Sunday, November 28, 2010
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Reflection on UDL and DI
First, in order to meet their needs, we need to know what type of learner they are and analyze their strengths and weaknesses. A great way to learn this information about students is by giving them an opportunity to take Learning style survey. Of course there are several surveys available to the world on the Internet, but the one I fond the most is, http://www.scholastic.com/familymatters/parentguides/middleschool/qui... because this survey can be shared with the guardians of the children. Parents need to know whom their child is in order to know what can be done to help him or her.
Now that I have studied the type of learners I have in my classroom, I have learned that my student population is mostly visual learners and Ells. In this case, I am going to model my lessons with many images and videos. A great site that I can use in a majority of my lessons is http://www.english-4kids.com/videos.html
In addition to including more visuals and videos into my modeled lessons, I also need to keep my students engaged throughout the process to the product. A great site that reinforces almost any topic is http://pbskids.org/lions/ . Students can be given the opportunity to revisit a topic by visiting this site and reviewing what they have learned. The reason was this site or any site is beneficial for the students are because we are providing “option” to the learner. Option means to give the students the chance to choose how they want to learn a topic. On the same matter, we also have to give the students choice on how they want to demonstrate what they have learned by choosing their product. Some students enjoy being verbal, or artistic, or simply write what they have learned so we need to allow them to use Blogs or Voice threads or Power Point to meet their own personal expectations.
The immediate adjustment, I will implement in my classroom is providing students with choice. I think that choice is the secret into allowing every learner succeed and meet their goals!
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
REFLECTION TIME
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
"GAME" PLAN FOR STUDENTS
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
"GAME"-PLAN REFLECTION
- What have you learned so far that you can apply in your instructional practice?
- What goals are you still working toward?
- Based on the NETS-T, what new learning goals will you set for yourself?
"communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats." |
- What learning approaches will you try next time to improve your learning?
Monday, July 26, 2010
"GAME" plan continues
Thus far, I was able to follow the first few steps. I have not been able to do the last steps which is to analyze student data and create goals alongside with students because of the time of year, however I feel ready since I have the sites set up.
https://nyc-acuity.mcgraw-hill.com/index.jsp (English Language Arts and Math)
http://165.155.107.202/lms (Math)
http://4kids.org/games/ (Math and Language Arts)
http://www.mrnussbaum.com/ (Science, Social Studies, Math, and English Language Arts)
What have you learned so far that you can apply in your instructional practice?
I have learned that designing lessons for our digital native students is easier than I thought. There are so many resources available online that can assist any teacher with any lesson or any students with any skill with the use of the Internet.
What do you still have to learn? What new questions have arisen?
I have to learn how to make time into the class schedule for using websites to reinforce skills. My questions are:
How often should I allow time for students to visit these sites in the classroom?
How often should I assign homework using these sites?
How will you adjust your plan to fit your current needs?
At this point in my plan I do not need to adjust anything. However, once schools begins I think I will make adjustments on the when to create goals with students based on their data.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
"GAME" plan on the move!
1. Are you finding the information and resources you need?
The information and resources needed for my game plan is being found with the help of resources. These resources come from my prior experience (school software programs) and from websites suggested from classmates (thank you).
2. Do you need to modify your action plan?
Thus far, I do not need to modify my action plan. My action plan was to have interactive websites for each subject and I was able to target the sites to my student´s needs. The only problem is I cannot set up the questions or lessons my students need since I do have students at the moment. Come september, I can match my students to certain skills using the websites I have found for each subject.
3. What have you learned so far?
I have learned, by interacting with teachers from around the country, that every school has their own perfered software program. In addtion, I have learned that everything we need is on the web. For example, before this GAME plan I had no idea that there was softwares to target skills in science.
4. What new questions have arisen?
My only questions now are, can I use software programs that my school does not use? Also, how can I convince the administration in my school to buy more software programs.
Veronica
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
A for action!
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
"GAME"-PLAN
Saturday, June 26, 2010
REFLECTION on Internet Literacy and Inquiry
The Internet gives us individuals the world at our fingertips. However, if we do not know how to use it accurately, we will not be able to take advantage of it to the full potential. This course taught me the ways and steps we must take in order to gain the answers to our questions on the Internet. Now I can take what I learned and apply it to my teaching.
Searching and using the Internet is a process that everyone needs to know, from questioning, locating, evaluating, synthesizing to communicating, every single step matters. But one striking revelation I had during this course was the importance of allowing students with choice before they begin their Internet project, the reason behind allowing choice is because based on Eagleton and Dobler (2007,p.251); choice motivates students to put more effort because it is based on desire and nothing more. Therefore, I know now to always allow my students choice even if it means that I need to give them the unit topic and they choose how to support it. My role as a teacher is not to restrict student learning but rather motivate their learning in order to succeed.
