Week 6 Reflection

Week 6 Reflection

A topic came up in several places over this week.  On our Twitter chat, we talked about how when computers were first showing up in schools, often only the top students were exposed to them.  I read in some blogs that some students are being encouraged to experience learning as described in Thomas and Brown’s A New Culture of Learning: Cultivating the Imagination for a World of Constant Change.  However, often, this is done for gifted students and not for all of the student population.  I was wondering if, like technology, this will grow to eventually encompass all students.  I included this thought in a blog response. 

I have enjoyed learning more about Minecraft this week.  I was able to watch the recordings of “Intro to Minecraft” and the “Why MInecraft Inspries Me.” I have not started playing it myself yet, but plan to.  I love building things with Legos.  I like to use plans to follow the given plans to make whatever structure the kit is made for.  I am wondering if I will have the patience to learn how to use Minecraft and enjoy it.  I’ll have to find out.  It seems that I lack attention span when playing many serious games.  I would like to try Minecraft to be able to use it with my students.  My daughter will make a great teacher for me.

In addition to the reading assigned I shared a resource that I found.  Alana Brown wrote a blog at http://www.chipdizard.com/dare-to-make-a-chang/.  She is a chemistry teacher. This blog is about her classes being very successful with the new culture of learning it has.  The students are more in charge of their learning. She also has other blogs that give more teaching advice.

Classroom Culture

My classroom is definitely much different than the ones I grew up with.  Technology plays such a huge part.   We use two different programs for Title 1, one for 4/5 and one for k-3.  Both programs have students work on reading skills until mastery. This is something that was hard to do without technology.  Each person is working on a different skill at different levels. 

It hasn’t changed however, to the extent that Thomas and Brown describe in their book  A New Culture of Learning: Cultivating the Imagination for a World of Constant Change.  This year is a bit different because I am working with small groups of students, but not as different as it should be.  In the past years, though, my classroom was much more of what they call the mechanistic perspective where efficiency is the goal.  “The goal is to learn as much as you can, as fast as you can.  In this teaching-based approach, standardization is a reasonable way to do this, and testing is a reasonable way to measure the result.”  (2011)    I don’t see this changing significantly when state testing is such a big part of education.  I would really like to get to the point where “in the new culture of learning the point is to embrace what we don’t know, come up with better questions about it, and continue asking those questions in order to learn more and more” (Thomas and Brown, 2011) 

One thing I really like about watching the “Why Minecraft Inspires Me” (Drakkart. (2014, February 15) is that the kids were experts.  True experts that had valuable information to share!  Johnny and Newman were great!  This is a true example of learning “within the world” instead of learning about the world as Thomas and Brown put it.  They discussed collaborating within the game with so many different people.  What a great way to learn a social skill that is hard to teach!  I was also impressed when it was mentioned, (I don’t remember by who) that the kids were nice to each other in the game.  With all the talk about cyber-bullying going on, this was a nice surprise.

 

 I am going to have go look into playing Minecraft.   The best place to start would be with my 12 year old daughter who loves the game.  I work with a group of 2^nd graders who do well in math.  This might be a great way to inspire them!

 

In Alansa Brown’s post “Your Classroom’s Culture: Dare to Make a Change” at http://www.chipdizard.com/dare-to-make-a-chang/ she gives a good piece of advice. 

 

  “Our children have become so accustomed to being spoon-fed. Their parents do it, and other teachers do it. Help yourself, and make them accountable for learning.” 

 I see this often with students. Many think that they should just be given the answers to most everything that takes more than the smallest of initiative or energy.  It seems to get worse every year.  Now when they really don’t know how to do something or how to find an answer, of course you are there for them.  When I have a student who seems to be this way, I will often ask them what they think they answer is.  I may even ask them to guess.  “If you had to guess, what would you say?”  This gives them the freedom to answer without fear of being wrong.  Often they know it, but are afraid of being wrong.  In dealing with younger children, some will want everything read to them.  If I know they are capable, I have them read it to me.  This shows them that I am not there to read it for them, but am there when they need help.  If they ask me to read a problem to them, I ask them to tell me which word they are having difficulty with.  Then they usually read it.  Sometimes there is a problem work, sometimes there is not.  Being spoon fed is a hard habit to break.

Week 5 Reflection

Week 5 Reflection

I have found reading David Burgess’s Teach Like a Pirate  quite inspiring this week. I have been reminded about why I enjoy teaching and how to rekindle some of that enjoyment.  I strive to help my students to learn to their potential.  However, I had forgotten for some time the effect my own passion, or lack there of, has on their motivation.   By just making subtle changes in my attitude and presentation, it has made a positive change in the atmosphere of one of my Title 1 classes.  I am so excited about this.  Many of the students in the class do not want to be there and I have been trying how to change that.  (They know it’s because they need extra help.  Something a 4^th or 5^th grader doesn’t always take well.)  Now, it has only been a week, and I am hoping that it isn’t just some other cause that may disappear.    

