Reflection 10 "What have you learned in this class and what is your most valuable experience?"

Reflection 10 "What have you learned in this class and what is your most valuable experience?"

I have learned in this class that technology is a part of teaching and as a teacher I must be willing to use it daily as an organization tool for myself as well as an instructional tool for the students. I’ve also learned that in order to teach one needs to learn how to create lesson plans. Lesson planning should be done a couple of days prior to a lesson. Lesson planning must be creating weeks ahead; so, the students have the appropriate information. There are many different types of lesson plans. The lesson plans that I have learned about are Behaviorist, Constructivist, and Inquiry-Based. All of these types of lesson plans stem from different educational philosophies. For example, the behaviorist lesson plan is pre-determined and measures student behavior. The constructivist lesson plan emphasizes that in order for students to learn, they must be grouped with others so that they may learn together. It also gives a lot of room for questioning from the students and places the student in the center of it all. The behaviorist lesson plan is not student-oriented, but teacher-oriented. The inquiry lesson plan also emphasizes inquiry and the scientific method to solve real life problems. There are many educational philosophies and I have learned that I do not need to lean towards one idea. I can combine the different philosophies in my teaching depending on the needs of the students; which is what teaching is all about. For me, it is all about the students and wanting them to learn on they own by guiding and as their reinforcement. I’m willing to change my teaching methods because society is ever-changing; as well as science. In order for me to teach, I must have my own educational philosophy. When it comes to teaching, the best way is to find out what it is, what the educational philosophies are, and who started them. Theorists such as B. F. Skinner and J. B. Watson gave us the way toward the Behaviorist Theory. They conducted experiments and have a lot of data that helps us to understand varies methods that comes with teaching by provided us with proof to what works and what does not. My most valuable experience is that I.ve learns that there are many ways to teach students and I can use my own methods, and I have also learned that as a teacher I must know my students and their needs.

Reflection 9 "What have you learned about the use of technology in the process of instructional delivery?"

Reflection 9 "What have you learned about the use of technology in the process of instructional delivery?"

What I have learned about the use of technology in the process of instructional delivery is that it is beneficial to both the teacher and students. Today, technology is used for just about everything, from banking to entertainment. It encompasses our everyday life because our society is changing and technology plays a major role in our society in order for our schools to operate properly. Computers have many programs which can be use everyday such as (Word!), PowerPoint, Excel etc. All these programs allow us to easily type our innermost thoughts feelings, and data, and it present it to others easily. The internet brought out a new way of communication. There is no such thing as writing letters or sending postcards anymore. Now, we can communicate live through chats, web cameras, and e-mail. With all of this new technology at our disposal, why not use it in the classroom? It is a lot more manageable, despite the objections from the older community. In a few lessons, it is easy to grasp how to use these programs and that is the reason why it is extremely important to introduce and use technology in the schools. If school doesn’t enforce these technologies in the classrooms, the students would not be able to use these technologies out in the real world because their lack of knowledge of technology would hinder their performance. I believe it is very important for parents to make sure there is a computer in the home setting because when it comes to children it is important for them to understand the essential of technology. Many theorists believe that it all begins in the classroom, so if society is using technology, the schools must go above and beyond to introduce something new to offer to technology. Now, many people can also obtain a degree participating in online classes become it is more convenient for them this is also a good thing, because that way, more people are able to take college courses without having to step out of their homes. Our world is very large, there are many different types of people living in this world and we should be able to connect with them and learn about them. When I have my classroom, I would like my students to to connect with others from different countries because it will open their eyes more by learning there more out there than just the United States which will lead then to have an open mind. Technology is great for instructional delivery and will present information with ease.

Reflection 8: What is your educational philosophy?

Progressive Learning

We all know that in today’s school system we all have to find different ways to teach the youths. Children learn in so many different ways and as future educators and as current educators we have to probe and teach to each individual child’s strengths and help them at the same time find ways to strengthened their weaknesses and build their self worth. Today we are faced with a problem in our education system, the problem is that a lot of educators are still teaching in their old teaching styles and refusing to rethink their styles, the only ones that are suffering are the students. American students score lowest in comparison to other countries, because of this failure to educate our students properly the government had to step in and reconfigure the school’s curricula, now the schools removed the majority of other learning disciplines; such as geography, history, economics and many other subjects that were used to expand the minds of students, now students are only learning the basics of education because they have to pass these state test in order to move forward to the next higher grade, these are the three subjects they are restricted to learning reading, writing and mathematics, even with these three subjects they are not required to learn more than just the basics in each.

