know of them. I know there are more models out there beyond the boundary of this text. In previous discussions, I have mentioned the “Flipped” class model which was working quite well for an AP chemistry class. The model has students watch about 20 minutes of lecture via YouTube per night and class time is for working on the homework while getting support from peers or the teacher. Models of Teaching has given me a base understanding of common models, a reference for finding a different one if one is not working, and a reference for fine tuning the model I am using to make it better. I can fine tune whichever model I am using by referencing the no-nonsense Classroom Instruction That Works.

Finally, I’ve learned the most from the discussion board this quarter. Dr. Scheuerman’s questions for us to respond to posed a great challenge for me, particularly in the weeks we didn’t have an accompanying podcast. I wrestled with how to validate my affirmative stance on whether questioning is a valid teaching strategy (I should have listened to podcast 9). I was excited to write about self-efficacy as self-image and self-esteem are so important at my chosen age group. I struggled to post about constructivism and my plans to promote citizenship in my class and I praised advanced organizers. The contents of the questions and the discussion boards replies have made me contemplate my future classes in ways I haven’t thought about them before.   

Dean, C., Hubbell, E. R., Pitler, H., & Stone, B. (2012). Classroom instruction that works (2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Joyce, B., Weil, M., & Calhoun, E. (2015). Models of teaching (9th ed.). New Jersey: Pearson Education.

How Can a Teacher Foster Student Self-Esteem?

There are many variables that go into one’s self-esteem. At the high school level, I remember re-evaluating how I felt about myself almost hourly. I pegged up when I got a good grade on a science quiz. I pegged down just attending my calculus class. I pegged up hearing that John likes brunettes and down when sally told me my shirt didn’t match my pants. Teachers can’t affect the entirety of a student’s self-esteem but they can do better than my calculus teacher.

My calculus teacher had a liaise-fair style of class. He wrote on the board the homework to be done and the exam date. That’s it. The whole period we chatted and maybe asked him questions if we had done any of the readings or homework, which we never did until the weekend before the test. Basically, we did nothing productive all period. While his style of teaching was preparatory for what to expect in college, I couldn’t even tell you his name. Since I had to create my own goals for the class, my self-regulation happened only before a test, 1) to hopefully finish the homework in less than a Saturday and 2) to get a good grade on the test. Unfortunately, cramming resulted in frustration and tears as I tried to learn two weeks-worth of concepts in a day. My self-efficacy was low as cramming does not create retention. Subsequently when asked by a college placement adviser about math placement, I asked to take Calculus again as I believed I was not learning much from my class. The final blow to my self-esteem was the students in my class. We’d had math classes since 8^th grade together, and most of the class was smarter, or more popular, or funnier, or elected to student council and I didn’t have such accolades to my self-worth.

Teacher’s need to foster their student’s self-esteem. Teacher’s set achievable goals and talk about them, daily or by unit. They aid the student’s self-regulation by providing worksheets, quizzes, and tests often to let them know their progress in learning the material. Daily reflections or reflection notebooks can help a student see their progress. I hope to implement “clear and unclear” check out slips. As the students leave class, they have to provide me a piece of paper with a thing in the lesson that was “clear” and/or the idem in the lesson they are not quite understanding. The reflection on the “clear” can show students that they are making progress toward the goal, boosting self-efficacy. Additionally, a teacher can foster self-efficacy using positive affirmation - by telling students they can do it and having them demonstrate that they can. Finally, the whole person’s self-esteem is bolstered by having a personal connection to each student – a challenge for a high school teacher but important for all academic aims.      

How Does One Take into Account Student Personalities and Emotions?

I enjoyed Gardner’s insight in the eight types of intelligence. I can see classrooms are filled with each of these types, but I struggled with how to address their preferred learning diversity. How do you apply a kinesthetic appeal to a math lesson? Or a musical appeal for that matter? I turned to the internet to get some ideas.

I found this lovely article titled Multiple Intelligences: Practical Classroom Ideas (Provini 2012). It talked about the five ways to integrate Gardner’s psychology into a classroom, through: lesson design, interdisciplinary units, group projects, assessments, and apprenticeships.

