Technology Wk 5

From that list of Web Resources for the Classroom, I would use the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives and the Math Forum.

The National Library of Virtual Manipulatives contains a huge number of puzzles, problems and games that help improve students understanding through fun activities. I personally enjoyed looking through all of the tools available. There is also great organization to the page so I would be able to choose the subject and the level of the manipulatives which is more useful that having to go to multiple websites for different subjects and grades (Utah State University 2010). As a teacher, I would assign this as an in-class assignment in the computer lab. I would have the students complete a set number of them during the class period to supplement what they have learned in class.

The Math Forum, created by Drexel University, is also something I would consider using in my classroom, both as a tool for me and a tool for my students. I would suggest that the students go on this website to take advantage of the math help available, through Dr. Math or through the math library which includes tons of mathematical books and resources (Drexel University, 2011). Another aspect of the Math Forum that would be useful is the puzzles and problems section. This includes archived and current problems of the week that students can complete in different math subjects, like geometry, algebra and fundamental math. There are also things on this website that I would use for my own teaching. The resources section has a "teacher exchange" where teachers can share activities and lesson plans which can help give me some fresh ideas for my class.




Drexel University. (2011). The Math Forum. Retrieved from The Math Forum


Utah State University. (2010). National library of virtual manipulatives. Retrieved from National Library of Virtual Manipulatives

Wk 5 T2P

Today's class was a conclusion of gathering information on learning theories. The two main categories of theories we looked at were motivational or emotional and psychological.

Theories
Even though this is the last time the class would be together in a cohesive fashion, I feel that it is very important to include these theories about emotions, motivation and psychological occurrences in the brain. I know that I am not very strong in science so I was not aware of a lot of the neurological background to children's brains and how they develop over time. I think it is necessary in a program and a class such as this to make sure that the pre-service teachers are gaining theoretical knowledge from a wide spectrum of disciplines. This gives us the maximum amount of information on which to draw, not only our T2P statements from, but also our teaching and classroom management.

There are many different ways to consider using the information presented about brain development when working in a classroom. One example would be:
T2P: To make sure that students are aiming at or reaching their whole-person optimal learning, the level of development of their brains needs to be considered. As a teenager, there are so many changes occurring in the brain as far as pruning and expanding goes that a teacher really needs to take these changing attributes, attitudes and functioning levels into consideration.


As far as creating and losing neural connections, what I think is one of the better ways to try and get students to retain information (create connections) would be to increase their emotional attachment to the subject. The Kolencik reading and video on Daniel Pink on the motivation and emotion really inspired me. I am glad to see the research being done to show how strong emotions can increase motivation, whether intrinsically or extrinsically, which will lead to increased learning and exploration.

T2P: If a teacher really wants their students to succeed and utilizes a variety of teaching methods and styles, subjects and examples that will engage and interest students, then they can work to increase motivation because the students will develop more emotional engagement in the subject material and want to expand their knowledge. Sometimes the best way to improve motivation is on a one-on-one basis, so that the student knows that the teacher does have expectations for them to succeed and does not want them to simply fall through the cracks. Other times, it may be better to have a student-centered learning scenario so that students can look at what they know and what they want to know more about. I agree with Pink that learning to gain a deeper personal understanding of material that has an emotional importance to you through intrinsic motivation will often be more effective than the carrot and stick extrinsic motivators often presented in schools.



Class Reflection
The class felt as though it had less structure than previous weeks, however this was based on the attitudes or vibes that all of the students were giving off. Being one of the last weeks of the semester, most of the students are feeling tired and stressed and having the teacher recognize that adding on a lot of new information would not be useful time spent was refreshing. What this did was allow the students in the class to control what learning would be taking place and how it would be taking place which ultimately led to improved mood and engagement in the psychological material.

A Good Teacher

A good teacher...
is a person who can effectively teach and guide the students to a greater understanding of the curriculum. The word guide is important because a good teacher should not always pour information into the students' minds. Sometimes they need to discover their learning on their own.
A good teacher...
is a person who wants her students to succeed in the class, in school and in life, meaning that the curriculum is not the only thing that the students leave the class knowing.