Meeting and talking with Dave Burgess in the Google Hang Out was a great experience.  I offered to help moderate and this helped me learn a new skill. I had never even been on Google Hang Out before.  I was a bit nervous about having to be “seen” the whole time.  (I have this odd habit of fidgeting during such time.  For example, whenever I Face time with someone, if he or she touches their nose, mine automatically begins to itch.  This went on during the meeting, but I was able to refrain from rubbing my nose too much.  I hope.)  I do have to say, I enjoy looking at a face while someone is talking so I appreciate the need to be have the video on. 

Reading the blogs of my classmates has, again, been inspiring as well.  I enjoy getting feedback from my classmates and I hope that my feedback is appreciated as well.   I shared some of the things that I learned when it related to a post.  I even commiserated with some on the setbacks of being innovative, although we agreed on the need to do so.  

I also had a chance to look at Vicki's students' wikis.  After finding out how to make a comment, I made some suggestions that had to do with the editing of the pages.  For example, if something confused me, I said so.  On another I saw a way tot make the working a little better and suggested that.  I did accidentally respond to one that wasn't on my assigned group by using a link on the side instead of on their main page.  I will figure this out though.  I am getting better each week understanding the organization of the wiki.  

Innovation and Excellence

Maintaining Excellence While Innovating

One valuable piece of advice when trying new things is not to give up too fast.  On the page at  http://www.cmu.edu/teaching/designteach/design/instructionalstrategies/discussions.html  the pros of using discussion during teaching is talked about.  One of the things they say is to not jump in to early when students give a blank stare.

“The temptation under these circumstances is to jump in and answer your own question, if only to relieve the uncomfortable silence. Don’t assume, though, that students’ silence necessarily indicates that they are stumped (or unprepared); sometimes they are simply thinking the question through and formulating an answer. Be careful not to preempt this process by jumping in too early.”

I think this advice could be used for any new strategy you are trying.   You must give it a chance before throwing in the towel.  Students may just need more processing time, time to adjust to something new, or any number of reasons for the lesson to appear on the surface to not be working.  In order to innovate, you must be able to take the risk and the extra time to see if something is working.  You must also be able to adjust when you see a change is needed.  Teachers may want to just scrap what they are trying when all that may be needed is some tweaking. 

Knowing your students and what they like and are capable is also important when innovating.  Of course, when innovating you may want to push the envelope at times and they may surprise you.  However,  you don’t want to go too far above their capabilities or you will lose them. 

On the Carnagie Mellon page “Design & Teach a Course” it states,  “In other words, it is important to push students out of their comfort zone, but to do so gradually enough so that they do not panic or become discouraged.”  http://www.cmu.edu/teaching/designteach/design/yourstudents.html

One of the most important things to remember when trying out new things is to keep your eye on the goal.  There are lots of neat things that are innovative, engaging, and fun, but to maintain excellence there must be a goal.  You shouldn’t do something just because it is innovative and engaging.  You should be doing innovative things to help your students achieve the standards.  Along the same lines, I think that often someone will find or think of an activity and then see how they can arrange it to fit the standards.  Often things may be justified simply because it touches on the standards.  Instead, you should start with the standard and build the activity to around it.  (Of course, not everything done in class has to be strictly for academic standards.  There is something to be said for building classroom communities and helping students become better students.  This, in turn, helps students throughout the whole class achieve standards.)

There is a wealth of information not only online, but from fellow teachers, on things that have worked and not worked.  Using others’ experiences is a great way to maintain excellence.  If it’s something that has been done before, there may be information to help make it better.  When being innovative, you don’t have to make up something totally new.  There are many, many websites that have lesson plans and ideas.  Teachers Pay Teachers.com is a wonderful resource.  Most lessons even have reviews given.  I have also used Smart Exchange, which is a site for lessons for the Smart Board.  Most of these lessons are free and have a number given on how many times it has been recommended.  Discovery.com is another site that has great lessons that have been rated.  This site costs quite a bit of money, but is a wonderful resource.  My point is, when trying something new to your teaching, chances are someone else has tried it as well.  They may have some valuable advice to help you maintain excellence in your teaching. 

Week 4 Reflection

Week 4 Reflection

This week I have been working with my group on a rubric for students to use when considering a serious game for the classroom.  We did much work on through the wiki.  Email was also a useful tool to keep up with changes.  Nicole set up a few meeting on AnyMeeting.  I had never used this before.  It was a great tool to meet and discuss our rubric.  My part of the rubric is to make directions.  I am attempting to make some directions before the final product is made so they may be more general than I’d like.  We decided at our group web meeting that a screen cast would be a good way to deliver these instructions.  I thought that would be a great idea, however, I would use the rubric and it would need to be in its final form.  I’m not sure there will be time for that. 

I have been enjoying reading Teach Like a Pirate.  The chapter on passion has inspired me to find my professional passion to teach in those areas that I am less passionate about.  I think this is one way I can make a difference in my ability to engage the students.  I need to find a way to keep remembering to do this.  It is easy to forget doing the daily routines. 