Progressivism was started by john Dewey in 1920, Dewey discovered not every student learn the same, to further prove this point, dewy invented a school, which he called the University Of Chicago Laboratory Schools in 1897. This experiment was where he discovered the three different ways to teach and learn these three methods are auditory, visual and kinesthetic methods. Once teacher has discovered their students learning style they can then use that knowledge to better assist the child in their educational needs. You may notice a student in your class that takes instructions well and are only able to accomplish their tasks when they hear them out loud, you may nice a child that read or look at instructions, this student would be considered to be a visual learner, the last type of kinesthetic this is the learning by doing style, these students are mainly hands on and are able to work well with their hands and most times would not be able learn in the previous two styles. This discovery was very important because for years every since the conventional school were created. Students that were unable to learn using the conventional ways of learning were dismissed and no efforts were made to try to find a way to reach these students. In a progressive approach classroom you will see thought provoking games, such as scrabble, checkers or chess and also books, manipulate objects, there are also social interaction between students in the classrooms, this was to show students that they are all equal and to keep students from feeling inferior or superior to one another, activities such as fieldtrips outside of the classroom for educational purposes, this was a way to expand the minds of these students to a whole new experience.

Reflection 7

Reflection 7 “What is a Digital Story?”

A digital story is a story that is presented through the use of technology. It uses music, voice, and pictures to tell a personal story, experience, or thought. In most cases, a digital story benefits both the author and listener, while making it, the author of the story which benefits by introspecting and learning about him or herself. For example, in a digital story they also get to express themselves more because music, voice, and pictures are hand-picked to their preference. These listeners are also enjoys stories because they get to learn about their classmates in a different way and see them in a different way as well. In order for a digital story to fulfill its purpose, it must be clearly structured. The story that the author wants to convey should be organized before the technology comes into play. The story must be powerful than the images, sounds, and voices in the digital story. A digital story is also useful for educators. Teachers can use some of them to challenge their students by turning their written ideas into visual ones. digital stories are being used in every school because we currently living in a digital society where everything most go through the computer system. Most digital stories are about 5 to 10 minutes long. They are not meant to be long because as authors of the digital stories, we do not want to have the viewers/listeners become bored. They made them like that in order for the students to get a quick and clear summary so that it will stay in their minds for a longer period of time. It should have a beginning presenting a problem, an overcome to that problem, and a closure, also the digital story must include certain parts in order to be good because we do not want it to contain different details that are all over the place that does not tell a good story. The reason for this is because it will make the students feel as if they are making their story into a movie, while making a digital story; students will learn about technology and the different ways of using certain applications. When they gain knowledge about this, they can also use it in the real world to convey their ideas in corporate jobs because in today’s society everything are operate with computer; therefore, it is a good Idea if the students start to learn about computer at an early age in order to be successful in today’s society.

Micheline Serphy Eme2040

Reflection 6 "What is a Telecollaborative Lesson Plan?"

In a telecollaborative lesson, students share information with other groups of students over the internet. This type of lesson is very effective because it direct students from two separate places and connects them together. They are able to share their experiences and learn from each other. The internet is the main tool in this type of lesson teachers can use this type of lesson to teach any subject. This lesson can begin by establishing personal relationships and then students can begin sharing their information about the collaborative project they are participating in. During these lessons, students can communicate through email, chats, or message boards. The internet is great for enriching the learning process. While students are using the internet in a telecollaborative lesson, they are also learning about technology. A telecollaborative lesson is beneficial to teachers as well because it helps them see how the students think and it also increases student engagement in different lessons, and it is a great educational tool for teaching students about the realities of life because the students can connect with others over the internet to share real life, and educational experiences. While students are connect on the internet, they are learn to socially interact, which is also an element of collaborative learning. During the telecollaborative process, students can gain life-long relationships with the students they collaborate with over the internet. In my lesson plan, the curricular goals would include learning about each other’s different cultures. Telecollaborative learning definitely engages student and motivates their thinking. This type of lesson does not have any boundaries; it can be used for any grade level the teacher must always be checking on the students’ progress. The teacher is to make sure that students are doing their part by asking questions and keeping a journal so they can record their thoughts. Also, they must be making connections and comparing and contrasting and the overall goal of this lesson is for students to learn about others and to respect and accept their ideas.