A good teacher...

will make a curriculum that takes the students into consideration and will also make the students active participants in creating lessons, to an extent. 
A good teacher...
is one who provides a consistent moral and ethical model for her class. Whether implicitly or explicitly, the teacher should be a good role model for her students.
A good teacher...
should encourage interactions among students so that everyone can help each other grow through mutual enhancement. 
A good teacher...
should value the students ideas and opinions as a valuable part of the learning process. Each student should be given opportunities to explain, examine and expand on what they think about the subject material. 
A good teacher...
should encourage the students to present these ideas to her and to their classmates in order to build up their confidence in their own voice. This can increase the students interest and want them to further their education in the subject and in other fields if they feel confident in their own abilities.


Revised T2P
If a student is to succeed in the classroom, then they will need to be need to be encouraged to express their ideas and opinions externally. This way, the student is able to get feedback from peers and the teacher about how to improve and also, the student's ideas could help others improve their own learning. If the environment of the classroom is created in an open fashion, the students will not be forced to participate, but they will begin to feel more comfortable contributing once they receive positive reinforcement. 


If a class or a student is to reach their whole-person optimal learning, then it falls to the teacher to help the students believe that their voice is valuable and can be used to influence the learning environment because if students can use their voice critically in school, then they will be able to take this out into the world and have the confidence to speak up when needed or desired. Having the students engaged in the learning environment will also allow them to think about what they are interested in and develop stronger ideas as they explore these interests more. Being able to affect change  in the lessons will increase their overall confidence in themselves to have their needs and interests met throughout their lives. 

Technology- Week 4

In the world today, there are tons of different types of technology available to help students with various disabilities succeed in the classroom. 

The first example would be a student who has a hearing impairment. As a way to help this student navigate the classroom, I would try and provide them with an e-Reader for the class textbooks so that they could listen to the lessons through headphones (Wikipedia, 2010). Also, I would try and get the speech recognition software for speech-to-text so that I could record some of my lectures and then provide the student with the textual information (Wikipedia, 2011).

Second would be a student who has problems with their vision. One tool that can be used for this is again the e-Reader. There are many different gray scales and sizes for the text so the student would be able to make the words very large and not struggle to see as much (Wikipedia, 2010). Another tool would be using technology created by DAISY. Talking books transfers words into speech so that students who cannot see the words can now hear them (Wikipedia, 2009).

If a student has a broken arm, especially their dominant arm, they will certainly have a more difficult time writing and completing tests and work in class. To help them, a speech-to-text software could be utilized to transcribe what either the student or the teacher is saying. This way, the student would still be able to take notes in class by recording the teacher's lecture. This tool could be included in a speech recognition software that would also control the computer just with the student's voice so they could complete web searches (Wikipedia, 2011).

And finally, there is technology available that would benefit a student who has a non-communicative form of autism. From what I could understand, this form of autism means that a child would have difficulties expressing themselves through speech or writing. So a tool that I would try and suggest for this student would be a speech recognition software that could take down what they are saying without having to worry yet about how the writing is coming out grammatically and spelling-wise. Perhaps with less pressure on how they are writing, they may be able to take a step towards expression.

Wikipedia. (2009). Assistive Technology in Education/DAISY. Retrieved from DAISY Wikipedia
Wikipedia. (2010). Assistive Technology in Education/eBook. Retrieved from eBook Wikipedia
Wikipedia. (2011). Assistive Technology in Education/Speech Recognition Software. Retrieved from
Speech Recognition Software Wikipedia

Learning Theories Wk4 T2P

If/Then/Because      

Evidence      Pedagogical Terminology       Theory       Instructional Event      

Moral/Ethical Values

First T2P of the day

If the classroom environment is creating in such a way that the students can feel comfortable in and encourages social engagement then it is more likely that the students will learn and be active in the class because they feel are able to be a part of the learning process. Students that are secure in the classroom will participate in discussions and provide and receive relevant insights from their classmates. Vygotsky's theory would agree that a social environment is the most effective to improve learning because humans are social by nature and having the ability to discuss and create together can be beneficial for all. Also important in a social, engaging environment is making the student feel that what they are saying is important, they are more likely to stay interested in the content and participate more.  I believe that students should be able to discuss and enhance their ideas with the teacher and with each other in order to build up their self-confidence in those ideas and knowledge base. 


