Reflection 3

Well, it is that time again in the master's program in which I reflect on the information that I have learned over the past 8 weeks. I know that I have abused this blog page, but I find it difficult to spend more time indoors throughout the summer than necessary.
I actually gained more confidence in myself as this literacy course developed. I have, in the past, been hesitant to break out of my comfort zone and embrace the significance of a large project. I have to admit that I also found some enjoyment in developing my own unit plan. I am currently in a position that does not allow for much creativity outside of the set curriculum. Students learn so many different life long lessons when literacy is incorporated into what they are learning. As a physical educator I have been skeptical about teaching literacy skills to students, but I now realize that there is not an area of education that could not benefit from the teaching or literacy in some shape or form.
I have realized that my biggest downfall as an educator is my naive out look on the impact that physical educators can have on students. I have always felt as though what I teach is very important, but I have not taken the time to consider the integration of so many other subject areas that could affect students positively. I continue to grow with each course that I complete, and intend to make an honest effort to include new subject matter and ideas to my every day mission to guide students through education in order to create confident, successful members of society.

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

Constructivist and Constructionist Learning Theories

In this week's video Dr. Orey stated that constructivism is when students "construct" their own meaning of something, while constructionism is when they build on something that they have already learned about (Orey 2007). I view constructivism as a theory in which students have the opportunity to get their hands into and actually build a knowledge base by being involved. Educators are fortunate in that there are several technological resources that make this learning construction possible. The first example given in the text "Using Technology With Classroom Instruction That Works" is spread sheets. When most of us this of spread sheet we think of a program called Microsoft Excel, but there are several different programs that have grown in popularity (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, Malenoski, p.204, 2007). When I think of spread sheets I have some anxiety. This tool can be very overwhelming at first, but with just a little training it may be used for seemingly endless possibilities. It can get you from point A to point B with out having to do all of the dirty work in the middle. I actually used a spread sheet in a class to track work out habits and caloric intake. It actually helped me to build a plan and a certain knowledge about energy intake vs. energy out put. What was most impressive to me was that I could create any type of graph that I wanted, so that I had that visual reassurance that my work actually had some positive results.

I believe that if students are actively involved and almost teaching themselves Then there is a high change for retention. Most students will remember their science projects from elementary school for their life time. The reason that they do is simple, because they had to develop a hypothesis and test it. The out come was not always what was expected, but the experience of actively learning about a specific subject was defiantly memorable.

Resources
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenowski, K. (2007). Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2007). "Constructionism and Constructivism". Presenter: Dr. Orey

Cognitive Learning Theory

Whenever I think about cognitism I think about brain activity and the brain's ability to retain and retrieve information. This week in my masters program I am learning to incorporate new learning tools in what I teach. I am currently working on a conceptual map(http://www.bubbl.us/) that will correlate with a virtual field trip. These tools are great for creating an interactive approach to new subjects that I may have expected students to read about instead. A concept map is sort of like a brain storm that starts with a central node or idea that is built upon based on what we want our students to learn. By using a concept map students may develop words or cues that will hopefully trigger memory receptors in their brain in order to relate to a central idea. The virtual field trip seems to me to be the icing on the cake. A visual and interactive activity to reinforce what ideas were developed within the conceptual map.
I love the cognitive learning theory because I can relate my field of education (p.e.) into the process. Based on several studies done on blood flow to the brain after physical activity, students reading scores are higher if they are physically active for 20 min. each day due to their ability to retain information. The University of Michigan has a good website with information relating physical activity to brain activity at
http://sitemaker.umich.edu/356.speregen/physical_education_and_school_performance .

Behaviorst Learning Theory

I have to say that in the environment that I teach, there is not much room for the behaviorist learning theory. In the aquatic environment, tutorials described by Dr. Orey do not have any real place. I do not use computers as a part of everyday lessons. Once in a while they are used to download information from heart rate monitors, but never really to teach new material. I do however use this theory as a disciplinary tool. Using praise to encourage student’s behavior and skill progression has proven to be very effective. The only problem that I have with this strategy is that I don’t know if students are simply hungry for praise or if they are actually being trained to do the right thing. I have to say that having read chapter 10 of the text “Using Technology With Classroom Instruction That Works” and reading the online article “Behaviorism Tutorial” from Athabasca University, I have learned of another way that I continuously utilize the behaviorist theory of learning. That area is practice. Within the subject of physical education, students are expected to perform certain skills at various times throughout their career as students. To narrow the subject down even more, when students are asked to perform certain swimming skills within a set amount of time, much of the unit is dedicated to practice and repetition. When I talk about using this method I feel like it sounds lazy or monotonous, but it actually works, and with a little bit of creativity students can practice skills without actually knowing it. I guess that my point is that no matter how badly educators want to push this theory to the side, I think that it would be difficult to find a teacher who does not use the behaviorist learning theory in one way or another.

Back to Blogging

I want to apologize for my lack of posts for the last couple of months. However, I have just begun a new course on my path to a master's degree. I will be required to post every so often so there will be something new for anyone interested in checking. I look forward to all of the discussions that will take place over the next few weeks!