3351 Double Journal Entry #8

Some challenges to inquiry approaches to learning are:

·         One of the most significant challenges is the skills and knowledge of the teachers. When teachers don’t fully understand the complexities of inquiry-based learning, they may simply think of this approach “unstructured,” and may, as a result, fail to provide proper scaffolding, assessment, and redirection.

·         Students may lack the background knowledge needed to make sense of the inquiry.

·         Students may have difficulty developing logical arguments and evidence to support their claims.

·         Students often find it hard to determine how to work together, manage their time and the complexity of the work, and sustain motivation in the face of setbacks or confusion.

·         Teachers must learn how to juggle a host of new responsibilities and implementation issues—from carving out the time needed for extended inquiry to developing new classroom-management techniques.

Make connections between project-based learning and three research based strategies.

·         Project-based learning involves completing complex tasks that usually result in a real-life creation. One way of helping students is Simulations and Games. Providing students the opportunity to visualize and model improves their chances for understanding. Students are able to work through situations in a variety of different ways without fear of failing with severe consequences. I think of Dr. Smith when I hear the word simulation. We did several in her class. One of them helped us understand production.

·         Homework and Practice is a strategy that should increase understanding. The activity should match the learning goal. This is a subject close to my heart. The principal at my daughter’s school asks that parents spot check their child’s homework nightly. He doesn’t want you to check it all because the teachers have to be able to tell what the student needs more practice with.

·         Cooperative learning is a good way to help students figure out how to work together. This is another topic that takes me back to Dr. Smith’s class. It’s not just group work. She would place us in a group and each person was assigned a job within the group. This way everyone was contributing.

References

Research-based strategies. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.netc.org/focus/strategies/

2201 Magazine Cover

2201 Double Journal Entry #6

Media literacy skills involve using search engines, creating Web sites and online profiles, participating in social networking and more. Traditional literacy skills consist of comprehension and writing. Students need the traditional skills to check credibility of the Internet sources they use. These skills seem to supplement each other quite nicely.

Quote

“Choosing appropriate search engines, following relevant links, and judging the validity of information are difficult challenges, not only for students of all ages, but also for most adults, including many teachers.”

Image

I am one of the adults this quote refers to. As I have stated many times before, I am not a tech savvy person. I have concerns about how to teach children about appropriate Internet sources. The image I chose is a collection of some of the many domains out there. How do you know which ones are credible? My daughter was told to compare the information on three websites and if they all match then it’s probably trustworthy. Is that true?

References

David, Jane. "Educational Leadership." ASCD. N.p., March 2009. Web. 22 Feb 2012. <http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar09/vol66/num06/Teaching-Media-Literacy.asp&xgt;.

Green, D. (Photographer). (2010). Domains & websites. [Print Photo]. Retrieved from http://davidgreen.com/tag/search-engines/

3351 Double Journal Entry #7

1. Read the Introduction. What "dominant paradigm" is showing signs of wear? The instructional model of the teacher and the textbook as the primary sources of knowledge is the “dominant paradigm” that is showing wear.

2. According to the research, how does Project-Based Learning support student learning better than traditional approaches? Describe three benefits and cite the studies. Project-Based Learning enables students to transfer their learning to new kinds of situations and problems and to use knowledge more proficiently in performance situations.

·         The students engaged in project-based learning demonstrated a significant increase in scores on a critical-thinking test, as well as increased confidence in their learning.  Shepherd (1998)

·         Those who had participated in the project-based curriculum did better on conceptual problems presented in the National Exam. Boaler (1997, 1998)

·         The students in the multimedia program earned higher scores than the comparison group on content mastery, sensitivity to audience, and coherent design. They performed equally well on standardized test scores of basic skills. (Penuel, Means, & Simkins, 2000).

3. According to the research, how does Problem-Based Learning support student learning better than traditional approaches? Describe three benefits and cite the studies.

·         Meta-analyses of studies have found that medical students who are enrolled in problem-based curricula score higher on clinical problem-solving measures and on actual ratings of clinical performance (Vernon & Blake, 1993; Albanese & Mitchell, 1993

·         Additional studies have demonstrated that students who participated in problem-based experiences are better able to generate accurate hypotheses and coherent explanations (Hmelo, 1998b; Schmidt et al., 1996)

·         They also experience larger gains in conceptual understanding in science (Williams, Hemstreet, Liu, & Smith, 1998).

