My goals for This certification class is to further my knowledge of Google and to be able to share this knowledge with my colleagues.
Tech Teacher's Blog
Wednesday, March 21, 2018
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
RSA #4 "When I succeed, We Succeed (Palloff, R. and Pratt, K., 2007, pg 157)
RSA #4 Teacher Professional Development in the Amazon
Region: Strategies to Create Successful Learning Communities. Written by Lucio Teles, and Laura Maria Coutinho.
The article can be found here.
This week, Palloff and Pratt (2007), discuss the importance
of collaborative learning (pg 157-204).
They stress that the instructors need to structure the class in a way
that promotes collaboration between the students. Palloff and Pratt (2007) say “collaborative effort helps learners
achieve a deeper level of knowledge generation while moving from independence
to interdependence (pg 157).” The
students need to go from working by themselves to being an integral part of a
team. They stress that once a students
feels that they are an important part they will gain more knowledge. It is the responsibility of the instructor
to set up the activities to foster this growth.
Teles and Coutinho show the same feelings in their
article. The article is about a group
of student- teachers that needed to complete a teacher degree program in order
to be able to continue teaching in their classrooms. Most of the teachers had only completed schooling until high
school, but “the Ministry of Education made it mandatory to have a degree in
education in order to be a classroom teacher (Teles,
L., and Coutinho, L., 2011, pg
81).” Because of this mandate, if the
teachers did not complete a degree program they were not going to be allowed to
continue teaching in the classroom.
They would be moved to administrative positions in the school (Teles,
L., and Coutinho, L., 2011, pg 88). The University
of Brasilia set up a blended program for the teachers to participate in. The
university worked hard to make sure that there was collaboration between the
student teachers.
Teles and Coutinho (2011) write, “it is above all necessary
to work for the development of a human being who is capable to establish
knowledge sharing relations and construction, in both online and face-to-face
group meetings (pg 84). This goes along with Palloff and Pratt’s (2007)belief “that a
cyclical relationship exists in online classes wherein collaborative activity
supports the creation of community, and the presence of community supports the
ability for collaborative activity to occur successfully (pg 157).” Both authors stress that working together
forces both parties to want to succeed.
We need other people in order to succeed.
Personally, going through online education myself, I would
completely with this idea of collaboration.
When I do not feel a part of the group and all alone I do not gain as
much knowledge as I do when I am working with someone. I have felt alone at points, but it is the help
of my fellow classmates that have helped me succeed in the classes we have taken
so far.
The article and the book also have further explained to me
the importance of the class discussions.
Palloff and Pratt (2007) write that “an important element should be
built into an online is the expectation that student will provide constructive
and thoughtful feedback to each other (pg 176).” They also acknowledge that this can be a source of conflict
(Palloff, R. and Pratt, K., 2007, pg 177). I can see how this could be true but
I have not personally experienced this.
I can see now how important the feedback from other people can be. I have personally given some feedback that
has helped some of my classmates and also have been on the receiving end.
References
Palloff,
R. M., & Pratt, K. (2007). Building online learning communities:
effective strategies for the virtual classroom (2nd ed.). San Francisco,
CA: Jossey-Bass.
Teles,
L., & Coutinho, L. (2011). Teacher Professional Development in the Amazon
Region: Strategies to Create Successful Learning Communities. Journal Of
Asynchronous Learning Networks, 15(3), 81-92.
Thursday, November 22, 2012
RSA #3 Online Learners and using Social Networking Sites
RSA
#3 Online Social Networks as Formal Learning Environments:Learner Experiences
and Activities By George Veletsianos and
Cesar C. Navarrete
Can be viewed here
Our studies this week talk about how
to form a successful online learning environment. Palloff and Pratt expressed the importance of
creating a presence online. This means that participants need to make
themselves known online (2007, pg 12).
This can be done in many different ways, but the main way is through the
guidance of the professor. According to
Palloff and Pratt, it is the responsibility of the professor to get all of the
students participating. This can be done with something as simple as an
introduction discussion board (2007, pg 21).
