Week Seven! Summary

This week I thought the articles, Building on the Common Core, The Many Meanings of “Multiple Measures”, Data-Driven Decision Making and Assessment-Driven Improvements in Middle School Students’ Writing did a great job of making the overwhelming task of assessment seem manageable.  Being a physical educator, I am expected to assess my students on the cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains.  Only seeing these students sometimes once a week makes this task seems unrealistic.  During my internship I had as many as 75 1^st graders in my gymnasium at one time.  I tried my hardest to assess my students in each domain but it was difficult.  It took me almost my whole internship but by the end I was able to assess all of my students in each domain, but it was no easy task!  These articles give me hope that assessment is possible and there are effective ways of helping our students learn.

As some students struggle with dividing fractions, other students struggle with learning to kick a ball.  How can I expect to give a student a grade for physical education class just based on if they are able to complete a skill or not.  “In educational settings, a decision or characterization that will have major impact on a student should not be made on the basis of a single test score.  Other relevant information should be taken into account if it will enhance the overall validity of the decision” (Brookhart, 2009, p. 247).  When assessing my students during my internship I took into account not only their performance of the skill but their ability to understand the skill and their behavior.  I would ask my younger students to circle the correct form for kicking a soccer ball to make sure that if they were unable to complete the task they still understood the proper technique.  I had my older students do a little more writing.  They would be asked to list five key elements to kicking a soccer ball.  I was amazed to see how much they listened and understood the material.

 

 As far as assessing my students in the affective domain I used a lot of peer and self-assessments.  “Peer and self-assessments are key elements in formative assessment, because they involve students in thinking about the quality of their own and each others’ work, rather than relying on their teachers as the sole source of evaluative judgment” (Andrade et al, 2009, p. 269).  Having a lot of students in my gymnasium at one time led me to develop a lot of group activities.  At the end of my classes I left time for my students to fill out an assessment sheet about how well their group worked together as well as how well they personally worked within the group.  My younger students would be asked to draw smiley faces while my older students either used a rating system or wrote out a few sentences.  It was great to see how my students thought they were doing.  They took this assessment very seriously and I saw an improvement in their behavior while working in their groups. It was also a great way for them to share any issues with me that they might have not wanted to talk about during class.     

These assessments took a great deal of time to come up with and it was a lot of trail and error but It was worth it all to know that my students were understanding what I was teaching them.  It made me feel like it wasn’t just a gym class, it was a physical education class and they would be able to take the information with them and use it at another time in their life.

Assessing our students is a key part of their education.  It is up to the teachers to make sure their students understand the material that is being presented.  If teachers do not take the time to make effective assessments they are wasting their time even teaching the lesson.  When I develop my lesson plans it is with the purpose to teach my students new information that they can use later on in life.  If I do not check for their understanding and show them the importance of the material why would they remember the information?  One of my proudest moments thus far in my very short teaching career was when I got a phone call from one my student’s parents telling me their daughter came home from school and gave their family a lesson on how to throw the proper way.  I was overwhelmed with joy that this 2^nd grader was able to remember the skills we had worked on during our throwing and catching unit.  It made all the sweat and tears of planning lessons and assessments worth it.

This course has allowed me to get a better understanding of how much time, effort and thought goes into developing an effective classroom.  Teaching is not just about being prepared for the day.  It is about taking our students education to the next level and really understanding how we can make sure we are reaching our students and giving them the best opportunity to succeed.   

As our class comes to an end I also want to speak about some theories, theorist and my overall experience with this course.  Having the chance to learn about famous educational theories and theorists and relating them to my own experiences was extremely helpful and eye opening.  It is hard to believe that these theorist ideas, which were developed many years, are still shaping how we are educating our youth today. Although I find each theorist and their theories to be extremely important to the education world a couple stick out to me as the most influential in education as well as relate to my beliefs on education.  Even though I am a recent graduate and have not found a teaching job yet I am still able to relate these theories to my time spent in my internship as well as my time spent as a swimming instructor.

I find Howard Gardner’s theory of Multiple Intelligences a vital part of our educational system.  From my first education class as an undergrad I remember my professor telling the class that all of us are different and she is going to figure out our intelligences.  I sat there and thought this lady was crazy! What is she talking about, our intelligences?   I understood that we were all different but I didn’t understand what she meant by intelligences.  I thought I would just sit in class, she would lecture to us about teaching and we would leave.  I was very wrong. 

