Hello Everyone,
So, this is likely my last blog post of the semester and it is time to reflect on the strides that I have made (or not made) since the beginning. At the outset of this class, I considered myself a person that was comfortable with technology. However, I quickly learned that there was much to be learned. I have learned so much about the different types of software that is available for use in the classroom setting and this type of knowledge is certainly something that may set me apart from another teacher candidate with less knowledge.
I have also learned a lot about working in a group and/or working with others to achieve a common goal. From this learning experience, I probably learned the most about what it takes to be a teacher. I learned that understanding and patience is definitely a virtue. I learned not to jump to conclusions about others and to not judge a book by its cover. These things are something that I will keep in mind when I have my own students. I will NEVER just assume that a student of mine is lazy when their work isn't being done or done to their full potential.
Right now I feel that I have learned so much but I am far from an expert on everything I have been introduced to. All of the different types of learning software that were taught over the course of this semester were amazing, but I feel as though I have barely been able to scratch the surface with each of them. If there is one thing that I would like to improve upon it is to revisit what each of these applications have to offer and to learn different ways to utilize them in my classroom.
I look forward to taking all that I have learned in this class and translating it to my won classroom one day.
-Meaghan
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Implementing Group Work
Hey Everyone,
Since we have started working on our Unit Plan together, I have been thinking about how I might utilize group work in my classroom. I would first like to say that I am a strong believer in collaborative learning. I feel that implementing group work in that appropriate situations, it can really prove to be a meaningful learning experience. Learning to work with others as early on as possible is important because so many times in the real world they will be expected to work with others to complete tasks. That said, there are many other things to consider when implementing group work in your classroom.
First of all, I feel that you must really know your students in order for a collaborative work to serve its purpose in learning. I feel that it is also important to remember that not every class will respond the same way to certain collaborative learning experiences. So, it is important for any teacher to be flexible enough to have different lesson plans for each class.
I think that in my classroom, once getting to know my students, I will implement collaborative work as often as I see fit. I do not think that I would implement group work for projects as extensive as ours was simply because many middle school or high school students aren't as invested in their education as a college student is. I really think that group work is beneficial during individual class periods in which a more difficult topic is being taught. I truly feel that pairing or grouping students together with different levels of ability can really help to effectively teach that topic. I would go out on the limb and say that some students would rather listen to their peers talk about a particular topic than their teacher.
I think that grading any kind of group work can be tricky. When implementing group work for a single class period, it might be a wise idea to assign each member of a group a job (e.g. reader, speaker, scribe, etc.). Also having them hand in their work is a way to keep track of who is or isn't doing the work. For more extensive group projects, I feel that each member of a group should have a particular job to do to ensure that they are doing their part. I have also thought of each member filling out a "Collaborative Work Statement" at the end of such projects where each group member is able to evaluate the entire experience. I think it is also important for the teacher to scaffold projects in such a way that it is not difficult for them to grade each member of each group and each group as a whole.
I'd love to hear all of your feedback on my thoughts!
-Meaghan
Since we have started working on our Unit Plan together, I have been thinking about how I might utilize group work in my classroom. I would first like to say that I am a strong believer in collaborative learning. I feel that implementing group work in that appropriate situations, it can really prove to be a meaningful learning experience. Learning to work with others as early on as possible is important because so many times in the real world they will be expected to work with others to complete tasks. That said, there are many other things to consider when implementing group work in your classroom.
First of all, I feel that you must really know your students in order for a collaborative work to serve its purpose in learning. I feel that it is also important to remember that not every class will respond the same way to certain collaborative learning experiences. So, it is important for any teacher to be flexible enough to have different lesson plans for each class.
I think that in my classroom, once getting to know my students, I will implement collaborative work as often as I see fit. I do not think that I would implement group work for projects as extensive as ours was simply because many middle school or high school students aren't as invested in their education as a college student is. I really think that group work is beneficial during individual class periods in which a more difficult topic is being taught. I truly feel that pairing or grouping students together with different levels of ability can really help to effectively teach that topic. I would go out on the limb and say that some students would rather listen to their peers talk about a particular topic than their teacher.
