What is your definition of blended learning?
I think blended learning allows for more student engagement and academic ownership over the curriculum and coursework. A lot of students do not work well in the typical school environment and it would be better for them to not just sit there passively. Students should be expected to work on projects and collaborative assignments frequently, just not necessarily every day. As a math teacher, I feel we still have to do a lot of direct instruction to get the kids ready for an assignment. However, there usually is no future assignment besides a typical handout, and the kids are only doing independent practice to get ready for the quiz. I envision a classroom where every week there are opportunities for students to work outside of the box. I also envision a classroom where the term academic ownership and its meaning is communicated to the students. This will reinforce the idea that the students will have to produce a product or something that is individual work. What role does technology play in a 21st century teaching and learning context? Technology allows teachers to have a variety of methods of introducing and explaining the material to students. It also allows students to have different ways of demonstrating their learning. We can use technology to switch things up in class, do project-based learning, or even do some independent practice on Khan Academy. It also allows for more student engagement and academic ownership. Students have more to do without teacher input.
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The Pitch exercise about standards really put me out of my element. It was tough trying to convince people to get them to join my pirate ship lol, but it was definitely an opportunity to work on my self-advocacy skills. I think in my math classes I can incorporate some advocacy work. The only problem is students are really shy still and they still don’t want to be put on the spot, especially for math. Maybe next year, I can incorporate advocacy into my classroom culture and set up these types of expectations for students.
The Spaghetti Tower Design Challenge is something I can’t really stand. I am not a “go-getter” or “doer” type of person who just likes to take charge and complete a unique task like this. Worse part is that we did this last year and we kinda failed at it too. You think a square base would be good, but it’s all about triangles! And you think the guy who teaches Geometry would have figured that out. But seriously, I want to be the type of teacher who can have this in his class once or twice a month. I need to work on my classroom management skills so I can let students do these types of things. I also need ideas, or maybe just look on teachers pay teachers, to figure out what exactly to do. The self-diagnostic handout we did at the beginning of class allowed me to see where I need to work on as a teacher. I do not think I am organized enough - or at all - and that hampers my ability to teach. I just feel very overwhelmed most of the time, and I can't stay above water when it comes to all the little things I have to do. Since doing this, I cannot stop thinking about improving my organization.
I like the activity we did at the end of class where we had to make a flyer or PSA about standards. My and my partner picked Pirate standards and it was so refreshing not to talk about math lol. I want to incorporate this somehow in my class by having students do a one-pager (or slide or something) about something we have learned about. Maybe I could come up with 5-10 types of problems and pass them out to groups of 2 or 3, and have the students deeply analyze the problem. They could come up with similar examples or non-examples, or areas that could mess up other students. I think picking partners for them and limiting it to 2 students would be beneficial to classes where there is not a lot of engagement or actual work being done. Per my conversations with the instructor, I want to talk less in my class and increase the students' academic ownership. I feel there is a lot more they can do on their own, and if I can't get them to work on math problems maybe I can get them to do something that has a UDL or PBL aspect to it. I used to do a lot of posters for review work in math, but at my new school I feel like my hands are tied because I have to stay at the same pace as another teacher. And, also, he usually writes the quizzes which are based on the curriculum's software. Maybe I just need to try it out and quit over-analyzing and complaining. I like the idea of using Google Forms / Quizzes to get information in an organized fashion. Sometimes we need to vent or just write down something to get it off our chest.
