EDLD+5364+Discussion+Boards


 * Week 1**

Teachers who believe that learning should be interesting and meaningful for students need to move past their concern that constructivist instruction is “not teaching.” They need to understand that their view of teaching is based on an educational model that has been around since the dawn of the industrial age (Reigeluth, 1992).

This quote really made me think about how I teach. I teach PK students and sometimes I feel like I am just lecturing to them. I really need to try to find ways to make even 4 and 5 year olds realize how meaningful their learning it and how I can get them to do some learning on their own. Last year, we reviewed the importance of following rules and procedures in class so we used a digital camera to document examples of these and turn them into a video using Photostory. We have also used the digital camera to photograph items around the school beginning with a certain letter and creating a letter video using Animoto. I was trying to make them realize that everyday things around them can be used to remember letter sounds and alliteration. This year, the students used the digital camera and items that began with a letter, formed that letter and photographed it. We then created a class book using the photographs and an Animoto video in which the students had to type a sentence (i.e. A is for astronaut) themselves. During all of this, I emphasized that these skills (keyboarding, digital cameras, creating books/videos, etc.) may become something they will do in their future. Since we mostly teach socialization skills, I should try to find more ways to document these using photographs and various video programs. It will be a matter of stepping outside my comfort zone and moving past this way of thinking.

Reigluth, C. (1992). The imperative for social change. Educational Technology, 32(6), 9-12.


 * Week 2**

Computers appear to be especially productive with children designated as nontraditional. Although the term is often used to refer to a variety of non-normal groups of learners, a simple definition of the nontraditional student might be made by referring to those children who have, justifiably or not, been labeled as being low achieving, at risk, learning disabled, of low socioeconomic status, educationally disadvantaged, language minority, or needing instruction with English as a second language (Burnett, 1981; Wood, Buescher, & Denison, 1979).

Most of my PK students fit into 2 to 3 of the "nontraditional" student designation. Most will be low achieving, are at risk for numerous reasons, of low socioeconomic status and educationally disadvantaged (parents will or can not help). I have seen my students change on the day we have computer lab. I taught them how to turn on the computer or wake it up, access the internet and find the bookmarks for them. I have 2 students that have remembered (after only 1 time showing them) how to access another page available to them. They already know they better do their Monday night homework or they will be doing it during computer lab and they do not want to miss their computer time. I do not tell them what sites they can access but it is amazing to see most of them access the science sites and games. I continuously praise them for how much they have learned to do with the computer and it shows in their positive attitude. I am on a mission to have more teachers allow students to use more technology in the classroom so we can avoid our students becoming low achievers.

Burnett, D. G. (1981). Introduction: The humanities and nontraditional studies. Alternative Higher Education: The Journal of Nontraditional Studies, 6(1), 3–6. Wood, P. C., Buescher, T. M., & Denison, C. (1979). Alternative opportunity program: Stemming potential delinquency in young adolescents. Behavioral Disorders, 4, 232–238.


 * Week 3 **

"Teachers who have brought technology into their classrooms are aware that it provides an opportunity to differentiate instruction and change their classrooms into dynamic learning environments." (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, Malenoski 2007).

Every time I can bring technology into my classroom, I can see my students attention increase. This means their learning increases. We have had Promethean ActivBoards for 7 years and they have opened up many ways of offering interactive learning for our students. I have also used digital cameras to help reinforce letter knowledge, ipod touches to help with listening skills and Animoto and Photo Story to create videos about classroom rules and nursery rhymes. Although my students are only in PK, they are learning many skills that will help them in their future learning such as keyboarding, internet use, digital camera use and various types of video programs. These will be the types of technology they will eventually use in learning how to learn and showing what they have learned.

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.


 * Week 4 **

"To be truly useful, assessments must evaluate the knowledge and skills relevant to students' goals and they must do so accurately." (Rose and Meyer, 2002) As the dreaded TAKS nears, I find this quote sad and funny. Most teachers would definitely agree with this quote in terms of what students need to know beyond their current grade level, into college and into the workplace. In the last 3 years, my school (PK-4) has been recognized once and exemplary twice. Unfortunately, I think all this means is that these students know how to use strategies. They do not know how to solve a problem on their own. As a matter of fact, our 3rd and 4th grade teachers have told me that problem solving is the main area where are students need the most help. I have watched these students freeze up, use the totally wrong strategies or use stragies that take the longest time when attempting to solve a problem. When they could use multiplication or rough estimates, they draw tally marks and count them one by one. I do not see our teachers teaching concepts that will help them in the future. How many times as an adult do you read a passage for work then underline who, what, when, where, circle the title, circle the picture or complete PLORE on the paper? The TAKS is an assessment of how well a student uses strategies - not the knowledge and skills that are relevant for a student to have in their adult lives. The TAKS test is only one of the useful tools a teacher can use to assess a students knowledge. Teachers can also use anecdotal notes, observations, assessments from the curriculum and teacher-made assessments among others.

Rose, David H., and Anne Meyer. Teaching every student in the Digital Age: universal design for learning. Alexandria, VA.: Association for supervision and Curriculum Development, 2002. Print.


 * Week 5 **

"However, it makes much more sense to have ongoing assessment-the way evaluators do that is known as 'formative evaluation'. All this means is that we don't wait until the 'unit' is over to determine how well the students and we as educators are doing." (Solomon, 2007). This quote hit home with me not only has a parent but as a teacher as well. I keep track of my son's grades online and sometimes don't see any tests or quizzes. This makes me wonder how they are assessing my son. By the time he takes a test at the end of the 9 weeks, he has probably forgotten half of what he has been taught. I also see this as a problem as a teacher. Many things are going on and keep you from assessing students any other time besides at the end of the six weeks. The PK teachers only assessed students at the end of the 6 weeks using the report card. I talked them into having a "formal" 3 week assessment that is created by us and focuses on other concepts we want to keep track of that are not on the report card. Ongoing assessment seems logical so you are not "surprised" at the end of the grading period to find out a student does not know something.

Solomon, G., & Schrum, L. (2007). Web 2.0 new tools, new schools. International Society for Technology in the Classroom.