One example of an Online Learning
Community is through social networking. Veletsianos and Navarrete performed a
study on the effectiveness of learning on a social networking site (2012,
pg144-166). They too found that setting up a social presence was very valuable
to the learning community. One of the
participants felt it allowed the participants to get to know each other and
allowed a “greater connection to the course” (Veletsianos G. and Navarrete C.,
2012, pg 154). The participants expressed a concern on how they presented
themselves or how other perceived them. Some
were not happy with the way they presented themselves. One participant
expressed that because she was in a class she needed to be formal, and this was
not her (Veletsianos G. and Navarrete C., 2012, pg 155).
There was a direct correlation
between the findings of Veletsianos and Navarrete and Palloff and Pratt. Both
feel it is necessary for students establish and identity in their class. They also
both felt it was a great idea for students to collaborate with one
another.
On a personal note, one aspect I
liked about the article is that it explained the findings of the use of social
networking sites as opposed to a platform (an example of Blackboard was given).
Not only did it look at the positives of this but also the negatives. They found that the participants overall
liked the use of the Social Networking sites but did find some major flaws with
it (Veletsianos G. and Navarrete C., 2012, pg 157).
References
Palloff,
R. M., & Pratt, K. (2007). Building online learning communities:
effective strategies for the virtual classroom (2nd ed.). San Francisco,
CA: Jossey-Bass.
Veletsianos,
G., & Navarrete, C. C. (2012). Online Social Networks as Formal Learning
Environments: Learner Experiences and Activities. International Review Of
Research In Open And Distance Learning, 13(1), 144-166.
Saturday, November 10, 2012
Free Time
For the first time in over six months I am currently
participating in a scheduled free time.
For the past six months I have been working very hard everyday on
different aspects of my life- home, work, schooling, being a wife, mother and
friend.
I have worked with the Greater Fox River Valley Chapter of Operation Snowball since 1997. I have
been on the volunteer adult staff since fall of 2002. Operation Snowball is a prevention program
for high schools. The philosophy of the
group is if you are a leader you will make the right decisions in regards to
drugs and alcohol.
This is the first time since I was a teen that I am just a
participant. It has been the best
weekend of my life. Normally I am worried about what will happen next or did I plan enough activities. I am just along for the ride this weekend. There really is nothing
more rewarding in life than knowing that you have touched the lives of 100 teenagers
in a matter of 48 hours by just being myself.
Here is what I have learned so far this weekend. I can go the distance if I take time to take
care for myself.
RSA #2 When Faculty Assess Integrated Learning: Faculty Inquiry to Improve Learning Community Practice.
RSA #2 When Faculty
Assess Integrated Learning: Faculty Inquiry to Improve Learning Community
Practice. By: Emily Lardner and Gillies Mallnarich. Change: The Magazine of
Higher Learning, v41 n5 p29-35 Sep-Oct 2009.
Can be viewed Here
One of the
major themes in the readings this week was focusing on how to know what the students
are accomplishing. I was completely
intrigued by the different protocols used to assess student learning. The Harvard’s Project Zero Protocol seemed to
be most interesting to me. I liked the
six steps were logical and built on each other.
The six steps are as follows:
1. Team
members examine evidence of student learning and/or examples of student work in
silence and take notes on their observations.
2. The
team leader asks, “What did you see?” Members are asked to make factual,
nonevaluative statements.
3. The
team leader asks, “What questions does this evidence of student learning raise
for you?” Members are asked to speculate about the thought process of students
and gaps in their understanding.
4. Members
discuss implications for their teaching.
5. Members
establish action plans to act on their learning
6. Members
share their reactions to and assessment of the meeting.
(DuFour, Dufour, Eaker and Many,
2010, p 188-189)
The problem I came across was that I could not apply this protocol
to anything I have done in the past.
In searching I came across the
article that shows how the faculty at Alverno University functions as a PLC and
then goes through the protocol to look at integrated learning. Alverno
University sets their students up into learning communities. Lardner and Mallnarch define learning
communities as “a cohort of students enrolled in two or more classes in which
they experience at least one explicitly designed opportunity for integrative
learning (2009, p 30).” The faculty
focusses the discussion in their PLC on
assessing integrated learning.
