Reduced recess, cuts to physical education courses and limited free time in the classroom coupled with an increasing emphasis on testing are propelling this decline all over the country.
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National Center on Accessible Instructional Materials - 0 views
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Resources and training materials for providing and working with accessible instructional materials to support students with print disabilities as a result of some type of learning disability, physical disability, vision impairment or blindness.
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Implementation in an Elementary Classroom (Articles) - 0 views
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Increased emphasis on 'teaching to the test' and as well as reduced funding to schools directly impacts students. Resources are declining while requirements are not, making it difficult for teachers to allow for play which as stated in this article is "how children are wired to learn." -
Agreed! An emphasis on covering the overwhelming number of standards and testing, testing, testing!!!...leads to limited instructional hours spent on play.
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By engaging multiple areas of the brain simultaneously, play links to “foundational capacities such as memory, self-regulation, oral language abilities, social skills, and success in school,”
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Play involves creativity, curiosity, problem- solving and what if thinking which are all intertwined in the early years of learning.
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Ask them how they like to learn and present their knowledge, and what their favorite activities are
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So important to ask students how they like to learn and what their interests are. Helps you to not only create a learning plan, but to better communicate and understand them as well.
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They started small, and they've grown and honed their strategies each year.
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When changes are made in a school too quickly, and without training, or guidance, they fail. This article gives good tips on implementation over a period of time. "One step at a time."
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Expert learners and assessment as learning is the key for learners taking responsibility for their learning
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This would be cool to have them create their own tests, and then when they finish they can see if they achieved everything they set out to do.
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Inquiry-based instruction, a teaching technique rooted in questioning — both students’ questions about the material under investigation and the interrogation of students by teachers to elicit understanding
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Studies have proven that children learn better by doing and not just sitting in a desk all day.
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Students who miss time to play miss opportunities to let their minds soar and connect the dots between what they do at their desks and what surrounds them in the world
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This is why I give my students an hour to an hour and a half to play each day. I know they are learning valuable lessons!
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The conversations little ones have when playing make me smile! They are certainly learning by doing!
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Survey parents about their children.
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You will use your Class Learning Snapshot to determine the physical redesign of your classroom based on different examples of learning zones and flexible learning spaces
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I was just curious as to how often teachers have to redesign their classroom. Do they do it at the beginning of each year only? Or is it necessary to update personal learning profiles AND redesign many times throughout the year?
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I may ‘correct’ these misconceptions and later the students may even be able to answer test questions on the subject properly.” But they may not — and, she contends, frequently do not — give up those misconceptions
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This statement was an "aha" for me. It makes me wonder about my own teaching and how often students have given me the correct answer, when questioned or on a test, and whether or not they actually believe it!
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Check for understanding
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In the past couple of years I have been trying to do more quick checks for understanding (with a variety of short formative assessment) and it has been so simple and effective! It helps me plan lessons that are tailored to student needs.
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lass Learning Snapshot that guides what a teacher anticipates their learners strengths, challenges, aptitudes, interests, preferences, and needs. We introduce the Personal Learner Profile.
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Does Class Learning snapshot come from CAST or is it from your own classroom assessments? As a district we use STAR for Reading and Math. Though this I am able to get a learner profile for each student/ group of students.
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inquiry-based instruction stands a better chance of demolishing the misconceptions — eliminating them completely — by encouraging and allowing students to discover fundamental principles on their own.
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Inquiry based instruction allows students to dig right into their learning, take what they already know or think they know and apply it. The hardest part for teachers is giving up the control to your room, and allow students to "just go". I love the conversations with students after they discover a misconception because you can ask them to dig deeper by thinking why.
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Teachers struggling to find time for both free and structured play may find it beneficial to fuse the two.
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I try to every Friday to do "Friday Fun". During this time I set some boundaries, but allow for a lot of student creativity. I pick out certain recess toys, students then come up when they see someone take the one they want to play with, however I limit it to only 4 or 5 a game. If there are too many they have to decide on their own who gets to stay. Once they are playing they have to decide what they are playing and solve problems amongst themselves. They cannot involve me in anyway, unless obviously something breaks or isn't working.
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Find online materials for different levels.
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Would this be like using a program like Mobymax??? Online sites that provide multi grade level worksheets??
