Graphic Organizers and more

     After reading the article about retention of information and advanced organizers, I found that it made complete sense.  The summarizing of it came in 1 key sentence, which ended the article.  "This procedure would also render unnecessary much of the rote memorization to which students resort because they are required to learn the details of a discipline before having available a sufficient number of key subsuming concepts."  The idea that these organizers and methods of teaching would end the need for rote memorization is exactly what I feel education needs.  Memorization is only the repetition of facts and does not necessarily mean the  students have learned anything.
      After reviewing web pages that will assist with concept mapping, I found that Bubbl.us is a great way to create, print or export an organizer.  It is a very easy to use organizer and does not take much time to get use to the methods to create with it.  EducationOasis and Exploratree are also sites that can help one create a new organizer.  What I especially like about these two sites is that the user can pick the organizer they need from a large list.  They are even labeled in a way so the user can know what they want to do with their information and can easily pick a great organizer to accomplish their task.
     Overall the use of organizers is a great way to put thoughts and ideas into an order in which it is understandable and reviewable after finishing and coming back to it another time.  This is a great way to get information down and organize it.  It is what is the most successful way for myself to organize thoughts and I am sure is the same way for many others. 

Feedback and Rubrics

     After reading the article "Feedback that Fits," I found myself looking at what I do in my classroom and what other teachers are doing around me.  The idea that feedback can be destructive I thought was a great point in the article and I am glad that there is research done to prove this.  I have seen a fellow teacher be very destructive and maybe a pass along of that information may help.  I also found it very interesting that 2 key points came up that I have thought for a while.  The timing of feed back along with the amount.  Too often as adults we try to fix multiple issues at once.  With kids this is very difficult.  It is important to start small when learning and relearning.  It is also important that we not give to strong of feedback when the timing is not right.  Our students must be willing to take what we as teachers have to say and learn from it.  Without that willingness our feedback could be destructive.
     There really is a lot that goes into feedback and it is important to understand the whole of it.  When it comes to the work it is vital that there are clear and obtainable objectives.  Without these students will be unable to meet or understand them.  Once the work is done feedback must be given quickly and appropriately.  There needs to be a healthy mix of positive and constructive feedback.  Far to often teachers try to fix all of a students short fallings at once.  True change takes time.  It is therefore also super important for teachers to recognize their students achievements.  Without doing this the students will be unlikely to listen to any constructive feedback.  
    There are tools that will help teachers complete this process with success.  The key lies in rubrics.  Rubrics will make objectives very clear and students can have a paper copy of them.  The student also know how they will be graded when doing the project.  There are many tools on the net to create these and have tips on how to ensure a successful rubric.  With these available I am sure that I will find myself using them more and more and I am also sure that the students will have success based on this!

Learning Principles and Effective Teaching

     The idea of looking back at ones teaching and analyzing it, to be honest became redundant in my college/student teaching years.  The term reflect was one that I thought I would never want to hear again after I got my diploma.  But to be honest, I do it now without thinking about it and I feel that this is happening almost without thinking.  While looking over the article on Learning Principles I found that I relating each item to my own teaching and classroom.  It was very interesting and made me think in one simple comment under activating prior knowledge.  The article talked about accessing and activating prior knowledge only at the appropriate time.  To often I fall into the trap of accessing that knowledge early and the students miss what I am really trying to teach as they focus on what they already know.  Timing really is key!
I also found it great that the article talked about students are only able to go as far as they are mentally, physically, and emotionally able.  That is really a key point.  We must teach to all of these facets as teaching to one without the other can lead to failure.
    In the meta analysis article the idea that technology isolates students was very interesting to me.  The article stated, "instruction in classroom settings where technology was not often used tended to be whole-class approaches, in which students generally listened or watched the teacher. Instruction in classroom settings where technology was moderately used had much less whole-class instruction and much more independent work." (waxman)
I guess this really took me by surprise as when I am teaching with technology and the students are using it the time that is spent with whole class and individual work is normally about 50/50.  That is of course with my 2nd grade class.  The higher up the education ladder I am sure will change, but I feel as though I am often doing my students a disservice I do not instruct.  This could be a method of explore and discuss, or teach and try, or trial and error.  There are so many methods that go into this teaching with technology that it is hard to let the younger students just try, succeed or fail, and ultimately create an opinion about using technology based on the teachers instructional method.  There really is a lot that is established in the younger grades so teachers must take cautions in those methods.
    Again with the reflection of my own teaching, but I guess that is what makes us grow.  These articles are meant to open our eyes to what we are doing in our classroom and what we could be doing.  I too often get caught up on the details of it all and focus in on small things that I feel could be going wrong in my classroom.  This would be great if I knew how to fix them all.  But I fear that I may miss the bigger picture of the whole article.  But, if I can take away at least one thing with the readings it was worth it!

