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First Lesson

            Today I delivered my first made-from-scratch lesson to three different classes of 7^th Graders. The lesson was about memoirs, as we are starting our Narrative Writing unit. Instead of giving the students a cut-and-dry definition of what a memoir is, I decided to read them and example. As our group has a lot of struggle with bullying, I chose a short memoir from an anthology called “Dear Bully,” which included 70 memoirs about bullying. The first lesson was not what I had had in mind. I ran out of material before the end of the period. The second lesson was better because I tweaked it a bit based on what I did not like from the first lesson (and with the help of my cooperating teacher’s suggestions). I allowed students some Think-Pair-Share time. The third and final lesson was the best, but I ran out of time. 

            I found that I needed to introduce the topic rather than simply jump right into the story. The first class was a bit perplexed and not quite prepared for the depressing tone of the story. So, for the following two periods I introduced the topic and let the students know that it was not a topic about which they could joke around. I also realized that I need to ensure that students are paying attention. Some were goofing around. However, I was pleasantly surprised to see some students who have never participated raise their hands and contribute. That made me feel good.

            With what I learned today, I am going to do a better job planning my lesson before delivering it. I am going to add more to my final lesson plan, as I now see elements for which I did not account. I am also going to do a better job paying attention to students who are not behaving. I feel that when one student is answering a question I asked, I like to give that student my whole attention; however, I must interrupt the student if another student is being rude. One of the rules in our classroom is that it must be silent when another person is speaking.

            Overall, I feel very content with my first lesson delivery. I am at a point where I’m comfortable with the kids, so I think that gave me an added boost of confidence today. It is my hope that my lessons will continue growing and strengthening as time progresses.

Final Technology Blog (in Class)

My instructional technology skills have greatly improved over the course of this semester. I feel I was relatively computer-literate beforehand, but I definitely learned a lot of great new skills that I can take with me to my classroom. Before this class, my computer skills were pretty limited to social networking/blogging, so the skills we learned in this class are more tailored to the teacher's needs.
The quality and appropriateness of what I learned this semester is excellent. As stated above, it all seems very relevant to a teacher's needs. I had no idea that there were so many resources for the classroom, and I had a great time exploring the world wide web. The websites I found were incredible (especially the Edgar Allan Poe one mentioned a few posts back). I see myself most using the Wiki page and SmartBoard technology. I'm really happy we covered SmartBoard because without some prior practice, I'd be lost in my future classroom.
I feel very comfortable moving forward with technology after this course. I think that all of the projects were comprehensive and broad (in content).

Final Video Project

Google Reader

I have been following my peers' blogs throughout the semester via Google Reader. I have never used an RSS feed before, so this was a wonderful new experience for me. After going back tonight and looking over the blogs of my classmates, I have found that the assignments we were given were as open-ended as I interpreted them at first. Although I may not have called them "open-ended" at first, I can now see that the assignments really were designed to have no "right" answer. Oftentimes, when asked to write a response or create statements, I felt a bit lost. I know now that this was done intentionally to cause students to form their own opinions. I feel overall that this is highly positive because they were questions that engaged higher-order thinking. Since they had no "right" answer (like a lower-order thinking question would), they put the gears of our brains in motion by having us apply and synthesize what we learned.

With that in mind, one particular sentence in Catherine's blog struck me as particularly inspiring. She stated, "A good teacher acknowledges that his or her top priority is not the teaching that takes place in his or her classroom but the learning." I have not considered this idea, and I think the way she worded it was excellent. The number one priority should always be student learning. Therefore, teachers should have a plan for what they want to teach, but if they find it going awry, they should reapproach their method to ensure student learning. Teachers should not become so attached to their lesson plans that they sacrifice student learning to maintain it.

Web Resources

There was one link that I immediately knew I would like to use in the future. The Knowing Poe website is an excellent resource that I would utilize if Poe were in the curriculum. I did a bit of exploring on the site and was very impressed with its extensive amount of content. There was an interactive game that taught me the various speculations about how Poe died (alcoholism, rabies, foul play, "congestion of the brain?"). I learned something from my brief foray into the content of the website, so I feel confident that my students would learn something too. The "It'll Be the Death of Me" game was reminiscent of a Choose Your Own Adventure book, which made it fun and educational at the same time. The site contained information about different points-of-view that Poe used in his writing, as well as an interactive timeline detailing Poe's life. The website also is a source for some of Poe's work that students can read online. I did not have time to go through all of the excellent interactive games and other fun resources on this website, but I would definitely like to use it in a future classroom. I was very impressed with this website.