While reading others' blogs, I was intrigued that several people talked about two of the same things that I came away with in the first part of Teach Like a Pirate. 1.   How important passion is in teaching and that professional passion can be used when you don’t feel passionate about a topic.  2.  The importance of a safe and supportive classroom for students to feel okay being creative.   I commented on several of them.  I commented to one blogger how another person had similar thoughts on engagement (students need to play a part in becoming engaged) so that he would have a chance to look at it if he hadn’t already.  

I shared on my blog several sites that I found that gave excellent advice on engaging students.  (http://www.edutopia.org/stw-school-turnaround-student-engagement-tips)
http://ctl.utexas.edu/teaching/engagement/active_interactive_class,
http://www.knewton.com/blog/teacher-tools/five-ways-to-make-math-lessons-more-engaging 

Engaging Students

Passion.  Passion is important for engaging students.  If you are not passionate about a lesson, your students will more than likely not be either.  Dave Burgess talks a lot about passion.   The thing that I liked best about his views on teaching and passion is that you will be teaching things that you are just not passionate about.  In this  case, he suggests using your professional passion for teaching.   You can be excited about your students learning the content even if the content itself does not excite you.   You have to make a conscious effort to do this.  I think this is something that I can start working on right away.  I have forgotten how much showing your excitement can get students excited as well.  Being innovative is one way to have passion for teaching.  Doing something different or in a different way can recharge you as a teacher and that will show to your students.   Students seeing something new is another way to hold their interest. 

Another thing Dave Burgess talks about is having a safe and supportive environment.  I agree wholeheartedly that for students to take risks, show enthusiasm, and to be creative, they must feel safe from being embarrassed. 

One thing to remember, in particular working with younger students, is that kids can only focus on a lecture for a small amount of time.  Cochrane Collegiate Academy, in Charlotte, North Carolina has developed a list of non-negotiables for interactive learning.  One of them is to have limited lecture time.  If a lesson is going over 12-15 minutes, it needs to be broken up by another activity for a t least 2-3 minutes.  Students can only sit for about the same number of minutes as their age plus possibly one or two minutes.  (http://www.edutopia.org/stw-school-turnaround-student-engagement-tips) This is important to remember when trying to engage students. 

On the page from the University of Texas, http://ctl.utexas.edu/teaching/engagement/active_interactive_class, How to Make Class Active and Interactive it states,

‘To keep students engaged you can build variety into your delivery by “chunking” the class into sections of around 15 minutes. Use a shift in energy, change the focus, change the stimulus, or change the means of delivery.”

On the Knewton Blog at http://www.knewton.com/blog/teacher-tools/five-ways-to-make-math-lessons-more-engaging/ there are some great suggestion on how to keep math lessons engaging.  Telling a story was a great one.  You can teach things like probability with a story to make it more meaningful and interesting.  You can make up characters or even use real people to show scenarios where probability is used.  I’ve always seen probability explained with things like what is the probability of pulling out a certain color sock out of a drawer.  How does that show the usefulness of probability? 
Of course, I cannot leave out the use of technology.  Technology often times will engage students better than other methods of instruction.  Social networks are a great way to keep in touch with families about what is going on in the classroom.  Many classes are using Twitter and Facebook for that reason.  Skype is a great tool that can be used in many different ways.  Classrooms can have guest speakers or virtual field trips from all over the world. They can also connect with other classrooms and learn about different places.  This is just a couple of ideas given in Ten Tech Tools to Engage Students at http://www.informationweek.com/mobile/mobile-devices/10-tech-tools-to-engage-students/d/d-id/1110775?page_number=11. 

Week 3 Reflection

This week our group worked on developing a rubric from the criteria we came up with last week for a serious game’s suitability for use in a classroom.  I started a rubric by putting the first few of our criteria into a rubric form and assigning scores of 0, 1, ad 2.  Different members of the group worked on the other 4 and changed one into two separate items.  We ended up with 8 things being measured on our rubric.  We changed, at our group member’s suggestion, our numbering system to go to 1, 2, and 3.  Also, words were added to go with the numbers to make it clearer in terms of meeting the standards.  A score of 3 meets the standards.  A score of 2 somewhat meets the standards and a score of 1 does not meet the standard.  The numbers/words debate was discussed on Twitter this week.   I am glad our group has made a rubric that includes both. 

We have been working on fine-tuning our rubric over the last few days.  We have had good discussions on how to do this.  This has led to a great rubric for evaluating serious games for use in the classroom. 

A question just popped into my mind while writing this blog.  When looking at a rubric, should we make a cut off number for when a game is unacceptable according to the rubric?  Should there be some absolute have to’s in order to be ok?  It is an interesting question that I’m surprised I haven’t thought of before.  I would guess that it would be used as a guideline of what to look for when deciding whether or not to use a certain game or when choosing between several.