I think that grading any kind of group work can be tricky. When implementing group work for a single class period, it might be a wise idea to assign each member of a group a job (e.g. reader, speaker, scribe, etc.). Also having them hand in their work is a way to keep track of who is or isn't doing the work. For more extensive group projects, I feel that each member of a group should have a particular job to do to ensure that they are doing their part. I have also thought of each member filling out a "Collaborative Work Statement" at the end of such projects where each group member is able to evaluate the entire experience. I think it is also important for the teacher to scaffold projects in such a way that it is not difficult for them to grade each member of each group and each group as a whole.
I'd love to hear all of your feedback on my thoughts!
-Meaghan
Monday, April 18, 2011
Group Work Reflection
Hi Everyone,
So, my group and I are nearing the end of our work on our Unit Plan on Immigration. Personally, I think that our group has worked so well together. I think that the main reason for such successful collaboration was our decision to use WikiSpaces as a platform for the construction of our Unit Plan. We decided on the ways in which we would communicate with each other, our peer reviewers, and our outside resources very early on in our work and it has made for a very smooth process. I think that in any kind of collaborative work, communication is key and this has proven true in the case of our Unit.
It is really hard for me to think of anything that I or we (as a group) should have done differently. Each week, we met and outlined our lesson, we delegated work to be done for the lesson, and we decided on a time frame to follow for the work to get done. For the most part, we stuck to this process and to our timelines and this has made for a great experience.
We are now revising each lesson after considering all of the feedback we have gotten. I am anxious to see the final version.
I hope everyone has had the same experience that our group has been fortunate enough to have had!
-Meaghan
So, my group and I are nearing the end of our work on our Unit Plan on Immigration. Personally, I think that our group has worked so well together. I think that the main reason for such successful collaboration was our decision to use WikiSpaces as a platform for the construction of our Unit Plan. We decided on the ways in which we would communicate with each other, our peer reviewers, and our outside resources very early on in our work and it has made for a very smooth process. I think that in any kind of collaborative work, communication is key and this has proven true in the case of our Unit.
It is really hard for me to think of anything that I or we (as a group) should have done differently. Each week, we met and outlined our lesson, we delegated work to be done for the lesson, and we decided on a time frame to follow for the work to get done. For the most part, we stuck to this process and to our timelines and this has made for a great experience.
We are now revising each lesson after considering all of the feedback we have gotten. I am anxious to see the final version.
I hope everyone has had the same experience that our group has been fortunate enough to have had!
-Meaghan
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Our Class in Elluminate
Hello Everyone,
So, as most of you already know, our last class was not a traditional class in the classroom. Rather, we met online using software called Elluminate. For the most part, there was very little technical difficulties that effected our class. We did experience some "choppiness" with our Professor's audio, but I wouldn't say that it took away from the lesson.
I did not think that we would be able to accomplish in Elluminate what we accomplish in a traditional class session, but my assumptions were incorrect. We covered a lot of material and learned a few new things that will definitely be helpful tools to use in our classrooms one day. I think class was so successful because our Professor was able to stream her desktop live for us, just as she would've done on the smartboard in class.
I thought many interesting things happened in Elluminate that I wasn't expecting. I wasn't expecting for anyone to really be talking. I figured it would be a class in which we all communicated via typing to one another. I was pleasantly surprised to find that many people had microphones and could talk rather than type. I think this helped a lot because it cut down on the amount of people that were typing responses to questions at one time therefore making things much less complicated.
At the end of class, we were able to go off in our Unit Project Groups to work on our 2nd lesson plan. My group actually utilized a chatroom within Elluminate to accomplish this. This was another tool within Elluminate that I was not expecting. It worked really well for our group and communicating with one another was really simple. We didn't know how to get back into the class session with the entire class when it was time, but that was really the only drawback.
I do not know how Elluminate would work in other classes, but I would be really curious to see it used in a literature class which is mostly discussion based. I would think that it would be a little but chaotic with everyone speaking at once, but I would love to try it out.