The second website that I feel I may use in the future is Thinkfinity because it seemed like a user-friendly search engine for lesson plans. When I am low on creativity, I would like to use this website for some lesson plan inspiration.  I ran a simple search on "Jane Eyre" to pique my curiosity, and received a handful of excellent lesson plans. Another search for "Anne Frank" yielded a lesson plan that involved blogging from the point of view of Anne Frank. The lesson plan acknowledged how previous teachers taught the book - either as a historical document or as a literary work, and the plan encouraged students to think of it in both ways. So I will most likely use this resource in the future as it provides comprehensive lesson plans.




References
Knowing Poe. (2002). Retrieved June 27, 2011 from http://knowingpoe.thinkport.org/default_flash.asp
Thinkfinity. (2010). Retrieved June 27, 2011 from http://www.thinkfinity.org

Week 5 T2P

Akiane, Blossom Stage, 2007

If teachers can inspire students to complete projects that tap into their intrinsic motivation and emotions, then the students will have a more fulfilling learning experience than they would if the motivation was purely extrinsic. This is because when a student completes a project that involves higher order thinking (in other words, activities that require higher levels on Bloom's Taxonomy) with the sole motive to get a good grade, they narrow their focus. I believe that motivation and emotion should play large roles in learning. A tunnel-visioned view of learning eliminates possibilities for more complete learning experiences. That said, I believe that a "complete learning experience" involves some sort of emotional connection, or "hot cognition."

      Intrinsic motivation is a force much stronger than extrinsic motivation in terms of higher-order thinking. Sugata Mitra's theory of learning suggests that students learn best in a "playground-like" atmosphere where they can naturally seek out fellow students with whom they learn best. I believe that Mitra's theory of learning relates to intrinsic motivation in that it relies on a student's innate desire to learn. This desire is what propels the learning process because it gives students a fulfilling feeling of pride in their work. Students gain emotional connection to a learning experience when they feel they have an active part in its unfolding. This is an intrinsic motivation (emotional fulfillment), so teachers must create projects and learning experiences where students can have an emotional attachment.

A Good Teacher...

A good teacher cares about his or her students by becoming familiar with their particular learning processes. This teacher understands that students come from a variety of cultural backgrounds, and the teacher should create a learning environment where these backgrounds do not impede the learning process. A good teacher creates space for students to learn. I do not mean this in a physical sense; rather, the teacher uses as little limitations as possible for their students. A good teacher understands that the fewer extrinsic motivations a student has, the more enriching the learning process is. Of course there must be some limitation, but a student should never feel entrapped by the question of, "Will I get a good grade, or not?" By constantly questioning whether or not the student will get a good grade, the student narrows his or her vision of "How to get there," there being the A grade. A good teacher must make grades as imperceptible as possible to the student. A good teacher constantly stretches the minds of his or her students. A good teacher should be like a personal trainer of the student mind, on the sidelines of the learning process and simultaneously nudging students to use their minds to their full capabilities. However, the good teacher should view the learning process as an event in which they can take part. There is always something more to be learned, and by expressing an avid desire to learn more, the teacher demonstrates to students that learning is boundless. The goal in mind is to create a desire in students to always learn more without a narrow-minded approach.

Revised T2P

      If students and the teacher participate in a reflective round-robin discussion based on material the teacher and students observed together, then both the teacher and the students will be able to have an engaging, opinion-driven conversation to reflect upon the material.  The conversation should begin with a question that engages the student's critical thinking skills, and then the teacher should bounce the reactions back to other students.  Since all of the students are expected to participate, it will be necessary for them to come up with ways to voice their opinions about the material.  It is especially engaging for the students towards the end of the round-robin circle, because the answers they had prepared will most likely be articulated by earlier students. However, it will also keep the teacher on his or her toes to quickly pose opinion-generating questions of students.

      According to Freire and Vicki Davis, teachers and students can almost share a position in the role of learning.  The learning process should be ongoing for not only students, but also teachers, and the two parties should stimulate understanding by posing questions that cause critical thinking. 

      This relates back to my moral beliefs that teachers and students learn together. In this round-robin exercise, the teacher is acting as a "personal trainer" to the student's minds. Everyone's mind is in the game, teacher included. The job of the teacher is to pose questions based on student responses that will cause the students to think. The job of the students is to answer the questions to the best of their ability. Though the questions may be difficult, they are stretching the student's mind. Morally, the teacher should not position themselves in a role that suggests dictatorship to the students. Instead, the teacher should bring themselves to the most equal level in comparison to the student. This creates a level of comfort for students that opens up the door to new dimensions of learning. The fewer boundaries there are, the more likely a student is going to explore.