GAME plan and Action

Natalie Laverne Shirley Jackson

Week 4 Application

01/30/2013

                I began to carry out my game plan this week. I have read and introduced on numerous occasions the importance of opinion writing to my students and we are starting to put that into practice in the classroom. Monday I introduced my students to Prezi and Powerpoint and we discussed the differences among those two options for their writing and technology assignment. I created a study island writing assignment on www.studyisland.com for the students to complete on their own time to have practice with opinion writing and the techniques that are needed when doing persuasive writing.

                My colleagues in the building have been very supportive; in fact, the other third grade teachers are following my lead and also trying these new things with their students. As this week passes I hope to have the students explore Prezi and PowerPoint on their own during one of our computer times, while also working on their persuasive topic in class.

                I look forward to the next few weeks and watching the students in the classroom learns how to navigate and organize their ideas and thoughts on different technology programs on the computer. I feel this type of assessment will engage the students and therefore their writing will show their strengths.

Developing the Game Plan

Natalie Laverne Shirley Jackson

Blog Post

01/23/2013

            “Technology provides additional support for all learners”(Laureate Education, 2010).  This week I have reviewed my goals and GAME plan that I plan to carry out in the following weeks. The resources that I have gathered to carry out this plan are computers and a Smart Board for classroom and modeling use. While the computers are scarce in our school I have set aside times to have my students work on the computers three times a week. This will allow them to use them and become comfortable with the software needed.

            I have found that my co-teachers in the building are going to be of great use to me and the GAME plan I have created on persuasive writing with the incorporation's of technology. One of my colleagues is very good with technology and looks forward to also attempting this technology plan with his own students after I partake. My co- workers and computers are the largest use of resources I plan to use throughout the next few weeks. I plan to have the students gather newspaper articles and persuasive ads to show the classroom in order to grasp a better understanding of persuasive writing and its uses outside of the classroom.

            Throughout the next few weeks I plan to learn a great deal of information from each of the students within my classroom. To become a strong self-directed learner I am understand that my kids need the time and technology to themselves. While I have always been the teacher, I plan to become the facilitator and learn from my students.

Resources

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010). Meeting Students’ Needs With Technology, Part 1. [Video webcast]. Retrieved from: https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_2097789_1%26url%3D

My GAME Plan

Natalie Laverne Shirley Jackson

1/15/2013

Week 2 Assignment (Blog)

                Setting goals, taking action, monitoring, and evaluating are each components of the GAME plan that I hope to better me with in the near future. I love teaching students of all ages, yet I understand at a much younger age than before the students are required to become self-directed learners. Without the use of technology this task can become more challenging than ever. The NETS-T standards allow teachers to become accountable for students learning as well as myself.              

                To better the education of my students and to grow more confident in my teaching of the technology standards I want to focus on two standards (NETS-T 1 b. by engaging students in exploring real world issue and solving authentic problems using digital tools.) as well as (NETS-T 4a. Address the diverse needs of all learners by using leaner centered strategies and providing access to appropriate tools.)  

                NETS-T 1b. is an essential standard for technology because it allows students and teachers to relate real world issues to what students are learning in a classroom setting. As a class I try to apply as many real word examples to my students as possible when they are learning. Students need to understand that as a world we are changing into a more technological place. I plan to incorporate our classroom Smart board into each lesson that I teach. I will incorporate Discovery Education, math games, and writing lessons to make the lessons more engaging to learners.

 In order to make this happen I will place an interactive learning activity into each of my daily lesson plans. I will monitor this by reflecting on the lesson and its “real world” components. This will happen each day and I will strategically plan lessons for the future based upon the classes’ engagement and understanding. I will evaluate the classroom’s response to the lesson by implementing formative assessments on www.studyisland.com to check for understanding of all standards as well as informal slate assessments. This GAME plan will allow me to grow in my confidence of teaching the real world concepts to learners as well as for myself.

I have a very diverse group of students that seem to learn at very different rates. The standard of, (NETS-T 4a. Addresses the diverse needs of all learners by using leaner centered strategies and providing access to appropriate tools.)  Each of the students in my classroom learns at different paces. My goal as a classroom teacher is to provide my students with technology activities that are differentiated based upon ability level. To put this into action I plan to have my students work with technology such as the school purchased reading and math programs to enhance and engage lower level students learning. To monitor this I will research and record finding to present with the school administration. These programs will be evaluated and I will evaluate the validity based upon the student performance.

These standards and the goals, action plans, monitoring plans, and evaluation process will allow me to see students’ growth and more confidence in the technology based learning.

Behavior systems in the classroom! Which is the best? (VoiceThread)

  http://voicethread.com/?#e3268369

Social Learning and Connectivism

Social Learning and Connectivism

Natalie Laverne Shirley Jackson

Connectivism and the social learning theories correlate very well to that of the cooperative learning strategy. The cooperative learning strategy stresses to teachers and students that it is important that teachers are not always ability grouping. (Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K., 2007)  It is necessary to group students in base groups (long-term) or informal groups (short-term).  In each of these groups the students use technology-integrated activities where students can feed off of one another.