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online1: Iowa Online Teaching Standards - 10 views
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Proposed Online Teaching Standards
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Many of these standards would be good for teachers who are not teaching "online" but using technology in their classrooms. I wonder if there will be a push for all teachers in 1:1 schools to know these and have some skill with them. -
Good point, Valerie. It seems that online instructional approaches are a subset of practices in which students operate sometimes independently and sometimes with feedback from and interaction with peers and teacher interaction and feedback that is not necessarily immediate. -
How long will it take for administrators/principals to be trained on these? While these should apply to any course (online or classroom) I would assume very few teachers have seen something like this before.
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Knows and aligns instruction to the achievement goals of the local agency and the state, such as with the Iowa Core
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I would agree that knowing and aligning the instruction with the learning goal is a key piece. I have seen numerous occasions where things are done because 1. That is what has always been done. 2. Someone found a neat toy to use. or 3. There is a new catch phrase going around. With little or no thought given to what the intended goal of the instruction is and what we would like the learner to know and be able to do. I think it is always important to revisit the question of what is the goal and what is the best way to help the learn get to that goal. The design of the learning expereience on-line or not should address this consideration. So, intended or not, I am glad to see this here and at the top of the list. -
Agreed, r kleinow. Well said. I've heard that our new Governor has decided to abandon the Iowa Core all together. Any thoughts?
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Understands and uses data from assessments to guide instruction
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I am a believer that the single most improtant thing a teacher needs to know is what the learner already knows. I beleive the saying goes "find that out then instruct accordingly". I have always been challenged to find effieceint methods of doing this, but I think there are number of technology tools that can help to facilitate this process.
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This is a big part of the course we are developiing using CTS. Using the Keeley probes helps with finding out about what a learner understands. The challenge is to use or create the right probe that can give the teacher the feedback they need to differentiate the instruction -
Without understanding the learner's starting point or needs, instruction is just a "dump and pray they understand it" proposition. If instruction builds on the learner's prior knowledge, then the new information has something to attach to and has more of a chance of being understood and retained.
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• Demonstrates techniques for dealing with issues arising from inappropriate student technological use (SREB E.7)
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We are on our second year of one-one laptops in our school. We had a intense training for dealing with appropriate use of technology. That training dealt with plagerism, social networking and consequences. We as staff were also trained in this area. It is a part of our student handbook as well. -
Demonstrating responsible use of technology is equivalent to learning manners while eating, listening while someone else is speaking, and other etiquette skills we are all taught at appropriate ages. Dealing with inappropriate use of technology is absolutely necessary to ensure its continued safe use for all learners.
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Is there a "standard" acceptable use policy across the state or does it vary from school to school?
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Understands the differences between teaching online and teaching face-to-face (SREB C.1, Varvel V)
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That's a good question. And I'm guessing it would vary depending on the subject?
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Knows the content of the subject to be taught and understands how to teach the content to students (SREB A.3, Varvel II.A, ITS 2.a)
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Who would be responsible for deciding if a teacher has the content knowledge and best practice skills to teach that content?
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A structural limitation of many systems is that when leaders (expert consultants, administrators) are chosen, they immediately stop practicing what they were good at and what made them good choices to be leaders. Wise use of online communities may help provide support to teachers in content and best practice as both change rapidly. Deciding if a teacher has skills - well, that's another matter.
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This is very important to both classroom and online learning. The more we become experts in our subject it becomes easier to lead student learning.
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Tailors instruction to meet the different needs of students, including different learning styles, different interests and backgrounds, and students with special needs or whom are language learners (SREB C.7, Varvel V.H, ITS 4.c)
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I am curious how an instructor can ascertain learning styles of students. There are some tools that I have used with students in the classroom to uncover this. I suppose using those tools online wouldn't be that hard
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I too,am curious about this in an on-line environment. Just as all teachers have different strength and teaching styles, students do too. I am not quite sure how you would figure that out in an on-line environment or how youw ould tailor instruction to meet those differnt learnign styles. -
UDL (universal design for learning) promotes providing all students with multiple means of learning, multiple means of demonstrating learning and multiple means of engagement. A pretty good trick face-to-face and a greater challenge online: http://www.cast.org/udl/index.html
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Sometime this can be as easy as embedding a video of the teacher explaining a lesson. Just the student being able to stop and review it as many times as they need will help. As long as I have been in instructional technology it is always easier for me to be able to stop and go over a section of a tutorial as I am trying to create with that technology.
