My Voice Thread is about turning in activity reports in PE and Health classes. My URL is:
http://voicethread.com/#u535042.b661561.i3498815
Trisha Smart (Faulkner)
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Friday, October 9, 2009
Social Learning
I think that the lessons discussed and presented are exactly what social learning is about. The four recommendations listed in "Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works" are as follows:
1. Use a variety of criteria to group students.
2. Use informal, formal, and base groups.
3. Keep the groups to a mamageable size.
4. Combine cooperative learning with other classroom structures.
These four items are exactly what I did when making groups for my Health and PE classes. I made groups based off of the students timed mile, timed sit-ups, and consecutive push-ups done during a test administered the first week of school. I broke them into groups of 4 to 6 six students depending on on the class size. The students sit with their team in Health class, they line up and do warm-up activities in teams, they participate in team activities with their team, and they do group work in Health with their team. I have began developing more in depth group work assignments in order to utilize the teams fully.
All of these things give students responsibility in group work settings. A lot of students do not enjoy group work because they feel as if they do the majority of the work, however, in developing lessons that give each group member a job to do, all students are responsible for getting the project completed. This also allows me to grade more accurately because I am able to see who did what type of job on the project. Group work allows students the chance to learn from others while learning material and I think that this allows them to develop a stronger understanding of the material.
Trisha Smart (Faulkner)
1. Use a variety of criteria to group students.
2. Use informal, formal, and base groups.
3. Keep the groups to a mamageable size.
4. Combine cooperative learning with other classroom structures.
These four items are exactly what I did when making groups for my Health and PE classes. I made groups based off of the students timed mile, timed sit-ups, and consecutive push-ups done during a test administered the first week of school. I broke them into groups of 4 to 6 six students depending on on the class size. The students sit with their team in Health class, they line up and do warm-up activities in teams, they participate in team activities with their team, and they do group work in Health with their team. I have began developing more in depth group work assignments in order to utilize the teams fully.
All of these things give students responsibility in group work settings. A lot of students do not enjoy group work because they feel as if they do the majority of the work, however, in developing lessons that give each group member a job to do, all students are responsible for getting the project completed. This also allows me to grade more accurately because I am able to see who did what type of job on the project. Group work allows students the chance to learn from others while learning material and I think that this allows them to develop a stronger understanding of the material.
Trisha Smart (Faulkner)
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Constructionist/Constructivist Learning Theories
Seymour Papert says that the constructivist learning theory is the idea that learners must individually discover and transform information if they are to make it their own. The constructionist learning theory says that people learn better when they are constructing things related to the information like robots or artifacts. I agree with this theory totally. Our school system does an 8th grade project called History Rocks. The academic teams all pull together their lessons for 3 weeks and the students have to create a project and presentation with visuals to set up for the entire school to view. It is an amazing undertaking and the students do a great job at it. They become lifelong learners thorugh doing this as they become more interested in the product or the sports team or whatever else they have researched the history of.
The learning resources this week relate to the same ideas. When students are able to take information and generate ideas, they learn how to think more critically. I do a project in 7th grade health called "LIFE." The students choose a job, choose a life situation (single, married, no children, children, pets), research how much money they would bring in per week for their job, and learn to pay bills through a check book. The only thing they have to do is never become negative. They are given hidden suprises as the unit continues, with bonuses or job loss or ER visit and they have to factor in all of that information as well. The students love this project and I love running it because it gives them a strong understanding of how to develop a lifelong plan.
Trisha Smart
References:
http://online.sfsu.edu/~foremanitec800/finalprojects/annmariethurmond/home.html
Pitler, H., Hubbel, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007) Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD
The learning resources this week relate to the same ideas. When students are able to take information and generate ideas, they learn how to think more critically. I do a project in 7th grade health called "LIFE." The students choose a job, choose a life situation (single, married, no children, children, pets), research how much money they would bring in per week for their job, and learn to pay bills through a check book. The only thing they have to do is never become negative. They are given hidden suprises as the unit continues, with bonuses or job loss or ER visit and they have to factor in all of that information as well. The students love this project and I love running it because it gives them a strong understanding of how to develop a lifelong plan.
Trisha Smart
References:
http://online.sfsu.edu/~foremanitec800/finalprojects/annmariethurmond/home.html
Pitler, H., Hubbel, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007) Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD
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