Reflection 6714-D

Reflection on Technology and Diversity

Introduction
Differentiation is the key to engaging and reaching all learners. Throughout this course I have reconsidered and pondered how effective my classroom practice is when implementing and meeting the diverse learning needs of my students. A practical challenge to me this year was the introduction to the inclusion classroom environment. I honestly struggled in carving a path that I felt was individually meeting all students’ needs and that was progressing learning forward. This course assisted me in narrowing my focus goals down into two areas that I felt I could adjust currently and continuously restructure as need for the ongoing growth of my profession and student learning. The following will explain how I came to these two focus goals and the impact they will make for each student’s successes as a learner.
The initial frustration I experienced within my inclusion classroom was the vast array of abilities and strength areas. It seemed that I was constantly being the provider of knowledge instead of the guide or facilitator to knowledge. I was reminded of this when Dr. Throne stated this evolutionary change in education over the years as the teacher moved from “knowledge giver” to the “guide on the side” (Laureate, 2009a). This allowed me to reflect on how unfair my teaching practice and confidence in this group of students had been. I was consumed by the feeling of being overwhelmed by different needs and felt I could not help them to the level they required. I had to consider what was my role as their educator was and if I was being successful in this role and what could give both of us the success we needed. One of the key components to the success of failure of inclusion is if the classroom teacher is able and/or willing to differentiate instruction to meet the individual needs of students in the classroom (Bray, 2004). Based on the differentiation key component I had not been executing this to the full potential to bring success within the classroom. As Dr. Tomlinson pointed out I needed to consider what I could do to provide flexibility in time, space, groupings, methods, and materials (Laureate, 2009b). Through this realization I understood that I did not need to create twenty five different lesson plans or learning intentions for each day, but instead make available products and resources that catered the most intentional variety of learning styles to each student. My two focus goals are to differentiate products through student choice which permits the students to demonstrate mastery of the content through their unique strengths and to have resources available that allow students to learn the material or content in the method that best fits their learning style. I also knew that student choice was one of the most effective way to engage struggling students who tend to fit the inclusion class (Alvermann, Phelps & Ridgeway, 2007). I truly saw this come to life when designing application seven in this course through sitting and creating an ongoing plan that students would learn from the beginning of the year to implement differentiation and arm the student with the knowledge of how they learn best and the reasoning behind that. Once students were familiar with their learning style and the resources via CAST, the differentiation process would be more accessible, understandable, and smooth. My second adjustment or goal is for students to effectively use assistive technologies by knowing when it is needed and how to use it to the optimum level. Technology can often bridge the gap that teachers cannot account for in a room of twenty five students with such diverse needs. Technology can provide the teacher with tools that can facilitate assistance, remediation, or extended learning (Bray, 2004). I feel assistive technology from recorded books on IPods to Word Prediction Software help make learning and engagement possible when pencil and paper would not. The student may have the cognitive level needed but not the means to get there, which metaphorically I compare to having a car to drive and knowing how to drive, but no directions as how to get to the destination. This is a highly frustrating situation for student and teacher, therefore my goal has become to arm or provide the students with the needed varied resources while making them aware of what is appropriate for their learning styles.

Conclusion
I desire to implement this plan for students in full effect the next school year to see results and a growth of self-efficacy in student ability and learning. I also want to see how this can grow my professional outlook on the classroom. Allowing the students to know what type of learner they are is information that many students were not given under the “all knowing teacher”. Think of the power of a student who can recognize how they will learn and master the content in different ways best suited for them without the teacher “telling”. This process demonstrates an expectation for a higher level of thinking just for the process of learning, before the content is mastered. It requires the student to be reflective on their successes, failures, and abilities.

Reflection Essay EDUC-6712D

I feel that I had two striking revelations while participating in EDUC-6712. The first was the process of having students create inquiry questions and the second was to structure the class in such a way that the teacher gradually release learning into the hands of the students. Sometimes I feel as an educator I like to have control over the class and the direction of the learning, however at times I see this method becomes very teacher centered as opposed to student centered. I want to lead my students to create their own inquiry projects and questions and let them have an active role or shared ownership in their learning.
Since beginning the unit plan and class I have looked for ways for students to play the more active role in their learning and have tried to implement a more student responsible role for each class. I have done this by creating folders for students to store their works and reflect upon their own learning. I can see that much more learning takes place when they can see how far they have progressed.
I personally would like to take better advantage of our literacy coach. She offers lessons and one on one help and information to set up video conferences and wikis. I plan to ask for her assistance in integrating more technology in each lesson. I believe the question I should ask myself when beginning a unit should be "How can technology be integrated into this lesson in a purposeful way?"
Overall, I have a stronger desire to create meaningful lessons which allow students to have ownership in their learning, technology based, and allows for reflection.

