GRAY’S SPACE

I’ve just finished reading Roblyer (2006) “Learning theories as bases for integration”. Matthew mentioned in the lecture today how good the book is, so I thought I’d have a read.

I found the chapter a very pertinent and informative discussion on the pedagogies of direct instruction v constructivism. Roblyer gives an in depth analysis and outlines how we can combine the two approaches in our teaching.He says that:

Teachers will always use some directed instruction as the most efficient means of teaching students required skills; teachers will always need motivating, cooperative learning activities will ensure that students want to learn and that they can transfer what they learn with problems they encounter.(p46)

Proficient technology-oriented teachers must learn to combine directed instruction and constructivist approaches and select technology resources and integration methods that are best suited to their specific needs.(p 46)

I would have really liked to have seen this chapter at the beginning of the year. The chapter points out the validity of both pedagogies and the value of using them at specific points in the education cycle. Education courses should be underpinned with a foundation of proven direct teaching methods that successfully integrate constructivist approaches into the teaching/learning environment.

I can really see the point of using technology to do things that I can’t. i.e Play with shapes and manipulate functions and graphs -the list goes on.It’s up to me and you to be creative in how we shape the technology and teaching together

Foundations of Effective Technology Integration Models:Theory and Practice

I have just finished reading  Grabe, M. & Grabe, C. (2001) Conceptual models for school learning.

The chapter discusses authentic learning and ways of increasing and building authentic learning for students.

The chapter gives some interesting ideas for creating authentic learning opportunities for students. It becomes a matter of creating tasks that have real world value and meaning.There are a lot of good tips that we can use to incorporate into our lessons.However,I found the following quote very honest and a little suprising in a constructivist book.

While the basic ideas for constructivist activities have been studied for sometime in such fields as cognitive and developmental psychology, few actual classroom applications have been thoroughly evaluated using soIid research techniques (Panel on Educational Technology, 1997). There are some promising exceptions.(Cognition and Technology Group, 1992; Wenglinsky, 1998), but no body of research that would allow a valid conclusion.

Grabe, M. & Grabe, C. (2001). Conceptual models for school learning. In M. Grabe & C. Grabe (Eds). Integrating technology for meaningful learning 33rd Edtn. pp 56-76. Houghton MifflinPlace of Publication : Boston

I think we should start a new school of methodology called Instructive Constructivism/Constructionism

Younger students struggle with visualising 3 dimensional rotations of objects. I found an interesting piece of software that allows students to rotate shapes and evaluate their spacial geometry. Will work well for year 7-8 students.

Rotating houses

Think of all the time you’ve tried to get the latest tech app to work . Think about all the time you’ve spent creating posts that crash or never upload.Count up the hours. Count up the hours and then you won’t have to wonder why you never get time to study for your KLA exams.

I can no longer insert jpegs into my blogs. I don’t know why. The computer just decided to stop allowing this-go figure.

I’ve found a few websites where you can make comics and then download them . They are all free.

Make Belief Comics

Go Animate

Read Write Think

Have a play

I’m reacting to Madhu’s Blog about a Comic book I created for Maths. Thanks for the profile Madhu.

I found on my prac that students reacted very well to Comic style work sheets. I was able to create some lessons using Comic Life and they were well received.

There is a strong level of disengagement with students and mathematics at the prac school.The school had only one Extension1 student and eight 2 Unit Maths students .The majority of students were studying General Mathematics. Teaching resources such as the Comic Book benefit and engage students who are struggling with 2 Unit and contemplating dropping to General Maths.

Comic Books simplify some of the concepts involved in the topic and reinforces them with extra diagrams and explanation.

Eventually the class would create their own topic summaries to share

“Having students create their own comics can improve motivation, literacy and conceptual understanding.”(Pelton et al 2007).

Here’s a little snapshot of the comic. I created the South Park figures from the South Park website – it has a free section for creating your own characters

Pelton,F. Pelton,L. T. & Moore, K. (2007). Learning by Communicating Concepts Through Comics. In C. Crawford et al. (Eds.), Proceedings of Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education International Conference 2007 (pp. 1974-1981).

Annie’s post-“Skate to where the puck should be” makes me reflect back to the dimension of Classroom management named “WITH-IT-NESS” .

“Effective classroom management involves being with-it,maintaining focus and time management” -Educational Psychology p434Woolfolk& Margetts

‘With-it’ teachers are in tune with their students.They anticipate trouble before it arises ,they have eyes in the back of their head.-Educational Psychology p434 Woolfolk& Margetts

I learnt the hard way that my ‘with-it’ skills needed fine tuning during my prac. It’s definitely a major focus of next year. A skill I want to have razor sharp.

Bye

Danny’s eloquent post on the problem’s facing first year teachers is very much how I see next year unfolding plus throw in classroom management issues for good measure!! I agree that demands are heavy and time and resources limited.

I guess all we can do is be commited to change, attempt to be innovative and incorporate technology whenever we can. On top of that be the best we can.

The clock is ticking not long to go now until we can put it all in practice.

I just read Matthew’s blog on his discovery of Flash Maths . I visited the site and found it most helpful. There are a lot of applets that allow students to interact with Maths in a stimulating ,visual authentic way.

The stats regarding the improvement in understanding are impressive. I’ll hopefully be able to have a play with this next year when teaching.

Thanks Matthew