Recently a teaching concept was brought to my attention that had never before been discussed or that I had never thought about. This was the concept of group work, however not just having students do group work but how as a teacher do you construct group work and make sure that everyone is participating. Usually when I am doing teaching in my methods courses I simply tell the students to get into groups around them, or they are already arranged in groups. When students are put into groups to work there are several problems that can occur. First of all one person usually dominates the group. This is usually a student that is more outgoing and comfortable being in charge, however if they end up doing all the work then the other person are not learning as much. These low status students outside of the group are usually ignored and are looked upon as though their opinions do not matter. From a teacher’s point of view sometimes these students may be viewed as being unmotivated and not wanting to try, however in reality they may be trying but their thoughts are being shot down by the dominate members of the group.
So what do you do? One idea that I thought about was making a Multiple Abilities chart. Each group member is good at something and it is good to highlight this. As a teacher it is good to convince students that every group member can bring something to the table and contribute and that one person doesn’t have all the abilities to contribute all. Also a teacher needs to make sure that the group work has a purpose and needs to pick worthwhile task for the students to work on. Setting guidelines for the group and assigning roles for the students before the group work beings are also great ideas to keep from one person taking over. I have also noticed in my science method classroom that my cooperating teacher makes a point to visit and talk to each group and each person within the group to help intrigue their ideas. He makes sure that they are engaged in the activity and are being included by facilitating questioning and highlighting their thoughts and opinions. This is sometime to think about when teaching. Unless a teacher takes the time to take care of the classroom culture, including group work activities, even the best lessons do not go well and can be unsuccessful.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
My Trip to a Science Museum: Excellent Inquiry
After visiting The McWane Science Center in Birmingham, Alabama, I was amazed at all the exhibits that I witnessed and all of the physical knowledge that was being used inside the building. Before before visiting this museum, I did not fully understand the concepts of physical knowledge. I simply thought the kids I observed were playing around. After being learning about inquiry and physical science, I went back to the museum and acknowledged that these children were not just playing around, but gaining knowledge through constructivist methods of teaching.
The first exhibit, which I immediately connected with what I am learning through my methods courses, was right when I walked in the door. I was surprised to find a water playground with all kinds of different funnels, filters and other manipulative obstacles that children can use to play with the water throughout the room. This McWane Center water exhibit, took experiments and took it to a whole new level. Children were allowed to shoot out water from the guns and could also try adjusting the guns to obtain different water pressures. By doing this, the children could make various blocks move around in the water. Changing the pressure that they used either caused the block to move faster or slower and sometimes it did not move at all. Since I took my cousin who is in Kindergarten, I was able to practice what I had learned with her while she played with the water guns. I asked her what would happen if the water was going faster, or if we used a smaller floating block, if she thought that the block would move faster. They also had items that children could experiment with by seeing if they floated. These water “building- blocks” allowed the children to have fun, but to also try to complete a task. This activity seemed to stir up curiosity among the children because everyone wanted to see if they could build a house or castle on the water. Not only did they have to decide which items would float, but they also had to be able to tell which blocks would balance and not fall over and crash into the water. Some of the children were successful and some had a little trouble. The kids that had trouble actually seemed to be learning more. When they would mess up they would have to try a different route of construction which provoked learning and knowledge.
Another display that I found interesting and that I could relate back to what I have read and learned in my primary math and science class was the chaotic pendulum that was on the second floor of the building. The Chaotic Pendulum contains a deceptively simple set of pendulums in a steel and Plexiglas case. A central, T-shaped bar supports three mounted bars from its ends. The “T” is mounted at the intersection of the upright and the cross arm. I watched as the little kids would twist the knob to start the pendulum moving. Intuition says that the resulting motion of this system should be, if not simple, at least predictable. Intuition, however, does not work with this device since its motion is chaotic, extremely complicated and long-lived. Children have to experiment and play with the chaotic pendulum in order to figure out where it will go and what will happen. Just like in the Physical Knowledge for Preschool textbook this pendulum can be used for children to construct knowledge. Since this is different than a normal pendulum it encourages interest and the students are likely to ask more questions about the display. However, this pendulum is limited to materials that you can add to make it more appealing and interesting to a child. This doesn’t help the students continue their curiosity therefore; I witnessed several children, including my cousin, get a little bored with the display and move on.