Reflection 5

Reflection 5 "What is Cooperative/Collaborative Learning?"

Cooperative and Collaborative learning, to me Cooperative and Collaborative learning are working in group. I did not understand what they were till now because I am studying to become a teacher, to me it seems like that way of learning is extremely difficult and it needs to be very efficient. Cooperative and Collaborative Learning place students together so that their minds and ideas team up to explore a specific subject. Cooperative Learning is part of Collaborative Learning. Cooperative Learning emphasizes student responsibility for their part in the group. Students learn many skills when they are placed in groups. They learn to communicate socially and deal with conflict. This means that because a group has different students in it, they will be different opinions. In that type of setting, students need to understand and learn that it is important to listen to others’ ideas and apply them or put them together with their own ideas. Cooperative and Collaborative Learning is also a great tool to use when teachers want student to get ready for the real world because in the real world. By learning how to work together the students will have the knowledgeable requires in order to work as a team. Teamwork plays a big role in the work place not only in the work place but as well in school because by team up together; the student will learn the difference between working together in order to succeed or failure will take place once they think it’s ok to work alone. Working together is a great way for students to learn; however, some of the teachers may say that cooperative and collaborative learning can sets back the more advance students because they are being paired with less advance students. I don’t think it all true because collaborative learning is not the only students learn, there is also independent learning which help the students learn by themselves. Once teacher assign group work, they must make sure to follow what’s going on with each student individually so each one can work effectively. It is best for teachers to use Collaborative learning just once in awhile because it wasn’t met to be use all the times. In a classroom setting there are many different ways students can learn. There are different ways a teacher can group students together and this is another great thing about collaborative learning, there are no limits to how a teacher can arrange students in a way that they can learn efficiently.

EME2040 Reflection 4: What is a Constructivist Lesson Plan?

Reflection 4: What is a Constructivist Lesson Plan?

A Constructivist lesson plan is base on students’ real life experience. For example, the teacher gives the students a topic and the students need to find out how they are related to that topic. Most of the time the teacher will discuss with the students what type of materials that they will be using, and the objectives of the lesson. In a constructivist lesson plan, the students usually divided into small groups of three of five before assign each task and the final task will combine two groups to form group of six before the teacher assign the assignment to the class. The teacher needs to discuss the student’s groupings for the first two tasks, discuss the grading criteria and what is expected of each student and the groups, discuss objectives and the goals of the lesson, and also discuss the roles each of the group members need to decide upon to allow for a positive collaborative experience and allow each group member to ask questions a teacher must not ignore the inquiries of students. If teachers ignore the questions of students, they will begin to stop asking questions because they believe it is wrong to ask. During my school years, when I was younger coming from Haiti I was not familiar with the language I was afraid of asking questions because I thought it demonstrated weakness plus I was still trying to understand the language. From the moment students enter a new classroom, the teacher should enforce the asking of questions. Asking questions is not the only aspect of inquiry learning; it is more profound and includes other elements. After questions are asked, the next step is the answering or giving of the information. With their questions answered, students have now been given the information that goes hand-in-hand with their way of gathering and analyzing information. I believe students learn better when they ask questions because the questions they ask are a result and portrayal of their educational needs. There is one absolute truth, and that truth is that in the real world, there will not be answers to many questions. So it is important that students learn how to look for the answers, because they are not easy to find. Inquiry-Based Learning also emphasizes that everything cannot have an answer, so as teachers, we must build ourselves and our students to focus on the learning process and not the answering process.

In a large classroom setting it is best for the teacher to provide the students with samples of how they will need to present the project, and what type of questions will be expect from the teacher regarding their findings. For example, the first task usually requires each of the group to brainstorming what and how they are to start the project, the second task the students are to discuss and brainstorm ideas for the project, and the third task discuss how each group will need to combine so they can present the final task. Basically a constructivist lesson plan is to provide the students with a topic where they can relate to, and develop an outline for the teacher to check for understanding. Constructivist lesson plan provides opportunity for the students to develop a community of self learning and togetherness by applying knowledge to creating good critical thinking to create something new.