Game Plan

My GAME Plan was one to learn new technology that I can use in my classroom.  The Smart board was my largest focus.  With the help of my fellow teachers and classmates I was able to get a lot further with my goal to learn just what I can do with a Smart board.  I started to tweak my GAME Plan to other forms of technology that I have in the classroom and how I can incorporate them into my everyday lessons.  It will be an ongoing plan the will be evolving as I introduce more and more technology into my art lessons.

Progress with my GAME Plan

My GAME plan was to learn how to use a SMART board in my classroom.  I am happy to say I have been getting lots of helpful ideas and links from my fellow classmates and fellow teachers.  It is sad and funny at the same time as to see how many different teachers are in or have been in the same situation that I am finding myself in.  I have been given new technology and given no instruction as to how to use it.  What a waste of money that so many teachers are given the much needed technology, but no one followed through with the instruction leaving the teachers to put the extra time into learning the technology on their own.  It is not asking too much to be instructed on how to use something.  People from all professions know that the education system is in many ways broken but no one has an idea how to fix it.  Here is a great idea, allow the teachers to solve the problems and take the politics out of education. 

My problem with the new technology is just one example of the many problems in education.  Neither my principal, my superintendent, school board, nor any Politian came up with any solutions on my problem with the SMART boards.  Fellow teachers agreed and said “Hey I had that happen to me too”.  It comes down to good old communication. This communication is not clouded by selfish political agendas or anyone trying to justify having a job by sitting in four thousand meetings and getting no ware.  It did not have to do anything with any tests.  By communicating with someone on how to do something and then pass that knowledge on to the next person.  There was a problem and my fellow teachers rolled up their sleeves and got to work.  How much work could be accomplished if there was not any red tape in education and just allowed teachers to be teachers?  Not test givers but real life educators.

            I am going to have to modify my GAME plan by getting deeper in the idea of figuring out how to use my SMART Board.  I have to basic understanding now and a few different programs and tools for it.  Now I want to know what else can be done with using a smart board.  I know that I am able to keep my students attention when I do use the board.  Students and technology is like peanut butter and jelly.  When done correctly they are a natural fit that is hard to separate.  What I am trying to do is figure out how to get it correctly done.

If anyone else is having any trouble with this like me these are some of the links that were given to me.  They really helped.  Or if you have any links that you use that helped I would love to add them to my list and share them with other teachers.

http://www.pinterest.com/twahlert/smartboards-in-education/

http://www.superteachertools.com/instantclassroom/random-name-generator.php

http://www.classtools.net/random-name-picker/

http://exchange.smarttech.com/search.html

 

 

GAME Plan for Personal and Student Learning

My GAME plan will have to involve the standards:  Facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity & Design and develop digital age learning experiences and assessments.

Goals:  for Personal Plans

I want to be able to use the new technology in my classroom.  I have a smart boar and have no training on any of the software.

I know the basics on how to use the pens as markers.

If I am able to navigate through the software and have my students working with the software then I was successful.

Action:  for Personal Plans

What are the different applications that I can use for my smart board?

I will have to have hands on approach to learn as much as I can.  I will have students helping along the way.  I am sure they know much more about the smart board then I do.

Monitor:  Personal Plans

I will be asking fellow teachers for help as well as my students.

I am sure I will need to modify my action plan as I go deeper into the different applications or software. 

Evaluate and Extend:  Personal Plans

Have I met my learning goals?

If not, should I modify my goals or my learning strategies?

What will id do differently in the future?

Course Reflection

Looking back at my week one “Personal Theory of Learning”, I see that the two large ideas that I was trying to expand was to have my students expand their problem solving skills and to allow a hands on learning environment.  One modification I would like to add would be to also create a student centered learning environment.  With this course I was able to learn the difference between an instructional tool and a learning tool.  With my desire to create a student centered learning environment I need to make sure that how I am introducing new technology is in a way that it is a learning tool and not as an instructional tool.  In other words I have to remember to have my students use the technology.  Then and only then will it be a learning tool.   

            With this idea I will always make sure to have my students use the technology as much as possible.  I will be getting a whiteboard or smart board next semester and will be introducing it in all of my presentations of new art projects.  So I must remember to allow my students to use the whiteboard so that I am using it as a learning tool and not as an instructional tool.  If I can get my students using the tools there will be a much higher level of students engagement going on in the classroom.  I also look forward to be able to my overhead projector and elmo to introduce new projects to my classes in a way I would not have to have my back to them like I would normally when working on the board.  This would help with my classroom management during the year.  Once again knowing how to now make my classroom a student centered learning environment is a tribute to this class.

            I just want to restate the want to allow my students to use as much of the technology in my classroom as possible.  So I do not make the mistake to only teach with instructional tools instead of teaching with learning tools.  It is so easy to fall back and just lecture to the class as to how to create the art project and give them time to work.  I want my students to learn how to incorporate the technology into their art work.

