At the beginning of this class, we were asked to
reflect on our personal theory of learning.
I stated:
“Learning theories and instructional
theories need to mesh together, using components of each, to develop a
teacher’s own personal theory and ways of making every student learn. By researching and trying new strategies, we
should continuously teach ourselves new ways of keeping our students engaged
and provide meaningful connections to the content.
I also stated that I followed a theory of cognitivism
because of my educational training and professional development, understanding
how each child processes the information directly impacts what strategies you
use to teach the content. Behaviorism is
added to my personal theory because I believe there are ways to reinforce the
desired behavior and change negative behaviors in students. Dr. Michael Orey states that “Learning is what is going on in the mind
of the learner” he also calls them “an active learner” (Laureate, 2011a). This learning is knowledge of content and behavior
together by using instructional strategies that are effective. This course has deepened my knowledge of
these theories and made me look at what I am now doing in my classroom. The difference is when I first learned of
these theories; I did not have much class room experience. You were taught with the pretense of this is what
you need to know about teaching. Now
that I am in practice and have developed a style based on those theories, I can
now evaluate what I am doing. With the
technology that I have access to, I can integrate more visual elements along
with the text and not only with English content but with social studies
too. Sketching a simple map of the trade
routes of explorers and having students do that too as well in their notebooks
is helping them make connections and remembering the information. I am a believer in graphic organizers but too
many styles can confuse kids as to which one to use for what task. I have narrowed it down to a couple, with
mapping now being in the forefront. It
can be used in story structure, history, writing, and is probably the most
universal.
Since
I am a 1:1 computing classroom, the difference I will make in my instruction
strategies is to really think through the meaning of the project and not just
choose one tool over the next because the students like it but because it is
meaningful. I have already put into
practice a few of the technology tools that have been introduced in this
class. The first is the online mapping
tool I just mentioned. Since my students
all have Gmail accounts, they can make an account, create a URL, and either
email me the link or post it in our edmodo network to me directly or to share
with others. They can also convert it to
a PDF and print it for study purposes.
Students love to research the Google Chrome apps and they found Idea
Mapper. I loved that they were trying to
research and take ownership of their tools too.
Our Media Center Specialist and our computer lab teacher have introduced
both Prezi and Glogster to the students.
They really loved the VoiceThread presentation I made for our writing
lesson on genres. They are now creating
their own by using it to introduce the vocabulary words for our weekly
stories. Each slide introduces a word;
the text explains the definition, part of speech, syllable break down, prefixes
or suffixes, antonyms, synonyms, and a sentence to show meaning. A picture is included to enhance the
meaning. The student doing the voice
over gives each word pronunciation and sound effects if it is applicable. With the completion of this assignment, I
will have a student created presentation to use in my lesson for every story in
our reading book. If I can show my class a new technology tool
every quarter, I’ll be happy. I do not
want to overload or teach them about too many and not making them proficient in
using that tool. Dr. Pickering stated, “Strategies are effective
only if students become proficient at using them” (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011b). If teachers take the time to instruct
students how to use the strategies, then using them will result in greater
learning outcomes.
Goals
as an educator are important to have especially if they are long-term. Goals show that a person is dedicated to
improve themselves and in our case, when we do that, it directly benefits the
students. I am in the middle of reaching
one of my goals, to get my Master’s Degree in Education. Enrolling at Walden has put me on a path that
I am passionate about and that is integrating technology in the classroom. As hard as it gets, I am determined to
complete this goal. I’m in the last
couple of weeks of my fifth class, with five more to go, I am amazed at what I
have taken away from my courses already.
The difference between me and my undergraduate studies to me now, is
experience. I have put into practice
what I have learned in classes, from staff development, from advice from
colleagues and from what my students have taught me. My goal in the next year as I continue
through my Walden Experience is to enhance what I am doing, learn new
strategies, integrate the new technologies that may not even be available yet
and make sure that whatever I am doing is meaningful and appropriate for the content
and the best way to present it to my students to make them effective
learners.
Another
goal of mine is to teach other teachers, be an advocate of technology
integration. If I can share new strategies
or technology tools with others, it can only help them better themselves and
their students. Since I was a former
computer teacher, some of my colleagues still look to me for help. By being passionate about technology is my
personal feeling but I do like to share that with others. Last week, my principal did her Friday Memo in
a VoiceThread presentation after I showed her mine. I presented this technology tidbit at our
faculty meeting. This goal has two-way
benefits. As I show and share to others,
I am also learning from other colleagues as well. If it isn’t a new tool, perhaps it was a new
way to use that tool. Dr. Orey states that social learning is when “students
actively engage in constructing artifacts and conversing with others” (Orey,
2011c). Teachers should always be a student themselves.
References
Laureate Education, Inc.
(Producer). (2011a). Instructional Theory vs. Learning Theory
[Video webcast]. Bridging
learning theory, instruction and technology. Retrieved from http://laureate.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5700267&CPURL=laureate.ecollege.com&Survey=1&47=2594577&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=0&bhcp=1
Laureate
Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011b). Program eleven: Instructional strategies,
Part one [Video webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and
technology. Retrieved from http://laureate.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5700267&CPURL=laureate.ecollege.com&Survey=1&47=2594577&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=0&bhcp=1
Laureate Education, Inc. Orey (2011c). Program eight:
Social Learning Theories [Video
webcast].
Social learning theories. Retrieved from
http://laureate.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5700267&CPURL=laureate.e
college.com&Survey=1&47=2594577&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=0&bhcp=1
