Monday, December 21, 2009

Unit Reflection

The "All About Me" Unit has been interesting this year. The children have really liked ldearning about themselves and others. The unit has developed into something unique and exciting with input from the children. I am very flexible and this is important with this unit. As of right now the children are not finished with the unit and I think that we will continue this unit all year long. For example, we have created many self-portraits using different mediums and we have documented their growth in this area. The children have been using their learning about self portraits and implementing these skills in their drawings and other school work. I am very proud of their learning and growth since the beginning of the year. The work very hard everyday and want to learn. This unit is a perfect fit for young children to explore themselves and others around them. For the next part of the school year we will continue their learning and go deeper into learning about each other using venn diagrams, time-lines, personal stories, traditions, values, lessons, learning and observations. The children are really involved in this unit and they have added to the unit in many ways and I hope this excitement continues.
Working with the art teacher has been difficult. She has been very busy with her work, learning and teaching. Time still remains a factor and has been a component in working together. I have consulted with her about specific skills and concepts for the children to understand and Kim has been very helpful and a great resource for me and the children. I am thankful for her guidance and support when I needed her.
Overall, I am very happy with the unit and most of all, the children's learning and achievement.
I am proud of them and myself for taking on this new model of learning and developing a meaningful and genuine learning experience.
Some recommendations I would make for myself and the children are;
more transformational uses of technology
more time to share their work
space and time consideration to display work samples
more time and people to collaborate with
year long unit of study so the children have more skills to do work more independently
I am thankful for the experience with the backwards planning design and I hope to use it more effectively in the future. I am happy that i have created real rubrics and anchor packets that
have value and meaning in the unit.
I am excited and eager to share this unit with other professionals and with other classes continuing to make changes and additions along the way.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Collaboration with Colleague

Cindy, Stacey, and Kim met together as one group for scheduling and convenience reasons as well as to collaborate and share ideas with each other. The time to collaborate with other professionals was very interesting. Having the time and new learning to apply is exciting and purposeful, while there is some nervousness to implement all the stages and integrate technology within all content areas.

We began by showing Kim our art integration sections of our blog with the embedded links and resources. We really wanted to show her our understanding and empathy towards the value of arts in the classroom. We felt this was a great way to start the meeting, as we showed our appreciation for her as a fellow professional.

At this time, Kim did express the concern that she is going to be involved in a masters program and that she truly wanted to help us, but does have some hesitancy towards the amount of work and time needed to implement the lessons (length of time, limited time with children, assessments, technology).

Before sharing stage 3, we thought it was important to share our stage 2 templates with Kim. This could give her a view of the type acceptable assessment evidence that would be expected during the units. Additionally, we had not previously shared our end of the unit authentic performance tasks, sharing these was important so that she would know the products and performances that would demonstrate student understanding. We also shared our product and presentation criteria. Kim expressed that she saw great value in these artifacts and was interested in knowing more about this stage and the backward planning model. Her experience has been to design activities before looking at assessment products and performances. This lead naturally into a discussion about the six facets. These lenses were the most difficult to share and explain. By using our completed stage 3 products we assisted Kim in beginning to organize her planning through the use of this design. We gave copies of our work for her to use as examples. We recognize that next fall, she may only be able to support us in implementation on a limited basis. She was however, interested in this backwards design model as this learning may be useful as she furthers her education.

The rest of our conversation focused around the perspective lens that we both chose for our units. We recognize that further conversations need to be held. She needed some thinking time to formulate ideas and suggestions about how we could integrated perspective into our units from a art educators point of view.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Chapter 11
Guiding preservice teachers in developing TPCK