4. According to the research, how does Learning by Design support student learning better than traditional approaches? Describe three benefits and cite the studies.

·         Design activities are better for developing technical and subject matter knowledge (Newstetter, 2000)

·         Design activities are better for helping students develop understanding of complex systems (Perkins, 1986).

·         Design projects require students to set constraints, generate ideas, create prototypes, and develop plans through storyboarding or other representational practices. These are all critical twenty-first century skills.  (Newstetter, 2000).

5. What are the differences between the three approaches? Project-based learning explores real-world problems and situations. Problem-based learning students learn through the process of problem solving. Designed-based approach students create, assess, and redesign products through stages of revisions.

6. In your opinion, what is the most important benefit to learning that is common across the three types of inquiry-based learning approaches? “Students engaged in inquiry-based learning develop content knowledge and learn increasingly important twenty-first century skills, such as the ability to work in teams, solve complex problems, and to apply knowledge gained through one lesson or task to other circumstances.”  I feel it is important for the students to be able to apply what they are learning in school to real life situations.

References:

Baron, , B., & Darling-Hammond, L. (1991). Teaching for meaningful learners. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/pdfs/edutopia-teaching-for-meaningful-learning.pdf

2201 Voki

After creating and listening to the Voki, I didn't change anything about my reflection. This is an interesting way of editing. I shared this experience with my own children, in hopes it may help them with their school work too.

3351 Research-Based Strategies

The PowerPoint Quiz did not support Cues Questions and Advanced Organizers. This type of strategy is used to connect new ideas to students’ existing knowledge. It is different than the PowerPoint Quiz we took in class because the teacher sets the stage for learning by activating the students’ prior knowledge of the content. With the PowerPoint Quiz there was no reasoning behind the activity causing much confusion and frustration.

To modify this activity so it reflects the research-based strategy the teacher could start by asking questions to help students focus on the purpose of the activity. Research findings suggest learning increases when teacher focus their questions on content that is most important not what they think will be most interesting.

2201 Passive Voice

I used the word "that" two times. I eliminated one of them. This is something I regularly struggle with so I purposely tried not to use "that" as I was writing.
I could not find an instance of passive voice in my reflection.

2201 Double Journal Entry 5

1. What is the difference between Media in Education vs Media Literacy Education? Media literacy is the capacity to access, analyze, evaluate, and communicate messages in a variety of forms. Media literacy education may occur as a separate program or course but often it is embedded within other subject areas.
2. What social bargain is at the heart of Fair use? We as a society give limited property rights to creators to encourage them to produce culture; at the same time, we give other creators the chance to use that same copyrighted material, without permission or payment, in some circumstances.
3. Why is Fair Use more important today? Fair use keeps copyright from violating the First Amendment. As copyright protects more works for longer periods than ever before: licenses to incorporate copyrighted sources become more expensive and more difficult t obtain-and sometimes are simply unavailable.
4. What are the two key questions judges use to determine Fair Use?

• Did the unlicensed use “transform” the material taken from the copyrighted work by using it for a different purpose than that of the original, or did it just repeat the work for the same intent and value as the original?

• Was the material taken appropriate in kind and amount, considering the nature of the copyrighted work and of the use?

5. A teacher shows a movie of The Lion King and asks student to notice how the animals in the movie reflect racial stereotypes? Is this Fair Use? Why? Yes this is Fair Use because it was used for an educational purpose.
6. Which principle relates most strongly to the digital story you created in class? Explain. Principle Four relates to our digital story best. We used copyrighted material in our own creative work.
7. Are there limitations to the amount of pictures, length of music, or video that can be used in a multimedia project? There are limitations in the way they are used but not on the amount.
8. Do you need to request permission from the original creator in order to use copyrighted material in multimedia project for school related assignment? No you don’t need permission but they do need to be credited.
9. Should educators try to change the policies in their school in they are not in line with Fair Use doctrine? Yes educators should try to change the policies that are not in line with the Fair Use doctrine because they need to be leaders in establishing the best practices and share their knowledge.
10. What common myth about Fair Use surprised you the most? The myth most surprising to me is EDUCATORS CAN RELY ON “RULES OF THUMB” FOR FAIR USE GUIDELINES.