Another game that I noticed older elementary school children playing was the Giant Lever game. In this game the kids play a game of tug-of-war. However there is a catch to this tug –of- war game and these students are not just playing a game but constructing knowledge. These kids soon realize that the lever arm distance influences who wins the tug-of-war. Dynamometers on each side of the lever allow the children to see the force exerted, while a victory signal reveals the mechanical advantage of this simple machine. It is important for students to understand simple machines and how they work. There is not, in my opinion, a better way to teach kids than through the children experimenting with how simple machines work. Through this exhibit the kids can see how a lever works. Whoever has the heaviest amount of weight on their side automatically wins. Strategy becomes a factor when students start to figure out this information. They may have to swap up teams or add people to their side. It was very entertaining to see the children try to work it out and also fun to see them learning while having a good time.
I think this museum sets a good example not only to students, but also teachers. It shows how students can learn through observation and experimenting. Unfortunately, not all teachers use this type of constructivist learning in their classroom and this museum gives the kids an opportunity to learn through touch and manipulating objects. It also allows students to fail and create new routes to success on their own. Some teachers use direct instruction of how to do an experiment. This method usually does not allow the student to explore the entire learning process, but to simply always have a successful result at the end. Children need the opportunity to work things on their own. From water, to pendulums, and even simply machines The McWane Science Center provides hands-on activities for learning in a fun manner. I have never seen children more excited to discover new ideas and different concepts. The children that I witnessed had such intense curiosity. Seeing the museum in through my new “teacher light” made me excited about doing physical knowledge activities in my future science classes.
The first exhibit, which I immediately connected with what I am learning through my methods courses, was right when I walked in the door. I was surprised to find a water playground with all kinds of different funnels, filters and other manipulative obstacles that children can use to play with the water throughout the room. This McWane Center water exhibit, took experiments and took it to a whole new level. Children were allowed to shoot out water from the guns and could also try adjusting the guns to obtain different water pressures. By doing this, the children could make various blocks move around in the water. Changing the pressure that they used either caused the block to move faster or slower and sometimes it did not move at all. Since I took my cousin who is in Kindergarten, I was able to practice what I had learned with her while she played with the water guns. I asked her what would happen if the water was going faster, or if we used a smaller floating block, if she thought that the block would move faster. They also had items that children could experiment with by seeing if they floated. These water “building- blocks” allowed the children to have fun, but to also try to complete a task. This activity seemed to stir up curiosity among the children because everyone wanted to see if they could build a house or castle on the water. Not only did they have to decide which items would float, but they also had to be able to tell which blocks would balance and not fall over and crash into the water. Some of the children were successful and some had a little trouble. The kids that had trouble actually seemed to be learning more. When they would mess up they would have to try a different route of construction which provoked learning and knowledge.
Another display that I found interesting and that I could relate back to what I have read and learned in my primary math and science class was the chaotic pendulum that was on the second floor of the building. The Chaotic Pendulum contains a deceptively simple set of pendulums in a steel and Plexiglas case. A central, T-shaped bar supports three mounted bars from its ends. The “T” is mounted at the intersection of the upright and the cross arm. I watched as the little kids would twist the knob to start the pendulum moving. Intuition says that the resulting motion of this system should be, if not simple, at least predictable. Intuition, however, does not work with this device since its motion is chaotic, extremely complicated and long-lived. Children have to experiment and play with the chaotic pendulum in order to figure out where it will go and what will happen. Just like in the Physical Knowledge for Preschool textbook this pendulum can be used for children to construct knowledge. Since this is different than a normal pendulum it encourages interest and the students are likely to ask more questions about the display. However, this pendulum is limited to materials that you can add to make it more appealing and interesting to a child. This doesn’t help the students continue their curiosity therefore; I witnessed several children, including my cousin, get a little bored with the display and move on.