I found this chapter very interesting and informational. I think the author has a deep understanding of what preservice teachers need and how everything (content, knowledge, content, and technology) is connected and integrated. There are many valid and critical points made in the chapter that I feel would make a difference in the field of education. I will go on to say, that from my own limited personal experience (5 years), from a novice to now, I myself, have made many changes, adaptations, and revisions. I know that teaching is a messy process that requires support, time, reflection, thinking, assessing, learning, creating, designing, evaluating, and much, much more. Like many complex and wicked problems, I feel there is not one “right” answer, but the author has presented some possible solutions. With teaching, there are some many factors and forces that are happening in a classroom, that I feel no one program can provide all the skills and tools needed to teach children. Teaching and learning is a complicated combination and intricate process that manifests itself differently for everyone involved and is constantly changing and evolving.
One idea I found interesting is that of preservice teachers in study groups, those made up of different content areas and school levels. I think this part is essential, speaking of my own learning, I have benefitted greatly from networking and collaborating with others. I do feel currently in this master program that more time to connect with others and share our knowledge, content, pedagogy, technology, etc, the better my chances are to improve as a teacher and student.
I did find the matrix diagrams very useful in this chapter as a way to frame, organize and clarify my thinking about my own unit. This chapter and much of the book has made me think about teaching and learning very differently than I had before and now, I am much more aware and cognizant of the outcomes, process, assessment and learning opportunities that I provide for the children in my classroom.
Another idea I liked was that of the research done with preservice teachers and students in Alaska. The fact that teachers and students learned together and integrated technology is wonderful. I think the results for all parties involved was extremely powerful and meaningful. I truly believe that meaningful and authentic learning is what preservice teachers and students need to meet goals and acquire knowledge. The most important implication from this study was the fact that teachers learned about students through teaching, which I feel naturally happens in my Kindergarten classroom everyday.
I wish there were simple solutions to achieve the highest standard of teaching and learning and that one program for preservice teachers exceptionally prepared them to teach the children of the twenty-first century, but unfortunately at this time
of complexity and many factors, knowledge and skills needed, it is unlikely. I believe we have the ability and power to change the field of education and with support, time, reflection, thinking, creating, assessing, designing, technology, and collaborating we can impact the children in our classroom.
As stated in the chapter, reflection is important when teaching, I strongly agree, but reflections are subjective and related to one’s personal experience, therefore creating a “wicked” problem. If given time to collaborate and network more reflections can be shared, data analyzed, predictions, and outcomes can be reached and exceeded where the result maybe in fact affecting teachers and students teaching and learning.
As simply said in the Chinese proverb “To teach is to learn” (227).

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Chapter 10
The role of TPCK in physical education

As with any discipline, there are many factors that increase a teachers effectiveness and the growth and development of the children. From reading this chapter, I now know that teaching physical education is no different. When teaching physical education there is some uniqueness to the content and pedagogical knowledge. Again, when integrating technology within the content area tends to raises more challenges. I have seen the importance of technology in the field of physical education in terms of computer generated applications that provide a deeper look into the body and specific medical applications but unfortunately, these types of technologies are expensive and have a somewhat limited role in physical education at the elementary level.
However, I think about some of the children in my school and I can’t help but think that some of these children would benefit greatly from an individual program that tracks their growth and development while becoming more healthy and active. Getting the equipment and data system to allow this planning to occur is costly and time consuming, but I think the value would be immense.
Overall, I understand more about what the children must learn (the how and why) to perform specific skills and that they must have lots of opportunity to practice these skills. I know the teacher must provide immediate feedback of knowledge of performance to enhance the children’s proficiency level. I begin to think that this style and sequencing of learning happens in my classroom everyday. In Kindergarten, the children are acquiring basic literacy, math, science, health, social, behavior, and life skills that they must constantly practice and explore, while getting feedback and ways to improve their individual learning and growth. I also can find similarities in regards to ensuring the brain with the muscles and repetitive connections that must occur simultaneously for the children to be successful.
The most important lesson from this chapter was “Just like their students, teachers need knowledge of performance feedback to change their teaching behavior” (219). With reading and attending

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Chapter 3
TPCK in K-6 literacy education It’s not that elementary!
After reading this chapter, I am thinking about how the meaning and definition of literacy and how it has changed since the advancements of technology. I continue to think about the impact that technology has made upon the field of education and even more specifically within literacy development. I know firsthand, that teaching is complex in and of itself and with the responsibility of integrating technology the task becomes increasingly difficult. Mind you, this integrated teaching happens while being aware and sensitive to all the childrens’ abilities and background experiences. I can honestly say that I am still struggling with the balance of all of this almost daily.
The research sited in this chapter reveals positive results when using technology to teach literacy. This confirms my beliefs of the value of technology in all areas. Technology has proven to increase comprehension, fluency, motivation, understanding, positive attitudes, and it gives children a greater sense of control. There seems to be many practical (both intended and unintended) outcomes when using technology to teach literacy (reading and writing) skills. Researchers have found that using new technologies children have longer written samples, greater variety of word usages, sentence structures, more accurate mechanics and spelling, better revisions, responsiveness, and overall better understanding of the writing process. I take away from this chapter the affirmation that technology can provide rich learning environments that promotes collaboration, creativity, and constructivism.
This chapter also makes me think about all the knowledge a teacher must possess in order to be able to teach effectively and integrating technology. The authors did state that a mentoring program would be useful for teachers to practice and reflect upon their uses of technology. I think that is a great idea in theory, but in elementary education time is always a factor, unfortunately.
This chapter has given me some specific ideas to incorporate into my classroom routine as well as various professional resources for myself. For example, I will include the idea for writer’s workshop, by having the children use Inspiration for the graphic organizer piece and they are already familiar with Pixie to create the pages of the book. I also like the transformational idea of sharing their work using SubEthaEdit to give feedback to the children at an individual level, providing the children with meaning and for an intended audience. Electronic books, KidPix, Inspiration, iMovie, podcasting and digital storytelling are very appropriate for my age level. There are many resources that I am interested in and I intend to research more and become familiar with after reading this chapter.
Chapter 7
Perhaps a matter of imagination TPCK in mathematics education

