Thanks for all of your input and feedback. I have loved the discussions with all of my classes and hearing your thoughts has helped me form and solidify mine better. I realize I teach with several different methodologies and do not intentionally focus on one or another. Some situations and assignments lend themselves better to different teaching and learning styles.
So, have a nice end of the summer and let's put some of this learning to use!
(and if I hurry, I still might get to fish a little before school begins again! YAY!)
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Social Constructivism Constructionism Intellectualism Confucionism Confusionism. I'm sorry, but this just seemed to combine a lot of things we've already learned about. There are several things I really liked, but is it really a completely new/different teaching or learning method?
Some comments I really liked: Vygotsky p. 104 "The only good kind of instruction is that which marches ahead of development and leads it; it must be aimed not so much at the ripe as at the ripening functions." and Tolstoys comments that teaching new concepts is impossible.
I like the scaffolding model and that it means to help someone achieve beyond what is possible without assistance. The example of teaching a child to walk by using the laws of equilibrium is probably the simplest example of what Social constructavism is trying not to do, otherwise I have a hard time trying to explain it. The study done about building the peg pyramid was absolutely, completely confusing to me. First, trying to read the directions made me wonder if I wasn't one of the 3-5 year olds being tested. Second, just letting them play around with the pieces for a while to see what they would do seemed like a great play time activity, but not very useful in a jr high classroom. I would love to let my German students just sit around with a bunch of German vocabulary flashcards and see what they would do with them. Would they build a German Castle? Learn to flip them like european coasters? Build complex sentences with conjunctions and prepositional phrases? Sort them by color? Start drawing their own vocab cards? Anyway. I realized the importance of knowing the goal for older students, even if they might not know how to achieve it yet. Think of building a house. Obviously knowing how to pound a nail is a first step, and using a tape measure is important. Little kids won't care, (pounding is fun!) but an older student would want to know why he is learning those skills and will it ever be useful. Show a finished doghouse, dresser, etc. and it will motivate the students to learn more complex tasks and finish.
So, in a nutshell. March ahead of the students showing what can be accomplished and help them where they are so they can get to where you want them to be. (Isn't that what we do in our classrooms all of the time?)
Some comments I really liked: Vygotsky p. 104 "The only good kind of instruction is that which marches ahead of development and leads it; it must be aimed not so much at the ripe as at the ripening functions." and Tolstoys comments that teaching new concepts is impossible.
I like the scaffolding model and that it means to help someone achieve beyond what is possible without assistance. The example of teaching a child to walk by using the laws of equilibrium is probably the simplest example of what Social constructavism is trying not to do, otherwise I have a hard time trying to explain it. The study done about building the peg pyramid was absolutely, completely confusing to me. First, trying to read the directions made me wonder if I wasn't one of the 3-5 year olds being tested. Second, just letting them play around with the pieces for a while to see what they would do seemed like a great play time activity, but not very useful in a jr high classroom. I would love to let my German students just sit around with a bunch of German vocabulary flashcards and see what they would do with them. Would they build a German Castle? Learn to flip them like european coasters? Build complex sentences with conjunctions and prepositional phrases? Sort them by color? Start drawing their own vocab cards? Anyway. I realized the importance of knowing the goal for older students, even if they might not know how to achieve it yet. Think of building a house. Obviously knowing how to pound a nail is a first step, and using a tape measure is important. Little kids won't care, (pounding is fun!) but an older student would want to know why he is learning those skills and will it ever be useful. Show a finished doghouse, dresser, etc. and it will motivate the students to learn more complex tasks and finish.
So, in a nutshell. March ahead of the students showing what can be accomplished and help them where they are so they can get to where you want them to be. (Isn't that what we do in our classrooms all of the time?)
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Bruner's methods
An important principle of teaching according to Bruner is presenting the subject in the child's way of viewing things. Bruner also suggests that we can learn anything at any age if it is presented in a way that we can understand. This certainly makes sense to me. I also have to want to learn it when it is presented.
I can think back to some college chemistry and physics classes where the teacher surely assumed that we lived, breathed and ate science, and also discussed science principles during our lunch breaks. That was obviously not the case for all of the students in the class. I need to make sure my students catch enough to know what to do, but also that I leave little carrots all over for them to go after. The carrot, or goal, I designed for them may not always be the one they choose, but at least they are learning what they feel is important and should eventually include more ideas, including what I am hoping to emphasize.
