Interview with Dr. Grace

I decided to interview Dr. Grace and discuss three of my biggest fears when it comes to conducting instructions within a classroom. I asked Dr. Grace to elaborate on how to create smooth transitions from one activity to another, how to try and include every student in a class discussion, and how she uses overlapping when she is in the middle of a discussion or disciplining her students and a distraction arises. I hope that this interview offers new ideas to teachers about how to conduct instructions within a classroom.

Chapter 10 "Going Beyond the Classroom"

The most important part of this chapter is to understand how important it is for teachers to help students make the connection to what is being learned in the class to the real world. Studies suggest that students understand and remember information ten times better when it is related to a real life situation. A lesson that presents a real life scenario can reach out to students in so many different ways.
I remember in my high school biology class we were learning about trees and why each tree had different leave characteristics. This could have been just one of those lessons where students had to memorize the different kinds of fact for the test, however, our teacher took us out of the classroom into the woods and let us explore the different kinds of leaves. We had to collect five different leaves and compare and contrast the different characteristics of the leaves. Then we had to explain why these different characteristics were important to the trees. This was such a challenging lesson, but in the end we ended up learning so much more than what was expected of us.

Chapter 9 "When Things Go Wrong"

The most important part of this chapter was summed up in Vance response where she mentions that the most important part of teaching is for the teacher to do his or her job and do it well. Everything else, such as bonding with students and respect for one another, will fall into place if the teacher continues to do his or her job.
I think sometimes teachers worry to much about loosing control of their students, or not receiving the respect they should. To compensate for this teachers try to either become more of a buddy or an authority figure. One tries to win the students over by being their friend the other example tries to force the students to listen and pay attention. If teachers just took the time to do what they are suppose to, such as create lesson that are fun and engaging or challenge their students to dig deeper into a subject, then students will naturally come to respect that teacher.

Chapter 8 "Teaching Teenagers Who Are Still Learning English"

What caught my attention in this chapter was where students talked about how their teacher didn't respect their ability to learn because they have a language barrier. Students who are struggling with language barriers are not stupid, and they do want to learn the material, however, it's going to take them much more time to learn something new. It frustrated me to hear that teacher's would offer to give students a passing grade rather than take the time to teach them the material.
When a teacher offers to pass a student because they feel it is unfair to a student who has a language barrier they are doing the student no justice at all. How is this method going to help them; at some point in a students life they are going to have to know the information. Don't feel bad for them or think that they can't do the homework; take the time to teach! A teacher's job is to accept that not all students are going to understand the material that they are presenting to the students, and to take the time to find ways to teach it to them. Students who have a language barrier are no different from the students who don't understand the material.

Chapter 7 "Teaching Difficult Academic Material"

"Sometimes teachers think they're the first one to teach you something. They don't realize that we might have been listening for five years to someone else that wasn't you" (Cushman, p 124)I guess this goes to show just how important it is for a teacher to find out about students prior knowledge on a subject before they teach the lesson. Preassessments tend to do the trick when trying to learn what students already know about a subject.
While observing my mentor teacher he decided to teach a lesson on the food pyramid and why certain foods are needed more than others. Most of the students were freshmen so they had probably had at least one maybe two health classes before this one. So my mentor teacher begins discussing this topic, and he thinks that the class is really understanding this subject because they are able to answer all of his questions. Finally about mid way through the lecture one students was completely off task, and when my mentor teacher asked him why he wasn't paying attention he told him that it was because he'd already heard this information about a thousand times before and it was becoming rather old. Most of the other students agreed with this student.

Chapter 6 "Motivation and Boredom"

What stuck out to me the most in this chapter also made me extremely upset when I read it. There is a part in the chapter that talks about how teachers need to be passionate about being a teacher, and about the subject they are teaching."Some teachers act like they don't want to be there. They don't have any spirit, they just make the class do work. Once in a while students want to laugh and have fun" (Cushman, p 104). The teacher sets the tone of the classroom; if he or she is dedicated to helping students learn then the teacher will create an atmosphere where learning can take place.
I can't believe that there are teachers in this world who go to work everyday and hand out worksheets and readings for their students to do, and then they wonder why students resent coming to their class. For those teachers out there who do supposedly teach in this manner I can't believe they get paid. Usually in a profession when someone isn't doing their job very well they are let go; so how is it that there are teacher's in the classroom that are not passionate about teaching, but yet they still continue to get paid? The more passionate a teacher is about their topic the more the students are going to learn; this is a pretty straight forward understanding.

