Make a list of the sequence of skills necessary for ultimate mastery of the
content of your lesson through a constructivist approach.
Which of these learning activities/skills lend themselves to student’s
individual or group construction? How might you structure learning
activities that lead students to discover these skills/these principles?
In class my group decided to do a vocabulary lesson for Kindergarten on color words. I turned my sheet in so I don't remember exactly what we came up with. My plans for vocabulary once I have my own classroom is to have a vocabulary activity each day. Monday, I will introduce the vocabulary words and give them definitions. It would be hard to give definitions for color words so I would maybe just go over each word and show them what the color looks like. Tuesday, I would provide an activity that helps them practice writing the words, like a crossword activity. They could work with a partner to complete it. Wednesday, I would give them a worksheet like this one to work on knowing what the color is by looking at the vocabulary words. Thursday, I would have them participate in a group activity. I would have the groups walk around the school (inside or outside on the playground) and do a color scavenger hunt. I would either give them cameras if I could or have them write down what they found (when they are able to do that, I'm not sure when Kindergarteners can write well enough to do that). Then on Friday I will give them a quiz to test their knowledge of spelling the color words and recognizing what color goes with each color word. Hopefully through all the activities I provide throughout the week they will gain an understanding of the color words so that they know them by Friday. These activities incorporate individual work and group work to help them gain a better understanding.
Below is a video of some 4th and 5th grade students participating in a social studies activity. You can see and hear from the students how much more effective the activities they are participating in are than just answering questions in a textbook.
Monday, February 25, 2013
Monday, February 18, 2013
Effective Instruction
How might your knowledge of the memory processes guide your instructional decisions?
I somewhat addressed how I would adjust my instruction based on what I have learned about memory processes in my last post. One thing that I would make a priority in my instruction is to present the connection between the material and the real world. I would also try to relate the new material to topics we have covered in the past or that they might have learned in previous grades. I will also present the same material in different ways so that they learn it over time, rather than learning it one day and being tested on it a few days later. I will definitely utilize mnemonics in my instruction and teach useful mnemonics to my students. Hopefully by teaching them some mnemonics, they will be able to come up with their own to help them remember important information.
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Cognitive Learning Skills
What are the essential skills and/or learning outcomes you want your
students to know and be able to do that relate to cognitive learning?
I have been through many years of school and there is a lot of information that I have learned and been tested on that I could not recall and tell you about now. Is it not sad how much we learn but don't remember? There are several skills that I would like for my students to know in order to have the best learning outcomes that they can have. I want them to be able to remember as much of what I teach them as possible.
Many of my classes in college have seemed irrelevant to me. I often find myself asking, "when am I ever going to use this in real life?" Much of the information that I do not remember is information that I learned in those classes. If I do not see how the information is relevant to me or I cannot relate it to the real world, then I will not remember it. I feel that this is true for most students. One of the most important skills I can make sure my students know is how to relate what they are learning to real life. Part of that is the teacher's role when they begin the lesson. It is important for them to make the real-life connections so they will retain the information.
Another concept that builds off of that is constructivism. Students that use construction are more likely to remember information. This means that they are connecting what they are learning to previous knowledge and building off of it. This is also known as meaningful learning. This will be a very useful skill for them.
My main goal as a teacher will be to help my students store information in their long-term memory. I will need to teach them strategies for doing this. A lot of what I do not remember from college classes is what I memorized the night before a test. In order to store information in our long-term memories, we have to hear/see it numerous times and in multiple ways to effectively store it. When I am teaching, I will revisit the same information more than once before moving on to make sure that they are remembering it.
A very helpful method of storing information in our long-term memories is using mnemonics. Mnemonics are special memory tricks. One way to use mnemonics is by teaching a song to students. A great example of this is the ABC song that we all learn when we are little. Another example of mnemonics is My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizza Pies. Although this does not really work anymore because Pluto is not a planet, I learned this in elementary school to remember the planets and I still remember it to this day.
These are some skills that I want my students to know. Hopefully with their knowledge of these skills, most of what I teach them will stick with them for the rest of their lives. Here are a couple articles that have helpful mnemonics:
http://www.letkidslead.com/MemoryTricks.aspx
http://www.learninginfo.org/spelling-mnemonics.htm
I have been through many years of school and there is a lot of information that I have learned and been tested on that I could not recall and tell you about now. Is it not sad how much we learn but don't remember? There are several skills that I would like for my students to know in order to have the best learning outcomes that they can have. I want them to be able to remember as much of what I teach them as possible.