I can see how learning to speak in your native language and even a second language would often follow this model. We learn the vocabulary we need when we need them and might not use them much if we don't.
I can think back to some college chemistry and physics classes where the teacher surely assumed that we lived, breathed and ate science, and also discussed science principles during our lunch breaks. That was obviously not the case for all of the students in the class. I need to make sure my students catch enough to know what to do, but also that I leave little carrots all over for them to go after. The carrot, or goal, I designed for them may not always be the one they choose, but at least they are learning what they feel is important and should eventually include more ideas, including what I am hoping to emphasize.
I can see how learning to speak in your native language and even a second language would often follow this model. We learn the vocabulary we need when we need them and might not use them much if we don't.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
German Camp cognition
I am slow with this week's post because I was practicing what I might consider situated cognition. I was at a 5 day German Camp (60 students/8 teachers), and I didn't get home until late Friday night. It is an immersion program at a secluded mountain location and is as close as the other teachers and I can get to being in Germany. The students learn by doing. They also learn by failing and then trying again. They learn by experience...the food, the customs, the culture. It is a lot of fun and is also a great environment for the teachers involved (4 different districts) to show and live German with their students.
The more I show my students real applications, or can place them in simulated situations, the more the students will realize that knowing a foreign language is extremely helpful. And after telling all the stories about German foods, having a cook who really prepares Rouladen, Schnitzel and Spatzle like a 5 star chef is a bonus that is hard to beat.
The more I show my students real applications, or can place them in simulated situations, the more the students will realize that knowing a foreign language is extremely helpful. And after telling all the stories about German foods, having a cook who really prepares Rouladen, Schnitzel and Spatzle like a 5 star chef is a bonus that is hard to beat.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Case based learning...I liked the term Natural Learning. "The modification of existing belief due to expectation failure is called learning." Learning is an interactive process and you learn from doing, changing and doing again.
"Good teachers try to set things up so that the stories they want to tell are exactly what the students want to hear." That is a quote from our first reading that I really liked.
As a foreign language teacher, I get a chance to set up natural learning or case based learning as often as I can. Building a little excitement first so that the students want to participate is a challenge as well. I have found that it is easy to build a little excitement every once and a while, but to keep the students involved continually is much harder. I love to use simulations and real situations in my class as much as possible. Next week I will be at a 5 day 24/7 German immersion camp with about 50 students. The German food is definitely a motivator as well. Sehr lecker!
"Good teachers try to set things up so that the stories they want to tell are exactly what the students want to hear." That is a quote from our first reading that I really liked.
As a foreign language teacher, I get a chance to set up natural learning or case based learning as often as I can. Building a little excitement first so that the students want to participate is a challenge as well. I have found that it is easy to build a little excitement every once and a while, but to keep the students involved continually is much harder. I love to use simulations and real situations in my class as much as possible. Next week I will be at a 5 day 24/7 German immersion camp with about 50 students. The German food is definitely a motivator as well. Sehr lecker!
Friday, June 26, 2009
Motivation. How can I keep my students motivated to learn 180 days in the year? I really liked the idea of intrigue and mystery to entice the students. A little personal interest can go a long way to motivate students to learn a little more. I'm surprised I haven't seen an educational method that uses competition yet, but I am sure we will be studying it.
Most of the special activities that I do in my class I have learned work best once. I alternate years for my Berlin Wall activity, my Holocaust activity, my Pysanki (Ukranien Easter Egg) activity and I try to also alternate the activity I do at Christmas, Gingerbread Houses or making Advent calendars. Making or creating something new keeps the students enthused. I do an annual Oktoberfest, but only let the 9th graders run it so that the 8th graders have something to look forward to the following year. I don't even warn the students about the Berlin Wall or Holocaust, it is more effective as a surprise.
Finding practical applications is something else that really helps. I love it when my students start to exchange notes in German that their friends can't read. Being able to talk in the lunch room with another German student and everyone around wonders what you are saying gives immediate positive feedback...even if it isn't always grammatically correct.
I really feel that learning is enhanced whenever the student is drawn in and feels involved. Anything I can do to help the student personally want to do better, know more, or share what he knows will always reinforce learning.