My professor took Gardner’s theory of Multiple Intelligences to a whole different level.  She took a simple lesson but taught it in eight different ways, showing us the eight different types of intelligences.  She asked us to rank the lessons based on how well we understood and related to the information that was taught.  It was amazing to see the amount of effort and time she spent on each lesson.  After we ranked the lessons she shared the results with the class, showing us that we all related to different lessons and were different learners.  I was amazed at how many different rankings we had in the class. 

Our teacher did one final lesson.  She made a lesson that encompassed three or four of the different intelligences.  It was amazing to see how many students you could reach in one lesson if you took the time to plan and think about your students on a personal level.

 

I find that Gardner’s theory relates to my beliefs as an educator.  I truly feel that it is a gift that every person is different and that we all learn in different ways.  I love getting to know my students or swimmers and trying different techniques to reach them.  I think that more educators need to take the time at the start of the school year to get to know their students.  It is time consuming, but worth the educational growth of the students.

For instance, at the day camp where I teach swim lessons I have a group of five and six year old girls.  While teaching them lessons I have learned that some of my swimmers respond to verbal demonstrations, some need me to visual demonstrate the lessons, while others need to be kinesthetically involved to understand my lessons.  To help all of my swimmers I try and structure my daily lessons around all three types of intelligences.  It is amazing to see the “light blub” click on when I explain the lesson in terms that my individual students understand.

Amy, my kinesthetic learner sits with a confused look on her face while I verbally and visually explain the stroke of the day to the class.  When I finally ask my swimmers to stand up and physically demonstrate the stroke outside of the water I she her “light blub” click on.  Moving around and practicing the stroke allows Amy to make a connection that the visual and verbal cues don’t help her with.  Discovering this information out about Amy’s learning style really helped me design my lessons. 

While my beliefs on education most closely relate to Howard Gardner and his theory on multiple intelligences, I find B.F. Skinner and his theories on behaviorism most influential thought out time. Skinner’s theories stating that peoples behaviors are acquired through conditioning and these behaviors work with rewards and punishment in order to develop a desired behavior is something that I believe as educators we see everyday in our classrooms.

“The consequences of behavior determine the probability that the behavior will occur again”.  This quote from Skinner himself shows that as educators we must reward our students for their positive behavior while giving them consequences for negative behaviors.  From the start of time parents have been giving rewards and punishments to their children.  I remember back when I was young and my dad telling me if I completed my homework for the whole week I would receive a reward of going out for ice cream on Friday.  However, if I did not complete my homework for the week I wouldn’t be allowed to watch TV for the whole weekend on top of no ice cream. At first I tested the water and missed a few homework assignments.  My dad stuck to the consequences and I wasn’t allowed to watch TV all weekend.  I thought this couldn’t last, but it did.  I began to complete my homework every week and received my reward.  My dad performed operant conditioning on me, he showed me that with positive behavior I would be rewarded and with negative behavior I would have a negative consequence.  After this I never missed a homework assignment again, I realized the reward of completing my homework, even if there is no ice cream involved.

 

 

I believe this theorist and his theories to be extremely important in the education world.  Educators need to reward their students for positive behaviors while giving consequences for negative.  Educators must follow through with the consequences in order to change the negative behaviors.  I have seen too many teachers give empty threats, causing their students to test the waters and push their limits with negative behaviors.

 During my internship I watched a 5^th grade teacher threaten to take recess time away from her students daily.  She always said, “if you do that one more time no recess”.  At first this seemed like a fair punishment because the students loved their recess time; however I became aware that she was always telling her students “if you do that one more time”.  She never took their recess time away.  Her students began to realize she was not following through with the punishment and began to act out even more.  It was very hard to watch her students take advantage of her, but she brought the behavior on herself by not following through with the punishment. 

I can honestly say this course was tremendously helpful, informational and fun!  Even though this is an online course I feel connected to all of my classmates by reading their weekly blogs and responding to their posts.  I thought the best part of this course was the weekly blogs and responses.  I found it really helpful to read other peoples thoughts on the weekly readings.  It gave me a chance to catch material I missed while I was reading.  It also gave me a great perspective on how these theories and ideas are working in a classroom setting.  It gave me hope that when I have my own classroom I will be able to implement these strategies into my class.  My favorite assignment was  the "what motivates me" assignment.  It was fun to see pictures of everyone’s families and learn more about each other.  It is awesome to be able to put a face with the name of my classmates.  I also couldn’t be happier with the support of my classmates.  The positive comments I received from my classmates about my job search was overwhelming thoughtful.  I personally find online classes very difficult but it is great to know I have the support of my classmates along the way.        

