By: Frederick Warne
Illustrated by: Leslie Brooke
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Blog Post #6
Why do we ask questions? How do we ask?
In Ben Johnson's article, "The Right Way to Ask Questions in the Classroom", I am intrigued by one of his comments regarding the goal of the questions we ask. As teachers, do we ask questions for our own benefit to affirm ourselves or do we ask questions to benefit the learning process for students? I loved what Ben Johnson said regarding the question "Does everybody understand?". He states, "What we really end up telling the students when we ask this sort of question is, 'Ok, here is your last chance. If you don't ask any questions, then you understand completely, and I am free to go on to the next subject. Because I asked this fair question, and gave you a fair chance to answer, I am absolved from any lack of understanding on your part.'" I could not agree more with Johnson about this topic. We have to be careful about the purpose of our questions. WHY are we asking our students this? The Teaching Center Website also offers some great insight into the question of why we ask questions to our students. This source talks about keeping in mind our course goals when we ask our students questions. What are you wanting your students to receive from the lesson? That is the type of questions you need to focus on asking.
So how do we go about asking questions to students? What are some ways that we can ask students questions effectively? The Teaching Center describes some strategies that teachers can use in the classroom when asking questions. One example this website gives is to follow a yes or no question with an additional question. This means to ask students to explain why they answered this way. It is important for students to not just "spit" information back at you. They need to be able to explain how they arrived at that answer. This could be referred to as avoiding burp-back education and the benefits of project-based learning. Another strategy this resource describes is to ask a mix of different types of questions. Closed questions, which only have certain correct answers, can be asked to assess students' comprehension. Open questions need to be asked in order to encourage discussion and active learning.
"Three Ways to Ask Better Questions in the Classroom" is an article that describes some other ways to better answer the proposed question of How to Ask Questions. The three ways are to 1. Prepare the questions. Be sure to prepare ahead of time and not make them up on the spot. This can assure you are being more effective. 2. Play with the questions. It is okay to leave questions unanswered and let the students ponder. 3. Preserve good questions. You can save certain questions for a specific audience or time period. This way they are most effective.
So we can see the important role that questions play in the classroom. However, this important role requires that they be asked in the right way. I hope to have described some ways to ask questions in order to be an effective teacher.
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Sunday, September 15, 2013
Saturday, September 14, 2013
Blog Post #4
First Graders Create Their Own Read-Along Book
The process of how first grade students were able to make their own read-aloud audiobook is explained in this blog post. Two instructors tag-teamed to make this happen. One instructor would go ahead and script out the next chapter, while the other teacher took a group of students to record them reading the book. In the end, an audiobook made by them was finished. It was a really neat idea.
I really liked this idea and would definitely use it in my classroom one day. It's enjoyable for the students, and they are really engaged in the activity. They are able to listen to themselves and correct it if something is not right.
Flat Stanley Podcast
Many people have heard about Flat Stanley, but this approach of incorporating him in a podcast is very unique and creative. Students were asked to chose a location of their choice and find a library book about their location. They could even do internet research about this location. Together with their parents the children were asked to read the book and make a script that included certain criteria like where they went, how they got there, what they did while they were there, and how they got home. Their Flat Stanleys visited the world!
I loved this project. I remember doing a Flat Stanley in elementary school, but this activity using a podcast took it to a whole new level. I would definitely use this in my classroom as well. This activity is beneficial for the students in MANY different facets. First, the students learn so much about geography. They are asked to chose a location and do research on it. Could it get any better? Next, students are able to be creative. They get to make up a story about what their Flat Stanley does on his trip. Students are able to expand their minds and make up stories using the geography they learned about. All around, this is an awesome project!
The Benefits of Podcasting in the Classroom
Joe Dale describes several benefits that podcasting in the classroom possesses. A couple of the ones that he stated that stood out to me were the relevance of it to students. It also promotes creativity and innovation. A third benefit of podcasting in the classroom is that it allows parents to see what their children are learning and doing at school. These are just a few of the many benefits that he discusses in this post.
So, back to the questions from the beginning. Why Podcasts? Why Do We Do Podcasts? I believe these two questions have been answered in all three of these posts that I have talked about. We do podcasts for the MANY benefits that they offer. From creativity, relevance, to even learning different subject matter in a fun way like geography with Flat Stanley. That is why we do podcasts. They only bring many benefits. There is no reason that we shouldn't.
Friday, September 13, 2013
C4T #1
Post #1 "Out of the Shadows"
In this post, Jeff begins by talking about the first day back to school from summer. It's a fresh start! He feels that his job as principal is most effective this day. He helps students constantly. Whether it be helping with schedules, listening to stories, or just being an extra set of hands, he is always helping students on the first day. He then begins telling about the diversity of the group of junior high students. They each have their own story or shadows. They can be prepared, self-confident, and ready to begin. They can also be unorganized, discouraged, and dreading the first day. These students' shadows gloom over them, and their first day is not very promising. Jeff explains how important it is as teachers to build relationships and connections with students in order to get them out of this cycle. He uses five points to explain. 1)Get to know the students. 2)Look for successes. 3) Use tools and resources to learn the students. 4)Reflect on how you will help student's who haven't have success in a while. 5)Ensure that your students will leave with a great experience.
Comment #1
I commented back on Jeff Helm's post on his blog. I first told him who I was, where to find class blog, and where to find my blog. I stated how much I always loved and still love the first day back to classes. It is a brand new start! I also stated how often times, teachers do not know where students come from or what shadow they carry with them. It is so important that teachers not only teach the facts, but also build relationships with students. My favorite point he made regarding breaking this negative cycle was the first one. It is so important to get to know the students and not just let them be a number in the classroom. I loved reading Mr. Delp's blog post and look forward to reading more.