Another game that I noticed older elementary school children playing was the Giant Lever game. In this game the kids play a game of tug-of-war. However there is a catch to this tug –of- war game and these students are not just playing a game but constructing knowledge. These kids soon realize that the lever arm distance influences who wins the tug-of-war. Dynamometers on each side of the lever allow the children to see the force exerted, while a victory signal reveals the mechanical advantage of this simple machine. It is important for students to understand simple machines and how they work. There is not, in my opinion, a better way to teach kids than through the children experimenting with how simple machines work. Through this exhibit the kids can see how a lever works. Whoever has the heaviest amount of weight on their side automatically wins. Strategy becomes a factor when students start to figure out this information. They may have to swap up teams or add people to their side. It was very entertaining to see the children try to work it out and also fun to see them learning while having a good time.
I think this museum sets a good example not only to students, but also teachers. It shows how students can learn through observation and experimenting. Unfortunately, not all teachers use this type of constructivist learning in their classroom and this museum gives the kids an opportunity to learn through touch and manipulating objects. It also allows students to fail and create new routes to success on their own. Some teachers use direct instruction of how to do an experiment. This method usually does not allow the student to explore the entire learning process, but to simply always have a successful result at the end. Children need the opportunity to work things on their own. From water, to pendulums, and even simply machines The McWane Science Center provides hands-on activities for learning in a fun manner. I have never seen children more excited to discover new ideas and different concepts. The children that I witnessed had such intense curiosity. Seeing the museum in through my new “teacher light” made me excited about doing physical knowledge activities in my future science classes.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
How is Standarized Testing Integrated into Teaching?
I plan on using the data from standardized testing to help show me where I stand as a teacher. I won’t use the results as a complete representation of my teaching skills because as a teacher I know that sometimes these types of standardized test can prove to be unreliable or invalid. However, anything that can help me improve as a teacher I want to capitalize on the opportunity. By knowing the data I am able to see the subjects that I am not teaching as well on and what areas where my teaching styles prove successful. In these areas I can continue my teaching style and even share with struggling teachers. These tests can motivate me as a teacher to take a second look at established instructional practices. Sometimes teachers tend to be in the same routine of teaching year after year, however this teaching style may not be effective for every class. Each class is unique and different and change is sometimes not only helpful but necessary.
Assessment- criterion relationship is an important concept to look at when going through standardized testing data. Criterion-reference is when a teacher looks at how much of the targeted material the student learned. This is important to use because their will be certain targeted information that will be necessary for the child to score well on the standardized test. This is how I will set goals and encourage students to learn the information. Therefore, I have to look at the construct and decide what should become the content. The students usually do not need to know everything so picking out important and relevant content crucial to criterion referencing. Norm- referencing is another concept that compares a students’ score to other people in the class. This can show a teacher where her students stand as individual and is important to look at when applying assessment in the classroom. This is usually interpreted through a bell curve on standardized test results. After observing these results, I can devise a plan to allow individual attention to struggling students. I will allow time for an intervention for certain students who need help in areas. Sometimes these results can even help determine a learning disability. For example, student could score really high in all areas and score exceptionally low in reading. In certain situations it may give means to have the student tested for a reading disability or in other areas.
Standardized testing data can help me as a teacher set goals for my classroom. When viewing the results from one year, I can set goals as teacher for the next upcoming class. Each year, I want to strive to be better and better and I can set goals for myself to make the most out of each day. I can also set goals for my upcoming class. Showing the class how last year’s grade scored as a whole, (not separately), will help motivate the students. Then we, as a class, can set goals for the students. I want my students to be included in this decision. They can let me know how well or how much better they want to and think that they can score on their standardized achievement tests for the year. Hopefully this will also motivate them to score well. They want to score as well as they say they will. This is also a great way to use data and graphs into your lesson. Using real life data and information works well with older elementary students.