Cooperative Learning &Social Learning Theories

Cooperative Learning &Social Learning Theories

Cooperative Learning is the topic for this week.  Cooperative Learning is broken down in the simplest terms as having your students working in groups.  Your students will be able to talk to each other as to what they have just learned.  They have just learned something new; they have then processed that new information and are now putting it into their own words.  That is a great learning strategy because if they are able to put it into their own words they will be more apt to remember it for a much longer time, or will be able to retrieve that information at a later date much easier than other students.

The idea of social learning is very similar to cooperative learning.  With the idea of social learning you have students working to construct or build an artifact then engaging in conversation with their fellow students.  The one big key component to both theories is the idea of students talking to one another.  Putting new knowledge into their own words.  If feel students will always get more out of it if they are hearing it from their peers.

I have not personally worked with many forms of web based technologies or other forms of social networks.  I feel Wikis is still a great tool for students to communicate and collaborate with one another.   I read about Flat Classroom Project (www.flatclassroomproject.org) in the weeks reading.  It is a project that allows students to collaborate at a global magnitude.  With so many different types of software or interfaces that allow collaborating between students it is so important to try a few to get an idea what will work in your classroom.  We as teachers need to be open to new ways of reaching our students.

I have also created a voicethred as part of my assignment please check it out.  I hope I did it right I was having some problems with it so let me know if it works. 
 

Resources

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., & Kuhn, M. (2012).  Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works. (2^nd ed., pp. 73-80).

Lessons in Constructionism

Working with the theory of constructionism is so refreshing compared to behaviorism.  The idea of constructionism is taking firsthand experiences and making it a priority, as opposed to test scores being put into the for front.  The theory of constructionism states that people learn best when they build an external artifact or something they can share with others (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011).  Giving students that opportunity to build those firsthand experiences is a great learning tool. Students are actively engaged in creating their own meaning of the material in turn concretely connecting their knowledge and memory of the material.

Some of the learning tools that were recommended in this week’s reading were creating spreadsheets.  I have not worked much with spreadsheets so my experience with them is very limited. One idea that I really liked was having students making educated predictions while collecting data.  We are flipping the old idea of reading the material and answer the questions on its ear and allowing students to go through chapters and develop educated hypothesis using the spread sheet. When you build a hypothesis you are asking questions and building the connection to the material. Using these spread sheets they are actively engaged in the lesson connecting them with previous knowledge. At the beginning of the lesson students are already asking the questions.   

In my art class I can use this same idea when introducing new artists or new art movements.  Students will first be able to see works of art by an artist without being told about him or her.  Students will then be building up their own idea of what the artist was all about.  I could even try to create a spreadsheet comparing the artist or movement to other forms of art or artists.  Then we would be able to start and learn about the art movement or artist. This would make a much greater learning experience for the class then handing out an article on the artist and go around the room and read about them.  The more I could get my students involved and incorporating any type of technology would make art history a little more bearable. 

Cognitive Learning Theories

When we talk about cognitive learning and using cues, questions, and other ways of triggering learning in our students.  We need to understand how our students learn.  When we give our students cues we are trying to trigger what has been learned.  In order for cues to work we will have needed to helped our students to attached the new information to something they have already known.  It will now be tethered and able to retrieved.  Scaffolding is very similar when you build upon something already learned.  Remember it is all about getting new information to your students but I think most importantly how do have them learn how to retrieve that information for years to come.  We have to learn how they learn best and then teach them so they know how they best learn.

 

Using concept mapping in your classroom is a great way to connect new material to material that has already been learned.  If you wanted to introduce new content and review old content at the same time using a concept map is a great way to do that.  It is like a good old fashion brain storm.  You are able to bring in old ideas and tie it to new ones.  Allowing students to make new connections to the new material.  That is very key to learning new information because now they will have something tethered  and will be easily retrievable unlike short term memory that will be easily forgotten because it is not tied to anything and the student will forget how to retrieve that information.   Summarizing is something we as teachers always do.  We take information that we want our students to know and understand, but instead of  just reading it out of a book we give it to them in our own words.  By putting it into our own words we will be more likely to use those same words again as we discuses the project or lesson again.  When we review it is always in a summarizing manner.  Note taking with any word processing programs will be a great advantage to our students as well.  Remember we are needing to get new information to our students and to have them be able to remember it and retrieve it easily.  Being in a word document on a computer can print out the material that the students are needing to remember.

 

Taking your students on a virtual field trip is amazing technology.  Once again you are trying to introduce new information to your students and have them experience something new.  By giving your students new experiences they will be able to tether that new information to that experience.  Also lets think about the financial benefit to your school.  You will be able to take students to Washington D.C. or to New York.  Places that your school or students may not be able to go in the real world.  A virtual field trip will allow you to go any ware even into space.

 

Reference

 

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E. R.,& Kuhn, M. (2012). Using technology with classroom instruction that works (2^nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: ASCD.