As a professional, I have created a goal for myself that reflects upon what I have learned and need to continue to grow within this area. My goal is to reflect more upon gathering new information and evaluating information. In other words, I need to reflect on my findings as a researcher and model to students that reflecting is critical when gathering, evaluating, or determining any type of information. I will meet my goal by keeping a reflection log throughout different units during the school year. This will help me stay accurate while monitoring my learning. In addition, showing students how to reflect on different units can motivate them to do the same, which promotes necessary skills for the 21st century.
Resources
Eagleton, M. B., & Dobler, E. (2007). Reading the web: Strategies for
internet inquiry. New York: The Guilford Press.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Research Methods With Scenarios
Application: Evaluating Research Methods
Over the past three weeks, we have learned about several research methods, including quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods, action research, and secondary data analysis.
These research methods we have studied are reflected in the following four scenarios, which present different examples of how a researcher might design a study on the subject of peer mediation.
Scenario 1: Ten students are available for in-depth interviews. Participants will be selected based on their involvement with the peer mediation program. They will be observed over three weeks. Analysis will attempt to determine issues concerning peer mediation.
In this scenario, peer mediation is being researched by understanding the reasoning behind the results. The understanding of the reasoning is an example of Qualitative Research. It is a great example of qualitative research because the "why is being answered face to face."(McMillian & Schumacher, (2008), p.135.) Qualitative method is used when the researcher uses"distinct groups"(McMillian & Schumacher, (2008)) with the goal in mind to understand why a certain problem is solved or not. In this specific research the analysis will be based on observations (face to face) that are done on selected participants ( distinct groups), which is a typical qualitative research procedure.
Scenario 2: Two classrooms of students are selected. There are 30 students in each class; each group will have similar demographics—age, sex, race, socio-economic background, etc. Classes will be randomly divided into two groups of 15 students. Of these two groups, one randomly selected group will get training on peer mediation and the other group will not. Thus in each classroom there will be one group that is trained in peer mediation and one that is not. Analysis will occur on which groups have the fewest office referrals.
In this scenario, peer mediation is being researched by using the analysis of data results. The analyzation of comparing groups by using data is an example of Quantitative Research. In this particular scenario the researcher is "choosing subjects"(McMillian & Schumacher, (2008), p.101) to group in order to receive fair data. In addition this is a prime example of quantitative research because the analysis will be on looking at the number of referrals to determine the results of peer mediation. In conclusion, looking at the number of referrals is a form of "collecting data."(McMillian & Schumacher, (2008)).
Scenario 3: A school counselor is interested in knowing how student attitudes affect the value of peer mediation to decrease the number of office referrals that are being filed for inappropriate interactions.
In this scenario, peer mediation is being researched by the use of mixed methods. Mixed methods is when the researcher uses data results and digging deeper to find out why or how. In this scenario the researcher is going to analyze the number of decreased referrals because of student attitudes by using quantitative research and then mix it with qualitative research by understanding how the attitudes affect the value of peer mediation. In conclusion this scenario supports mixed methods because it first "analyzes data and then ask why it is happened."(McMillian & Schumacher, (2008), p.161.)
Scenario 4: Peer mediation has become widely used in many schools. The feelings of those involved in the process are little known—either from those doing the mediation or those receiving it. The ZASK-R Acceptance Preference Survey will be given as pre- and post-tests to 40 students participating in mediation. Follow-up interviews will be conducted on a bi-monthly basis.
In this scenario, peer mediation is being researched by the use of action research. Action research is when the researcher "promotes change by getting involved in the research experiment itself." (McMillian & Schumacher, (2008), p. 174). In this specific research, the ZASK- R will improve peer mediation by getting involved and interviewing the students on their feelings and surveys. The involvement in combination with still using data and reasoning is what makes this scenario an action research.
Overall, any type of research is beneficial for the world of education because research is based on real results. In every scenario explained above, there will be something to be learned and understood. The most important thing is knowing what type of research you are analyzing or doing so that you know how to read the results regardless what method it is. Our goal is to comprehend the results and not misread the research.
Veronica
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Every Research Project needs a Problem Statement
Problem Statement:
I plan to determine the impact of read aloud programs between fifth grade students who are exposed to interactive read aloud programs and students who read aloud independently in order to reach a higher reading level/ benchmark.
Reason: As a fifth grade teacher who just completed 32 running records, I have noticed that the number one reason why students are not moving up levels is because of fluency. Now it is my job to find out the best way to assist my student's fluency by using their time wisely.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
New Goals for 2010 Thanks to Technology!