            “Cooperative learning is not so much learning to cooperate as it is cooperating to learn” (Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K., 2007).  Students need to learn how imperative it is for them to learn and grow from one another. The social learning theories are based upon learning from our surroundings.  Multimedia such as students creating videos is a great way for students to work together and share a task with an unlimited amount of responsibilities and tasks.  These videos can be built upon a specific subject in school and shared at the end of the project to the entire class. Therefore, the students are constantly learning from one another.

            There are several different websites that allow students to participate in cooperative learning with other classrooms. The website,  www.epals.com is a great website for collaborative classrooms. (Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K., 2007)  Web quests, website creations and even the Blackboard Learning that we participate in each week is a form of collaborative learning that allows us to learn form one another. We are able to build upon each other’s ideas and create our own images to chare with others.

            When I was in my last year of my undergraduate program at the University of Georgia I learned of the jigsaw cooperative learning activities. These partner and group activities let students and adults become experts on a specific subject and learn about other concepts from opposite groups. Relating ideas and feeding information off of one another allows people to consume much more knowledge; therefore, becoming natives of the social learning theories.

            Social learning theories and connectivism are essential inside the classroom. Considering that students learn formally from their parents and families and then from their education it is imperative that we are instilling a positive learning and growing environment for our students. The more technology that we use in activities such as cooperative learning the more our students are able to gain knowledge from others and grow as people in knowledge and in life.

References

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with

             classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Strategies to Use the Theories

  Strategies to Use the Theories of Constructivism and Constructionism

Natalie Laverne Shirley Jackson

            In the years of elementary and middle school, students become familiar with science fair projects. The minimal requirements for this project include very similar tasks as systems analysis, problem solving, historical investigation, invention, inquiry, and decision-making. Students who construct such experiments are testing and generating hypothesis, as well as building a final product.

            There are three technologies that are used to improve classroom practice: spreadsheet software, data collection tools, and web resources( (Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K., 2007).  These three resources allow students to build and build upon information to construct a finished product. One of the greatest points of the constructionist learning theory is that the environment in which the students are surrounded should be learner centered. Each of these tools allows that type of environment.

            “Constructionism is a theory of learning that states people learn best when they build upon an external artifact or something they can share with others”(Orey, 2010). The spreadsheet, data collection, and web resources can all produce artifacts that can be shared with other people.  Web resources such as, www.pbs.org/wgbh/buildingbig is great for students to work on problem solving activities. And share their products with teachers and other students. These types of activities involve generating and testing hypotheses and constructing answers. When students are problem solving they are working through issues and solving them on their own which is a learner centered environment.

            Spreadsheets, data collection tools, and web resources are all tools that correlate with the constructivist and constructionist learning theories. Generating and testing hypotheses is a strategy that allows students to work thorough questions and answers that are formed by the teacher or on their own. It is important that the students are problem solving and they are building things. Without the learning by doing environment there is no guarantee that the students are going to recall information.

Resources

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with

             classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Orey, M. (Performer). (2010). Constructivist and constructionist learning theories. [

Web Video]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal

Cognitivism and Strategies Related

Natalie Lavern Shirley Jackson

Cognitivism

            In this weeks’ video resources Michael Orey discussed the cognitive learning theories and they are organized in three different stages. With the Palvio dual coding hypothesis I learned of the importance of images and powerful texts. In relation to this cognitive learning theory the strategies of “cues, question, and advance organizers” as well as “summarizing and note-taking” can be quite similar.

            Chapter four in Using Technology with Classroom Instruction  that Works discusses the use of advance organizers and how the organizers can produce many different results, but they produce a numerous amount of questions (Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K., 2007). With this weeks resources focusing on the cognitive learning theory we have learned that questions and connections are imperative to students learning. The advance organizers will help students connect with the material by using cues and technology resources.

“The technologies that support cues, questions, and advance organizers assist teachers in quickly understanding students responses and organizing them into useful information”(Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K., 2007). These technologies can include spreadsheets, multimedia, and other Internet sites.  These tools are set up much like the concept mapping that I learned about in the video. They organize the information and it is visual to the learners, for complete understanding.

In chapter six of Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works, I learned of the significant relation to “summarizing and note taking” and the cognitive learning theory. “Being aware of the explicit structure of information is an aid to summarizing information”(Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K., 2007). Students need to learn how to use this strategy for the classroom now and later. The chapter reads on and shows examples of how to setup your note taking based upon how the students relate objects or subjects to one another. This was a form of concept mapping as well. The large idea was in the middle and side notes were branching from the main idea.

Whether the strategy is “cues, questions, and advance organizers” or summarizing and note taking” these align very closely with the cognitive learning theories and the cognitive learning tools. These tools can help students make greater connections with concepts which allow the students to retain and recall more information. It is important that the students know how to weed out the information that is not needed in “summarizing and note taking” and that they understand the importance of organization for each thing they complete.

References

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with

            classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.