Cognitive Learning Tools

This week I will be discussing two instructional strategies, "Cues, Questions, and Advance Organizers" and "Summarizing and Note Taking", and how they tie into cognitive learning theories.

"The instructional strategy cues, questions, and advance organizers focuses on enhancing students' ability to retrieve, use and organize information about a topic (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malekoski, 2007, p. 73). The objective of a cue is to give insight to the students about what they are getting ready to learn about. Questions are there to simple spur their thinking, as well as trigger any prior knowledge (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malekoski, 2007). I like to think of advanced organizers as graphic organizer, this helps them categorize things, as well as help organize their thoughts. These strategies directly tie into the cognitivist perspective. Cognitivist view learning as a mental process (Lever-Duffy & McDonald, 2007). Once information enters, it is manipulated, stored, and then pulled out for use (Lever-Duffy & McDonald, 2007). The strategy helps to pull information stored and makes sense of new information as it enters through the senses. I have found cues, questioning, and organizer be highly effective in the classroom. My students really grasp the information being given and categorizing it helps to put the information in perspective. I use graphic organizers daily and would recommend this site to create and print your own: http://www.teach-nology.com/web_tools/graphic_org/

The other strategy discussed this week is summarizing and note taking. "Summarizing and note taking focuses on enhancing students' ability to synthesize information and distill is into a concise new form"(Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malekoski, 2007, p. 119). Again I think this focuses on manipulating and storing the information which links this to cognitive practices. As I was looking over the information provided on note taking I was a little surprised. Using Technology with Classroom Instruction recommends that the more notes taken the better. I have found that when too many notes are taken, students can become overwhelmed with information. Although, the book did recommend that teachers help students learn to separate important information from extraneous information (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malekoski, 2007). I do not use the the practice of note taking in my own room because I work with first graders. We do summarize as a class in written and oral form. You might be surprised at their ability to summarize. They have to be taught the strategy of picking out the most important information but once they learn that tool many are able to summarize with ease.

Overall, I do feel that both strategies discussed in this weeks reading directly tie into cognitive learning strategies. The assist with synthesizing and learning new material.

References:

Lever-Duffy, J. & McDonald, J. (2008). Theoretical Foundations (Laureate Education, Inc., custom ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Behaviorism: Yes or No?

Behaviorist learning is still very active in the classroom today. Technology has restrengthened this teaching strategy. The two teaching strategies that I feel strongly correlates with behaviorist learning are "reinforcing effort" and "homework and practice".

Effort is something we want all students to display. As mentioned in the reading, Using technology with classroom instruction that works, effort is something that as teachers we need to stress as important. I believe that a discussions needs to take place within the classroom about what positive effort looks like. The reading discussed using an effort rubric (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007). Working with first graders I do not feel that this approach would be age appropriate but I do something to reinforce effort daily. Every student at our school has what is called a cub card. The cub card monitors behavior and effort. Each day students who use great effort are rewarded with a smiley face and students who need improvement get a comment. At the end of the week the students get an effort grade of E (Excellent), S (Satisfactory), N (Needs Improvement), and U (Unsatisfactory). Throughout the year I constantly bring attention to what positive effort looks like. Orey discussed that positive reinforcement is much more powerful and long-lasting than negative (2007).

The other teaching strategy that was discussed in the reading is "homework & practice". I feel that this also relates to behaviorism. Orey discussed in his video clip that using technology as a tutorial can be highly useful. Homework and practice is a chance to revisit discussed topics for deeper levels of understanding. The wonderful thing about today's technology is that we are able to provide what could be looked upon as boring and redundant, something that is highly interactive and fun. I am attaching a link to a tutorial and enrichment program that we use at my school. I found this program to be highly effective and helpful to reinforce what is going on in the classroom: http://www.pearsondigital.com/sm21century/ .

Behaviorist learning strategies are still thriving in the classroom. The way a teacher goes about applying those strategies will will determine the positive or negative nature of the strategies. I believe they can be useful and enriching to students.

References:
Orey, M. (Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

While reflecting on all that I have learned during the past eight week, I have realized that I have a new approach when it comes to meeting the needs of my students. I use to view teaching as just meeting the needs of the students on the level they were performing on and using the method that benefited them. I now realize that technology plays a tremendous role in the way my students learn. The power of using technology in the classroom goes beyond what I could have imagined.

I have become much more advanced in my own knowledge of the world of technology. I have learned how to set up a blog, as well as the use of a blog can go beyond a social aspect. I realize that this is a tool that can enable my students to interact with others in a new and exciting way. The use of a wiki was something brand new to me. I had heard of the term but never seen one or contributed to one. I really enjoyed learning to use a podcast and felt that this was something my students could really find beneficial in the classroom. Teaching first grade and using all of these technologies was something I felt was out of the question, but I now realize that all of these tools could be used in some shape or form.