The most valuable lesson I learned in the past eight weeks has become my personal theory which is to give the children the opportunity to create their own meaning out of a lesson instead of instructing them on what they should think. A great way to allow the students to construct meaning through experiences is by emerging them into the cooperative and social learning. As Dr.Orey stated, "students need to interact and create episodes that will last." There are a world of tools in the world of technology that can increase student engagement socially and help them construct meaning into knowledge. Two of my new favorite tools are Voice Threads and Note-Taking with blogs or wikki pages. Voice Threads are wonderful to increase students' stamina by including visuals, audios, and instant feedback with the option of leaving several comments. Note-Taking is an essential tool because it is a process students must perfect to do well in life. The best part of note taking is the ability for students to choose how they want to keep track of their notes; from blogs, wikkis, concept maps, etc. Either way, if they are creating a Voice Thread or analyzing information learned through note taking, the student's engagment is likely because they are in control and socially involved.
In order to get the ball rolling with my students and increase their level of engagment with technology I have set two long term goals. One is to use technology to increase communication and ownership amongst students. I will do this by creating a BLOG with the entire class and make it a routine to assign discussions every weekend for homework. After a couple of weeks, I will have the students pick topics they would like to discuss that connects with the Unit we are working on. At last, I would like the students to use Blogs as a place where they can continue the classroom questions and comments into their personal computer. My second goal is to be more flexible when assigning projects to partnerships. In other words, I need to be more open-minded and trust the students to meet the rubric by any means of technology they would like to use. For example, I would first give the essential question they must try to answer, followed by the rubric, and meet with them in groups to check on their progress.Overall, my mission would be to allow them to use technology to get their meaning across without being instructed to use a certain tool.
Well, although I feel that I have a lot of ideas now, I know the next class will give me some more, so I will see you there! Bye for now !
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Social Learning Is The Key To Making Lessons Last Forever
Social learning with connectivism is sure to gain the students' attention. Another way in which cooperative learning works as a part of the social learning theory is by helping students "cooperate to learn"(Wong & Wong,1998.) For example, assigning students to "roles" again support social learning but also builds cooperative learning skills (reporter, writer,etc) which they will need in the real world.
Overall, social learning and it's connection to connectivism and cooperative learning help students grow as learners while helping them remember what they have learned.
A lesson that I created to incorporate social learning and it's methods is a lesson using Voice Thread to teach students about The Importance of Currency in Latin America. I downloaded pictures from the internet of ; types of currency from the past and present, map of the Latin American Countries, and a graph of the rates of the currency today. After I uploaded them, I added focus questions and voice explanations. Later on I put the students in groups of two and had them log onto the site using a class log in and had them add comments to what they noticed. This was my introduction to Currency in Latin America. Now that they have a background knowledge on the subject, they can do the research with their partners ( take turns as different roles) and add comments to the pictures while learning from one another through social learning!
http://voicethread.com/share/889763/
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Technology Helps Students Create Artifacts
In order for students to be able to gain a meaningful lesson from this process of creating their own artifact, teachers must have students generate and test their hypotheses through one of the following; "system analysis, problem solving, historical investigation, invention, and/ or decision making"(Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn,& Malenoski.) The more hypotheses the student experience, the more they will learn from the experience. In addition, tools that are very beneficial with the integration of technology are Spread Sheets and Data Collection Tools. Both of these tools help the students interpret the data instead of simply gathering.
One example of a lesson that can be used in the constructionist theory with technology is one I thought of while brainstorming during my reading. The lesson would be on Latin America's Impact on the United States and students will be asked to create a PowerPoint which focuses on their assigned country's contribution to the United States. Within this lesson students will be given the opportunity to use an interactive data collection box to interpret the amount of impact the country had to The United States compared to other contributions. Overall, this lesson will support the constructionist theory with the use of technology.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Cognitivism In The Classroom
Cues, questions, and organizers are ways in which we can target more than one thinker (learner) at a times because each one of these gives students an idea on what the topic is and varies from levels depending on the student. For example, the cues gives any type of learner a clue about what they are learning, the questions start from low leveled to high and the organizers are made so that students can grasp the concept regardless of the type of learner they are. Concept maps are an excellent way to show students the parts of what they are learning. Similiar to using tools that can connect with a variety of learners or thinkers, another important tool teachers can use during lessons with students is note taking. Note taking is extremely vital to a student because this is what the student uses personally to study or comprehend. For example, if the student is studying a character, the teacher can model to the students several note taking ideas and allow the student to choose which one can help he or she comprehend. What I have done in the past was give the students a choice between; using a T chart (Pitler,Hubbell,Kuhn,Malenoski,2007), sketching, listing, or webbing. Providing the students with the freedom of selecting their style of note taking makes it more personal for the student while allowing them to use their cognitivism in the classroom.
Veronica