Taking a Look at Engaged Learning

    Before teachers can see how engaged learning can affect the education of their student's one has to take a look at the definition of it. Engaged learning happens when students take ownership of their learning from very early on in the learning process. In engaged learning students make decisions about the subjects that they are learning. Students in this method relay on research, discussions, creating projects, and technology to aside them in their education. In this method the students are the true star and the teacher merely acts as a facilitator. Teachers who use this method really on calling upon real life activities and do not focus on one subject but try to interrogate many different subjects in their teaching.

    Engaged learning is something that falls into the effective practices. Students learning in this form take the ultimate responsibility for their learning because they will be making decisions on what they will learn and how they will learn it. Because they are taking ownership of their work, students will take more pride in their work and the will produce quality work. With the increased work output of quality work the learning will excel as well.

    As a music teacher, I feel engaged learning can help students learn in virtually ever facet of music education. Students could create rhythmic compositions where the students make decisions on whether to create a song or a rhythmic composition. From there student could decide what the instrumentation of their piece could be. This activity would call upon a vast amount of musical resources, and the students will have to have knowledge in all facets of assignment to be successful. For example, students will have to call upon how to write rhythms and how to correctly use the musical staff to notate those rhythms. Student will also have to have knowledge of instruments and how to properly write for a particular instrument. Finally, students will need to know how to read the music they created when they present the composition to the class.

    Engaged learning can play a crucial part in a child's education. If the assignment is facilitated right by the teacher then the students learning ability is greatly enhanced. This type of learning promotes projects that usually results in a tangible project that the students can see and present. In essence student who are engaged in their learning have real physical proof of their learning that they can display and be proud of.

 

 

 

 

 

How to Effectively Integrate Technology into Teaching

For my blog this week I came upon this article entitled, Integrating Technology into Instruction, by Bill Robertson. This article offers a way for teachers to start integrating technology into their teaching. Mr. Robertson writes about a five step program to help teachers in this goal and the steps are as follows: planning, research, development, refinement, and implementation. The author then writes about each step and how the next tier can be reached. He also listed one overall objective that the teacher will have to complete in order to go on to the next step.

In the planning section of his paper Mr. Robertson’s objective is, “To define the current knowledge base and to develop the foundation for the organization of learning.” In this stage, he suggest the idea of backward planning where teachers should have the ultimate goal in mind then work backwards in order to determine the best way to achieve that goal. The teacher needs to provide a “hook” in the lesson to capture the student’s interest. A “hook” is an open ended question that asks the students to access prior knowledge in hopes of answering the question. Brain stormingis an important part of this process, and it is at this time technology can be introduced as a form of note tabulation. Whiteboards, computer programs, and data entry programs can all be used to aid the students with this task. When these things are all mastered, the teacher is now ready to enter the research phase.
“To allow the learner to explore the content area and to deepen their knowledge base” is the objective set forth in the research phase of the paper. A teacher can integrate technology into a class project by having the students utilize computer programs such as e-mail, Internet Explorer, and countless other search engines to research various educational topics. The research stage is set up in such a way that students can explore and broaden their knowledge base by completing independent, cooperative research strategies. Students can also learn from each other by group collaboration that can be carried out by using e-mail.
In the development phase the objective set forth by the author stated, “To provide the learner with the opportunity to construct their knowledge following the curriculum materials and scope and sequence of the instruction.” The development stage is about students taking the ideas that they acquired in the research phase and start to develop them in to a paper or project. As far as technology integration is concerned, this can be a great opportunity to use word processing programs that challenge the students to not only write a report but include pictures and other media that they discovered in their research. This is the stage where students start projects, but it is not until the refinement stage when their work is scrutinized.
“To further the development and to lead the learner to the implementation phase”, is the objective set forth for the refinement stage. This stage is about students getting ready to display their final project. Students complete their final project by creating a website that they will post for the entire world to see. Students will be more willing to create a worthwhile project if they know that a larger audience has a potential to view them. As the objective suggests, the refinement stage is all about preparing for the final tier which is the implementation stage.
The objective for the final stage of implementation is, “to demonstrate the learning that has taken place through the phases.” As the objective suggests, this is the stage were the student publish their information on the internet. Not only will this allow the teacher to gain insight on the students work, but the students themselves will have an opportunity to read and review other’s work as well. So not only will they be learning about their own content, but they will be learning from their peers’ papers as well.
Bill Robertson wrote about integrating technology into classroom lessons by following five stages. I thought that this site was useful for teachers who wish to do a project using technology, but are unsure on how to carry out a lesson of such magnitude. I thought his ideas set forth in this article really gave ownership of the learning to the students. I agree with the author when he wrote about students creating better work as a result of having to publish it on the internet. With that said, being an elementary music teacher, I am not sure to what extent I could have my students complete similar projects. Creating a website may be something too advanced for children at the primary level, but I will certainly use some of the ideals in this article by having my students use the internet and various other computer programs. This article provided me with thoughts about technology that I have not considered, and as a result, of reading it, I plan on implementing more research project like the ones set forth in this article in my own teaching.