References

Brookhart, S.M. (2009). The Many Meanings of “Multiple Measures”, p. 6-12

Cauley, K.M., & Pannozzo, G.M. (Eds.). (2013). Annual Editions: Educational Psychology 12/13 (27^th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. 

Conley, D.T. (2009). Building on the Common Core, p. 17-20

Donhost, M.J & Anfara Jr., V. A. (2010). Data-Driven Decision Making, p. 56-63

Andrade, H. et al. (2009). Assessment-Driven Improvements in Middle School Students’ Writing, p. 4-12

Links:

http://www.examiner.com/article/learning-theory-and-classroom-applications ( Theories)

http://www.tecweb.org/styles/gardner.html (Gardner)

http://www.simplypsychology.org/operant-conditioning.html (Skinner)

http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/bloom.html (three domains)

http://www.pecentral.org/assessment/assessment.html ( Physical Education assessments) 

 

Below are examples of an affective, cognitive and psychmotor assessment that I used during my internship.    

NAME________________________________________                                             DATE_________________________

Name	Circle all that apply to the person
	Cooperative             Communication             Leader             Productive              Responsible
	Cooperative             Communication             Leader             Productive              Responsible
	Cooperative             Communication             Leader             Productive              Responsible
	Cooperative             Communication             Leader             Productive              Responsible
	Cooperative             Communication             Leader             Productive              Responsible

 Students filled out the name of their group member on each line and circled the word or words that appled to the behavior of their group members. 

Below is an example of  quiz I gave for my jump rope unit with a focus on the five components of fitness.  

NAME:                                                                                         DATE:                           

Answer the questions below to the best of your knowledge from the information we went over from the start of class.

1.     What is body composition?

A.    Fat vs. Height

B.    Fat vs. fat-free mass

C.    Fat free mass vs. weight

D.   Fat free mass vs. age

2.    How can you measure body composition?

A.    Height and Age

B.    How many times you work out in a week

C.    Underwater body fat test, the BodPod, and DEXA Scan

D.   Age and Weight

3.    True or False

If a person has a high body fat percentage they are unhealthy? 

 

The students where instructed to fill out this card using crayons, drawing a green line in the correct box of the skill they could complete and drawing a red line in the box if they needed improvement in a skill.  

NAME:                                                                             DATE:                           

Skill	Basic	Advanced

Example Chart-Student will fill out the name of the skill from the skill card then place the proper drawing in either the basic column or advanced column according to the skill. 

Week Six: Classroom Management Strategies

When the bell rings on the first day of school and twenty-five rambunctious, yelling students come running into your classroom a million different thoughts, ideas and fears go running through a teachers head.  “What type of students will I have?”, “How will I reach all of them?”,  “Will they respect me?”  These questions are daunting, even down right scary to think about but they are impossible to ignore.

In order to tackle and build an effective classroom a great deal of time and effort must be put into classroom management.  These rules, producers and protocols must be thoroughly thought out and planned well before the first day of school.   

From the articles The Perils and Promises of Praise by Carol S. Dweck, Middle School Students Talk About Social Forces in the Classroom by Kathleen Cushman and Laura Rogers and From Ringmaster to Conductor by Matthew A. Kraft I was able to gain an understanding of how to begin to develop my own classroom management ideas.  These articles did a great job of pin pointing problem areas that a lot of teachers are facing in the classroom.  I also really enjoyed reading about how students view their time spent in the classroom.  I believe more information needs to be collected from the student’s point of view in order to gain knowledge to make effective classrooms. “Praise is intricately connected to how students view their intelligence” (Dweck, 2007, p. 189).  As teachers, should we be praising our students for every little thing they do to keep them motivated or should we save our praise for big accomplishments, so students understand how proud we are?  After reading article 37 and learning about the two faces of effort I believe praise is something that should be given on an individual level.  This course has taught me that all of our students are different and view themselves differently.  This means that one type of praise will not work for all of our students.  We need to learn about our students and understand what drives them, as well as what type of mid-set they have of themselves. 