Post #2 "Opposite Way"
The second blog post of Jeff Delp was entitled "Opposite Way". I really enjoyed this post. Jeff talks about how sometimes the opposite is appealing. The day-to-day can get boring, and we often want to do something different and totally off. He then goes to talk about how every decision we make has an effect either positive or negative. He talks about how sometimes, though, the opposite or not going with the flow, can be a positive thing. Instead of doing the norm in education, sometimes its best to step outside of the box and do something different.
Comment #2
I loved Jeff Delp's post! When I commented on his post, I told him how I could definitely relate to this post. I said that sometimes when life gets overwhelming, and I have so many things to do, I often want to do the opposite. I want to either go shopping or take a vacation. Next, I told him how important I found his thought of how we don't live life in neutral was to me. Ever decision we make has an impact either positive or negative. That decision can make us go backward or push us closer to the person we are intended to be. I talked about how I found this so be a very useful statement when thinking about my future as a teacher. My teaching strategies, advice, and words will all have an affect on my students. Which will I chose?
Saturday, September 7, 2013
Blog Post #3
There are a couple of ways that you can go about peer editing in this class. One way is to offer your suggestion and critiques publicly like commenting on their blog. This could be a great idea when stating suggestions and compliments. I would probably use this approach for these two steps. However, you can also state your remarks while peer editing privately through email, text messaging, etc. I would probably use this approach when stating corrections. People sometimes don't want to hear what they did wrong or want others to see that either. It is sometimes best to do it privately.
I really enjoyed this assignment and learned a lot about peer editing.
Sunday, September 1, 2013
Blog Post #2
by Elizabeth Johnson, Calah Reynolds, and Rachel Hinton
The Professor Dancealot video was very interesting, unique, and eye-opening. Most people who watch this video would have to agree that his teaching methods were extreme. Professor Dancealot expects his students to come to his “dance” class and sit down while he lectures on how to dance, but he never actually lets the students participate. At the end of the semester, he wants them to perform the dances for their final. How can you expect someone to learn how to dance without actually physically teaching them? To teach dance, you should start off in the ballroom on the first day and learn basic dance steps, not watch a powerpoint and take notes on it. None of his students learned anything about dance whatsoever. All Professor Dancealot did was show powerpoints, he wouldn’t even let the students watch his footwork while he danced. His teaching method seems impractical and ineffective. This form of teaching appeared to be very boring to the students. They were falling asleep, talking, or not paying attention to anything that was being taught. The students were not engaged in the lesson. This is like many teachers today. They teach their students things by lectures, but never give them anything interesting to do to actually remember what was taught. Things like this lead to the “burp back” education that we all want to avoid. The students try to cram all the information in at the last minute because they find it boring, and not worth really knowing. So, the Professor Dancealot video was definitely an interesting video to watch. It was a great example of the wrong way to teach.
Edutopia
by Elizabeth Johnson
The video “Harness Your Students’ Digital Smarts” features a teacher named Vicki Davis from Westwoods Schools in a rural town in Georgia. She uses all different kinds of technology to help her students learn more about all that technology has to offer. She believes that all students have the ability to learn. However, if they only learn using pencil and paper, only certain students will be able to succeed properly. She does not like to be up in front of the class to strictly lecture the entire time. She prefers to walk around, instruct, and help students while they explore technology. She teaches students about different forms of software, blogging, Wiki, collaborating, and other forms of technology. She believes in allowing students to look up things for themselves and not have every definition spoon fed to them. She also likes to let students teach the class. It helps them to learn more and also teaches Vicki things she does not know.
The Edutopia site offers great tools and teaching materials for educators. Visitors to the site can browse resources for the classroom by grade levels, which is great when a teacher is looking for a grade-appropriate activities and strategies for the students. Teachers can also search for specific programs, topics, strategies, and schools. The site features different blogs that visitors can read, as well. So this site is a great tool for teachers and educators of all kinds. There are great resources that are easily accessible.
Teaching in the 21st Century
by Calah Reynolds
When you teach in the 21st century, it is a lot harder to get your students engaged in the classroom. They are too involved in social media and communicating with each other and not enough in their school work. A lot of teachers nowadays simply tell their students to ‘google it’ or look it up on the computer instead of merely teaching it themselves. The teachers and the students have gotten lazy since it is easier for the student to just ‘google it’. I think that Roberts thinks it means that people rely too much on the internet and that whatever teachers teach, students can just look it up anywhere at anytime. Roberts is saying that although students CAN look up information, the internet doesn’t teach you how to use skills. Teachers can bring internet into their classrooms to make it more enjoyable for the students, such as blogs and other programs online.
If Roberts theory is correct, it will affect me as an educator because the majority of the classes will eventually be all online. It is coming to the point where a lot of classes are already incorporating internet, such as class blogs, sakai, and edmodo. As the years advance, so does the technology.
The Networked Student
by Rachel Hinton
The networked student gives us a very good idea of what our role as teachers will be in twenty first century teaching. As teachers we need to show our students how to use the resources we are given. In today’s world there are so many great things at our students’ fingertips. The internet and computers give them such a wide range of teaching and learning that we should take and use to our advantage.
The video shows us that we not only should teach our students, we should let them discover things for themselves. They should not be told step by step everything to do. We should allow them to explore the resources they are given and find out for themselves. If we teach our students how to efficiently use the resources they have access to, it will not only broaden their ways of thinking but also help them when advancing in life to college or even a job.
According to "The Networked Student", a teacher’s responsibilities in twenty first century learning includes teaching students how to build their network, guiding them when they cannot find their way, teaching them how to respectfully communicate with their teachers and others, and shuffling through information and organizing it in an understandable way. As teachers if we can master these things our students will be well prepared for a world of technology.
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