Reflection 2

As this 8 week course comes to a close I find myself feeling as though I have gathered all kinds of useful information that will help me to improve my teaching style and understand the learning process of my students. I had learned of the different learning theories as an undergraduate, but the in depth look at each of them has truely heightened my knowledge. I can actually put a tag on my teaching style, and describe which theories work best in my environment. I have to say that I pretty much thought that my teaching style related mostly to the cognitive learning theory. As a p.e. teacher I like to relate student's ability to retain information to physical activity whenever possible. There are studies that prove that to be true, but I have found that there is much more to learning than simply retention.

Constructionism is a theory that takes knowledge that students already have and builds on it. What a great theory for learners in a physical education setting that builds on skills and puts them all together to develope a final product. Swimming is a great example; students first learn to float, then kick, then arm strokes, before putting it all together for a final product which is a full stroke. I have also learned to embrace the learning theoty of behaviorism. This "old fashioned" theory still actually has its' place in the classroom. Praise is a good thing, there is no way around that, but there is a fine line with students where they are either working for praise or working for knowledge. I guess that the one thing about my instructional strategy that will change after this course is that I will pull from a hodge podge of different stategies and theories, and I will more that likely use all of them at some point. Having an open minf about instruction and learning is the only way to reach every student.

As opportunities arise to teach health in the classroom I will have the ability to utilize tools to make classes more interactive. A white board that students may use to become involved in an otherwise dull lecture is a great way to keep their attention. I will also definately be using virtual field trips. The more that students can see, the more concrete the information is that we teach them. Virtual field trips a excellent for making information relevant and showing students the world without ever having to leave the classroom.

Social Learning Theory

This week's learning theory is the social learning theory. The idea behind this theory is that student's learn from each other and by working cooperatively. In the text "Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works" cooperative learning is described as a type of learning in which "students interact with each other in groups in ways that enhance their learning" (Pilter, Hubbell, Kuhn, Malenoski, 2007). What I like about this theory is that students use their individual strengths in order to contribute to the efforts of a group to reach a common goal. Students learn from each other every day, and the thought that teachers can give some direction to help them take on the role of educator is very appealing to me. Society requires that people interact with one another and we are responsible for preparing young students for their future.

Some of the suggested activities in the text that caught my eye are Keypals and Web Site Creation. Keypals are an updated version of what many teachers know as pen pals. There are several web sites that can be used to communicate with students around the world, but with much less wait time (www.epals.com/ , www.world kids.net/clubs/kci , http://www.iecc.org/). Email and the Internet have made communication more accessible to students and teachers alike. Web site creation can be thought of as a research project. Groups of students work together to build a web site that has multiple pages that cover a subject given by the instructor. I have to say that I have never used either of these techniques, but I could definitely like to make room in my curriculum for something like one of these.

I am required to post a VoiceThread assignment that I worked on this week that is an activity that students could participate in while falling under the social learning theory. The page that I have been working on is http://voicethread.com/share/1040684/. The subject hat I chose to "try" and present on was spanish speaking students in the classroom. Regrettably I am not happy with how this project went for me because it seems like it could be a fun and educational activity. I did not get much onto the presentation partially because of my ignorance with the program and partially because time was very sparse this week. I definitely have work to do to understand this tool, but I like it enough to actually try it some more. My current frustration level got the best of me this week!

Resources:
Pilter, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., Malenoski, K. (2007). Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works. Alexandiria, VA: ASCD