Teachers should strive to get all of their students to the growth mid-set.  “Effort is a positive thing; It ignites their intelligence and causes it to grow” (Dweck, 2007, p. 189).  We need our students to want to learn, grow and better themselves as learners.  Effort is what it takes to achieve.  If our students do not have the effort to learn they will give up on themselves when the material gets tough.  This is when proper praise comes into play.

Not only do teachers need to be thinking about how to properly praise their students they need to think about the social forces that are contributing to their students behaviors in and out of the classroom.  In article 41 Kathleen Cushman and Laura Rogers interview 42 middle school students, asking them questions related to academic, social, physical and emotional issues they are facing (Cushman & Rogers, 2008, p. 212).  The questions that were asked were extremely eye opening and made me realize what a crazy and interesting time period of life it is for middle school aged students.  These students are no longer children but not yet adults.  They are faced with demanding challenges that they are not yet capable of handling on their own.

“As teachers get a clear picture of what is going on among students socially, they will find opportunities to help their students safely connect to each other” (Cushman & Rogers, 2008, p. 214).  To me this statement sums it all up.  If teachers do not take the time to understand, ask questions or get involved in their students lives how will they be able to help them through their issues?  I personally want an open trusting relationship with my students.  I want them to be able to come to me with their issues and problems.  I want them to feel comfortable in my classroom.  If one of my students is having an issue at home and is struggling in my class I want them to be able to come to me and express these issues, not just sit in my classroom sad and frustrated. 

As much as I want this perfect classroom, I understand it is not always possible.  A lot goes into a classroom and lets be honest there are just not enough hours in a day to get everything done.  This is why developing this open, positive relationship with students at the start of a school year is so important.  Letting your students know you are available and willing to help them from the start is something that can get a classroom off to a great start.  

 

The last article, article 43, was a great deal of help in developing my classroom management skills.  I wish I had this article while I was writing my classroom management paper for my internship.  It gave simple to the point examples of how a classroom should be run in order allow your students to get the most out of their education and to allow the teacher to keep an effective classroom. 

The five classroom management techniques; What you teach, nonnegotiable rules, clear expectations, managing transitions and getting attention are techniques I believe I have used but still need develop my skills in all areas.  Out of all the techniques I find nonnegotiable rules to be extremely important.  During my time as an undergrad and intern my professors and clinical teachers always stressed the importance of picking no more than five classroom rules.  “Teachers often face behavior management problems because they choose too many rules to enforce and they don’t clearly differentiate between classroom values and nonnegotiable rules” (Kraft, 2010, p. 230). 

During my internship I developed five classroom rules that were posted throughout the gymnasium for students to see every time they entered my class.  I went over the rules with my students intensely over the first couple of weeks of class.  This allowed for everyone to understand the importance of the rules and that I was going to take them seriously.  Throughout the year I had rules for each unit but my five classroom rules were consistent.  Allowing my students to understand the importance of my classroom rules made it easier for them to learn and understand the importance of the unit rules, causing less behavior issues.    

“Effective teaching and learning can take place only in a harmonious learning environment” (Kraft, 2010, p. 229).  This effective learning environment starts with the preparation.  A classroom is like a ship, the teacher the captain and the students the workers.  In order for the ship to make it from the start of the school year to the end the captain must prepare the ship and the workers. If the captain is lazy and unprepared the ship will sink and never make it to its finally destination.

   

References

 Cauley, K.M., & Pannozzo, G.M. (Eds.). (2013). Annual Editions: Educational Psychology 12/13 (27^th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. 

Cushman, K. & Rogers, L. (2008). Middle School Students Talk about Social Forces in the Classroom, p. 14-24.

Dweck, C.K. (2007). The Perils and Promises of Praise, p. 34-39

Kraft, M.A. (2010). From Ringmaster to Conductor: 10 Simple Techniques Can Turn an Unruly Class into a Productive One, p. 44-47   

Links:

 http://theteachersguide.com/classroommanagement.htm (Classroom Managements)

http://essentialeducator.org/?p=3028 (Praise)

http://www.interventioncentral.org/behavioral-interventions/motivation/teacher-praise-efficient-tool-motivate-students (Praise)

http://www.lessonplansinc.com/classroom_management_strategies.php (10 rules to classroom management)

http://www.ehow.com/how_6391081_develop-personal-classroom-management-philosophy.html (Philosophy)

Week Five: Continuous Improvement Techniques

As teachers, how do we make sure our students are not only able to pass a test on the subjects we teach them but are able to gain knowledge in the subject to use later on in their lives? In this weeks readings Classroom Assessment and Grading to Assure Mastery by James P. Lalley and J. Ronald Gentile and Backward Design by Amy Childre, Jennifer R. Sands, and Saundra Tanner Pope I was able to gain an understanding of how to educate our student’s not just for my own class but also for classes they will have in the future.