I plan on integrating information from the data in many ways. First of all I want to take the data and devise a plan for the entire year. This will consist of any and all of the ideas that come to mind where I can improve and the class can improve. I will also document on what my class needs to work on. With this plan I will have the information for the entire year to look back on. In the education society today, standardized tests are looked at with high priority. It is important that I do the same. Using the data can only benefit students and teachers and help not only their school year, but school years to come.
Assessment- criterion relationship is an important concept to look at when going through standardized testing data. Criterion-reference is when a teacher looks at how much of the targeted material the student learned. This is important to use because their will be certain targeted information that will be necessary for the child to score well on the standardized test. This is how I will set goals and encourage students to learn the information. Therefore, I have to look at the construct and decide what should become the content. The students usually do not need to know everything so picking out important and relevant content crucial to criterion referencing. Norm- referencing is another concept that compares a students’ score to other people in the class. This can show a teacher where her students stand as individual and is important to look at when applying assessment in the classroom. This is usually interpreted through a bell curve on standardized test results. After observing these results, I can devise a plan to allow individual attention to struggling students. I will allow time for an intervention for certain students who need help in areas. Sometimes these results can even help determine a learning disability. For example, student could score really high in all areas and score exceptionally low in reading. In certain situations it may give means to have the student tested for a reading disability or in other areas.
Standardized testing data can help me as a teacher set goals for my classroom. When viewing the results from one year, I can set goals as teacher for the next upcoming class. Each year, I want to strive to be better and better and I can set goals for myself to make the most out of each day. I can also set goals for my upcoming class. Showing the class how last year’s grade scored as a whole, (not separately), will help motivate the students. Then we, as a class, can set goals for the students. I want my students to be included in this decision. They can let me know how well or how much better they want to and think that they can score on their standardized achievement tests for the year. Hopefully this will also motivate them to score well. They want to score as well as they say they will. This is also a great way to use data and graphs into your lesson. Using real life data and information works well with older elementary students.
I plan on integrating information from the data in many ways. First of all I want to take the data and devise a plan for the entire year. This will consist of any and all of the ideas that come to mind where I can improve and the class can improve. I will also document on what my class needs to work on. With this plan I will have the information for the entire year to look back on. In the education society today, standardized tests are looked at with high priority. It is important that I do the same. Using the data can only benefit students and teachers and help not only their school year, but school years to come.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Managing Active Assessements
In any subjects it is sometime necessary to assess using active assessments. These can range anywhere from drawing a picture, to class discussion. I think that these type of assessments will work nicely when trying to assess students knowledge on a particular subject. However, managing these assessment is something that should be worked out beforehand. When managing active assessments, I think that there are many ways that a I can keep from becoming overwhelmed. First, I could make a checklist to make sure I am covering all and only of what is needed. For example, if I am having my students draw sea and land breezes in a picture to show that they understanding the direction and temperature, I can have a checklist with the specific drawings that I am looking for. If the students have what is checked then I can tell their understanding. I also think that it is important to stat small. Science is a wodnerful subject for this type of assessment to be very helpful. In the Active Assessment for Active Science textbook, written by Hein and Price, they both write how a teacher should not throw away all the traditional text immediately, but start modifying or adding on to the original tests (53). I think that this is important to remember and I could modify my original test on land and sea breezes by first adding a drawing box on the back and have students not only write and fill out the test, but also provide a drawing on the back. I could eventually transform the entire evaluation to a drawing.
When I am pre-designing my assessments, I need to remember that it needs to identify the learning goals. Students need to know what this assessment is showing and you need to see. As a teacher I need to know what my students are going to learn and how they follow the Alabama and National Standards. I also need to make sure that my assessments are developmentally appropriate. I would not have first graders draw pictures of land and sea breezes and the directions they are going. This would be something for a higher 5th or 6th grade level.
