Sunday, February 26, 2012
Podcasts?
This week we learned about podcasts in class and honestly I was not impressed. Perhaps it's because I am not an auditory learner but I found podcasts boring to listen to and a pain to create. While I can see some benefits to using podcasts in the classroom, such as students synthesizing what they have learned into a short presentation or allowing students to share their ideas with the world, I feel that there are better, less time consuming ways to sharing their ideas.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Wiki...wiki...what?
Wiki's have no place in the classroom, or at least that is what I thought until we read about them and discussed them in class. It turns out that wiki's are exactly what the classroom needs. A wiki allows all students to contribute to a common project. By using wikis everyone gets to participate at the level they are most comfortable with.
I am so excited about wikis that this weekend I have spent time setting up a wiki for my students (instead of working on grad school... hmm good thing it's a 3 day weekend). They are going to create a wiki that contains everything we have learned in science, this year and last year. By putting the students in charge and allowing them to combine what they know will empower them in their learning. I can't wait to see how this goes! If you want to see how it comes about click the link below (right now it's empty since I haven't started it in my class yet).
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Blogging in the Classroom
I'd like to start off with some honesty which is that I have not tried using blogs with my students...yet. I have a lot of great ideas but between grad school and trying to integrate the new curriculum my district has implemented it has been hard to fit everything in. However, if I had more time here are just a few ways I would use blogs within my classroom.
1. I would have students become scientists and have them use their blog as a place to record their findings and share with the world what they have found. This would allow them to read each others blogs too and see if other "scientists" are getting the same findings.
2. Students would each take on a character persona from the books they are reading in class. They would have to blog as that character and discuss daily life and make connections to the book they are reading.
3. My students could blog about the various aspects of MacArthur, informing the community about the exciting things that are going on at our school from the unique perspective of a student.
Blogging is a great way to get students writing and reading other students writing. Hopefully I will be able to get blogging in my classroom soon.
1. I would have students become scientists and have them use their blog as a place to record their findings and share with the world what they have found. This would allow them to read each others blogs too and see if other "scientists" are getting the same findings.
2. Students would each take on a character persona from the books they are reading in class. They would have to blog as that character and discuss daily life and make connections to the book they are reading.
3. My students could blog about the various aspects of MacArthur, informing the community about the exciting things that are going on at our school from the unique perspective of a student.
Blogging is a great way to get students writing and reading other students writing. Hopefully I will be able to get blogging in my classroom soon.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Engaging Students in Learning
As a 5th grade teacher I am constantly trying to find new ways to engage my students in learning. Through the IT program at George Mason University I have found that one of the best ways to do engage students is by creating authentic problems. An authentic problem allows students to "try on" different careers.
In order for an authentic problem to work well in the classroom it is important to think about a few things when planning a lesson. The first is to look at the curriculum and ask what profession would need to know this in the real world. For example if your students need to learn the parts of the flower your authentic problem could be the students acting as botanist. Once you've decided on your authentic problem you need to decide what the clear outcome will be, in this case students will be able to label the parts of a flower. It is also important to determine what thinking skills the students will use through out this lesson. For the botanist lesson students will need to analyze the flower and synthesize the information they have learned. The last thing you need to think about is what type of software skills the students will require in this lesson. As in the botanist lesson students will learn how to use a paint program to diagram their results. At the end of each authentic problem I make sure that there is an exit strategy. For the botanist lesson I arranged for students posters to be posted throughout the school to inform other students about the parts of a flower.
Since using authentic problems within my classroom I have noticed an increase in student participation and engagement. One of my students was overheard saying "Well since we are real scientist, if an experiment fails we have to design another one". Music to my ears!
In order for an authentic problem to work well in the classroom it is important to think about a few things when planning a lesson. The first is to look at the curriculum and ask what profession would need to know this in the real world. For example if your students need to learn the parts of the flower your authentic problem could be the students acting as botanist. Once you've decided on your authentic problem you need to decide what the clear outcome will be, in this case students will be able to label the parts of a flower. It is also important to determine what thinking skills the students will use through out this lesson. For the botanist lesson students will need to analyze the flower and synthesize the information they have learned. The last thing you need to think about is what type of software skills the students will require in this lesson. As in the botanist lesson students will learn how to use a paint program to diagram their results. At the end of each authentic problem I make sure that there is an exit strategy. For the botanist lesson I arranged for students posters to be posted throughout the school to inform other students about the parts of a flower.
Since using authentic problems within my classroom I have noticed an increase in student participation and engagement. One of my students was overheard saying "Well since we are real scientist, if an experiment fails we have to design another one". Music to my ears!
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