In article 26 Classroom Assessment and Grading to Assure Master I was able to read and develop a better understanding of teaching for mastery.  I have heard of this type of teaching before but have never had an opportunity to see it done. It makes me happy to read that people understand that our students are going to forget the information that we teach them.  Teachers throw a great deal of information at their student’s everyday and expect them to remember it all.  Let’s be honest, this is impossible for most.   I remember too many times my teachers becoming frustrated with my classes because we couldn’t remember something we learned the year before. Was the reason we couldn’t remember the information our fault or was it the fault of our pervious teachers?

I think most students are not given the opportunity to master information.  “Learners who do not achieve mastery in the initial phase of learning show none of these benefits.  Instead, they show considerable forgetting within hours or days, little (if any) savings in relearning and no overlearning (by definition), because practice makes perfect only if the practice is essentially correct” (Lalley & Gentile, 2009, p. 122).  I believe there is not enough time for teachers to allow their students to master their work.  Teachers are forced to rush their lessons in order to fit all the material into the school year.  I understand we want our students to gain the most knowledge that they can from their time in school but if we are rushing the process are they really gaining any knowledge?

Allowing students to master information also allows for all of your students to work together.  All of our students learn, understand and process information at a different rate. “The faster students are doing enrichment projects, including helping the slower ones, because they would never be permitted to settle for the lowest passing grade in the course” (Lalley & Gentile, 2009, p. 125).  This gives your students the chance to help each other learn and take pride in their education.

I believe developing a teaching style that focuses on teaching for mastery with the utilization of backward design would be the ideal way to ensure your students understanding of their studies.  While reading Backward Design: Targeting Depth of Understanding for All Learners I was fascinated by this style of teaching.  I have never heard of this style of teaching before, however after reading the article I can see the advantages of such a technique of teaching the youth.  “Curriculum design is at the center of developing students ability to construct understanding.  Without appropriately designed curriculum, instruction can be ineffective at scaffolding understanding” (Childre, Sands & Pope, 2009,p. 127). 

“Teacher understanding of the difference between students knowledge and student understanding is critical to implementing a backward design approach” (Childre, Sands & Pope, 2009,p. 128).  I enjoyed how this article laid out the steps to follow in order to develop this type of teaching in your classroom.  These steps include identifying learners, Identifying curriculum priorities, designing assessment framework and finally creating learning activities.  This type of teaching does not seem easy, however the results seem well worth the effort. 

The step that stood out to me, as the most important was step one; identifying learners.  I believe this is the most important part of any teacher’s job.  We cannot educate our students if we do not know what type of learners they are.  This would be a great time to use the Keirsey Temperament Test in order to determine the types of personalities in your classroom.  Teachers must take a great deal into account when planning their lessons in order to reach all of their students.  If this step is over looked or not taken seriously it can throw off the rest of the planning for your lessons. 

Developing the perfect way to teach your class is impossible.  Some students are going to fight you, some will never get the information and some will exceed with flying colors.  It is up to us, the teachers, to develop a plan that will allow all of our students the chance to understand what they are learning.  It is also up to us show our students the importance of their education.  If we prepare them for the future they will have a greater chance of success.                 

Reference

Cauley, K.M., & Pannozzo, G.M. (Eds.). (2013). Annual Editions: Educational  Psychology 12/13 (27^th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. 

Childre, A., Sands, J.R., & Pope, S.T. (2009). Backward Design: Targeting Depth of Understanding for All Learners, p. 6-14.

Lalley, J.P., & Gentile J. R. (2009). Classroom Assessment and Grading to Assure Mastery, p. 28-35

Links:

http://www.huffenglish.com/?p=352 (backward Design)

http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/planning-a-class-with-backward-design/33625 (planning)

http://www.education.com/reference/article/mastery-learning/ (Mastery Learning)

http://www.lauracandler.com/strategies/masterylearning.php (Mastry Learning)

Week Four: The Impact of Technology on Students and the Educational System

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For this weeks blog I want to talk about the impact technology has had on students as well as on the educational system.  In our text Educational Psychology I read four articles that took a deep look into technology in schools and what teachers need to be doing in order to prepare themselves and their students to use and understand technology.             