Price and Hein, Active Assesments for Active Science, Heinmann. 1994
When I am pre-designing my assessments, I need to remember that it needs to identify the learning goals. Students need to know what this assessment is showing and you need to see. As a teacher I need to know what my students are going to learn and how they follow the Alabama and National Standards. I also need to make sure that my assessments are developmentally appropriate. I would not have first graders draw pictures of land and sea breezes and the directions they are going. This would be something for a higher 5th or 6th grade level.
Price and Hein, Active Assesments for Active Science, Heinmann. 1994
How Much Homework is Too Much?
Over the past years I have been noticing a trend in elementary aged students, especially the younger grades. This trend deals with the amount of homework that they are being assigned. I have been surprisingly taken back by how much homework is assigned to these students on a nightly basis. After working at an afterschool daycare, this problem started to become aware to me during homework time after school. I watched as young third grade students did tons of practice math problems that were all exactly alike and then answered several reading questions after being assigned to read as well. In my opinion this homework trend is a little excessive. Children are in school eight hours and now days extra activities such as recess, PE, and music are being taken back to the minimum time, therefore these children are learning for the majority of these eight hours. I do think that children need to practice learning outside of school and that this type of "on their own" work helps the children to build responsibility for their own work, however there is not a need for excess work in multiple subjects. Students need to take this time outside of school to have their own playtime, family time, and time to do other extracurricular activities and hobbies. Homework should never have to take them all night especially and ages and grade level should be taken into consideration.
Now I am not saying this about all teachers, which leads me to another point. I feel that there is a huge inconsistency amongst different teachers with the amount of homework. Some teachers load their students down with books and work at night while others barely assign any at all. Does assigning more homework make them a better teacher? Does it mean that their kids are smarter or learning more? These are questions that I have been curious about for a long time and as an upcoming teacher would like to learn more about from previous teachers.
Now I am not saying this about all teachers, which leads me to another point. I feel that there is a huge inconsistency amongst different teachers with the amount of homework. Some teachers load their students down with books and work at night while others barely assign any at all. Does assigning more homework make them a better teacher? Does it mean that their kids are smarter or learning more? These are questions that I have been curious about for a long time and as an upcoming teacher would like to learn more about from previous teachers.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Classroom Managment,.... What Works Best
I intend on managing my classroom through an assortment of behaviorism techniques and methods. In order for students to begin learning a teacher has to establish good classroom management. Reinforcement and punishment are some of the most important tools for shaping a child’s behavior and helping them learn. This is why I want to use this in my classroom when making classroom management a top priority. Punishers are used to decrease behavior. For example, I would take away free choice time until they stop talking when the teacher is talking or behaves when I have a guest come into the room. On the other hand, reinforcers are used to increase behavior. I could use this by allowing my students to have more free choice time when they listen when I am talking. The best reinforcers to use are on a variable schedule. Intrinsic reinforcers or variable ratio is the toughest to break. Our bodies are actually canalized to react to this type of reinforcement. I plan on reinforcing on a fixed schedule, so that my students keep expecting to be reinforced and will react accordingly. The students do not know how many times they may need to be quiet in line, for example, before they will be rewarded, therefore; they keep doing it. This is how I will establish good behavior in my classroom: in a peaceful way. There will be no arguing between me and a student because I am the adult in the situation and I refuse to argue with the child. Verbally arguments will not be tolerated; however I am open to verbal discussions given that they are done in the right manner.
However, this does not mean that my class room will be managed as a dictatorship ran solely be the teacher. My students will feel that they have a say on certain situations. First of all, I will allow my students to come up with rules that they feel are needed in the classroom and what they think the consequences should entail. This will be discussed on the first day. I will make sure that everyone agrees. When the student breaks a rule, they will not only be breaking my rule, but a rule that they came up with. I believe that this will give the children more incentive to follow the rules. I also will allow free choice time in which the students will have an array of activities that they can participate in, instead of being forced into one activity. When we have time left over or finish a lesson early, the students can draw, play games, engage in computer games, read or other events depending on the time. The activity must be educational, but still gives the children a freedom of choice as well. I believe that by allowing my students to help manage the classroom that they will feel that they do have a voice in what goes on inside these four walls and will have more respect for me as a teacher.