Chapter 5 "Teaching to the Individual, Working with the Group"

My favorite part of this chapter is where the author, Kathleen Cushman, describes the different kinds of students: the eye-roller, the wallflower, the hand-waver, the dreamer, the con artist, the goof-off, and the workhorse. As I read Cushman's description of the different kinds of student behaviors images of certain kids faces pop into my mind. I completely understood what she was talking about when she explained each category.
I think it is important to recognize the different types of student behaviors, like the con artist, because that way teachers can better understand how to deal with each of these students individually. The more teachers know about why students behave in this manner the better equip they are to provide the kind of attention and learning styles necessary to engage each child, from all of the categories, into the lesson. Take for instances the child who is considered a dreamer; if teachers understand that these students usually enjoy staying in their own world then create a lesson where the student could write a fictional story describing a make believe place. Also, teachers need to provide opportunities for the students who are afraid to participate. That's why it's important to mix up the way lesson are taught to the class, so that the teacher can reach out to all the different types of student behaviors.

Chapter 4 "Creating a Culture of Success"

The part in the chapter that really stuck out to me was when it mentioned that most students are sensitive to not only being criticized in front of others, but also receiving praise from the teacher in front of their peers. When a student receives praise from the teacher that sends a message to the other students that they didn't work as hard or do as good of a job as this particular student. That can be a ton of pressure place onto a student, and if teacher are not careful students may sometimes stray away from performing well to avoid praise.
I know that this concept seems rather odd because who doesn't love being told that they have done a great job and their work has defiantly paid off, but when people are worried about fitting in they don't want to make others resent them because they understand the material and their friends don't grasp it. I think that there is a time and a place where teachers can still offer individual praise, such as pulling a student aside after class or leaving positive notes on a students paper letting them know they are doing a good job. Criticism, I think, should also be handled in the same manner. If there is something that a student is not understanding it makes no sense to put them on the spot in front of all of his or her peers. Students tend to shut down when a teacher addresses their weaknesses in front of others.

Chapter 3 "Classroom Behavior"

The part of the chapter that had the greatest impact on me was when the author, Kathleen Cushman, mentioned the importance of being clear on classroom behavior and expectations. Teacher need to make sure that they clearly explain their expectations, don't assume that the students know what is appropriate behavior or not, because there will be one student who will try to get away with something that wasn't mentioned. If rules are established, understood, and continually enforce by the teacher, classroom behavior will be less challenging.
This part of the chapter sparked my attention because for the past three weeks I have observed a wide range of classroom behavior and lack of discipline that was in place. The discipline was inconsistent; some days students were allowed to blurt out answers, and other days they had to raise their hand or else they were in trouble. Students tend to pick up on things such as this, and when they realize that the teacher doesn't follow through consistently they will resent him or her. After reading the chapter I found that the best way to avoid this would be to establish clear rules and expectations.

Student Sample- Nutrition Ned

My contributions to the WebQuest wikis

The three contributions I made were to the scientific task, design task, and the mystery task. The scientific task webquest used chocolate chip cookies as a way to demonstrate how to take a question and develop it into a hypothesis, and then how to find the results through experiments. This was a great webquest because the task was explained clearly, the roles were assigned, the process was clear and understandable, resources were there, evaluation was clear for the student, and the conclusion tied everything together. The mystery task webquest would be a good website to use if it didn't repeat the same information three times in a row. Not a great deal of depth for this webquest because it asks for the same information to be displayed in three different ways; instead of going into more detail.Lastly, the design task webquest was missing an exciting introduction, and it didn't really give the student a role. The content of the webquest was all there, but its has to engage the students to want to take part in the assignment.

How to Help Someone use a Computer

Things I have to tell myself when working with a person who is new to the technology:
“By the time they ask you for help, they've probably tried several things. As a result, their computer might be in a strange state. This is natural”. Things I have to tell myself when working with a person who is new to the technology: I have to resist the urge of wanting to grab onto the mouse and take control of the situation.

When presenting the Maine Memory Network I have to take a step back and allow the students to follow the instructions that are given on the website. I want my students to explore all the wonderful artifact that are present in this digital museum.

Agre, Phil. How to help someone use a computer. 1996. 18 September 2008 . .

Copyright and Fair Use LR

14. On Back-to-School night, an elementary school offers child care for students' younger siblings. They put the kids in the library and show them Disney VHS tapes bought by the PTA. This is permissible.

False. Video (like everything else) is not covered under fair use for entertainment or reward. The use described is entertainment, pure and simple. However, Disney will sell you a one-time license for $25 that makes this legal use. Call Disney at (818) 560-1000, ask for "Rights," and prepare to trade faxes.

This question completely blows me out of the water; I had no idea that it was illegal to show Disney VHS video’s to children if the school didn’t have a license to do so. I suppose it’s because it does fall under the entertainment or reward category and not under an educational movie; that would make sense. I’m just very surprised that if a school wants to show Disney movies they would have to have a license to do so. This gets me thinking a little because I remember being in school in the third or fourth grade, and we would have a movie day, usually the Friday before a school vacation, where we would watch a Disney movie and eat popcorn. I wonder if my school knew that it was a violation to watch Disney movies without a license or maybe the school actually had a license. I’m not sure, but it does makes me extremely nervous to become a teacher, all of these rules and regulations, what if I did something that was illegal and I wasn’t even aware that is was unconstitutional?

