This project was so much fun! I really had a great time with this video. These last two videos have been so fun and I have enjoyed the learning process that has accompanied each video. I honestly think this is the most creative I have ever been in my life, and it's a great feeling!
Topic 2's investigative report had me researching place based learning, and I really enjoyed it! PBL holds so much promise for students. There are so many times that classrooms seem to jump right to, and focus more on, global studies and forget that they have great learning and teaching resources right in their backyards. Also, kids are missing out on having a connection with their communities by learning from the history and the people in the community. Another great thing about this teaching method is that it connects and intertwines with other teaching methods like community and service based learning. A lot can be taught with this method like responsibility and respect for their environment and community, communication skills, volunteer skills, and so much more! PBL is definitely something that I want to try to incorporate into my future classroom.
This project was so much fun! I really had a great time with this video. These last two videos have been so fun and I have enjoyed the learning process that has accompanied each video. I honestly think this is the most creative I have ever been in my life, and it's a great feeling!
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My first project topic is global collaboration project. Let me tell you, finding research about this topic has been hard to do. Most web searches only yielded results for various preexisting projects that various schools in various countries are a part of. The majority of my information came from searching "flat classroom", but there were only a few informative sources with those searches, too.
During my field experience this semester I got to watch an example of global collaboration in action. I was observing a 6th grade language arts/social studies class and they participated in a mystery Skype. During the Skype, they had to take turns with the other participating class to ask yes or no questions to see which classroom could identify where the other classroom was located first. This particular time it was a classroom in Illinois, but they have participated with classrooms in other countries. I would love to to something like this in my own classroom. It was a fun experience and it helped the students with various skills such as: problem solving, critical thinking, geography, map reading, and much more. I have really enjoyed this project this week. I can't wait to see how the finished product turns out and what you think about it! Overall, I have really enjoyed this textbook. I have learned many things about partner teaching that I really want to try to incorporate into a classroom of my own. Things like basing my lessons on student passions, letting them accomplish assignments in ways that interest them, and incorporating as much technology into the classroom as possible, even when I may not know how it all works. One of the things that I have found to be the most interesting is the focus on verbs/skills rather than nouns/technology. Just like with 21st century skills, the first thing that comes to mind about technology in the classroom is all of the different types of technology you could use. I like the approach of teaching skills and finding the technology that best accompanies those skills- to enhance the learning of the skills not the operation of the technology. I also like how the main focus of partnering is to teach students more than just facts and school "stuff". It's about teaching students skills that they can use in school and in their lives outside of school.
Another thing I have enjoyed about this book is that it is probably the easiest textbook to read and comprehend that I have had. I have really enjoyed this textbook a lot better than most of my other textbooks. Constructivism seems to be synonymous with partnering. These last two weeks are the first time I ever heard the term constructivism but I knew exactly what it was because it's pretty much the same thing that we have been reading in our textbook since the beginning. The constructivist approach is definitely one that I want to try to incorporate into my future classroom. I like the idea of having students work primarily in groups and giving them the chance to explore and build their own connections to the world. I wish that my teachers had used this approach more. I have never been very good at sitting and listening and taking notes while remembering the material. The traditional approach is not the one I want to use and I hope I do not let myself use this approach as my primary means of teaching.
Before this week I had never heard of the term "flipped classroom", and after hearing about it makes me wish that some of my teachers had done this. Though I know what you are thinking my reasoning is, but I have to tell you it's completely selfish. I think that this method would have helped with the wasted class periods of the teachers repeating the same information over and over again, causing me to get bored and tune out the rest of the lesson. I think that if everyone had watched/listened to the teacher, we could have got done a lot more of our work.
I do like the principle of the flipped classroom method, using class time for homework and practice, but I'm not sure that this is a technique that I want to apply to my future classroom- well not in its entirety. I think that using your videos for homework is a good idea for many reasons- students can pause and rewind, listen at their own pace, and they can listen to the lecture as many times as they need. However, how do you really know that students are watching these videos. I know you can make an assignment/activity to quiz them about the material and such, but let's be honest, how many times in high school did you not read the book and ask your friends that did for the important points and summary? Answer- a lot of us did many times. And then there's the issue of students not having the technology at home to watch the videos, even in DVD format; and if they watch them at school, that takes away from the activity time and most of them can't stay after school. I know that with everything there are positives and negatives, no technique is perfect, but the flipped classroom is not necessarily one that I see myself using a lot in my classroom. I'm not saying I might not use it occasionally, but not for my regular teaching. One thing I like about this class is that we are learning new methods and pedagogy that we can apply to our own teaching one day. I also like that we don't have to agree with and use every technique we are being taught. Teaching is not a "one size fits all" kind of thing. I appreciate how we are being exposed to new things and are being given the opportunity to figure out if it's right for us. *Sorry, I know this is a long one :) 21st Century Skills are an important part of today's education. Before this module, whenever I heard the term "21st Century Skills" I immediately thought about technology. While that was not wrong of me to think, 21st Century skills are so much more than that! 21st Century skills are what my generation, and future generations, are going to rely on for survival in this new and ever changing world around us. No longer is email, typing, and other technology and media based skills left for only the professionals. They are becoming skills that very citizen in this digital world needs to have in order to survive. In this module I learned that research and studies are being done about the preparedness of high school and college graduates for the work force, and that even people who graduate from college still have big deficiencies in the work place. They lack in things such as professionalism, written communication, and leadership. I had heard about P21, Partnership for 21st Century Skills, in previous classes but I really didn't know that much about it. In this module I learned that P12 is an organization of businesses, education nonprofits, and foundations that are dedicated to teaching students and teachers these new skills and help them to better succeed in the 21 Century.
Being in education is about being a lifelong learner and that is exactly what P21 is all about. It is important to realize that times are changing, the way students learn is changing, and the way we should be teaching is changing. I hope to be a teacher that is willing to make the necessary changes to better prepare my students for the future ahead of them. Just a reminder that our Halloween party is Friday. Don't forget to wear your costumes! Also, you may begin bringing your party items tomorrow.
We will be having a Halloween party Friday. If you would like to volunteer to bring items or come and help out, please fill out this form. I want to give a big thank you to all of our parent volunteers during our career week last week. It was a huge success! I really enjoyed getting to know more about my student's parents and I know that the students really enjoyed learning more about different careers. Thank You!
Our pumpkin patch field trip is only 2 days away! Please remember to have your child wear our Tiny Pirates t-shirt. Please have your child at the school by 7:30. If you plan to join us, please be at the school by 7:30 as well. The buses will leave at 7:45. We will be back at the school before the end of the school day, by 1:00.
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April 2015
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