As mentioned earlier, I want to institute a routine in my classroom that will begin on the first day of class and carry on through the entire year. Not only will this help my days go better, but it will also help the students get the most out of each efficiently. For example, once the bell rings, I want to begin my day with a Morning Meeting in which the students will know to come to the rug in the front of the class and sit in a circle. In our meeting I will discuss if there are any changes in our day and we will probably play a little fun phonics game. Then the children will know what the routine is for each day and can carry it out.
I want to manage my class with parent involvement, because I think that this is important to have them involved in the child’s life. I plan on taking many steps to achieving this throughout the year. I will have parent nights in which they can come and look at how their child is doing and talk to me about behavior or any other questions. The classroom website will have a certain section for the parents to send me thoughts, questions, or concerns and I plan on replying to their needs immediately. Their will also be the Price’s Paper that will go out each week. This is a newsletter informing the parents of any and all of the events that are coming up and will keep them updated with what is going on in their child’s classroom.
However, this does not mean that my class room will be managed as a dictatorship ran solely be the teacher. My students will feel that they have a say on certain situations. First of all, I will allow my students to come up with rules that they feel are needed in the classroom and what they think the consequences should entail. This will be discussed on the first day. I will make sure that everyone agrees. When the student breaks a rule, they will not only be breaking my rule, but a rule that they came up with. I believe that this will give the children more incentive to follow the rules. I also will allow free choice time in which the students will have an array of activities that they can participate in, instead of being forced into one activity. When we have time left over or finish a lesson early, the students can draw, play games, engage in computer games, read or other events depending on the time. The activity must be educational, but still gives the children a freedom of choice as well. I believe that by allowing my students to help manage the classroom that they will feel that they do have a voice in what goes on inside these four walls and will have more respect for me as a teacher.
As mentioned earlier, I want to institute a routine in my classroom that will begin on the first day of class and carry on through the entire year. Not only will this help my days go better, but it will also help the students get the most out of each efficiently. For example, once the bell rings, I want to begin my day with a Morning Meeting in which the students will know to come to the rug in the front of the class and sit in a circle. In our meeting I will discuss if there are any changes in our day and we will probably play a little fun phonics game. Then the children will know what the routine is for each day and can carry it out.
I want to manage my class with parent involvement, because I think that this is important to have them involved in the child’s life. I plan on taking many steps to achieving this throughout the year. I will have parent nights in which they can come and look at how their child is doing and talk to me about behavior or any other questions. The classroom website will have a certain section for the parents to send me thoughts, questions, or concerns and I plan on replying to their needs immediately. Their will also be the Price’s Paper that will go out each week. This is a newsletter informing the parents of any and all of the events that are coming up and will keep them updated with what is going on in their child’s classroom.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Science Inquiry Lessons: Thoughts and Feelings
I believe that science inquiry is a way to provoke thinking outside of memorization and learning facts. I feel as if I grew up with more memorizing material and not enough experimenting and observing. Making definitions and observing new and interesting science phenomenon helps children to truly learn and apply what they know in other science experiments. This type of teaching not only allows the children to learn but also promotes entire lessons that stem from one question of curiosity. I think that it is important to not only go by the book and lesson plan but to make sure that you put the children’s thoughts and curiosity somewhere in the plan first. Their ideas need to be top priority. I am excited about learning along with my children and extremely interested to see what types of questions and thoughts that children come up with through this type of science. They may come up with questions that I do not know the answer. In this type of situation the children will use their prior knowledge to work with me to find the answer. I am most comfortable with observations because I think that you can learn a lot from simply observing. I think that I will be good at taking something little, for example sharks or spiders and turn it into an entire fun unit. In order to grow and improve on science inquiry learning I, as a future educator, need to be more patient and understanding. This type of teaching allows the teacher to invest into a lot of time for the students to think. I think that this might be something that I would struggle with. I also am a very organized person and sometimes this might allow for me to change and be flexible with my science life. I would need to work on this to instill science inquiry in my classroom.
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