Blog Assignment #11

What can we learn about teaching and learning from these teachers?

All of these videos are a great teaching tool for all educators. They all show collaboration and new ideas to make teaching and learning more effective. Brian Crosby's video Back to the Future really opened my eyes to how important the information we are teaching them is being taught and reinforced. I was astonished at how many 4th graders did not know basic information such as what city, state, and country they lived in. They should all know this basic information by the time they go into 4th grade. So what is the problem? Is it because 90 % of the students come from poverty and English is their second language, or is it the teachers that taught them before didn't adapt to their learning needs? Brian Crosby showed much enthusiasm in his teaching and wanted to learn how to teach and motivate the students to also become better learners. He and his classroom is fortunate enough that all of his students have each individual laptops provided by the school district/state. He uses these tools and resources to his advantage. They use class blogs, wiki pages, Skype,and other resources as learning tools. He uses PBL in his classroom and even took his project "High Hopes" global with multimedia resources. He was definitely the type of teacher I will strive to be. He is motivating and enthusiastic and you can tell it made a difference in the students.

In the video Blended Learning Cycle by Paul Andersen he taught me about coming up with and using teaching strategies. He mentioned that he strayed too far away from what he knew that he had to re evaluate. He uses the Blended Learning Cycle by combining online, mobile, and classroom with the five E's; engage, explore, explain, expand, and evaluate. He uses these strategies for science but I feel like you could use them for all subjects. He also uses the acronym QUIVERS for his blended learning cycle. This stands for Question, Investigation/Inquiry, Video, Elaboration, Review, and Summary quiz. This seemed to work for him and his students. Being able to evaluate yourself and make changes when necessary is what makes a successful teacher.

Sam Pane 4th Grade Building Comics video was all about being a super digital citizen. He taught his students to be safe, responsible, and respectful when using online resources. This is one thing I am worried about when allowing my students to use the internet. Teaching them responsibility is key to being successful. I will have the lower elementary grades so it will be easier to teach them about responsibility and being respectful but I do have to worry about their safety. Mr. Pane allowed his students to create their own super hero and make a comic strip about being a super digital citizen. I thought this was such a great project that incorporated so many areas of learning. The students were able to be creative and put their personalities into their work which made them more motivated. All of the students were allowed to walk around the classroom and evaluate one another's work. I feel it is very important to allow the students to assess' the work of their classmates. They may find helpful critiques and/or get some ideas for their own work. The use of multimedia resources in this project just shows that your resources are unlimited you just have to use them.

As a student I was always taught in segmented subjects. This just means that all of the subjects were divided into their own lessons and class periods. I have never thought twice about this since it is what I have always known. Even since being back in college the thought of combining subjects never crossed my mind. In the video Project Based Learning by Dean Shareski, they introduced a new concept of teaching by combining subjects. They combined the subjects history, English, and information processing and the time that was allotted for each subject. This gave the teachers more time and allowed collaboration. They mentioned they had "roadblocks" that they had to overcome but made improvements and was able to be successful. Although it was an adjustment the teachers enjoyed collaborating and teaching this way because they saw how well it was working. The students were not only learning the curriculum but learning beyond the curriculum. Most teachers I feel do the bare minimum and just make sure they are teaching what they have to teach. If all teachers were passionate about their job and wanted what's best for the students then they would take that extra step to teach more than what is required.

It is refreshing to see that many of the schools are adapting and making changes to accommodate more to the students and their learning. Roosevelt Elementary's PBL Program is doing just that. They are really grasping the concept of using project based learning as a teaching tool. They see that giving students power over their own learning is creating ownership and motivation. I really like their concept of teaching kindergartners how to do presentations and getting them used to public speaking. I wish we would have been introduced to public speaking at a younger age. The younger you are the more familiar and easy it is to be comfortable with it. It is about time someone noticed that a change needed to be made. Hopefully more school districts/teachers will adapt and public speaking will become a part of the curriculum for all grades. Not only does PBL encourage collaboration for the students but it also flows into the teachers and community. In this video we were actually able to hear from the parents of the students who went to this school. They all seemed very encouraging to the new programs and was able to see a difference in their children's learning.

All in all these videos taught me about the type of teacher and learner that I want to be. As a teacher you should never stop learning and adapting. None of these teachers were lazy; they were innovators and they pay attention to their students. They put in extra thought in effort into their student's education.

Callie Barton