Let me know what all of you think!
-Meaghan
So, as most of you already know, our last class was not a traditional class in the classroom. Rather, we met online using software called Elluminate. For the most part, there was very little technical difficulties that effected our class. We did experience some "choppiness" with our Professor's audio, but I wouldn't say that it took away from the lesson.
I did not think that we would be able to accomplish in Elluminate what we accomplish in a traditional class session, but my assumptions were incorrect. We covered a lot of material and learned a few new things that will definitely be helpful tools to use in our classrooms one day. I think class was so successful because our Professor was able to stream her desktop live for us, just as she would've done on the smartboard in class.
I thought many interesting things happened in Elluminate that I wasn't expecting. I wasn't expecting for anyone to really be talking. I figured it would be a class in which we all communicated via typing to one another. I was pleasantly surprised to find that many people had microphones and could talk rather than type. I think this helped a lot because it cut down on the amount of people that were typing responses to questions at one time therefore making things much less complicated.
At the end of class, we were able to go off in our Unit Project Groups to work on our 2nd lesson plan. My group actually utilized a chatroom within Elluminate to accomplish this. This was another tool within Elluminate that I was not expecting. It worked really well for our group and communicating with one another was really simple. We didn't know how to get back into the class session with the entire class when it was time, but that was really the only drawback.
I do not know how Elluminate would work in other classes, but I would be really curious to see it used in a literature class which is mostly discussion based. I would think that it would be a little but chaotic with everyone speaking at once, but I would love to try it out.
Let me know what all of you think!
-Meaghan
Thursday, March 31, 2011
"Let Kids Rule the School" by Susan Engel
Hey Everyone,
Reading this NY Times article by Susan Engel was very informative and truly inspiring. It reiterates the idea that allowing students to be in control of their education fosters very positive results and meaningful learning experiences. I have always believed that one can only truly learn and retain information when they are able to be independent thinkers. An experiment, which was called the "Independence Project," only proved further this fact to be true.
When I reflect upon my experiences during my fieldwork, I have noticed that students are more engaged and do much better when they are interested in what they are learning. I do believe that it is the responsibility of the teacher to ensure that they are picking meaningful lessons in which they facilitate in order to engage, at least, most of their students. If a teacher can accomplish this task, students will have been afforded the opportunity to take charge of their education instead of having education imposed upon them.
I have seen, far too often, that teachers are basically training their students to perform well on a standardized test rather than teaching them to be effective learners which will ultimately foster positive test results anyway. So many teachers create a classroom environment in which students just imitate their voice rather than finding a voice of their own. In other words, so many students are simply "regurgitaters" of information imposed upon them by their teachers. This is a great problem that I was happy to learn that Obama has recognized as well. Hopefully, he will take steps to address this issue.
I am curious to see what would happen if we saw the "Independence Project" implemented in more schools. How about you?
-Meaghan
Reading this NY Times article by Susan Engel was very informative and truly inspiring. It reiterates the idea that allowing students to be in control of their education fosters very positive results and meaningful learning experiences. I have always believed that one can only truly learn and retain information when they are able to be independent thinkers. An experiment, which was called the "Independence Project," only proved further this fact to be true.
When I reflect upon my experiences during my fieldwork, I have noticed that students are more engaged and do much better when they are interested in what they are learning. I do believe that it is the responsibility of the teacher to ensure that they are picking meaningful lessons in which they facilitate in order to engage, at least, most of their students. If a teacher can accomplish this task, students will have been afforded the opportunity to take charge of their education instead of having education imposed upon them.
I have seen, far too often, that teachers are basically training their students to perform well on a standardized test rather than teaching them to be effective learners which will ultimately foster positive test results anyway. So many teachers create a classroom environment in which students just imitate their voice rather than finding a voice of their own. In other words, so many students are simply "regurgitaters" of information imposed upon them by their teachers. This is a great problem that I was happy to learn that Obama has recognized as well. Hopefully, he will take steps to address this issue.