Schools are faced with a great deal of problems associated with technology.  These problems can lead to some schools fearing technology and trying to push the growing trend away.  Technology is all around us, pushing it away only hurts those involved.  Schools, teachers, parents and students need to understand the importance of learning new technologies and using them in the correct way.  Everyone needs to work together to learn the new trends and perfect the old ones.

In article 33, What Is Technology Education? A Review of the “Official Curriculum””, Ryan A. Brown and Joshua W. Brown talk about technology education and the goals of such programs in schools.  “The stated goal of technology education is to “produce students with a more conceptual understanding for technology and its place in society, who can thus grasp and evaluate new bits of technology that they might never have seen before” (ITEA 2000, 4) (Brown & Brown, 2010, p. 170).  Living in the 21^st century it is just as important that our students learn how to use technology as it is for them to learn how to read.  Pretty soon schools will no longer have textbooks or libraries, everything will be done online.  If we, as teachers, do not take the time to help our students learn different types of technology we are only hurting their futures.  Students will be left behind in the working world because of their lack of knowledge of different technologies.

The best way for students to understand and learn different types of technology is practice. “Many of the references to teaching technology education revolve around the idea of student engagement” (Brown & Brown, 2010, p. 172).  Let students try new technologies.   We learn to read by reading, we learn to write by writing.  Students need to learn technology by using technology.

Like I said before, our students learn by doing and practicing.  We cannot expect them to understand a concept by just speaking about the concept briefly.  Article 34, “Plagiarism in the Internet Age”, by Rebecca Moore Howard and Laura J. Davies explains the importance of teaching our students how to avoid plagiarizing and not just telling them what will happen to them if they do plagiarize. 

“Teachers who wish to prevent plagiarism should devote extensive instruction to the component tasks of writing from sources” (Howard & Davies, 2009, p. 175).  While in school I remember every year getting the plagiarism speech and signing a piece of paper stating that I would not plagiarize any of my work.  That was it; nothing else was done in order to help me not plagiarize my work.  From the time I can remember writing my first paper I have been afraid I am plagiarizing in my papers, not because I am copying someone else work but because I am citing information in the wrong way.  This is something our students shouldn’t have to be worrying about.  They need proper education on how to use information, research topics and cite online sources.  The wealth of information online should not be taken away from our students because teachers are unwilling, or too lazy to teach a proper lesson on plagiarism. 

Article 35, Transforming Education with Technology: A Conversation with Karen Cator by Marge Scherer, takes an inside look at an interview with the director of the office of educational technology, Karen Cator.  The article spoke about a bunch of different items like schools Karen had been to that showed great use of technology, technology access in schools and inequalities in the classroom.  The items I found most interesting and important for teachers, students and classrooms were student’s engagements in a technology-rich school and teaching veteran teachers about new technologies.

“Engagement isn’t a focus on entertainment; it’s about brain activity.  Is each student’s brain fully engaged?” (Scherer, 2011, p. 178).  Students need to be interested in what they are learning in order to be engaged in learning.  “With technology, it’s easier to allow for student choice, for meeting interests, for ensuring that assignments are at an appropriate level, and for allowing prior experience and language support learning” (Scherer, 2011, 178).  While substituting this year I was able to see a number of online technology based activities teachers used in order to engage, assess and monitor their student’s progress in class.  One example in particular was an 8^th grade special education math class.  These students had online homework, quizzes and assignments that needed to be completed each week.  The students loved this online work.  It was fun, interactive and allowed them to play on the computer, which is what they seemed to enjoy doing.  This program also allowed for the teacher, parents and students to access the work to see what the students needed help on.

 In order to engage students with new and exciting technologies, teachers must be up to date with the latest and greatest technologies.  I believe keeping all teachers on the same technology page is one of the hardest parts of using technology in our schools.  My dad is a retired teacher of 35 years.  At the end of his career, which is about 4 years ago, Technology began to creep more and more into his classroom and he was scared.  He would come home everyday frustrated, mad or upset by the new technology around him.  He felt helpless and lost.  Teachers need to work together to help each other learn these new technologies.  Teachers are able to bring so many great resources to their fellow teachers if they take the time to collaborate with one another.

