Reflection
My
personal theory of learning now as compared and contrasted to the first
week of class has not changed a great deal. My focus will be to
continue to present instruction using various channels of delivery
whenever and wherever possible, highlighting on Multiple Intelligences
and Howard Gardner. As Howard Gardner, stated in his book, Frames of
Mind (Gardner, 2011)
I
contend that we have not one general-purpose computer, but rather a
set of discrete computers -the multiple intelligences -that operate
somewhat independently of one another...But if individuals differ in
their intellectual profiles, it make sense to take this fact into
account when devising an educational system for individuals, groups or
even nations. (Gardner, p.8)
I will continue to offer my students hands on activities, offering them choices for how they create and develop their assignments. Whenever we can present students with a menu of assignment offerings, it can only act to highlight their engagement and interest. Personally, had I been offered such a menu when I struggled as a learner, I believe I would have developed as a student in academic ability as well as in personal interest and engagement, rather than be beat down by an educational system that neither cared nor knew how to cater to my individual learning preferences or needs. Howard Gardner’s theory did not yet exist when I most needed it, instead it was the rote and drill of Behaviorism that seemed to define my educational experiences. That is why perhaps, I shy away from those strategies and approaches, even though we all use aspects in the public educational system where we find ourselves as teachers and the expectations that go along with this still old, and slowly changing public school model.
Additionally, the continued blending of approaches that I use also utilize the constructivists model of creating artifacts. I’ve always believed that when students are able to create and have a say in that creation, they will walk away not only with a grade but instead will have gained an expertise in whatever they were creating.
Constructivism
offers teachers instructional approaches that are congruent with
current research on learning. By viewing learning as an active process,
taking students prior knowledge into consideration, building on
preconceptions, and eliciting cognitive conflict, teachers can design
instruction that goes beyond rote learning to meaningful learning that
is more likely to lead to deeper, longer lasting understandings. (Jones & Araje-Brader, 2002)
As a teacher, somehow I always knew intuitively what to do to design instruction for my students. I was never confined by a curriculum I had to achieve, instead I was initially supplementing the instruction students received from their mainstreamed classes. Early on, I was providing replacement instruction for students in U.S. History and did create a wall of notes for them to copy. I am ashamed of this time in my teaching , when mimicking the traditional U.S. History teachers’ methods but using texts that were more readable, seemed to make sense. I did provide a very varied instructional model for the replacement English classes I taught to my special education students, choosing novels like The Outsiders and Tex, trying to engage their interest by providing reading that they might have more of an affinity to connecting with.
Now, still working with the challenging personalities, learning profiles, and the varied attentional issues, I know better that the blending of instruction, inciting interest whenever I can will provide my students with the supplemental reading/writing instruction that will fill in those gaps as I try to use technology tools to capture them as learners. Using ipads, laptops, and the Smartboard was always a no-brainer. I’ve been using ipads and laptops for 2 years now. As digital tools go, I fully embrace the ipads I got from a NH Struggling Reader’s Grant I wrote and was awarded. The Smartboard, new to me this year, is also awesome! Applications like Popplet, Voicethread, Blogs, Educreations, Showme, are also some wonderful tools that will continue to enhance the instruction of my students. Popplet, the mind mapping tool, I’ve been using to assist students to track their reading comprehension, identify and indicate main ideas, themes, characters, posing questions and predictions in their novels, and identify key details/facts from informational reading. It’s a great tool that I always knew was great but now I have the linguistic/non-linguistic understanding of how powerful it is to learners from an educational standpoint grounded in evidence. As stated in, Using Technology With Classroom Instruction That Works,
Nonlinguistic representation enhances students’ ability to use mental images to represent and elaborate on knowledge...The more individuals both types of representation, the better they are able to reflect on and recall knowledge. Teachers usually present new knowledge in linguistic form; that is they either talk to students about new content or ask them to read about new content.When teachers branch out to help students use nonlinguistic representation as well, the effects on achievement are strong. (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn,& Malenoski, p. 86 (2007)
Blending linguistic and nonlinguistic delivery, can help engage learners and help them to better recall and understand the content I am trying to teach them. Likewise, having them use both linguistic and nonlinguistic models will assist them in assimilating the information, as inferred above.
As I continue to grow as an educator, I am always researching and finding new tools and apps to use with the ipads and the Nexus tablets in my classroom. Searching for tools that work over the long term is an essential piece of the puzzle. I personally find that with the new apps that come out everyday, it is important to read up and keep on top of these apps, finding the ones that are easiest and will be the most appropriate tools to use to gain the instructional ends that I have in mind. Voicethread is a tool that I know some of my students will love and embrace,while others will shy away from creating an audio of their voice. Understanding this, again offering choice in student projects will help to engage these struggling learners as the find comfort in choosing what will work best for them.
As an educator, I will continue to learn and follow the digital technology trends. I will continue to follow the educational blogs which serve to highlight the latest and greatest apps and instructional tools that evolve and rise to the top each week. Following these digital blogs that focus on the digital changes and trends, will help me to serve my learners with the best technology that is out there, rather than grabbing this or that and meeting with failure or success, leaving them uncertain of themselves or of me as a teacher they can trust. I will also continue to extend my understanding of digital educational technology by taking more classes, attending workshops and presenting my classroom as a digital technology model at our annual New Hampshire Christa Macauliff Technology Conference as I have for the past two years. Linking to this conference and being a small part of it not only serves to help other professionals and thereby their students, but stretches me professionally http://nhcmtc.org/. In this way, I can help others to learn how to integrate technology into their reading/writing classrooms, as I provide myself with the challenge to fine tune my presentation skills. To do this I will keep on top of the latest and greatest tools that work for my unique populations, and help to give other educational professional ideas, resources and connections to others who have been using digital technology successfully for several years.
References:
Gardner, H. (2011). Frames of mind-the theory of multiple intelligences. New York, NY: Persues Books.
Jones, G. M., & Araje-Brader, L. (2002). The impact of constructivism on education: Language, discourse, and meaning. American Communication Journal , 5(3), 4. Retrieved from http://ac-journal.org/journal/vol5/iss3/special/jones.pdf
Pitler H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007).Retrieved, February 23, 2013, Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
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