T2P for Vicki Davis and self-determination theory
If a teacher provides students with opportunities to demonstrate autonomy, competence and chances to relate to classmates, then the students will remain more engaged and more focused on the tasks at hand because they are more in charge of their personal learning and they have solid backing in their class to help them reach their optimal level of learning. Vicki Davis presents her students with numerous opportunities to present and teach their own work to classmates and to Davis, making them gain confidence in their abilities through application and practice. Because of this responsibility to learn and teach information, the students need to be engaged in the class in order to fulfill their role adequately. In her classroom, Davis also had created smaller groups within each class that were focusing on specific topics depending on their personal interests, making them more knowledgeable and competent in certain areas. From there, these groups can then help the rest of the class become 'experts' on that topic. There is also a lot of interaction with a global network of students that can provide students with a broader, more cultural knowledge of the topic they are blogging or posting about on wikis. This is a direct example of self-determination theory created by Edward Deci and Richard Ryan, which stipulates that these three qualities (autonomy, competence and relatedness) are necessary to improve the performance and creativity among the students, ultimately leading to increased self-determination. 


Final T2P of the day
If a student is to reach their optimal learning level, then a teacher will need to present their material in such a way that the students are able to relate to and apply the information to their daily lives because having a background base of experiences and knowledge will allow students to better understand and retain new material by adding it to what they already know. This idea goes along somewhat with Piaget's idea of accommodation. By presenting information that students will have a 'schema' for already, there will be a pre-existing location in their minds in which to store the information, making it easier to recall. Another theoretical ideal that goes along with this definition of learning is the ideas of Jean Lave. She believes that applied, relevant learning is the only way to learn. If the students already have some societal or cultural knowledge of the information, they can further explore what they are learning and be confident in what they say and know. I believe that ways of making this work in a classroom are numerous. Studying current events, making applications of problems more known to the students as well using hands-on examples of the problems. As a math teacher, I know that having students build and create simple objects they see every day using geometry or trigonometry will help solidify the information in the heads because they are physically building on something that they know. In my opinion, I believe that this is an important aspect of creating connections between new and old information. 




Learning Theories Spreadsheet

Technology- Week 3- Reading Response

There were many examples in the reading of authentic collaborative projects.
One that I would use in my math classroom would be creating a wikispace page for our class (Schrum, 2009). Not only would I have the important class documents, like the syllabus or project descriptions, on the site, but I would also complete a project in which the students will need to post their work on the site. A specific example I could use would be to create a group project in which the students would need to to create a set of problems and answers to complete for review for a final test. Each group would need to upload their review problems onto the wiki and then open the review problems from two other groups and complete those problems. Also, I know that today, students have their own email addresses, so we could create a contacts page with a list of the emails so that students would be able to communicate with me and each other if they need help with problems.

A spin on looking at a wiki about the class would be having the students create a wiki-page that will include all of the important information for the course. I would separate the class into groups and have each focus on one chapter from the year or one section from a unit. That group would need to go through their notes, tests, and textbooks and create an outline with pertinent formulas and theorems for their section and then post it on the wiki-page. This page could be used as a unit or final review tool.

Another specific example I would use would be a "Virtual Math Manipulative" like the ones found on:
http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/category_g_4_t_3.html
This type of problem was described in Chapter 4 of "Leading 21st Century Schools."
I found the interactive activities on this site to be particularly useful. If there was a way of knowing that every student would have access to a computer, I would assign them to a few activities to work on at home. However, if this isn't the case, using a computer lab in the school for a period would also be an effective tool for practice and review.


Schrum, L., & Levin, B.B. (2009). Leading 21st Century Schools, 45-77

WK3 T2P

Teacher-Student interaction
     Since this was a day of many small and large group activities, it was essential that the teacher move throughout the class and interact with each triad or group of students. With so much commotion, it is difficult to gauge how well a group is working together or if there is a lot of confusion about the assignment. To keep the groups from becoming too chaotic, roles were to be delegated out within each group so that there were certain people working and others checking information and watching the clock. This is a very useful tool in my opinion. Since a teacher cannot be everywhere at once, they need a system in place that will make sure the students are on task.

