As a first year teacher, I am learning how critical it is for teachers to plan class activities which allow students to engage in the material covered in class. Such activities may be planned to introduce a lesson, practice a topic in class, or reinforce a lesson outside the classroom as a "wrap-up" - and greatly aid in the students' understanding of a concept. When executed well, such activities: (a) engage learners in the learning process, (b) encourage independent learning skills, (c) develop the learners’ skills and knowledge, and (d) motivate further learning.
The first and most important factor to consider in designing an effective learning activity is your learners: their needs, motives for learning, prior experience of learning, social and interpersonal skills, etc. A specific purpose always underlies a great learning activity as well (i.e., is the activity intended for the learner to acquire a particular piece of knowledge or master a set of skills?). Often, activities have general goals (e.g., developing students' ability to perform research) and specific targets (e.g. the NYS standards students must meet). Logistics are carefully considered in planning meaningul activities as well; available resources, tools, facilities and services, and their match with the learners’ needs must be determined in advance. (Ex: To help students understand the relationship between fractions and percents earlier in the school year, my students performed an activity involving constructing a pie chart. Unfortunately, however, I did not consider ALL of the specific skills my learners required. My students had never used a compass to draw a circle, let alone a protractor to measure angles, and as a consequence, the activity flopped.)
The links below, in my view, are effective activities. You will see that each activity, while math-related, provide a strong motivation (whether it be candy, shopping, money, etc.), clear tasks, measureable objectives, resources to guide the learners (e.g., via external links and worksheets), etc. Click on the links to see for yourself!
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Curriculum Area and Technology
Chapter 3 from Curriculum Webs focused on the initial stages of curriculum planning (specifically identifying curriculum goals) in the process of developing a curriculum web. Considering all aspects of your curriculum includes understanding your overall objectives in teaching a unit(s), the characteristics and needs of your audience, the various content-specific topics the unit(s) intends to address, and the learning objectives you expect your audience to master. From such goals an educator is able to develop learning content tailored for his learners – to aid in their understanding of the subject matter, practice problems, etc.
Many educators today do not utilize the opportunities made available by the web, and many that do simply rely on websites already in existence to provide “extra help” for students to better understand a given topic. Perhaps due a lack of experience or technical know-how, teachers use technology as a tool to supplement lessons, as opposed to using technology to lay the foundation for lessons. As technology becomes increasingly integrated into learners’ daily lives (with students spending more time than ever on the Internet), however, teachers will be expected to understand how to utilize technology to create resources (such as curriculum webs) to further their teaching and students’ learning. A curriculum web, in particular, will greatly enhance learners’ opportunities to master content in a given subject area on their own and communicate to parents the material covered in class.
Many educators today do not utilize the opportunities made available by the web, and many that do simply rely on websites already in existence to provide “extra help” for students to better understand a given topic. Perhaps due a lack of experience or technical know-how, teachers use technology as a tool to supplement lessons, as opposed to using technology to lay the foundation for lessons. As technology becomes increasingly integrated into learners’ daily lives (with students spending more time than ever on the Internet), however, teachers will be expected to understand how to utilize technology to create resources (such as curriculum webs) to further their teaching and students’ learning. A curriculum web, in particular, will greatly enhance learners’ opportunities to master content in a given subject area on their own and communicate to parents the material covered in class.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Evaluating Websites
In evaluating a website, it is important not only to know that information presented therein is accurate, but also that the information presented is complete and unbiased. This may be difficult for a student to determine, inasmuch as the determination of whether a website presents its information in a complete and objective manner requires some knowledge of the subject matter. It may also be very difficult, particularly for a young student, to distinguish between a website which presents information for a legitimate purpose and one that masquerades as a legitimate website, but which may present incomplete or inaccurate material, or worse, may load malware onto a student's computer.
In general, however, given the possibility of the latter, it is prudent to exercise caution because there are possible risks involved. One way to at least minimize such risks relies on the use of the five W's. Media Awareness Network's The 5Ws of Cyberspace adds an H to the more traditional Who, What, Where, When, Why approach. The H provides some guidance regarding How to determine "What's What". The suggested items to consider within each "W" may help to determine the suitability of a website, however, one such step, which asks "Can you confirm that the company or author is a credible, authoritative source of information?" may be a bit unreasonable for a grade-school student, inasmuch as the student may not be qualified to verify the accuracy of an author's listed credentials somewhat stretches credulity. Another pair of questions asks "Does the information seem complete? Consistent?" Again, a young student can hardly be expected to be a subject matter expert, and accordingly, is very likely unable to determine the completeness of material that may be presented.