My students are living in an age that technology skills and usage are becoming more important than ever. The students of today are digital natives and my job as a teacher is to tap into that digital world to meet their needs as learners(Prensky, 2001). Teaching our students to be successful adults is a teacher's main goal and this class has taught me the importance of teaching 21st Century Skills (Thornburgh, 2007). The 21st century skills will make my students competitive in the workforce.
It teaches them skills such as critical thinking, teamwork, and communication (Thornburgh, 2007). The use of technology to teach these skills makes the student more engaged and ultimately better prepared for the future.

I also have seen the importance of making the classroom learning centered. It needs to be a place where the students are in charge of their learning. The teacher takes the roll of a facilitator and the students in turn take ownership of their learning. When a teacher creates opportunities for students to form their own learning, the results are astounding. Not only are the students actively engaged, the information gained during this time sticks with them. In The Changing Role of a Classroom Teacher, David Thornburgh discusses that students are no longer just consumers of information, rather they are creating the information. This doesn't mean that the teacher is no longer needed, but the teacher's role has changed.

From this class I have also become aware of the importance of staying current and up to date when it comes to technology. Before this class I considered myself pretty technologically savvy, but during this class I have realized that I lacked knowledge on some key tools that I could be using in the classroom. I have come to find that I need to continue to research what is available to use to meet the needs of my students. I have found many blogs devoted to informing teachers on what is currently working in the classroom as it relates to technology, and how they benefit our students growth.

I have set two long term goals to transform my classroom environment over the next two years. The first goal is to make a blog site that my readers workshop will revolve around. I realize that to meet this goal I will have to meet with my LSTC to figure out a blog host site that I can have access to. This blog will be the place that I communicate back and forth with my reading groups and enable them to post discussions about the books that they are reading. For my lower groups, I can post podcast of questions and they can record their answers back. This would totally change the look of reader's workshop and expose the students to new tools in technology. My last goal is to research a potential grant for my classroom. I have longed to have more computers in my room. I currently have one for student use. I know in the past teachers have researched and written grants to receive technology in the classroom. I would like to shed light on what it is like to be a middle class school in the largest county in the state. Because we are not a Title 1 school, we do not receive and additional funds from the state and therefore are left with the bare minimum required. Many schools in this situation have a PTA that is able to fund additional technology tools but ours does not have that capability. I would like to research and find a way for a gray area school to get additional funding.

References:
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the Horizon, 9(5).
Thornburgh, D. (2007).“Skills for the 21st Century”
Thornburgh, D. (2007).“The Changing Role of a Classroom Teacher"

I recently conducted a podcast where I interviewed three people with ranges in age from 13 to 48. I found their results interesting and I hope you do to...
http://www.podcastmachine.com/podcasts/1471/episodes/6894

The Parntnership for the 21st Century

This week I explored The Partnership for the 21st Century Skills website (http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/index.php).
I have found that it offers a wealth of information. It is a very user friendly site that allows the navigator to work with ease. I was excited to see that they provide a list for school districts to foster training and professional development. I think often times school systems say they want to prepare their students to be successful out in the world and this would be one way to train the teachers to be effective in this quest.

I was surprised that there are not many states that have signed on board for this mission, mine included. Although Georgia is not a shock to me (we are usually the last to catch on to things, the lack of California was a surprise. Often times many things that out county and state adopt has first been adopted by California. I was also surprised that these skills were mentioned along with the No Child Left Behind Act. Often times this piece of legislature is viewed as curriculum being the sole goal and I was interested to see that you are able to tie in the 21st Century life skills along with the curriculum. I think it shows that you can still be held accountable while teaching important skills for success.

I plan on implicating this in the classroom by using some of the ideas expressed under the tools and resources. It provides websites that tie in the curriculum and the skills it touches on for success in the future. I feel that if I am able to incorporate the 21st century skills into my lessons, then my students will gain not only knowledge to help them currently but also knowledge to help them in the future.

Making Blogs Useful

I reflected this week on how I could integrate the use of a blog in my classroom. I teach first graders, so more than likely they have had little exposure to blogs. I think that a more appropriate approach to a blog for this age group would be a direct way to talk to parents. This blog could show what we are doing in the classroom, as well as work the student have created. I think that the parents would greatly appreciate this contact and enjoy seeing their students work. Also, this could be a helpful tool for parents to see how they could help their students at home.

Also, another use I thought for blogging could perhaps take place after first of the year. My students usually have a pen pal program set up with students in another state. With a lot of instructional help from myself, I feel that we could set this up as a blog page with the class we pen pal with.

These are just a few ideas I have for blogging. I am interested to hear from others about ideas for blogging with younger students, so please feel free to comment!

Hello Everyone! I created this blog to have an open forum to discuss educational issues with a focus on the importance technology can play when used in the classroom. I look forward to creating interesting conversations.