The article then expanded on each of
the six steps spelled out in Practice by Doing (DuFour, Dufour, Eaker and Many,
2010 p 188-189). Lardner and Mallnarich
divided the six steps into three categories: Getting Aquainted, Zooming in, and
Stepping Back (2009, 31-32). The getting
to know you phase asked the professors to look at student work and discuss what
they see. This is the same as steps one
and two in Practice by Doing (DuFour, Dufour, Eaker and Many, 2010 p
188-189). Zooming in asked the professors to assess the work based
on their core principals. This correlated
with steps three and four in Practice by Doing
(DuFour, Dufour, Eaker and Many, 2010 p 188-189). Finally the Zooming
out category asked the professors to look at how this will shape their
coursework. This goes right in line with
steps 5 and 6 in Practice by Doing (DuFour, Dufour, Eaker and Many, 2010 p
188-189).
For me this was a great article for
me because it showed a concrete example of how to use the Harvard Project Zero
Protocol.
References
DuFour,
R., DuFour, R., Eaker, R., & Many, T. (2010). Learning by doing: a
handbook for professional learning communities at work (Second ed.).
Bloomington, Ind.: Solution Tree.
Lardner, E., &
Malnarich, G. (2009). When Faculty Assess Integrative Learning: Faculty Inquiry
to Improve Learning Community Practice. Change: The Magazine Of Higher
Learning, 41(5), 29-35.
Saturday, November 3, 2012
RSA #1, Developing and Sustaining Professionalism Within Gifted Education
RSA #1, Developing and Sustaining
Professionalism Within Gifted Education. By: Coleman, Mary Ruth, Gallagher, James J., Job,
Jennifer, Gifted Child Today, 01/01/2012, Vol. 35, Issue 1
Can be viewed at the
following website
This week we were to focus on the
learning. It is important for everyone to focus their time on the missions and
goal of the Professional Learning Community (PLC). Everyone has different strengths they bring
to the PLC but it is the job of the leader to keep the community focused while
playing to everyone’s strengths.
In Developing and Sustaining Professionalism Within Gifted Education (2012),
Coleman, Gallagher, and Job explains the “new paradigm of teacher
professionalism”. They show a parallel to the professionalism of a doctor. The doctor never works alone, he/she will
work with nurses, other doctors in their practice, and other specialists in
order to give their patients the best possible care. Cole, Gallegher, and Job explain that “the
traditional view of the teacher is of a solitary figure at the front of a
classroom (2012)”, but the new paradigm is that teachers need to be a
part of a collaborative group. The article then went on to describe how the use
of collaboration will allow for teachers to identify and teach Gifted and
Talented children. They go through the
steps from identification through curriculum development and
implementation. The article then goes
through the importance of all of the standards of an effective PLC.
Coleman, Gallegher and Job enhances
the idea of “focus on the learning” presented in DuFour, DuFour, Eaker and Many’s
Learning by Doing . DuFour, DuFour, Eaker and Many (2012)
show that a well-run PLC will allow the teachers the ability to provide the
best learning to their students. The two
agree that collaboration with other professionals will not only help the student
but will also provide the teachers continuing education. Both agree also that
the leaders (administration or state departments) must provide the necessary tools
to help the teachers run an effective PLC.
References
Coleman,
M. R., Gallagher, J. J., & Job, J. (2012). Developing and Sustaining
Professionalism Within Gifted Education. Gifted Child Today, 35(1),
27-36. Retrieved November 3, 2012, from
http://web.ebscohost.com.cucproxy.cuchicago.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=cc5cdf02-7afd-4601-91d2-3635e67dff35%40sessionmgr104&vid=8&hid=113
DuFour,
R., DuFour, R., Eaker, R., & Many, T. (2010). Learning by doing: a
handbook for professional learning communities at work (Second ed.).
Bloomington, Ind.: Solution Tree.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Happy Halloween!
Happy Halloween Everyone! Look for a future post in the next couple of days
Look for me here http://techteachersblog.blogspot.com/
Look for me here http://techteachersblog.blogspot.com/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)