However, although the ability to precisely distinguish from among sites is probably as much art as science, use of the 5Ws approach presents a method that provides at least some guidance for the student researcher, and may potentially enable the student to reject the use of sites whose content the student can observe to be unsuitable, and to select those that are potentially useful.
In general, however, given the possibility of the latter, it is prudent to exercise caution because there are possible risks involved. One way to at least minimize such risks relies on the use of the five W's. Media Awareness Network's The 5Ws of Cyberspace adds an H to the more traditional Who, What, Where, When, Why approach. The H provides some guidance regarding How to determine "What's What". The suggested items to consider within each "W" may help to determine the suitability of a website, however, one such step, which asks "Can you confirm that the company or author is a credible, authoritative source of information?" may be a bit unreasonable for a grade-school student, inasmuch as the student may not be qualified to verify the accuracy of an author's listed credentials somewhat stretches credulity. Another pair of questions asks "Does the information seem complete? Consistent?" Again, a young student can hardly be expected to be a subject matter expert, and accordingly, is very likely unable to determine the completeness of material that may be presented.
However, although the ability to precisely distinguish from among sites is probably as much art as science, use of the 5Ws approach presents a method that provides at least some guidance for the student researcher, and may potentially enable the student to reject the use of sites whose content the student can observe to be unsuitable, and to select those that are potentially useful.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Education and Copyright Law
The use of copyrighted works for educational purposes is a practice that has admittedly (albeit ignorantly) become routine in my first year teaching. Last Thursday, our discussion in Advanced Computers class highlighted many issues I'd never considered to date regarding exploitling protected works, simply because as a new teacher, a suggestion passed along by many of my colleagues has simply been to avoid "reinventing the wheel" in developing my cirriculum. My colleagues have advised that I leverage off of various textbooks, workbooks, printouts from websites, etc., to help me shape my lessons to include "tried and true" approaches that appeal to students. (And to date, particularly during my first two months teaching, I relied on much of that content - particularly in the form of handouts copied from different publishers - with the intention of using it next year.)
Like many teachers, the sole purpose of incorporating others' images, tips, tools, etc., into my lessons has merely been to benefit my students. Visiting other teachers' websites to find the "best" approach to articulate or depict a math concept is something I actually believed was expected of me (and additionally, requires a considerable amount of time). (As an example, I stumbled upon a "Mr. Gallon" image online that I relied on in my lessons teaching the customary system for measuring capacity. My students' response to that image (the format, colors used, etc.) was so positive the idea of creating my own "Mr. Gallon" seems to be taking a step backward in helping my kids.) Furthermore, due to a lack of resources at school, my students do not have a textbook or workbook they may rely on to supplement my lessons, and as a result, unless I create every classwork or homework assignment from scratch, the students would not receive adequate practice for the material covered.
I honestly am very indecisive as to my feelings on the copyright laws. I obviously understand the need for such rules, and the caveats is ulitizing such information in teaching, but the rules seem very limiting if I'm unable to rely on the material I've assembled this year in the years to come. Having said that, it seems that I will have much to change for next year!
Like many teachers, the sole purpose of incorporating others' images, tips, tools, etc., into my lessons has merely been to benefit my students. Visiting other teachers' websites to find the "best" approach to articulate or depict a math concept is something I actually believed was expected of me (and additionally, requires a considerable amount of time). (As an example, I stumbled upon a "Mr. Gallon" image online that I relied on in my lessons teaching the customary system for measuring capacity. My students' response to that image (the format, colors used, etc.) was so positive the idea of creating my own "Mr. Gallon" seems to be taking a step backward in helping my kids.) Furthermore, due to a lack of resources at school, my students do not have a textbook or workbook they may rely on to supplement my lessons, and as a result, unless I create every classwork or homework assignment from scratch, the students would not receive adequate practice for the material covered.
I honestly am very indecisive as to my feelings on the copyright laws. I obviously understand the need for such rules, and the caveats is ulitizing such information in teaching, but the rules seem very limiting if I'm unable to rely on the material I've assembled this year in the years to come. Having said that, it seems that I will have much to change for next year!
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