Copyright and Fair Use SR

Quiz question #2: I guess I’m a little confused on this question and answer; so it’s alright to install a program on a central server so that students in the classroom can access it, but it can only be used one at a time. Is there a way to block other users from accessing the program when a user is already using the program?

Quiz question #7: I’m not quite sure how I feel about this; a part of me thinks oh neat a place where parents can go and see how their child is doing in school, but then another part of me thinks well should this really be allowed. That’s a student’s work being displayed to all kinds of parents, and even if the website is private there are ways to hack into it.

Quiz question #8: I always thought that as long as credit was being given then students could download new releases from a Taiwanese Web site, but the more I think about it the more I can see why this should be illegal.

Quiz question #10: Teachers are allowed to use clip art and music from popular file-sharing sites as long as they don’t try and redistribute it or post it on the Web. I didn’t know that using clip art that has been taking from a website and used in a lesson plan couldn’t be put up on line legally.

Quiz question #12: How can manufacturers get away with blocking technology if teachers are allowed to use such videos as educational material? I originally thought this question was false because I didn’t know that a teacher could digitize a movie legally.

Quiz question #13: Of course this question is true fair use because the students asked the person they interviewed if they could post the information on the web. The only way I see this become a problem is if the class that used it in their History Day project was to go and redistribute the information.


Quiz question #15: So it is alright for a teacher to go online and look up a film clip from FlimClipsOnline.com and present it to the class this way, but teachers can’t take clips from VHS’ and compile them together.

Quiz question #18: In order to play a clip, and present it in a music project the clip has to be less than sixty seconds long, I believe, or else it is considered illegal.

Web 2.0 Educator

I took the time to read both of the web 2.0-using educators, and decided that I would like to reflect on Cool Cat Teacher Vicki Davis. She is an adamant teacher who believes whole heartedly that flattening the classroom is one of the best things that a teacher can do for his or her students. Flattening the classroom pertains to finding new and effective was to communicate with the world using technology. Vicki wants to continue supplying teachers, and others, with the technical knowledge they need to be able to make an impact on the people surrounding them. Although, Vicki realizes that keeping up with technology is like running in a race where the finish line never gets any closer, she remains committed to the race for the sake of children who she impacts every day. It is no great surprise that Vicki’s specialty is teaching a computer based technology class. Some of the projects she uses to teach her students include www.classtools.net, which allows the students to design a game that helps them study for a test, wiki’s for students to post his or her work on, and blogs for students to write and communicate with each other. I hope that my fear of technology will cease so that I can develop teaching methods that have proven to be great learning experiences in Vicki’s classroom. In one of her blogs she writes “I’d rather be a visionary than blindsided” and I couldn’t agree with her more.

The Meaningful Engaged Learning Model

Welcome to the Arctic-Ski game show! Teachers today have an extremely important job at hand; they have to motivate students to learn, discipline when needed, and create lessons that comply with the varying learning levels of their students. Teacher’s how do we motivate our students? Well, here's a game show that brings teaching to a whole new level by using the meaningful engaged learning model (MEL).The MEL model is designed for teachers who are looking for ways to engage all their students in the learning process. MEL is composed of 4 categories: environment, experience, motivation, and meaning; that are then further divided into 9 sub categories: student/teacher relationship, helping students succeed, hands-on, learning styles, interest, autonomy, avoiding rewards, connections, and context. In the game show, pauses will be made to stop and explain each of the 9 sub categories. For example, autonomy in the MEL model focues on decision making. In the game show the students are allow to make thier own decision on which category they want to answer. This is just one way we demonstrated the MEL model. Teachers pay close attention to the examples; they will help you create new ways to motivate your students to learn no matter what their learn level is. Sit back, relax, and let the learning process begin.

"Learning Style Inventory Results"

These are the results of your inventory. The scores are out of 20 for each style. A score of 20 indicates you use that style often.
Style Scores
Visual 8
Social 15
Physical 19
Aural 11
Verbal 7
Solitary 5
Logical 9
Memletic Learning Styles Graph:
www.learning-styles-online.com/inventory/results.asp


I completely agree with the results from the “Learning Style Inventory”. I have never been the kind of student that enjoys sitting still listening to lecture after lecture; any teacher that can get me up and moving while incorporating it into the lesson is a hero in my eyes.

Learning Styles Inventory. 2003-2007. 4 September 2008 .