The final article Assessing Middle School Students’ Knowledge of Conduct and Consequences and Their Behaviors Regarding the Use of Social Networking Sites by Stacey L. Kite, Robert Gable, and Lawrence Filippelli is an article I think all educators should have to read in this day in age.  “Cyberbullying threats of predation through social networking sites and instant messaging programs have created numerous problems for parents, school administrators, and law enforcement on a national level (McKenna 2007, 60)” (Kite, Gable & Filippelli, 2010, p. 181). 

The Internet is a scary place where people can hide behind their computer screens and lash out at other or lure others into inappropriate relationships.  The youth needs to be more aware of how to handle themselves online to stay safe.  Administration, teachers and parents should be working together to fight to keep our youth safe on the Internet.   

 

”With the schoolyard bully both the bully and the victim can read each other’s social cues, such as body posture, speaking volume, facial expressions, and level of engagement.  Cyberbullying removes all of the social cues that are learned through face-to-face interactions, and the bully and victim are left with caustic words being exchanged without any other interaction” (Kite, Gable & Filippelli, 2010, p. 181). During my internship I had a few students who were being bullied online and were bullying online.  This was a new issue to me; five years ago when I was in high school students were only beginning to start their obsession with the Internet.  It was scary to hear that my quietist students were bullying others online daily.  It made sense though, these students were pushovers during the school day but were able to go home and say their true feelings while in the safety of their own home.  Before the teachers knew it we were breaking up fights in the cafeteria and on the bus from what students where saying about each other online.  The school did their best to get to the bottom of the issues but I know and heard from talking in the hallway that the cyberbullying was still going on.

As scary as cyberbullying was to deal with the risk of Internet predators is even more of an issue students need to be made aware of. “Only 40 percent of students indicted that they would tell an adult if they were contacted on the instant messenger by someone they did not know (item 20)” (Kite, Gable & Filippelli, 2010, p. 183).  This number is far to low.  Parents and teachers need to be aware of what students are doing while online.  Clearly students aren’t going to tell anyone what they are doing online, which means it is time to start asking!  There is nothing wrong with asking students about what is going on in their online world.  They need to know the danger and intent of what some people are doing online.  If we make students aware of the bad people online and let them know they can come to us when something doesn’t seem right we can begin to protect our youth from online danger.

Keeping our youth offline in fear of what is out there is not the right way to treat the situation.  The Internet and technology are amazing parts of our world.  Teachers, parents and schools need to join together to teach our students the proper way to use technology and the Internet so that they can grow up and make more advancement to the ever-growing world of technology.

Reference

Brown, R.A & Brown, J.W. (2010) What Is Technology Education? A Review of the “Official Curriculum”, pages 49-53.

Cauley, K.M., & Pannozzo, G.M. (Eds.). (2013). Annual Editions: Educational Psychology 12/13 (27^th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. 

Howard, R.M. & Davies, L.J. (2009). Plagiarism in the Internet Age, pages 64-67.

Kite, S.L., Gable, R. & Filippelli, L. (2010). Assessing Middle School Students’ Knowledge of Conduct and Consequences and Their Behaviors Regarding the Use of Social Networking Sites, pages 158-163.

Scherer, M. (2011). Transforming Education with Technology, pages 17-21.

Links

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/589/01/ (Plagiarism)

 http://www.technology-education.net/ (Technology Education)

http://712educators.about.com/cs/technology/a/integratetech.htm (technology in the classroom)

http://712educators.about.com/cs/technology/a/integratetech.htm (Technology in the classroom)

http://www.ncpc.org/cyberbullying (Cyberbullying)

Week Three: Creating Effective Learning Environments for Diverse Learners

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For this weeks blog I would like to look at the articles in Part C of Unit 3 dealing with diversity.  I believe that all students learn in different ways and it is up to the teachers to allow the opportunity for students to learn to their best abilities.  After this weeks assignments dealing with different theorists I have come to know and understand Howard Gardner’s theory on multiple intelligences and finds it relates to diverse learners a great deal.

Howard Gardner believes that everyone learns, thinks and understands information in a different way and that no one way is the correct way to learn or think.  He believes there are eight different kinds of intelligence; visual-spatial, linguistic, mathematical, kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal and naturalistic.  The articles, Improving Schooling for Cultural Minorities: The Right Teaching Styles Can Make a Big Difference, The Myth of PINK & BLUE Brains, and Gender Matters in Elementary Education are prime examples of how students with different background, cultures, up bringing and gender learn in different ways.