Does the digital story you created and uploaded to YouTube fall under Fair Use Guidelines? Yes the digital story falls within the Fair Use Guidelines. We practiced our media literacy skills creating the video giving it an educational purpose. The music was not used to draw attention to the song of choice. We also included a reference slide to credit the owners of the original work.

3351 Double Journal Entry 6

First Speaker

1. Why is this video helpful for teaching in West Virginia? This work applies to any student who speaks a variety different than Standard English.
2. What evidence is presented that supports the credibility of the speaker? She is associate professor of English Language and Literacy at a university in VA and is a literacy consultant. She is co-author of code switching, and has a BA, MA, PhD.
3. Describe the traditional approach to responding to student writing? The traditional approach is for the teacher to correct the students writing.  
4. Why does the traditional approach not work in improving student writing? This does not work because it focuses on what the student is not doing.
5. Name the three strategies associated with the linguistic approach to writing instruction? Scientific method, contrastive analysis, code switching
6. How do you know the cat and Taylor go together? The owner and what they own are right next to each other.
7. What is different between the two patterns of possessives for informal and formal English? The owner now has an apostrophe s and then what they own.
8. What strategy is being used for teaching the second grade students the different patterns between informal and formal English? The strategy used is code switching.
9. Describe how the scientific method is used to teach students to code switch. The teacher has them look at pattern and collect data, observe the data (what’s the pattern), state a hypothesis, then check the hypothesis and make any modifications.
10. What question is being asked to engage students in the comparison and contrast strategy? What changed.
11. How does code switching support meta cognition? Choosing language to fit the setting
12. What evidence is presented the code switching approach works? Describe one of the studies? Honey Taylor was an English composition teacher. Her African American students were struggling and failing. She decided to use the traditional approach in one class and contrastive analysis in another. She found that after one semester the traditional approach class there was an 8% increase in vernacular features in their student writing while the contrastive analysis class had a 59% decrease in those features.

Second Speaker

1. How did the students respond when asked how they felt about being corrected when they talked? They said they felt stupid, angry, and confused.
2. Give an example of a "fund of knowledge" the teacher drew on to help students learn to code switch? She described formal and informal language by using the knowledge of clothing. She compared formal clothes (uniforms) they wore to the school library and informal clothes worn to Walmart.
3. What are some added benefits aside from raising test scores that stem from using contrastive analysis? They recognize language differences and embrace them. They have command over their language.

On Your Own

Generating and Testing Hypothesis is an example of  contrastive analysis because the students are guided through the process of asking good questions, generating hypotheses and predictions, investigating, observing, and analyzing results. They are actively learning, which deepens their understanding.

Identifying Similarities and Differences is an example of contrastive analysis because it allows learners to see patterns and make connections. Then they classify by these characteristics and then develop a scheme to organize the objects. Students should be encouraged to link the new schemes with knowledge they already have.

References

Wheeler Rebecca. (Writer) (2007). Teaching standard english in urban classrooms in [Web]. Retrieved from http://forum-network.org/lecture/teaching-standard-english-urban-classrooms

Generating and testing hypotheses . (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.netc.org/focus/strategies/gene.php


Identifying similarities and differences. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.netc.org/focus/strategies/iden.php

3351 Where I Am From Video

Where I Am From final draft.

2201 Double Journal Entry #4

Quote

“When students do the hard work of marrying story and technology to express themselves to others, they can see more clearly the persuasive nature of the electronic culture in which they live.”

Response

I think digital storytelling is a great way of letting students show what they know or who they are. To me it is much more engaging and interesting. Teachers could assign a purpose for a story (inform, persuade, or entertain) and have students use digital storytelling to produce their idea. I believe students would prefer to do something like that rather than a worksheet. I think getting the students involved in the “behind the scenes” action of video making they can also learn how the media can use technology as a persuasion technique. They will learn about how editing and the addition of music are used to arouse emotions.

Image

I picked this image because it depicts a student behind the camera creating the story.


References

Ohler, J. (2005, December). The world of digital storytelling. Educational Leadership, 63(04), 47. Retrieved from https://online.fairmontstate.edu/webct/urw/lc15057011.tp0/cobaltMainFrame.dowebct

n.a. (Designer). (2012). Stick man video camera. [Web Graphic]. Retrieved from http://www.ccisd.com/domain/61

2201 Teaching Philosophy

This  is my teaching philosophy video. I hope you enjoy.