Reflection Essay

Reflecting back on this course I think of the statement that consistently arises in my mind "Putting old wine in new bottles." When I first heard and thought about that statement I realized that many activities I planned with "technology" were just "old wine". My thoughts were "Well, I am using my smartboard to create interesting powerpoints. However, after completing the course I see that technology integration for today's learners (truely learning) is vastly different.

I am stronger in not fearing using technology and going places with technology that I previously avoided. Some examples are my new workable knowledge of creating a blog and a wiki. When I refer to workable knowledge I mean not just knowing what they are, but actually knowing how to effectively use them in learning. One example of this is that in our upcoming "Charactization Unit" all students will be reading the same novel "Among the Hidden" by Margret Haddix. What a perfect opportunity to incorporate a blog response session. I am working with my PLC to develop this system for students, a system that I am proud to say they are open to. They see the value in posting critical thinking questions and having the students respond. (There is always a way to know when I am making them think critically because they say "This is really hard, or I'm going to have to really think about this."-Mission accomplished!) I am able to share many ideas that are effective in practice to my students making myself a better teacher and my students better independent learners.
I recognize now that learning should be even more student centered that I thought before with myself acting as a guide. The correct student centered model should look like:
The teacher posing a critical thinking question or discussion.
The students searching out the information using technology resources such as the internet.
The student with the guide of the teacher being able to distinguish what is reliable information.
The student reporting thoughts and providing justification from the collected resources.
I find myself more and more referring for the student to discover the answer to a question posed or if the students "debate" about what is correct. This is an excellent opportunity to send them to the laptops and make them provide at least two justifications that are reliable that support their answer. I feel that part of being a teacher and fostering new age learners is to use this as a "hinge-point" in the lesson. When I refer to "hinge-point" I mean this is where the lesson could go either way after assessing what they are "getting" or "not getting" and creating challenges.
As a professional teacher I can continue my learning and integration of technology to create effective learning by completing two ideals: One is to effectively utilize the resources available to me such as our school technology coach and student's scores on the technology assessment they take at the beginning and end of the year. I can gather this data and see what skills do they lack in and what strengths do they already have. One weakness I am already aware of is the "language of technology" often times we see that the student has the skill the assessment is asking of them, but they do not realize that is what they are doing because they do not know the "technical terms" for the exercise or item. This leads me to one goal I intended to work on which is using "technical terms" and ensuring they also use the terms with intention. Students and teachers need to be able to "speak the language". Another goal I wish to accomplish is to use the technology to effectively challenge the students. With this goal I want to create more critical thinking technology based lessons this may be difficult because in a traditional setting parents want more "paper/pencil" learning. However, with the amount of information that students are accustomed to acquiring in a short amount of time they are not interested in paper/pencil learning.
I do not think that students do not need some paper/pencil learning, I just feel that this is not where they need to be to compete in a job market upon completing school. These technology skills will be what the employers are seeking and they need to be able to run with the pack.
Overall, this course has been a challenge for myself. I often found myself "lost" trying to learn the new material because I am a visual learner. This is an aspect that I need to keep in mind when demonstrating new material to my students. The videos that were simple "hands and pictures" were a tremendous help for me to understand the concept and language. I gained many ideas over the course that I know will prove to be useful in demonstrating and integrating technology in a workable manner.

Technology Report

Click Below for a glimpse of the technology use at a rural middle school. This compares the results of middle school student use of technology at school and home.
Technology Report
http://www.teachertube.com/members/music.php?music_id=1060&title=Technology

Classroom Purpose

Three Ways to Effectively Use a Blog:

1. Students can respond to a discussion question posted by the teacher once a week. The student in turn will also be required to respond to another students posting with a thoughtful response.

2. Students could also use the blog to assist each other in their learning. Such as if their is a concept they are struggling in they can post their questions to other students for answers. This will encourage collaborative learning groups.

3. Students and parents could use the blog to voice concerns and keep track of what their child is learning.

What's Your Purpose?

Are your lessons intentional?

Do you provide immediate feedback to students?

How do you use technology in the classroom to make real world connections?

I know all of the questions above are all questions we have heard before, but have you ever taken the time to actually reflect and improve?

Students need immediate feedback to help them to gain small
successes and understanding. Technology should be the vehicle that teachers
use to make this happen.

Purposeful Tip to Try:

Online quizzes are a great instrument for immediate feedback. Even if all of your students do not have a computer, you can always set a time to take them to a lab or have an online quiz that students can do on your computer. This may be after completing an assignment, or an alternative assignment for a struggling student. This website has been one that I used again and again because it allows you to create FREE online quizzes for students. They can be multiple choice or short answer. The short answer section allows you to have Higher Order questioning.

Create a free quiz now!

http://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/

Check out a Root Word quiz I created:

http://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/story.php?title=greek-latin-root-words

This was a simple quiz I created as a basic knowledge quick check.