“One reason minority students are likely to encounter more problems in schools than mainstream students involve incomplete knowledge of minority students’ learning and communication styles” (Morgan, 2010, p. 93).   In article 21, Improving Schooling for Cultural Minorities: The Right Teaching Style Can Make a Big Difference by Hani Morgan, I read about how students from different cultures are taught to act in different ways to authority and peers.  Without the knowledge of these different cultural norms teachers could end up causing distress and poor relationships among their students and student’s parents.

It is impossible for teachers to learn all the norms of each of their students but it is almost impractical to ignore them as well. “Teachers may believe that treating all students the same way avoids discriminating against any group, but that practice in itself is discriminatory (Banks 2006; Gollnick and Chinn 2009)” (Morgan, 2010, p. 94).  Teachers need to make the effort to learn about their students, ask questions about their home lives and understand them more.  In the video “Valuing Diversity in learners” One teacher spoke about how at the start of the school year she sent home a questionnaire for her student’s parents and students.  She was able to gather information about the student’s home life, parents, likes and dislikes. 

This type of early interaction with your students and the parents of your students allows for you, as a teacher to better understand what kind of learning your student can benefit from the most.  “African American and Latino students, for example, tend to improve academically with cooperative learning methods of teaching (Aronson and Gonzales 1988)” however on the other hand, “Anglo-American students, who tend to be field-independent, prefer to work alone (Banks 2006)” (Morgan, 2010, p. 94).  This type of information should be taken into account when planning lessons for your students.  Your lessons should be planned with your students interest in mind not just to get the information out.   

 

As well as cultural diversity playing a part on planning lessons for a classroom, gender is also an issue that must be addressed when it comes to effective learning environments.  The articles The Myth of PINK & BLUE Brains by Lise Eliot and Gender Matters in Elementary Education by Virginia Bonomo shows how much of a role our gender plays in our education and how we develop as learners. 

Why are girls better at reading? Why are boys better at math?  Does it have to do with the size of our brains, the time it takes us to develop, or the toy our mom handed us when we are two years old?  “When it comes to gender gaps, boys and girls start out a little bit different, but these differences become rapidly magnified by a culture that sees them- and encourages them to see themselves-as fundamentally different creatures” (Eliot, 2010, p. 97). 

Starting when we are two years old we being to remember the toys we are given to play with.  Girls are instructed to play with dolls and to create make believe houses.  Boys are given baseballs to throw, trucks to dig with and told to play outside.  Is it any wonder that girls love to talk and boys love to watch baseball?  These are the roles our society has laid out for us from the time we are wrapped in a pink or blue blanket the second we are born.  Teachers need to understand these aspects about gender and embrace them in their teachings.

Boys will tend to be kinesthetic learners.  “Keep a close eye on boys, but let them play.  Without physical outlet, their aggressiveness will show up elsewhere inappropriately.  Thus, provide large spaces for boys when possible.  Girls, on the other hand will tend to be Interpersonal learners.  “Girls work well in groups when they are facing one another or the teacher.  Find activities that allow them to help the teacher” (Bonomo, 2010, p.103).  Although these are the general ideas of how boys and girls are different it is not always the case.  Some girls may have grown up in a house of all brothers and may make her a kinesthetic learner, while a boy might have a grown up with only his mother in the house and he is a linguistic learner.  This is why all teachers must take the time to learn about their students and understand that one type of learning will never meet all the needs of each student.  

 

Reference

Bonomo, V. (2010) Gender Matters in Elementary Education, Page 247-264.

Cauley, K.M., & Pannozzo, G.M. (Eds.). (2013). Annual Editions: Educational Psychology 12/13 (27^th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. 

Eliot, L. (2010) The Myth of PINK & BLUE Brains, pages 32-36.

Morgan, H. (2010) Improving Schooling for Cultural Minorities: The Right Teaching Style Can Make a Big Difference, page 114-120.

  

Links:

http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/mi/index_sub4.html (Multiple Intelligences)

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=girl-brain-boy-brain (Blue Vs. Pink Brain)

http://www.tolerance.org/supplement/culture-classroom

(Culture)

http://www.glencoe.com/sec/teachingtoday/weeklytips.phtml/230 (Culture)