* This response is geared toward the secondary level*
As a student, several years ago, when it came time to take the finals or regents in June, after practicing and engaging in work for the previous nine months, there were certain subjects in which I felt well prepared, specifically Math, Science and English. Then there was social studies, which not only was it not really my favorite, but I always felt like I wasn't prepared. I wonder if it was the teacher? But how is that possible? The teacher isn't responsible for my actions, whether I decide to engage fully or not. Saying that, to better prepare students today, I think as teachers we have a really big role in that. Of course students are contributors to their own success and self-regulation to feel better prepared. But there are things the teacher can do to assist students.
One way that teachers can help students develop meta cognition is within the daily lessons. Teachers can use the aim, to set a goal, which is sub-divided from the long term, so students understand what the primary accomplishment for the day(s) should be. The aims from the entire unit should serve as the long-term goal (Schunk).
A web 2.0 tools which I see helpful to this is a concept map, with the long term goal in the center and each branch with the sub-divided goal, in this case the aims from the lesson. It provides students with a visual in addition to their notes and handouts, but it also helps them keep goals(units of study) orderly when it comes time to looking back.
Another thing teachers can do to help students is to internally motivate them so the student begins to take ownership of their own learning, which in turn would increase their confidence and they'd begin to value their learning to assist in taking steps toward developing self-regulation. (Self Regulation ppt) It is important for the student to understand how much of the topic they already know, but they should be able to compare the current task at hand, to their current performance. (Schunk)
A technology tool which could help the teacher accomplish this when beginning to plan the lessons, could be to use Survey Monkey, Poll Daddy or a QuickTopic. These tools would allow the student to communicate what their interests are. If the teacher is aware of the students' interests, students would have an easier time taking ownership of their learning. It also allows the student to let the teacher know what they already know about the topic, providing the teacher formulate clear, direct questions, which could easily be answered by students.
Finally, the third thing teachers can do is to ask questions which would guide the students in the right direction, learn how to analyze feedback, whether it's from the teacher or peers via cooperative learning, and finally to recognize success. Challenging the students with a question they may not know how to answer, by asking them to research or hypothesize a path toward a solution would assist with developing self-regulation.
One way I see technology helping this idea is to create an online collaborative tool where students could post their answers/hypothesis for others within the class, including the teacher, to view and be able to provide feedback directly on that document.
Well these are only three suggestion I've come up with for now about how teachers can help students develop self-regulation and integrate technology. Taking these small steps, focusing on student learning could help many students avoid feeling unprepared at times when cumulative exams arise.
Showing posts with label Module Responses. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Module Responses. Show all posts
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Sunday, December 9, 2007
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!
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!
Sunday, November 4, 2007
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?
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?
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