We have previously discussed how to integrate different learning styles into our lessons. From the old model of lecture and individual work, to group work and performance art reports, they all touch a part of Gardner’s learning models. One of the kinesthetic solutions provided by the article for a math class was to use the students as the data points on a graph. When the students move around and become part of the problem they retain more. Music can even be woven into a math lesson by discussing that a musical scale is just a string that is divided into fractions. See the 1959 Donald (Duck) in Mathmagics Land for an example.

The article really made me think about how to adjust assessments. As a student, tests were a learning experience for me. I never really knew I could do something without the crutch of the text until the test. I observed a class last year where the teacher always gave a second test. If you didn’t get the score you wanted on the first, take the second one. I think her method took a lot of performance pressure off…. if one has to take a standard test. The article and Gardner encourage other forms of assessment and allowing the student to choose their preferred method of being assessed. Would the student rather write a paper or give an oral report? What about a diorama or working model? These are class design items I will be contemplating before my first day as a teacher.

Interdisciplinary units will depend on the willingness of my fellow teachers and the rules in my school or department. I certainly can relate math to almost any subject. Group projects will be a staple in my class and I will have to see if I have the resources and time for apprenticeships.

Provini, C. (2012). Multiple Intelligences: Practical Classroom Ideas. Education World. retrieved from http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/multiple-intelligences-integrating-classroom-tips.shtml

Disney. (1959). Donald in mathmagics land. retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fv4gWPurN9k

What Are the Implications That Values Are “Caught Not Taught”?

I think values are both caught and taught. I think student catch values in how a teacher, parent, mentor, etc. presents themselves and the actions they take. If one believes values are “caught not taught”, then we must surround ourselves with good people. Our parents, our teachers, our friends, our neighbors all must be good, because a moment of bad values could be caught like the flu. Therefore, teachers must be exemplary in virtue. Verily, parents should be models of high values as well. But, unfortunately this isn’t always true.

I don’t believe all values are caught. I believe values are taught and affirmed by example. Values of leadership, autonomy, determination, optimism, respect, etc… need some instruction in how to accomplish them as they are not often something one can glean from observation. Leadership among peers would not look like the type of leadership displayed by a parent or teacher and would look different student to student than it would adult to adult. Learning how to address an older person and a peer respectfully is also something often taught and then modeled.

Some values are products of our place in development. Have you ever tried to have a three-year-old keep a secret, or worse, tell a lie? It’s futile. Three-year-olds are the biggest tattle-tails in the universe. They have learned that mom tells the truth to them and have “caught” honesty, but it is also a developmental part of them. Teenagers are developing into postconventional morality where rules are more like contracts and they seek to make things fair to all parties… If you believe Kohlberg’s Stage Theory of Moral Reasoning.

With an understanding of development, I think teachers should go forth and teach values. To the child who comes from a model home, the lessons could only reaffirm the values that are taught and caught from home. To the children who are not so fortunate to have good examples at home, maybe values can be taught. All children in our classrooms would know what is expected of them by their teacher by teaching such lessons. Finally the teacher must adhere to their own teachings. [The falsely attributed quote by] Mahatma Gandhi — “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”

What is Meant by “Knowledge is Socially Constructed”and Does Constructivism Promote Academic Excellence?

The number one cause of death among castaways is not food, water, or shelter. It is isolation. There is no one to talk to, to bounce ideas off of, or to keep their hopes up. We humans are social creatures. We get endorphin rushes just communicating. We need each other to build ideas. So why would we want our students to learn alone? We don’t. Listening to a lecture is like listening to the sea; there are no endorphins involved. Students need to bounce ideas off of each other as much as Tom Hanks needed Wilson. He needed hope. Our students need to work in groups to brainstorm concepts, test them in the tempest of the group collective, and arrive at the socially constructed answer.

“Using cooperative learning helps teachers lay the foundation for student success in a world that depends on collaboration and cooperation.” (Dean et al., 2012, p.35) When students are put together in groups to solve a problem, they chat or communicate in some fashion. This communication is not only about the problem, it is subtly organizing power among the members and students volunteer information that may not have occurred to the rest of the members. The group also lets members know when they have an error in their thinking, usually in a gentle way. They organize and divide the tasks and ensure that all members are completing the work, without micromanaging. The members of the group learn the content as they collate and report their findings. This knowledge the group has gained about their reported subject has been socially constructed.  

