Personal Theory of Learning Reflection:

When I think back on my personal theory of learning, I realize that it is a blend of all the different theories. I do feel that I need less behaviorism; I need to find a quick way to cover rules and procedures so that I will have more time to move toward the social learning theory. I am weakest on each end of the learning continuum. A blending of theories is still the best way to meet the needs of all my students as they come to me at varying levels and abilities.

The most immediate change that I am going to make is to recreate the effort rubric on page 157 of our text (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski, 2007). It will be stored in a central server so that each student will have access. I will ask them to resave it onto their individual servers. As we work with this document, they will save it back to the central server into a folder that I create for each of them. Each week, they will re-evaluate themselves and save it by the date. After the second week, we will start discussing how to transfer this information into a chart or bar graph so they can view their progress (or lack of). I expect to have charts completed and printed in time for parent teacher conferences in October.

The second change I make is for me because if I improve my planning, then the students will improve their learning. I intend to make use of the four planning questions on page 10. While my lessons are long and detailed well enough that anyone can walk into my room and take over (district requirement), I feel that detailing my strategies will create more learning opportunities for my students (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski, 2007).

The long-term goal that I am setting for myself is to bring more opportunities for social learning into my classroom using voice thread and virtual tours. After time spent exploring different virtual tours, I would like my ELL students to create a virtual tour of their own. I want them to see what they have to offer to the world through their own culture.

This course has reinforced many of the theories and strategies that I already use in my room. However, it also made me painfully aware of the opportunities to use technology of which I am not taking advantage.

Resources:

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Voice thread issues

Is anyone having trouble leaving comments on their own voice thread the second time around? I left a voice comment for Travis, but there is no sound when I access the thread. There was plenty of sound when it played back the first time I recorded it. After I hit save and replayed the thread, it was still working. When I accessed it again a couple hours later, my comment to Travis on slide 2 would not play. What am I missing?

Another Voice Thread

This voice thread comes from the tech teacher at the same junior high where I teach. We are going through this Master's Program together. I think it is amazing that she chose the same problem that I did, but took a different approach to it. Her thread is much more creative. Keep in mind, she is the tech teacher, and is able to teach an online class, but still cannot do many of the collaborative things that we should be doing. All because of bandwidth issues...

Won't you be my neighbor?

“It’s a beautiful day in this neighborhood, a beautiful day for a neighbor…” Do you think that Mr. Rogers envisioned just how big the neighborhood would be when he wrote the lyrics to Won’t You be My Neighbor? back in 1967? Yet, his words still ring true.

It begins in the classroom. We strive to create a learning environment that is safe enough for even the most unwilling student to feel welcome and part of a group. It expands as we create lessons that use technology to enable our students to communicate with a classroom across town. It grows as we link our students to different cultures within our country. It explodes as we leap across rivers, mountain ranges, and oceans to meet people from countries we may never physically visit. This is learning; this is being connected and networked to the world. This is our students’ future.

However, their future will start with Behaviorism. After a foundation is laid with Behaviorism, we, as teachers, will expose them to Cognitivism, Constructionism and a new theory, Social Learning. To be successful, our students must learn to work together. To see similarities and differences as a good thing. One way to reach this goal is through the use of cooperative learning. Cooperative learning can lay the foundation for a strong neighborhood in the classroom. Once students are working together in the classroom, teachers can open additional communities for students to explore. As barriers break down, learning increases.

I cannot learn without my neighbors. “Won’t you be my neighbor?”


Resources:

Orey, M.(Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/

Rogers, Fred M. Won’t you be my neighbor? Lyrics. 1967. Retrieved from: http://pbskids.org/rogers/songlist/song1_ra.html 2009.

Acceptable Use Policy

Here is a link to my voice thread. I really could use some advice and suggestions. Thanks!