The Importance of Collaboration In Education

For my blog this week I thought I would write about the importance of teacher collaboration. I came across this article by Robert J. Garmston entitled, Can Collaboration Be Taught? He writes how collaboration techniques need to be taught to the staff though staff development and various seminars. Most importantly faculties need to know what the word collaboration means, and all the benefits it can offer students who are educated by a community of teachers. Adult learners tend to learn more as a result of working collaboratively because they support each other’s learning methods, and they work harder in an effort to please the group. Mr. Garmston then goes to share many examples on various forms of teacher collaboration including: looking at and considering why a certain number of students are failing standardized test or when teachers meet regularly to explore different models of learning.
The second portion of the article deals with four specific ways that collaboration can be integrated into education and they are: knowledge and skills, creating think environments, achieve mastery by practicing fundamentals, and co-cognition.
The knowledge and skills section is where the author shared seven different aspects of collaboration and they include: seven norms of collaboration, distinguishing dialogue from discussion, three meeting structures, managing the environment, templates for group development, and a range of planning and problem-solving models. These strategies can be employed by districts who wish to have a programs like this installed in their schools.
The section entitled, creating links and environments, has to deal with creating an environment that is conducive to learning. Taking down notes on notepads and chart paper is necessary in order to jot down ideas that the group has. These ideas can then be presented to other teachers or administration in order to create an effective learning environment.
The achieve mastery section deals with listening to other’s thoughts and brainstorming to determine the best educational outcomes. The idea in this section is to set up norms in the collaboration area that will eventually become habit and a normal part of the teacher’s day.
Finally, this section deals with the idea of co-cognition, this is the idea that two minds thinking about a problem is like three. Collaboration has the power to call upon the different teacher’s ability and strengths. Where one teacher is not as strong in an area the other teacher could provide support.
Mr. Garmston concludes his article by stating that there is still more work that needs to be done in order for teachers reap the full benefits of collaborative learning. Teachers cannot simply work alone in their classrooms anymore, they need to diversify and work with other teachers. By working collaboratively student’s can prosper and learn effectively by having a multi-range approach to their education.
In conclusion, I feel the article did great job explaining various ways that teachers can collaborate with each other. I learned how important this type of open communication can be to educators who are trying to diversify their teaching methods. I also learned that a collaboration program takes much more work to get together than simply getting together and talking. Schools need to train their teachers in these techniques to get the most out these sessions.
I can use the information put forth in this article to properly run or take part in collaborative planning. I can use proper brainstorming techniques that this article set forth while utilizing the correct learning environment to promote collaboration. The most important aspect of this article I will use in my teaching is to make collaborative planning a habit in my everyday teaching. This type of planning has a tremendous effect on student learning if done correctly. Teachers can complement each other and the result will only benefit student learning.