Most of the special activities that I do in my class I have learned work best once. I alternate years for my Berlin Wall activity, my Holocaust activity, my Pysanki (Ukranien Easter Egg) activity and I try to also alternate the activity I do at Christmas, Gingerbread Houses or making Advent calendars. Making or creating something new keeps the students enthused. I do an annual Oktoberfest, but only let the 9th graders run it so that the 8th graders have something to look forward to the following year. I don't even warn the students about the Berlin Wall or Holocaust, it is more effective as a surprise.
Finding practical applications is something else that really helps. I love it when my students start to exchange notes in German that their friends can't read. Being able to talk in the lunch room with another German student and everyone around wonders what you are saying gives immediate positive feedback...even if it isn't always grammatically correct.
I really feel that learning is enhanced whenever the student is drawn in and feels involved. Anything I can do to help the student personally want to do better, know more, or share what he knows will always reinforce learning.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Piaget's Human Development theory is giving my brain cramps. I like a lot of his ideas, but have a hard time assimilating it into a lesson plan... I'm hoping my blog will create some ideas so I am doing my blog first. I like his definition of knowing something is to be able to act on it...to transform it, to understand it's process, to understand it's construction/destruction. Take computers for example. I do not know them. I can destroy them with my hammer when I get frustrated enough, but otherwise I am only a user, not a creator.
I loved the quote from the 5 year old, "Once you know, you know for always."
Another phrase I really liked and almost completely agree with is that learning is possible only when there is active assimilation. Being able to use what you have learned is the goal...it is why we say when you can teach someone else you have finally learned it. Maybe there is more to the phrase, "Those that can, do...those who can't, coach (or teach)." (I have also tried to coach at the junior high level and my hat goes off to those of you who coach!)
Another important point from Piaget's article was transitivity of what you have learned. For example, I lost 3 pounds last month. My wife gained two pounds. If I am smart, I will recognize that I should shut up about losing weight and take my wife out to eat more often to the expensive restaurants. (If you don't "know" yet...more expensive means we order less and the plate looks fancier but has less volume-length or width doesn't matter, it is still small- so we eat less and lose weight faster) or I take her on more extended vacations. (for you non-"knowers"...my wife (and I) love the beach. Utah is pretty much beachless. California, Mexico, Cancun, Puerto Vallarta (we leave this Friday for a week-all 6 kids stay home!), Hawaii all require swimsuits, thus, using Piaget's plasticen theory, no matter what size swim suit you stick it in, it is all still the same size. If you can somehow reduce the amount of the substance in the swimsuit, it all looks better. I don't have to say a thing and my wife is more motivated! Assimilation at work!
Oh, one last afterthought...Emryogenesis ends in adulthood but was important in the development of knowledge. Does that mean now that I am 40 something (hopefully adult) that I can no longer develop knowledge? What about this class?
I loved the quote from the 5 year old, "Once you know, you know for always."
Another phrase I really liked and almost completely agree with is that learning is possible only when there is active assimilation. Being able to use what you have learned is the goal...it is why we say when you can teach someone else you have finally learned it. Maybe there is more to the phrase, "Those that can, do...those who can't, coach (or teach)." (I have also tried to coach at the junior high level and my hat goes off to those of you who coach!)
Another important point from Piaget's article was transitivity of what you have learned. For example, I lost 3 pounds last month. My wife gained two pounds. If I am smart, I will recognize that I should shut up about losing weight and take my wife out to eat more often to the expensive restaurants. (If you don't "know" yet...more expensive means we order less and the plate looks fancier but has less volume-length or width doesn't matter, it is still small- so we eat less and lose weight faster) or I take her on more extended vacations. (for you non-"knowers"...my wife (and I) love the beach. Utah is pretty much beachless. California, Mexico, Cancun, Puerto Vallarta (we leave this Friday for a week-all 6 kids stay home!), Hawaii all require swimsuits, thus, using Piaget's plasticen theory, no matter what size swim suit you stick it in, it is all still the same size. If you can somehow reduce the amount of the substance in the swimsuit, it all looks better. I don't have to say a thing and my wife is more motivated! Assimilation at work!
Oh, one last afterthought...Emryogenesis ends in adulthood but was important in the development of knowledge. Does that mean now that I am 40 something (hopefully adult) that I can no longer develop knowledge? What about this class?
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