Dean, C., Hubbell, E. R., Pitler, H., & Stone, B. (2012). Classroom Instruction that Works (2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

The Practical Use of Advanced Organizers and Their relatted Use to Instructional Media

Advance organizers seem natural to me. Many of the topics I will need to discuss in my (math and Chemistry) classes took men many years to realize intuitively. Ausubel states as the last sentence of our reading, “…some entirely new topics are introduced at the higher levels, since many advanced topics are too complex and abstract to be taught successfully on an intuitive basis.” (1978) Can you imagine trying to get a class full of students to intuitively arrive at the quadratic formula? 

x = (-b+- (b^2-4ac)^1/2 )/ 2a

The quadratic formula is used on a quadratic equation that you don’t intuitively see its roots. For example, the quadratic equation x^2+3x+2=0 factors to (x +1)(x+2)=0,  yielding the roots x= -1 or -2. Now if the equation is x^2+3x+3=0, then you have to use the quadratic formula, as it doesn’t factor nicely. Furthermore, the formula comes out with a negative square root. (It’s okay to scream!) If you recall, negative square roots are the beginning of the abstract concept of imaginary numbers (a human convention to handle the negative root messiness). Using an advance organizer that builds on the student’s prior knowledge of quadratics and presents the abstract concept of imaginary numbers and quadratic formula would be preferable to just bumbling into the concepts intuitively or by a structured lecture. This is just one example of how I can find practical use for advance organizers. Many of my high school math and science classes were structured with them.

“The web is full of short video clips and interactive media that engage students and help to introduce new content.” (Dean et.al., 2012, p.61) Khan Academy is my favorite site for all things math for all ages. Vihart on Youtube links math to science, cooking, music, art and about everything else. Bozeman Science and Tyler DeWitt are YouTube channels for chemistry though they are more on the content/lecture side of things. CrashCourse on Youtube has little videos, often in cartoon form, that would be good as advance organizers. CrashCourse not only has chemistry, but history, philosophy, and others. Check them out. I expect to use these in my classroom to give my content more appeal, depth, and memorability to today’s media-connected youth.  

Ausubel, D. (1978). Instructional Materials Retrieved from https://spu.instructure.com/courses/20801/files/415635?module_item_id=121144

Dean, C., Hubbell, E. R., Pitler, H., & Stone, B. (2012). Classroom instruction that works (2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

What is the relationship of concepts to facts?

Concepts are creations of the mind. Facts are found in the physical world. They have a mass or quantity or time associated with them. Concepts are created when we try to organize and process our factual physical world. Concepts can be right and wrong. The long-standing concept of the flat earth is a good example. Concepts can come to you in your dreams as did the Periodic Table of the Elements to Dmitri Mendeleev. Concepts can become fact through proof. The relationship between concepts and facts is in their creation.

The concepts that will be important in my math or chemistry class will be ones to make learning fun and nurture good people; collaborative learning, effort is important, honesty, being conscious of “intent and impact” when speaking, and others. Specifically, in chemistry, the concept of the mole of measurement was the most difficult for me and for most people. It is an abstract weight, as it can vary based on the substance. I think it is important concept to give extra attention. In math, quadratics (ax² + bx + c) occur everywhere throughout high school. Giving students a great foundation in that concept will allow them to envision 2D or 3D conic sections or factor equations for answers or even measure triangles for bracing on a table or bookshelf. 

How is questioning a teaching strategy?

I think asking questions is a valid teaching strategy. Questioning allows students to construct their own knowledge through their discovery of the answers. It models how they should form their own questions about the world around them. It encourages them to be curious.

Asking questions allows the student to connect ideas themselves. As the inductive model says, children are natural sorters. Questions often help build concepts and generalizations. Questions can be leading or require the student to come up with a new concept.