     The beginning of the class, as explained to the students by the professor, is a time to make all the students feel present and alert. By engaging them socially, the class can be brought together in a cohesive discussion, from which the day's lesson can begin. If a teacher jumps right into a lecture, the students may become bored and frustrated very quickly.

Successful Assessments
     One assessment today that I really enjoyed was the RQS2C2 that was completed at the beginning of the day. This reminded me of Bloom's taxonomy and the progression towards more complex questions. The benefit of completing the questions in this order is that each one asks you to think only a little more than the previous one. This way students do not feel overwhelmed by critical thinking questions the second they walk in the room.

Although we have worked in triads of jigsaw groups in previous classes, I do believe that this is a good form of assessment. A jigsaw is not really for the teacher to know how well a student has grasped material, but it is for the students to know how well they understood and can explain it. Also, the added tension of needing to know the material in order to present it can improve the amount of work a student will put into the research or reading.


Applications
There are many aspects of today's class that I would want to incorporate into my own classroom in the future.

To start off most basically, all of the theories and theorists we studied today can in some ways be considered in my thought processes for creating a successful classroom. For example, although I do not take Piaget's theory as a complete truth, it is a good stepping stone for understanding the cognitive capabilities of my students. Also, I would agree with Vygotsky that learning cannot take place successfully without a social aspect. Today's class perfectly demonstrated this because the entire day, the students were working in pairs, groups, or trios in order to gather as much information as humanely possible.

I also really like the social engagement that the professor creates in each class session. I would want to create a similar environment that will allow for learning and social interaction to occur simultaneously. The professor maintains her authority in the classroom by giving critique when needed, but at the same time the students feel comfortable talking to her and asking her questions about her personal teaching style. I also feel that even though this is a program for pre-service teachers, that the professor would still actively include her students in her thought process and decision making about how activities are or should run. This is something else I would like to strive for. If I can make the students not feel like they are so far beneath me that they have no power to change what is happening in the classroom, then I would be pleased.

Learning Theories Week 3- P/V/S Remix

Question 1
Name the four main types of learning theories on which Kruse focuses in his article.
A. This question is a level one question on Bloom's taxonomy because it is an example of rote learning and fact recall.
B. In his article Kruse focuses on Behavioral Learning Theory (BLT), Cognitive Learning Theory (CLT), Social Learning Theory (SLT) and Developmental Learning Theory (DLT)

Question 2
What are the issues of implementing operant conditioning into a classroom?
A. The person who wrote this question rated it as a level 4 but I believe it is more similar to a level 6 question because it is asking the student to critique and think about problems associated with this type of conditioning.
B. One issue with implementing operant conditioning into a classroom is because every student is different and some may respond negatively to this sort of training. Also, students will come into class with behaviors already ingrained into their person and no matter how much negative reinforcement or punishment is given, their behavior won't change.

Question 3
Critique Skinner's connections between human v. animal learning/behaviors
A. This question is a level 6 on Bloom's taxonomy because it is directly asking for a critique of Skinner's research process.
B. Although there can be some similarities drawn between human and animal behavior however, I feel people do have a higher level of thinking and connection-making ability than most animals do. Therefore, there may be different motivations behind the behaviors that humans are doing. I believe that many people, especially human psychologists might be offended by the accusation that animals and people have the same behaviors.