3351 Where I Am From Video....a work still in progress

3351 Double Journal Entry #5

What does the research say about the impact of negative teacher attitudes about students’ ethnicity and language variations on student learning?

The research says the impact of negative teacher attitudes about student’s ethnicity and language variations leads to students withdrawing and no longer trying to succeed. The teacher’s constant correction causes the student to feel “linguistically inadequate, insecure, and confused.” In extreme cases it can also lead to students being misdiagnosed as having language disorders.

What are some assessment pitfalls?

Some of the pitfalls are family and cultural experiences are not being taken into consideration during assessment. For an effective assessment there are many areas that need to be addressed, not just language.

What three approaches can be used to transform students’ dialectal diversity into an asset (funds of knowledge) rather than a liability (cultural deficit).

The three approaches are awareness approach, critical pedagogy, and critical awareness approach

How prepared do you feel to teach in a culturally diverse classroom?

I believe I am prepared to teach in a culturally diverse classroom. Here at Fairmont State we have been presented many examples and provided opportunities to practice addressing a diverse classroom. I believe it will become easier and easier over time.

Reference:

Wikidot.com. (2009, September 4). Linguistic diversity in ece. Retrieved from http://ecelinguisticdiversity.wikidot.com/teacher-attitudes

3351 I Am From

I am from the green grass on the farm, from the Shake n’ Bake barbeque chicken and from catching fireflies at dusk.

I am from the rented house that’s no longer there, and a mother’s struggles to stand alone.

I am from the trickling water in the creek, the soft, powdery dirt under my bare feet.

I am from softball in the field and skipping rocks at the river. I’m from Rummy 500 any night of the week.

I am from the Hornicks and the Bohons, Jean and Ordie. From strong, tenacious matriarchs.

From stand up for yourself and live with no regrets.

I am from Bible school to meal time prayers and Mother’s Day mass.

I’m from Silica and Helvetia, ghoulash and Granny’s finger rolls with her homemade maple icing.

 From the friendships old and new, two little girls who really grew and a love on round number two.

I am from puppies found and kittens rescued, halftime shows and Saturday meets. I am from the mountains and the snow, from family gone but not forgotten. I am from the pride of the red, white, and blue.

2201 Practicing Patterns

I chose Practicing Patterns. It is effective because mastery levels develop over time. Which means they need to be practiced throughout the school year. The teacher alloted time in the computer lab for math once a week. The hour was broken up in 15 minute intervals starting with the previous week material review, then learning of new information, practice of the new information, and finally time to write and reflect on how it connected to their world.

2201 Double Journal Entry #3

Quote

“But a recent study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project confirms that middle school and high school students understand what kind of language is appropriate in what context (Lenhart, Smith, & Macgill, 2008). What's more, scholars of new media language, such as David Crystal and Beverly Plester, remind us that the new technologies encourage creativity, which can spill over into school writing (Crystal, 2008; Plester, Wood, & Bell, 2008).”

Response

I don’t feel the occasional LOL or btw is taking over the English language. I have a daughter who texts a lot. She knows the difference of writing a paper for class and texting with friends. However, I feel her teachers should find ways to incorporate more technology into the classroom. On two occasions she has used her cell phone to tape a monotone lecture and brought it home to prove just how boring her class was that day. I feel this is an unproductive way of using technology. Then on the other hand she used Windows Live Movie Maker in a computer class and came home super excited wanting to share what she had created. That was a first in a long time. It was something she was interested in. She learned something, she was engaged, and it was connected to real life.

Article

I chose this article because it expresses how I feel…"The more exposure you have to the written word the more literate you become and we tend to get better at things that we do for fun.”

References

Baron, N. (2009, March). Are digital media changing language?. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar09/vol66/num06/Are-Digital-Media-Changing-Language¢.aspx

Shea, A. (2010, January 22). The keypad solution. New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/24/magazine/24FOB-onlanguage-t.html

n.a. (2009, February 25). Texting 'improves language skills'. BBC News

2201 Learning Styles

1.  Most of us tend to prefer one way of learning over another. It is important to match presentation with the nature of the subject and not just group students by learning style. I think that the different ways we can learn compliment each other.

2. Students may use learning styles to take control of their learning.

3. It is important to use multiple ways of delivering information so all preferences are met.