How Technology Enhances Learning for At-Risk Students

For this week blog I decided to write about how technology can be used to promote learning. I happened to come across this article set forth by the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory, entitled Critical Issue: Using Technology to Enhance Engaged Learning for At-Risk Students. This article deals with the idea of using technology to boost learning in students.
The issue section stated that not only can technology be used to boost learning for students who are at risk, but it can also be used to bring about educational reform.
The overview section continues to lay out how a school system can go about implementing various technologies into their schools. It then goes on to state how students can organize, obtain, manipulate, and display information more readily when technology is utilized. Some of the computer programs that students can use include word processing and graphing software. A recent study shows that by using word processing programs students are willing to write longer, more complex sentences and are more likely to edit their own work. By using this technology, students no longer have to worry about penmanship, grammar, and spelling because the computer program will correct these errors automatically, and as a result, students now can concentrate on writing good quality papers.
The goal section sets forth five main ideas that offer a target for prospective schools to attain when trying to integrate technology. Classrooms need to serve at-risk students by using collaboration, in that, all students of different abilities share information to make decisions and solve problems. All students have the opportunity to use various modern technologies, and teachers need to have the ability and training to implement projects using technology. Administrators, parents, and community also need to support the use of technological innovations by making these training sessions possible. Finally, school districts need to improve facilities so technology can be implemented and used by all students.
The action options portion of the paper has to deal with steps that teachers and the community can take in order to utilize technology in education. Teachers can specifically create classroom activities that challenge the students by using technological aids that will help in learning the material. Teachers can also promote learning by fostering cooperative learning so that students can work together in order to reach their goals in education. The community can help by giving all students access to various technology including computers, the internet, and computer programs. They also need to make available to teachers a technical support system that teachers can use when problems occur with the technology. It is important for the teachers and the communities to work together in order to fully immerse each student in an education that is rich in technology.
The final portion of the paper deals with “pitfalls” that the educator may come in contact with when trying to incorporate technology into education. It is important to train teachers in technology though staff development on various programs. However, the author of this article warns administrators to not only have staff development on various technologies but to also give time for teachers to experiment and fully understand the new programs. Teachers will be less likely to use something they do not fully understand. Teachers also have to be careful not to let the students get too distracted by glitzy technological presentations. Students may be more interested in looking at the animation on a PowerPoint than reading the information the slide has to offer. It is up to the teacher to select worthy information that will excite the students to learn but not distract them.
This article dealt with using technology to help at-risk students learn more effectively. This cause has tremendous value to children labeled as at risk, but this article can be applied to children of all ages and ability levels. It is important to utilize technology not for just its learning sake but to get children acclimated to using it. This article reinforced my belief that technology is an important part of education because not only does it allow the teacher to share information by many different methods, but it allows students to do work more accurately and efficiently. Most importantly this article affirmed to me that in today’s world technology is everywhere, and if students do not know how to use it they will fall behind.

Using Questioning Techniques to Enhance Learning

For this weeks blog I would like to discuss the importance of assessment in the field of education. More importantly I would like to specifically address how effective questioning during class can help promote effective student learning.
It is important to use positive questioning techniques and never punish students by asking them questions. Negative questioning can lead to lowered student attentiveness and eventual shut down of the educational process. Students need to know that answering questions is a way to effectively relay information that they have learned to the teacher. If this positive teaching experience is soured by using questioning as a punishment, then the teacher losses a powerful teaching tool.
One of the most effective questioning techniques is using “wait time” which is method that can be used to promote learning. Wait time can be defined as a three step process that include: asking a question, pausing, and then calling on a student. This method allows students a moment to think about their response before they are called upon. The use of wait time has many benefits including less teacher talking, less repetition of student’s responses, and more questions that lead to multiple responses. Some of the benefits that students experience in this method include: longer responses, higher achievement, less confusion, and an increased complexity of answers.
Wait time can also be used after the question is posed, and by using proper wait time the student responses lead to further development and complex thinking. Wait time can also encourage other students to interject their ideas on a certain topic. Students will prosper in this type of questioning method because it will eventually lead to a routine. Once the students are use to the questioning techniques there will be no longer any awkward silences and students will fill in the gaps with educational responses.
In conclusion, assessment methods are a tool that educators can use to determine what the students are learning. More importantly, questioning techniques are needed to be used as a positive way to relay information to the teacher. Questioning methods should not be used as a punishment for this will hinder the educational process. Effective use of wait time can enhance learning among students. It is up to the teacher to promote a positive learning environment that students can feel free to express their thoughts, and the use of effective question techniques can only enhance their learning.

