Cognitive Learning Enviornments

Cognitive learning environments focus on helping students encode information meaningfully to long-term memory so that it can be easily retrieved.

When I was student teaching in 7th grade math I was unaware that my cooperating teacher was trying to embed in me the importance of helping students encode information meaningfully. Up until this reading, I really just thought the way she taught was how everyone in the district did. Not one of my peers or supervisors, from the college, mentioned the word cognitive. I really wish someone did. Well here's another one of those connections that I am discovering as I engage in TEAM. How exciting!!

Anyway, in my future classroom as a teacher to facilitate this process I will start each day's lesson with a Do-Now that reminds students of their prior knowledge, of the topic at hand, by including several examples to be worked on. Once they are discussed, aside from posting the aim, or objective I will include a line for prior knowledge. When students look back at their notes, which I would hope occurs, they will see those word(s) and hopefully be able to integrate the new material with the knowledge that is in their long term memory. As the teacher, who is initiating learning, this would assist students to make a connection to their own prior knowledge.

Not only does this help the students, as they construct their own knowledge, but it helps the teacher. Those students, who perhaps, don't have the appropriate prior knowledge for the current topic would be given an opportunity to correct that.

A final comment, as with most topics in math even though they do relate to each other, there are distinct units within the curriculum. One technology that I can think of that might be helpful in the classroom, would be to use MindMeister. Creating a map of prior knowledge and then branching off with the "newer" material would remind students of the knowledge they have and are creating. Keeping the map updated and readily available to students outside the classroom would be important. Students would be able to access the map as they continue their schooling through the grades. You never know! It might help that 9th grader make a connection to the topic that was covered in 7th grade, in one day! I am sure that as I continue my work with TEAM, more technologies will be useful to assist in the facilitation of a cognitive teacher!

Only 3 Classes left??

Wow. How fast everything this semester has happened! Even though as I think back to the first day of class, getting our color coded name tags and introducing our partners to the teammates, it seems like it was just last week.

Fast forward to November 5th. Three EEVC Warm Ups were completed and packaged. Workshops have been completed. Many tools have been introduced, which I can't wait to start using.

Somewhere in between, all the confusion and curiosity lessened and the program as a whole just started to make sense. With each class, more confidence has come from within, that I, a relatively new technology user, can use all the tools I've been exposed to.

I know that the next three classes are going to come and go so fast, but I am glad that I spend time each week immersed in a learning environment that I control, based on my needs and learning style. It will be interesting, during the month break, when I start to create my website. I'm very excited!!

Constructivism, eh?

Since reading through the Constructivist materials I am beginning to understand TEAM. Since orientation I was a little confused about the reason for all the collaborative work that I'd be engaging in during the 2 years. Now it makes sense. Collaborative learning occurs when there is social negotiation so there is better understanding, use and retention. It totally makes sense. Looking back to my undergrad years, collaborative learning rarely occurred. I have a feeling if it would have, I might have walked away with a completely different experience.

So all of that got me thinking about the constructivist learning environment for students. Student teaching for me was a time to explore the many different ways of teaching. My mentors always stressed the importance of multiple representations to ensure that each learner was learning. But, it's much more than that. Sure I've learned about constructivism in psychology courses, but I didn't really understand how to apply it in the classroom.

Within the mathematical content, it's crucial that students engage in tasks that are meaningful, and along with prior knowledge develop their problem solving skills while actively involved. Just as with TEAM, it's important for students to have social interactions while they embark on learning and take ownership. By creating a learning environment where students work with one another, they will be able to take more away with them, for immediate use and in the future, when they enter the real world. The skills learned while engaging in collaborative work are lifelong skills which will be a part of them, always. Those skills include but aren't limited to the ability to problem solve, think critically, reflect on oneself and interact socially.

As far as the methods for creating such an environment, the possibilities are endless. Aside from ensuring that the material pertains to the students lives, there are so many activities where students can take ownership of their own learning, especially when you realize how many ways there are to obtain solutions, to many topics within the curriculum. Of course feedback and modeling would be used, but ensuring that students can perform on their own is the true meaning of all of this. What good is it if students watch and leave the room clueless?

Photostory or iPhoto?

PhotoStory is only available for pc's, which is sort of disappointing! iPhoto, is similar but just not the same. For Warm Up 2, our group chose to use PhotoStory for presenting our ideas, and even though I personally didn't use it, I really liked it.

Over the past week, I explored iPhoto slideshows and found that it wasn't as user friendly of which I expected from a Mac, since everything else seems that way. As I explore deeper, accessing the help section, I hope to appreciate it as much as I hoped.

Rainy weather isn't so bad!

So even though the sun hasn't shined in oh about 4 days, it's not so bad. This weather keeps me indoors. But by staying indoors I've been navigating through new websites and applications, enhancing my learning with TEAM. I even created a 3D Avitar of me! How cool!!

EEVC Workshops

Well, since my last post, I am pleased with the amount of new knowledge I am obtaining as I engage in the learning process with TEAM. The workshops, in addition to class time have really been beneficial to me.

It all started with iMovie. The objective of the workshop was to record a 4 minute video, from anywhere on Campus, about anything, ensuring that there were at least 4 clips (pauses in the recording). Working in groups of four, I have to say I had a lot of fun. It didn't feel like a workshop at all. The second phase was to begin learning about editing in iMovie. That's where it was challenging. Us Mac users had one of the three versions of iMovie, which were entirely different, as far as editing. Christine was very helpful and felt terrible that there were so many versions, with differences that were difficult to understand. Tutorials await my attention so I can proceed with the edits of our movie!

I also took two online workshops with Michele. They were so cool. I've never taken an online course, before, so it was very interesting. With all the technology glitches, I want to point out that Michele is a very, very patient person. Once all the technology issues were resolved, assignments were distributed. Both nights entailed, viewing websites pertaining to the topic of the workshop, individually, and then engaging in discussion as a group. It was really cool that as someone was talking about a site they visited, I was able to load and navigate "with them" as we were talked through the pros, cons and uses. The best part about the workshop was that I was in my house, comfortable and didn't have to worry about a commute home!

I am looking forward to the remaining workshops. It was great to meet other people and have fun while learning. Most of the information I obtained at the past workshops, will be valuable to me as I embark on my teaching journey.

What I hope to Learn

When I first heard about this program from a colleague of mine in the QC Program, I was eager to learn all about it. Since the "interview" with this program I was amazed at how many resources are available to educators. My student teaching expeirence definitely lacked the technology portion. Of course I used PowerPoint and SmartBoard, but I am looking forward to learning about other ways to integrate technology into the classroom.

I am unsure of so many applications that exist which can be brought into the classroom. When I begin teaching, I hope that all of my students and parents can see what's occurring in the classroom on a daily basis. Opening the paths of communication to parents and students will help develop relationships. Using technology will assist me with this concern.

Browsing through the list of workshops, I am eager to continue my learning and apply it to my profession. I have always loved learning and will continue to learn. I believe this program will guide me with my own learning process as I begin to develop an understanding for technology in the classroom.