Technology- Comparing the four instructional models of Internet use

The four different kinds of instructional models of internet use that we read about for class this week were the Internet Workshop, the WebQuest, the Internet Inquiry and the Internet Project. I was able to gather the most information about these topics using the videos created by Dr. Donald J. Leu from the University of Connecticut.
A similarity between these, obviously, is that they require the students to increase their knowledge of how to use the internet and what is the best way to navigate through the infinite sites to find what is important. Also, an important component of each of the models is student interaction and presentation. At the end of each instructional lesson utilizing the internet, the students are required to present the information they found to each other or to the world. Another similarity between these programs is that all of them encourage collaborative learning, increase reading and research skills.
Although there are several similarities, there are many fundamental differences as well. The Internet Workshop is a group activity in which students are completing an activity designed by the teacher so that he or she has solitary control over the content (Leu, 2002). With the Internet Project, the project the students are working on is often created by another teacher several states or countries away. While the teacher does have a choice of Projects to choose from, the exact content is often not determined by them. If a teacher undertakes the Internet Inquiry method, there is actually little teacher involvement. The students all individually choose a question or topic that interests them and then do research and presentations independently. A WebQuest is at the opposite extreme, because this is a teacher-centered model that will provide instructors with ideas for internet activities that may or may not have been created by that individual teacher. If a teacher decides to create a new WebQuest, there are templates available so they can do so effectively. A difference I found very interesting between all these methods was that only Internet Inquiry really lets the students freely explore something that interests them. The other methods have specific directions and topics to look into.
I feel that the type of project I would best be able to implement in my own classroom would be an Internet Inquiry project. Within a topic such as geometry or algebra, I could ask the students to research a theorem or mathematician that they find particularly interesting and then either teach the theorem to the class or present any information they have gathered. I believe that a project like this would allow the students the opportunity to explore topics in Math that interest them that we may not have time in class to cover fully. Also, if they do some research on math history, they can gather a fuller sphere of knowledge about the field by looking at the past and the present.

Leu, D. J.  (2002 ). Integrating Technology. Retrieved from http://www.ctell.uconn.edu/canter/canter_video.cfm?movie=234_introduction.mov

WK2 T2P

Since this was the second week of classes, the teacher did not need to establish her authority in the room at the beginning of the day. Instead, the first 10-15 minutes were spent getting to know more about the students and the teachers just through a simple act of finding out what they had done over the weekend. What this does is create a more comfortable environment for the students to learn in because they knew that there was mutual respect in the classroom.

Something else that is done in this class that I believe is very beneficial to student learning is timing. Everything about the class is timed down to the minute. There are many benefits to this. One is that it is very difficult for students to become distracted and be off topic. Two, the students know exactly what they should be doing at any given time as well as what they are going to be working on next. This allows them to start thinking ahead to ideas or writing topics as they finish the previous assignment.

The teacher also demonstrated a new way to assess students in a fun, engaging activity. Comparing concept maps from the beginning and end of a unit or chapter is a useful way for the teacher to see what information the students have gathered as well as a way for the students to organize everything they have learned in a single, cohesive fashion.

Another effective learning technique that occurred today was a sort of role-playing. At several points during the class, the teacher asked all the students to ‘pretend’ they were teachers. Although this did create a laugh among the students, it is a really useful tool. Making students think about an idea from a different perspective than they are used to, for example, looking at something as a teacher rather than a student, can greatly improve how much of the information is learned because this style allows for more connections to be made.

A final way that learning was being encouraged in the classroom was through participation. The teacher would call on people who raised their hands, but would also look for students who had not said anything for a while and call them out. Most of the time, those students actually did have something intriguing and thought provoking to say, but they had just been too quiet to speak up previously. Those students who could not come up with an answer were allowed to ‘pass’ which I firmly believe is a good thing. If a student is called on and doesn’t know the answer, they are going to be forced to sit in the spotlight of the class, with their confidence dropping and embarrassment growing, until they say something. All this does is negatively reinforce participating. A person will be less likely to offer their opinion when they do have something to say if all they can remember is being embarrassed every other time when they didn’t know what to say.

T2P Fill-in from the Wiki

2. If a learner needs specific and detailed directions for each task, but does not receive them from the teacher, then … because …

If a learner needs specific and detailed directions for each task, but does not receive them from the teacher, then successful learning for that particular student is unlikely to occur because the teacher is not providing the student with an essential tool he/she needs in order to complete a task and therefore, learning is stalled.