When we did the group assignment writing down on poster paper, I really learned a lot about what everyone else observed. I enjoy collaborating and discussing topics with others, that really helps me understand what we are talking about. The most interesting discussion was the one about the "Aha's." There were so many things that were not apparent before this activity that now just stick out. Passing periods may be too short, not enough bathroom facilities or drinking water, etc. Also, what are the classes like for students when there are behavioral issues? How should we deal with certain situations, what are some good interventions? During my shadow experience, I noticed that students can too easily fall through the cracks, or not be able to get the help they need because there is not enough time for the teachers. As teachers, there are a lot of things we have to do to get through our lessons or standards. I think we need to devote time in class to helping students one-on-one or in small groups. A lot of students just need that little push with something, yet they may not speak up or wait desperately for you to come around. Too much time devoted to instruction or whole class activity is not completely beneficial to certain students. I also noticed that our school does not have a lot of "spirit" around campus. On the day I shadowed, coincidentally, the Future Farmers of America students were placing some posters in the halls. For a school so heavily tied into agriculture, I'm surprised there was not more of this earlier in the year, or even permanent signs around campus. I found the first activity really beneficial. I have a lot of concerns and some anxiety about the shadow-a-student project. The responses from others and your input really has given me the confidence needed for this assignment. Now I know that I should have a pre- and post-conference with the student to tell him what I want out of the day.
The PMU was a good stress reliever. Maybe this could be one of those things we do in class for a break when students are having difficulties learning the subject matter. Me and Jason were going really fast during the 1-2-3 activity and it was super fun trying to get him to mess up. The design challenge was very eye-opening. What I learned is that there are a lot of problems with very simple solutions, but we must be brave enough to confront these problems. It takes effort to confront your problems and think about them. But once you do, the solutions are less complicated than you think. In the classroom, I've notice that if I just sit down and constantly think about something, I can at least try to solve the problem and make some inroads. I just need to move little by little. The opening activity talking about relationships and what we wished teachers knew about us was great. I think it showed that we really we need to put relationships on the same plane as the curriculum we teach. And a lot students may have issues festering underneath that are not apparent and we need to find ways to get them to tell us about these things. At my previous school, we had an advisory period where we talked about and had assignments that concerned things outside of the classroom. This allowed the students to open up more and let them connect with each other and me. I wonder how I could incorporate this in my classroom. Maybe if we get done early in a class, instead of just stopping, we could start talking about certain issues.
The video about the rap song was thought-provoking. I have always thought schools, especially high school, should have more electives, like financial literacy, home economics, woodworking, etc. I want the students to excel in classes they are passionate about so they can learn something they feel is important. I think we need to change things at the state level, so students have more options and actually enjoy school. I don't want to have students who hate or dread school, and I believe this will help with that. The shadowing a student activity concerns me a lot because it is so different than anything I've ever done. I really am eager to see the school from the student's perspective. There are even some kids, like the ones who may "fall between the cracks," that I think I would like to shadow to see how I can be a better teacher. I want to understand what they need from teachers and what are maybe the little things I can do to help them. I liked how we had to read others' blogs and comment on them because I probably would not have read any of them. Regarding the slide presentation, I chose to watch the video by Sal Khan of Khan Academy. He give a good overview of the history of education that set the stage properly for where we are at today. I liked the idea of "flipping the classroom" so that students are more in charge of their learning and can do more activities at school. I wonder how this can happen in math and with students who struggle. I don't see many students actively working at home at my school. In fact, I catch a lot of students doing homework for other classes. We have to remember that a lot of teenagers would rather be doing something else besides homework and they have phones and technology that allow them to do so.
When we first come in the room there were snacks available and the instructor greeted me. This created a positive classroom culture that connected us to the instructor. There were posters along the room with questions, and instructions were posted on the TV. This allowed us to answer 4 questions very quickly without having to waste time with a discussion where not all would have participated.
We then went over the expectations of the course which will help us immensely. There was a general overview as well where the topic of shadowing a student was introduced. I really appreciated this because I like to look at things from the "30,000 foot" point of view. We did a four corners activity concerning our views on certain issues affecting education. I think this was really helpful for us to see where we are all at and realized we teach at different schools in different environments. Then we started our blogs which is pretty unusual for me. I understand the point of having a blog instead of Google Docs, but it is a bit different I need to get used to it and how to do things on it. |
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