For me personally, math has been very complex and logical, which frustrated me and made it difficult for me to understand and apply effectively. After reading this chapter, I have come away with a different perspective about how math attempts to make connections and define relationships among objects and natural phenomena.
In my classroom, I teach the basics; numeral recognition, patterns, counting, adding, subtraction, sorting, graphing, shapes, and the essential concepts that the children will begin to build understanding and higher level thinking skills from. When I began teaching I assumed that when children demonstrated one to one when counting objects, that they understood that whatever number they counted to was equivalent with the number of objects in front of them. I quickly learned that children could count objects, but did not fully understand that the number that have was directly related to the objects and this does not change until one object was added or taken away. This occurrence is similar to reciting the ABC’s without knowing what a “h” looks like. This hierarchical skill was not known to almost all of my students. So we uncovered this topic in depth and the children made connections from their new learning to other topics in the classroom like attendance and the lunch count, which is now done by the children. Another surprising thing that I learned when we started to explore addition was that most children had to count all the objects, they could not subitize numbers and add one group to another without counting the objects individually. We continue to subitize numbers and add groups, finding new and various ways to compute numbers making connections and using their prior knowledge to scaffold their learning to new heights.
From this chapter, I have learned that I must do more to incorporate technology into the math curriculum and to do this effectively and seamlessly. I know there are many resources on the Internet to provide games and activities to challenge children of all mathematical levels. I am familiar with the national museum of virtual manipulative which is a wonderful site that is interactive and covers many topics at different developmental levels.
I see my role in teaching children mathematics as a facilitator to explore topics and concepts, while providing direct instruction and the opportunity to encourage independent thinking, reflection, problem solving, communication, representation, questioning, connections, imagination, and observing patterns around us.
I now see math as a “discipline in which the imagination and logic of the human mind strive to structure the reality of our existence” (150). I look forward to teaching mathematics to young children with my new learning and to discover the possibilities when combining math and technology.
Chapter 9
Science, technology and teaching The topic-specific challenges of TPCK in science

Personally, I see a natural connection between science and technology. Science in and of itself is a continual process that is constantly evolving as is technology. This chapter was more specific of how, when, and where to use technology when teaching scientific concepts and processes. The chapter also states that effectiveness of technology integration still remains the teachers responsibility. There is a lack of professional development, time and support to assist with the complexities and challenges of technology. This issue leads to differences in teaching and learning. The value and success of technology integration depends on the teachers individual experience, comfort level, knowledge, and holistic understanding of the content area and how to use technology in appropriate ways to enhance the teaching and learning process.
In my classroom, we are studying the five senses and as an activity I had the children use the Proscope and explore their bodies and senses. The children took pictures and asked their friends to guess what they were looking at. The children had a great time and it was incredible to see the children trying to guess and figure out and make predictions. I was very excited to see that they were engaged and trying to challenge their friends.
From this chapter, I have learned about some new technologies such as, Cooties, Model-It, BIOKids, etc. This chapter gave suggestions and real examples of when, hoe, where, and why to use technologies when teaching science to children.
As it said in the book, “the best teachers can do is equip themselves to learn from practice and from ongoing education” (205). We can take risks in learning and teaching with new technologies, be prepared for obstacles, plan for alternatives, and look for support where available. As a Kindergarten teacher, I see the power of technology integration, but I sometimes feel as if I can incorporate technology effectively across all content areas. I need to see real life applications of using technology at the transformational levels for all to enrich the learning and teaching experiences.