Chapter 2 "Respect, Liking, Trust, and Fairness"

1. In the beginning of chapter two the author describes two different kinds of coaches; the first coach allows his players to do whatever it is they feel like doing, and the second coach provides discipline and structure to their workouts. Despite the fact that the athletes really liked the first coach he was fired because the players didn’t reach the desired results. The second coach, although disliked by the athletes at first, helped his players to reach their goal, and in turn received the respect and appreciation the first coach was looking for.
2. This story made me understand that there is a delicate balance between being there for a student, and setting boundaries and limitations so that learning can occur. Students need to respect the teacher's authority, and the only way for this to be accomplished is to refrain from trying to be his or her buddy. Relationships with students will occur naturally; when a teacher goes out of his or her way to befriend a student he or she tends to comply with the students wants. This sends the wrong signal to students, and he or she don’t view the teacher as an authority figure. Therefore, students take advantage of the opportunity that has been given to him or her; and now the rules don’t apply to him or her because the teacher is his or her friend.

Cushman, Kathleen. Fires in the Bathroom. New York: The New York Press, 2003.

Chapter 1 "Knowing Students Well"

1. Chapter one focuses on teacher/student relationships, and how to develop them without becoming too personal. My favorite example of how to build a teacher/student relationship is by having my students write in a journal. This method not only helps bring two people together, but it can also help students with their grammar and writing skills.
2. I really took a liking to this method because sometimes there are students, who will want to talk about themselves all day long, and then there are others who want to form a relationship with the teacher, but they don’t want everyone else to know certain things about them. This gives both students an opportunity to say whatever they would like to the teacher. Also, I like the idea of being able to leave my students little notes of encouragement after each journal entry.

Cushman, Kathleen. Fires in the Bathroom. New York: The New York Press, 2003.

"Type I and Type II Technology"

Type I Technology: can be defined as using current technology to enhance old teaching practices that may or may not be effective.
Examples:
1. Instead of hand writing notes on the black board technology has allowed teachers to take their notes and present them to their students by using power point presentations. Still the same teaching practice of lecturing and letting the students take notes, however, the notes now appear electronically on a screen instead of a black board.
2. In foreign language classes students now use computers and online web searches to look up the definition of a word instead of using a hand held dictionary. The teaching practice has stayed the same but the equipment has been upgraded.
3. When I was in high school students who took the graphic design course in the vocational center had to create a blue print of a house, and then construct the house using popsicle sticks. Now students taking the graphic design course still have to create a blue print of a house, but instead of constructing it with popsicle sticks they use a computer program to recreate the blue prints.
Type II Technology: can be defined as teaching practices, using current technologies, which have evolved and developed over the years to help enhance the way people learn.
Examples:
1. Math and music have always shared a link; in fact my high school band director would say something along the lines of “music is more than rhythm it’s mathematical equations waiting to be discovered”. Teachers are now using programs such as rock band not only to teach their students how to compose music, but how to count rhythms and make equations using different rhythms.
2. Physical education teachers are using pedometers to help students engage in physical activities.
3. Videotaping athletic performance has become a new way to analyze physical movement and body mechanics. While attending the University of Maine at Presque Isle we used video cameras to record different movements of the body to see how a person moves, and to determine how efficient that movement is for that certain activity.

Maddux, Cleborne D. and D. LaMont Johnson. Type II Applications of Technology in Education: New and Better Ways of Teaching and Learning. The Haworth Press. Inc., 2005.

"My MEL Experiences"

• Student/teacher relationship: In seventh grade I was placed in a classroom with an extremly strict teachers who could have cared less if we learned anything. She would ask questions that were rather difficult to answer, at our age, and expected us to respond. When no one said anything she would say something to the effect of "this is the generation we're counting on, and you can't answer this simple question". That was the worst year of school I've ever been through.
• Hands-On: My biology instructor in high school was one of the best teachers I have ever had because his learning style was so similar to mine. In almost every class we did something that was visually stimulating where we would manipulate objects with our hands to prove a point. Looking back now he must have spent hours planning each lesson, but I'm glad he did because I have such a great understanding of biology because of him.
• Learning Styles: After about the fourth grade my teachers stopped creating lessons that incorporated all different styles of learning. It suddenly became read this section in the book and then do this work sheet, or read this passage and write a response for homework. I remember most of my classes being taught this way and sadly I don't believe much has changed.
• Interest: In eighth grade we were required to choose a topic that interested us, research it, and then we were asked to present it in an academic fair. We could choose almost any topic that we wanted to learn more about. three weeks were spent in the library doing research, and then two weeks in the computer lab writing our report. Along with the research paper we had to create a visual display and a poster board to present to our classmates.
• Connections: The only class I ever remember making real life connections to what we were learning in class to the real world would have been in my math class. My math class taught me how to balance a check book, to figure out how many miles per gallon of gas my car used, and how to figure out percentages.