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• Understands student motivation and uses techniques to engage students (Varvel V.D, ITS 4.d)
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I feel that if a person was going from face-to-face instruction to partial or totally online instruction there would be a total change of how you motivate learners. Maybe I'm wrong on that or I'm still thinking of the way I was taught and how I learn. I know that today's students are electronically gift no matter what their test taking abilities are.
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I think one of the ways that can motivate them is by giving immediate feedback. Students like to see how they do on things and if they take a quiz, assignment or test online they can see right away how they did instead of having to wait on the teacher to grade them. Now this would motivate all of them and it wouldn't work on all tests, quizzes or assignments, but it may be one way to motivate the students. -
For our reading curriculum, we have our students take the tests online and they have immediate feedback and are able to see their average score from taking all of the tests. I agree that the immediate feedback is what students want. It's easier for students to create goals based on their achievement on these tests. They are also able to go back to see what questions they got wrong right away and are able to look and make sense of what the correct answer is, etc. -
Motivation comes from internal needs. It does not need to be (and if fact is better) if it is intrinsic, not extrinsic. Learners are motivated by correct learning and understanding. The more immediate the feedback on that, the more the motivation. I have a quote in my office that says, "Motivation is not enough. If you motivate an idiot, all you have is a motivated idiot." Knowledge is power and knowledge is motivating.
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Kelsey, I would be intersted in how you do your reading tests on-line. If I remember correctly, you are an elementary teacher. This is something I would definitely like to explore.......because like you say immediate feedback is so important.
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Assists students with technology used in the course
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I think it is important to make sure the material is whats important and not overwelm the students with technology. I really like when technology tutorials are added with the assignment or lesson. This helps me focus more on the material and worry less about if I can figure out the technology.
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And I think a lot of the students these days could probably figure out the technology quicker than a lot of us teachers, but mastering the content is what we are all after.
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Like this course it is good to have tutorials or lessons on the technology we have the students use. That way it is available to the student if they need it. This would be a great advantage in online learning because the student would be embarrassed if they did not know how to use the technology.
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I really like this bullet in the standard because it is so important that a teacher continuously evaluates the data in order to determine whether or not their strategies are effective to their students. I know that us teachers at Norwalk are always having to evaluate our data and determining what is working and what we need to change in order to target those students that our instructional strategies are not hitting. This is key to becoming and staying an effective teacher and keeping up with our student body as they are changing yearly with different materials and strategies coming out to enhance learning.
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Creates a learning community that encourages collaboration and interaction, including student-teacher, student-student, and student-content
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If they're talking about the 21st century skills that these students need to know and what not in order to become a successful worker in today's world, then I strongly feel that interaction and collaboration is a huge key component of our students' success. It's vital that others understand the thought process of other individuals; yet, still explaining their thoughts and working together with their peers/teachers/content on a project at hand. It teaches kids social skills that they need to become successful in the outside world. It's always nice to learn from one another and to teach someone something new :)
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I think this is the powerful part of an online community; that is the sense that they are a learning community.
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Continuously uses data to evaluate the accuracy and effectiveness of instructional strategies
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I really like this bullet in the standard because it is so important that a teacher continuously evaluates the data in order to determine whether or not their strategies are effective to their students. I know that us teachers at Norwalk are always having to evaluate our data and determining what is working and what we need to change in order to target those students that our instructional strategies are not hitting. This is key to becoming and staying an effective teacher and keeping up with our student body as they are changing yearly with different materials and strategies coming out to enhance learning.
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I totally agree with using data to evaluate our teaching practices and students learning. If my first graders are not doing well in something I have taught, the first thing I look at is what could I do different to make them more successful. This would be true wheter it is on-line instruction or face-to-face instruction.
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Demonstrates growth in technology knowledge and skills in order to stay current with emerging technologies
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Growth will be so much easier to assess in a digital world. Our digitial thumb print can easily be accessed adn evaluated over time. Paper and ver bal instruction is so very hard to document growth. -
To be honest, I think I'm scared by "emerging technologies". In terms of what is already out there, and trying to think about what is yet to be invented, I'm worried that I will just start to "master" something when the replacement technology will take over. Though I have to believe that adequate training will be offered to us teachers who are apprehensive.
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learning theory appropriate to online learning,
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I tagged a website which provides a brief definition of constructivism, behaviorism, and cognitivism. They are very brief definitions, but allow for a gateway of further research by identifying authors of the theories. I would be interested in learning if anyone has other resources for online learning theories.