520 Wrap Up

   This week really dealt a lot with what we need to make sure we are doing at school for our students protection from inappropriate content and ourselves as teachers from copyright laws.  There really is a lot strict guidelines and laws when it comes to protecting students from content.  There is NO gray area when it comes to what our students view.  There are plenty of tools out there that can help with this and schools should have these in place well before students are ever allowed to use the computers or Internet in school.
   When it comes to copyrights there really is a lot of gray area.  The idea that one can use things and later get in trouble for is very unsettling.  The ease to get copyrighted materials is so simple that even kids can get to it.  The gray area seems to be largest when it comes to schools.  The use rules when it comes to content are amazingly "open."  Only use 10% or even just cite it.  There is not really a clear cut and defined line.  It is tough for one to really know if they are in the right or in the wrong.
    Overall knowing more details of what is required when it comes to copyrights and Child safety a bit of review would never hurt.  I do find that we are doing a lot of review of many of the same pages and concepts, but it will keep me out of trouble in the long run, and that is ok with me!  

Internet Resources

This week I spent a lot of time looking at different Internet resources that I had not seen up to this point.  There were, on the list to look at, a few that I have used and enjoyed before.  But, for the most part many of these were brand new.  This was great to see as I have, as discussed with my group, not really explored many sites outside of what I already know.  These sites work for me and why fix what ain't broke.  BUT WOW!  I found so much more out there.  I am used to creating my own activities and lessons.  When exploring many of the sites this week, I have found that there are already lesson and activities created and ready for use.  It just takes some time to explore and find them.  Knowing this will make my job much easier and less time consuming in the future.  Exporeing this week seems to have been a lesson in--Don't be afraid to explore!

Search Engines

     I find it very interesting that there are actually proper ways to search the net.  I have found with many of the articles read this week, that I am not doing the whole internet search thing properly.  I changed my ways a bit and found that I got much more specific and larger amounts of hits when searching.  It may seem a bit strange, but I learned a great deal for a site that was designed for students in middle school!
     The debate I have been waiting for on this topic has finally arrived, Wikipedia.  I have been told through high school and college that Wikipedia is not a credible source and is therefore, "NO good for research projects."  Anyone can write on Wikipedia, and because of that the information may be false.  I did learn this week that there is a team that goes though the information to check for credibility.  False information may be up for a day or two, but overall it is delete at a rather quick rate.  I have done very little searching with the site up to this point, but I did take this opportunity to try it out.  I was amazed.  All I have been told before did not seem to be true.  I looked up things I have a very strong knowledge base on and others I don't.  I knew much of the information and anything I questioned, I looked around the net to see if I would find the same information.  Every 2nd opinion I got supported the original information from Wikipedia.  This will be a site that I use for seaching much more often. 
      The issue with searching the net and my teaching is that we do not do enough projects that require teaching how to properly search at this point.  We do 1 or 2 projects we use the net for and are limited on the time we have the labs.  It is because of this that we are not to indepth with our search engines in 2nd grade yet.  We are continuing to work on our typing skills yet.
     Overall, I am excited about the searching and creating of my form to evaluate websites.  I think that taking the time to really look at how to properly use a site and what they can do will help me not only in my classwork for MEIT, but also in my teaching. 

Internet Learning Resource

     After looking over what the Internet is and what it has to offer in the past few weeks I think it is great to step back and look at what the net can do to help enhance learning.  It was very interesting to look at sites that teach about how to use the Internet to learn about, the Internet.  It is further intriguing that the age that these sites are set for is anywhere between 7-12.  This is very interesting as there are just as many adults who are learning about the net for the first time as well.
   What is important for all educators to look at is the idea that the Internet is a "Learning
 Resource."  The Internet has so much to offer that can enhance lessons in school or even in personal study that it is really true to say it is almost endless.   There are sites that allow learning though games and videos.  There are sites to enhance student research and ensure that it is a "safe" search.
    The net is boundless in its options to be used as a learning tool.  This class, as it my be short may be one of the greatest in learning about how to use the net as a learning tool from a teachers point of view.  It will, I hope open my eyes to many sites that will aide in my teaching, and expand my definition of the Internet as a Learning Tool.