Asking questions permits students to link an idea to something in their experience. The question, “How tall does the Goliath sunflower get?” can be answered by “As tall as my brother, standing on top of my shoulders.” This silly answer is wonderfully memorable because it is personal. It links the more scientific question of maximum height to previous knowledge and experience.

Asking questions can stretch the mind. As shown in the Synectics chapter (Joyce, 2015), the practice of thinking of a problem after doing mental warm-ups, the mental warm-ups are questions in terms of metaphors, personal metaphors, and compressed conflicts. This series of instructor-led questions gets the student’s minds ready to think about the topic or problem-of-the-day.

Asking questions leads to scientific inquiry. Asking questions about a picture begins the Picture Word Inductive Model (PWIM). Asking questions is the foundation of the models we have read so far.

Joyce, B., Weil, M., & Calhoun, E. (2015). Models of teaching (9th ed.). New Jersey: Pearson Education.

Cognitive Development

Over the past four weeks, my knowledge of child, adolescent and brain development has expanded. I have read about Nature versus Nurture and how cognitive development grows as the body does. The readings have taken me through the stages of biological growth and the effects of environment and heredity on intelligence. I have looked at Piaget’s stages of development and Kohlberg’s moral reasoning stages. Finally, this week I read about memory and theories on how anything may be stored in the brain (Pressley & McCormick, 2007).

When I was a teen, I firmly believed that proper nurturing is all one needed to succeed. I did not believe there was a nature component, save for the truly unique individuals like Kim Peek’s brain. I believe anyone can have a Harvard brain with effort and drive. When my daughter was born, I learned quickly that she came with a personality and drive and no amount of nurturing could change her essence. According to the research consolidated by Pressley et.al., contends that everyone has and intelligence range given to them by their heredity and how that person is nurtured and the environment they are in determines where in that range a person will aspire to. I do not like that statement. It politely tries to tell me that some people will never be smart. It stands in the face of why I want to teach. I want to have high-achieving classrooms. Everyone can learn what I teach. I will endeavor to make my class interesting, interactive, vibrant, spaces to learn for every hereditary background.  

I enjoyed reading about Piaget’s four stages of development and appreciated the organization of it. It made sense of my daughter’s growth, however, my students will be firmly planted in adolescence and I did not find Piaget’s growth as applicable. Piaget’s moral development would be mildly more pertinent if I were to discuss cheating on tests. My reading transitioned to information processing models which I found immensely interesting. Short-term memory has a limited capacity and duration. My students might be able to hold around seven things there. It also takes an extremely long time to commit something to long term memory, like years. However, if the initial presentation is memorable, for lack of a better all-inclusive word, the mind will be more likely to store it. This gives me license to make my class and my content memorable with big demos, costumes, scents, labs, games, mnemonics, etc. I learned that students will “chunk” my new content in with prior knowledge and related information so to reduce the strain on the short term memory, I need to link my content to as many bits of prior learning as possible. I can also reduce strain on the short term memory by having the students take or provide notes. Finally, the best way to sink something into memory is to repeat, repeat, repeat it.

Pressley, M. & McCormick, C. B. (2007). Child and adolescent development for educators. New York, NY: Guilford Press. 

What Little I Know About Child/Adolescent Development

As a pre-assessment for my Learners in Context class, I have been asked to describe what I know about child/ adolescent development. I have many thoughts about it but, I would not go so far as to say I know anything. My views are all inferred from my observation of the world. I believe that just as a child’s body sometimes grows out of proportion, and so does their brain. Just as the changes in the physical body can change one's balance, so can chemical changes or hormonal changes throw the behavior of a person off balance. My notions about how the brain works are well summed up by the movie, Inside Out (Docter, 2015).

I believe core values and key concepts should be imparted by age ten. The tween years are the awkward years as a child’s focus changes from being parent-pleasers to beginning to form their own social identity. The teen tries to distance themselves from their parents while expressing independence, and figuring out who they are. I will be working with teens and will be carefully trying to detect and manage their delicate social structures. I am particularly interested in how to get help to students who need help with my material without letting their peers know that they are struggling.

Docter, P. (Director). (2015). Inside Out [Motion picture]. USA: Pixar.