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Is knowledgeable and has the ability to use computer programs required in online education to improve learning and teaching, including course management software (CMS) and synchronous/asynchronous communication tools (chat, email, web 2.0, videoconferencing, webinar, whiteboard, etc.) (SREB B.3, Varvel III.B)
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Provides substantive, timely, and constructive feedback to students
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• Selects and uses technologies appropriate to the content that enhance learning (SREB M.3, Varvel IV.D, ITS 3.e, ITS 4.f)
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I believe students learn better through the use of technology. Using technology to the content will help students stay involved with learning the content being taught. -
Although I agree, Kenny, I also believe that it is important that the technology does not overtake the content that is to be explored and learned. Sometimes it seems that the technology ends up being the focus and the content gets lost. To me, the words "enhance learning" are very important in this bullet statement. -
I agree with both of you. I've been reluctant to use technology because I haven't felt confident that I would be enhancing or extending the learning. Classes such as this are building my confience though, enabling me to see how much more I could be doing... I just need the time to explore and design. Isn't that always the case with this teaching gig?
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Creates or selects multiple assessment instruments that are appropriate for online learning (SREB H.1, Varvel VI.C)
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Using multiple assessment instruments will give the teacher a better understanding for assessing each student. One assessment may be better for one student and not for another.
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Demonstrates ability to enhance academic performance and support for the agency's student achievement goals
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Now that I have read the entire document, I believe my statement above could be repeated many times!
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Aligns assessment with course objectives
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I am wondering if the assessments in these areas are also going to be online, or if it is okay to use these online tools to teach a topic and then use the assessments required within previously set curriculum, even if the assessment is not online.
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Utilizes a course evaluation and student feedback data to improve the course
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I feel that this is important because with our continuously chaning style and strageties for teaching it is very important to listen to the learners in order to develop best practices for teaching and learning.
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Has experienced online learning from the perspective of a student
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I think it would be very challenging to teach an online class without ever being a student in one. In fact, I think teaching online presents challenges even after being a student in multiple online courses! :)
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I remember the difference of looking at a online course first as a learner and then facilitating the course. I realized how much content there was to digest and how quickly the course was moving.
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Communicates with students effectively and consistently
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Online office hours? I suppose it just becomes a built in part of your schedule.
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That is the heart of the work for a facilitator of an online course. The student needs the sense first that there is an instructor presence somewhere in the background. As the group begins to respond to each others' thoughts then the facilitator can move from the foreground to more of the background.
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Has knowledge of and informs student of their rights to privacy and the conditions under which their work may be shared with other
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This is one of many standards that many teachers will need considerable in-service to become familiar with. I can see many teachers being unsure of this topic.
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Provides and communicates evidence of learning and course data to students and colleagues
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In providing professional development to AEA staff on special education issues, I have often relied on "compliance to mandates" as a means to judge the success of the training. Of late, I have become much more interested in measuring staff's "learning" to a standard as one key measure of the effectiveness of training (i.e., teaching).
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Demonstrates effective instructional strategies and techniques, appropriate for online education, that align with course objectives and assessment
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Providing appropriate strategies to enhance the learning experience online that align with the objectives and assessments within the context of professional development is a big challenge. I realize it is the same challenge that the Iowa Core and CEI puts forward for every teacher. I have been the recipient of many professional development opportunities over the last 30 years and many of them have not come close to meeting this standard. I think things are changing for the better lately and I really believe courses like this have helped.
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Designs the structure of the course and the presentation of the content to best enhance student learning,
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fair use
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Fair Use is a term that needs to be used more with students. They need to hear multiple times what they can and can't use on technology projects and how to cite them if they do. Not enough awareness of this.
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Promotes learning through online collaboration
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Students need a new way to work within groups or pairs in todays age without being face to face. This is an important part of students technological advancement.
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differences between teaching online and teaching face-to-face
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between teaching online and teaching face-to-face
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Screencasting Tools for Tech Support | Cool Tools | School Library Journal - 4 views
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I've used Screen-cast-o-matic and really liked it. I'm wondering...has anyone used the AirServer that allows you to mirror your mobile device to a screen? Good? Other Options? Thanks! -
Deborah, Although I do not have any experience with AirServer, I can suggest another option. I use Reflector for wireless mirroring and have no complaints. (http://www.airsquirrels.com/reflector/) -
Thanks Kathy! I actually had reflector on my old device, but when I upgraded it disappeared and I couldn't remember the name. You saved me:)