I am curious to see what would happen if we saw the "Independence Project" implemented in more schools. How about you?
-Meaghan
Our Unit on Immigration Continues
Hey Everyone,
These past couple of weeks, my group and I have developed our 2nd lesson plan for our unit on Immigration, and I am so excited about this one! It is very unique and something that I wish I could have taken part in when I was in 8th grade. This particular lesson plan is all about the experience of the immigrants that entered America through Ellis Island at New York Harbor. This lesson plan will allow for each student to walk a day in the shoes of an immigrant and to experience what they experienced when entering America many years ago. In this simulation, each student will endure a meaningful learning experience through experience. If you're interested and would like to read further, please check out our wikispace. Feel free to leave any feedback on the "Lesson 2 Peer Review" page while you're there!
So, working as a group to develop this entire unit has been such a pleasurable experience. We are working very well together and are getting things done with ease. Thankfully, communication has not been a problem with our group. I look forward to working on this unit more with them.
I look forward to hearing back from all of you!
-Meaghan
These past couple of weeks, my group and I have developed our 2nd lesson plan for our unit on Immigration, and I am so excited about this one! It is very unique and something that I wish I could have taken part in when I was in 8th grade. This particular lesson plan is all about the experience of the immigrants that entered America through Ellis Island at New York Harbor. This lesson plan will allow for each student to walk a day in the shoes of an immigrant and to experience what they experienced when entering America many years ago. In this simulation, each student will endure a meaningful learning experience through experience. If you're interested and would like to read further, please check out our wikispace. Feel free to leave any feedback on the "Lesson 2 Peer Review" page while you're there!
So, working as a group to develop this entire unit has been such a pleasurable experience. We are working very well together and are getting things done with ease. Thankfully, communication has not been a problem with our group. I look forward to working on this unit more with them.
I look forward to hearing back from all of you!
-Meaghan
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Update on Immigration Unit Plan
Hey Everyone,
This week our group has really dove into expanding and improving our first lesson plan in our unit on immigration. I feel that the reason we were able to make such great progress is because of the immense amount of feedback we have been getting from our Professor, our classmates, and an outside source that is a knowledgeable and experienced teacher and literacy coach at a local school district. There have been suggestions made to improve just about every element of our lesson plan and the application of these suggestions have had a very positive effect on what will be the finished product. I am anxious and excited to keep working.
Another comment that I feel inclined to make about our progress is what it has done to our initial ideas for this unit. At the outset of this project, we had very specific ideas and goals in mind for where this lesson would go. However, as we got started and progressed through our first lesson, we quickly began to realize that our initial thoughts and ideas were being altered. We began to think of alternative routes to take that would serve to be a more fulfilling and thorough learning experience. I believe this to be happening because each group member brings such great and innovative ideas to the table!
I am hopeful and confident that we will continue working with thoughtfulness throughout this unit and I am anxious to see what the finished product looks like!
If you are interested in taking a look at our work click here.
Can't wait to hear your feedback!
-Meaghan
This week our group has really dove into expanding and improving our first lesson plan in our unit on immigration. I feel that the reason we were able to make such great progress is because of the immense amount of feedback we have been getting from our Professor, our classmates, and an outside source that is a knowledgeable and experienced teacher and literacy coach at a local school district. There have been suggestions made to improve just about every element of our lesson plan and the application of these suggestions have had a very positive effect on what will be the finished product. I am anxious and excited to keep working.
Another comment that I feel inclined to make about our progress is what it has done to our initial ideas for this unit. At the outset of this project, we had very specific ideas and goals in mind for where this lesson would go. However, as we got started and progressed through our first lesson, we quickly began to realize that our initial thoughts and ideas were being altered. We began to think of alternative routes to take that would serve to be a more fulfilling and thorough learning experience. I believe this to be happening because each group member brings such great and innovative ideas to the table!
I am hopeful and confident that we will continue working with thoughtfulness throughout this unit and I am anxious to see what the finished product looks like!
If you are interested in taking a look at our work click here.
Can't wait to hear your feedback!
-Meaghan
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