Many of my classes in college have seemed irrelevant to me. I often find myself asking, "when am I ever going to use this in real life?" Much of the information that I do not remember is information that I learned in those classes. If I do not see how the information is relevant to me or I cannot relate it to the real world, then I will not remember it. I feel that this is true for most students. One of the most important skills I can make sure my students know is how to relate what they are learning to real life. Part of that is the teacher's role when they begin the lesson. It is important for them to make the real-life connections so they will retain the information.
Another concept that builds off of that is constructivism. Students that use construction are more likely to remember information. This means that they are connecting what they are learning to previous knowledge and building off of it. This is also known as meaningful learning. This will be a very useful skill for them.
My main goal as a teacher will be to help my students store information in their long-term memory. I will need to teach them strategies for doing this. A lot of what I do not remember from college classes is what I memorized the night before a test. In order to store information in our long-term memories, we have to hear/see it numerous times and in multiple ways to effectively store it. When I am teaching, I will revisit the same information more than once before moving on to make sure that they are remembering it.
A very helpful method of storing information in our long-term memories is using mnemonics. Mnemonics are special memory tricks. One way to use mnemonics is by teaching a song to students. A great example of this is the ABC song that we all learn when we are little. Another example of mnemonics is My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizza Pies. Although this does not really work anymore because Pluto is not a planet, I learned this in elementary school to remember the planets and I still remember it to this day.
These are some skills that I want my students to know. Hopefully with their knowledge of these skills, most of what I teach them will stick with them for the rest of their lives. Here are a couple articles that have helpful mnemonics:
http://www.letkidslead.com/MemoryTricks.aspx
http://www.learninginfo.org/spelling-mnemonics.htm
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Assessment
Think
of a lesson plan from your licensure area. Knowing that assessment is
an integral part of teaching, explain at least four informal and formal
assessments that you will use in your lesson plan to provide you with
feedback and involve the students in assessing their own learning.
From what I have learned about assessment, I am going to use informal assessment as much as possible. I know that I have to use a lot of formal assessment because it is required, and I think it is good to use, but I think informal assessment is a lot more helpful because you can use it on a daily basis.
In the classroom I am observing, our teacher taught cause and effect relationships in small groups. I believe she had just introduced the topic the day before, so what we observed was her really trying to get them to grasp the concept. They read a picture book and she helped them identify a few cause and effect relationships. Then they had to write 3 cause and effect relationships on a sheet of paper that she took up. This was a great example of informal assessment to see if they understood the concept.
If I were the teacher and continued teaching cause and effect relationships, I think I would do another informal assessment by having them do an exit pass and giving me an example of a cause and effect relationship that they thought of themselves. The day after that, I might have them draw me a picture of a cause and effect relationship. This gives them a little creativity but still demonstrates whether or not they can come up with another cause and effect relationship on their own and represent it.
At the end of the week, I would have a formal assessment. I would have them read a picture book on their own and have them identify 5 cause and effect relationships. If they have truly grasped the concept, identifying 5 should not be a problem at all. This will show me whether they understand or if they are still having trouble.
Here is a helpful video I found about formal and informal assessment.
From what I have learned about assessment, I am going to use informal assessment as much as possible. I know that I have to use a lot of formal assessment because it is required, and I think it is good to use, but I think informal assessment is a lot more helpful because you can use it on a daily basis.
In the classroom I am observing, our teacher taught cause and effect relationships in small groups. I believe she had just introduced the topic the day before, so what we observed was her really trying to get them to grasp the concept. They read a picture book and she helped them identify a few cause and effect relationships. Then they had to write 3 cause and effect relationships on a sheet of paper that she took up. This was a great example of informal assessment to see if they understood the concept.
If I were the teacher and continued teaching cause and effect relationships, I think I would do another informal assessment by having them do an exit pass and giving me an example of a cause and effect relationship that they thought of themselves. The day after that, I might have them draw me a picture of a cause and effect relationship. This gives them a little creativity but still demonstrates whether or not they can come up with another cause and effect relationship on their own and represent it.
At the end of the week, I would have a formal assessment. I would have them read a picture book on their own and have them identify 5 cause and effect relationships. If they have truly grasped the concept, identifying 5 should not be a problem at all. This will show me whether they understand or if they are still having trouble.
Here is a helpful video I found about formal and informal assessment.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)