Reflection

At the beginning of this course I described my personal theory of learning as part behaviorist, part cognitive-constructivist.  This remains true as this course comes to a close. I have learned a great deal about combining the right technology with an appropriate instructional strategy.  I have also come to realize it isn’t enough to simply use technology.  This course deepened my knowledge and understanding of the nine research based instructional strategies: identifying similarities and differences; summarizing and note taking; using cooperative learning; setting objectives and providing feedback; generating and testing hypothesis; using cues, questions and advanced organizers; creating non-linguistic representations; reinforcing effort and providing recognition and assigning homework and practice.  In the video, Dr. Debra Pickering told us the effective teacher has mastered all of these strategies.  She then suggests that teachers choose one or two strategies and work on refining until they are effective (Laureate, 2008). This course has given me many new and exciting ways to integrating technology into my lesson plans for my students. I have to now choose forms of technology that can be paired with the nine instructional strategies that will ultimately lead to the student’s success. (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Matenoski 2007) 

The biggest change I need to make in my instructional practice is changing the focus of my classroom technology from being an instructional tool into a learning tool.  The video with Dr. Michael Orey opened my eyes to the difference. (Laureate Education, Inc. 2010)  In the past, I was convinced using Power Point presentations with the interactive whiteboard was a good cognitive learning tool for students.  Now I realize that the Power Point program was not being used as a learning tool, but rather an instructional tool.  I have learned that this was not the best scenario if I want to help my students learn and retain the information.  This was nothing more than another lecture with a few pictures.

There are two long-term goals I want to achieve. I will be reworking my lessons this summer to include “hands-on” technology for my students and more collaboration. Two of the technology tools that I plan to use with my students are concept maps and voice threads.

Concept maps are a great way for students to organize ideas. Students are able to create pictures or objects that will help them process information, which will become a part of long-term memory. Concept maps are an excellent tool for visual, auditory and kinesthetic learners.  Voice threads are also beneficial to all learning styles.  Students are able to create an artifact with pictures and sound that can be shared and commented on by others. 

This course has gotten me very excited about how technology can be used in my classroom to support the nine instructional strategies.  I only thought I was using technology in my classroom, now I realize I have only touched the “tip of the iceberg”.  I will continue to research and develop additional Web 2.0 tools to implement in my lessons for next school year.  This supports my belief that teachers should be life-long learners.

References:

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2010). Program 5: Cognitive learning theories [DVD]. Bridging learning theory, instruction, and technology. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Lever-Duffy, J., & McDonald, J. (2008) Theoretical foundations (Laureate Education, Inc., custom ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Voice Thread

My class has a problem with students being exhausted by the middle of the day. This is the voice thread I created explaining how the students will look at their activities after-school each day to try to come up with solutions for the problem. They will also be practicing their time-telling and elapsed time skills as they look at their activities. Please let me know what you think.

http://voicethread.com/share/2095021/

Social Learning in the Classroom

I have used cooperative learning in a variety of ways in my classroom.  We had base reading groups in which the students were all on the same reading level.  I met with the higher level group at least once per week.  The middle and lower level groups were met with at least twice per week, sometimes more depending on rest of the curriculum.  Formal grouping was for various assignments throughout the year.  The group assignments changed as did the projects.  I also used informal grouping such as think-pair-share and partner reading.  The constant changes in grouping allowed for the students to form connections with each other that they otherwise may not have made. 

With the addition of social networking and Web 2.0 tools cooperative learning can be taken a step further.  Next year, I would like to have a class blog where a topic is posted and students have to contribute to the topic. I hope to be able to blog with other 2^nd grade classes from different parts of the country and perhaps different parts of the world.   I would also like to create group wikis.  Each group will have a topic to research.  Each member of the group will have a subtopic that he or she is responsible for.  The use of wikis and blogs will expand the students’ computer skills while encouraging collaboration and cooperation.