WK1 T2P Essay

The environment of the classroom was established exactly at 9 o'clock. Although there are a lot of freedoms allowed, it is very easy to tell that the teacher does not let anyone stray off task.
Throughout the day, there were many different formal and informal assessments made. Formally, homework assignments and direct responses to teacher-prompted questions assessed our overall understanding. Between times, informally, the students were tested on knowledge of their peers and what opinions and facts they were stating as well as just seeing how well a group of 4 or 5 students was functioning.
The class started off with pair interactions as a way to get to know a little background on students' learning styles and experiences up to this point. As the day progressed, the groups that will be used throughout the semester were created. Immediately throwing an assignment at these groups forced them to figure out how to work effectively together very quickly but I believe it was a beneficial way to create this relationship.
Throughout the class, the level of involvement of the teacher with the groups and pairs was very high. There was often no specific question the group had for the instructor but the teacher would wait and listen to the groups' conversations and then jump in when a clarification was needed or to offer a new idea.
Overall, the class flowed incredibly smoothly from one activity to the next and it seemed that all the students were engaged throughout the day. I feel that there was too much going on in the lessons and activities to be bored.

Learning Theories- Science is Messy

Beliefs about how people learn

•        Oral learning- answering questions
•         Each student needs to be heard, even if multiple students are talking, the teacher will highlight each students’ answer individually
•     Will need to clarify answers so that they dig deeper into their ideas

•         Visual Learning- putting up students answers on the board
•         Mutual Respect- Students can see their ideas on the board and know that their ideas and opinions are being heard and respected.
•        Students are leading the discussion- teacher adds in information between answers
•         Structure- timing- when the class starts, how long the discussions are
•         Need to question the information that is being presented or discussed

Develop Competency

•        Be able to come up with new ideas in the content area
•     Be able to demonstrate the knowledge you have previously gained as well as new ideas in a discussion setting
•        Students need to be engaged in the class and actively participate in the learning that is occurring 
•     The video is 90% question and answer so the students are very active participants

If a teacher would like to have successful learning in their classroom occur, then they are going to need to tailor a lesson in such a way that every student is able to be heard and where a variety of different learning styles are addressed because respect for students' voices will lead to respect for the teacher's voice and therefore information of importance and relevance can be transmitted and also since every student has a different learning strength, in order for them to succeed, they need to have many different opportunities to gather information.

Learning Theories- Resources

Math Caching
http://mathbits.com/Caching/MathCacheDirectionsOpen.html
Similar to Geocaching, this site provides students with a fun online math activity. Students are given a problem and use the solution to find the web address to the next problem. I believe that if there is access to computers, this can be a really great activity. One reason for this is because if you have the students compete in teams to try and find the final hidden box, they will need to work efficiently in groups. Also, an effective way to engage the whole class in an activity is to have a competition or prize offered as a result. A teacher really needs to be able to include the whole class in an activity so that she can be sure each of them is learning. By doing several of these MathCaches, students will develop their skills in whichever math topic the problems are in. Also, by working with others, they will be able to help each other increase their knowledge.

Math Play
http://www.math-play.com/index.html
While this website does look simple and cheesy, there are a lot of games available that I believe will interest students. In just the section for Algebra games, there is a basketball game for those who like sports, a "who wants to be a millionaire" style game, and a series of games with a small monster called Kiwi. The benefit of using games for in class or homework is that the students will be able to see how much fun they can have while doing work and especially while doing math work. With all the different types of games available, each student would be able to choose the game that best fits their interests and their learning style.

SOS Math
http://www.sosmath.com/
This website provides examples and explanations to most concepts covered in high school and college math. The site also has practice tests and message boards so that students can pose questions to other students. I have used it myself when I am looking for clarification in a class. The benefit of looking on this website would be so that the students could see the same information perhaps presented in a different way than was shown in class that may allow them to gain a fuller understanding. I believe that the most important part of teaching is for the students to grasp the information . If they need a little extra help to feel comfortable with the material, then they should go out and get that extra help. The detailed examples and pictures on the site can help to supplement a classroom lesson as well as serve as a review tool.

Introduction of me

Introduction

Kate
Secondary Education in Mathematics
I have worked with an after school 6th-8th grade mentoring program for three years, both as a mentor and a supervisor. I was a TA in an introductory Anthropology class at my undergraduate college. Prior to college, I had tutored my peers in several different subjects but most notably in math. As far as technology goes, I am fairly confident in my ability to work with different programs on PC's and I am learning how to work with MACs now. I have created many Powerpoints, used Excel spreadsheets and done a lot with Word documents. My hobbies include running and exercising, singing and dancing, reading, and doing lots of outdoor activities, especially hiking and sailing.