Using Gardner's Musical/Rhythmic Intelligence to Enhance Learning

The topic of this week’s blog has to do with Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences and how students learn and process new information. Gardner’s theories include eight different methods in which students learn and they are: Verbal/linguistic, Musical/Rhythmic, Logical/Mathematical, Visual/Spatial, Body/Kinesthetic, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal, and Naturalist Intelligences. However, the main purpose of this blog is to examine the multiple intelligence of Musical/Rhythmic, and whether students can lean more effectively by using music as a learning tool.
I can speak from personal experience that music has the ability to enhance learning among students. To help illustrate this statement I would like to pose the following question: What is the first step in learning how to read? The answer is learning the alphabet, and most any kindergarten aged student will be able to sing the “ABC’s” to the tune “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” to a willing audience. The alphabet is made up of twenty six letters and to memorize such a list would be a monumental activity for an adult let alone five year old child. How is it possible that a five year old can memorize twenty six different letters while keeping them in sequential order? The answer is simple; music makes it possible to memorize such a vast amount of information. If I were to ask you to recite the alphabet right now, I bet the tune to the song will go through your head as you deliver the letters.
As a music teacher, I am surrounded by music everyday and use music to help teach all different aspects of music. When I am teaching the term largo to my students I would certainly use an example of music that the tempo is very slow. Not only would this allow the students to experience a slow tempo, but by also listening to the music will help reinforce the vocabulary term. Music should not only be reserved for the music classroom but can be used in virtually every type of classroom. Students with heavy tendencies in the intelligence of Musical/Rhythmic can take information whether it is memorizing chemistry formulas or the Bill of Rights and put them to music. Teachers could have students create rhythmic raps or musical melodies that embody the lesson objectives for that particular subject. Students will enjoy lessons like this because it will allow them to include musical genres that they enjoy, and it will give them an opportunity to include that type of music into the lesson. With this type of lesson students will enjoy working collaboratively in creating a song or rap, and as a result, the students will be teaching and learning from each other.
Music has the power to unlock the ability to memorize and learn vast amount of information. This is evident by examining how students learn and memorize the alphabet. Teachers can call upon the student’s musical skills in any number of ways to help them learn. Among these activities can be to have the students create musical raps or melodies. It is up to the teachers to utilize multiple intelligences to enhance learning among students. The music intelligence can be used for all students to help augment learning in various subject matters.

How Effective Planning Can Shape Education

For my third blog entry I thought I would discuss the importance of teacher planning in education. As I was reading the chapters in the book for this week I noticed that one of the sections was devoted to idea of planning. This one aspect of teaching is essentially the most important part of a teacher’s job because it will set the ground work for what is going to be taught to the students. A teacher may have mastered the subject area in which they teach, but without a well thought out lesson plan the students will not learn as well as they could have with a well constructed one. Lesson plans need to include many different elements that speak to different types of learners. The linguistic learner will need something to read, while the spatial learner needs something to visualize. Only by taking into consideration all different types of learning styles can a lesson reach all learners.
There is no right way to plan, due to the fact, that planning means different things to different teachers. Some teachers write out detailed lesson plans with each step written out, while other teachers are able to write the minimal amount. As long as planning is taking place both planning methods can prove to be effective.
The book lays out seven main principals that teachers need to keep in mind when they are planning and they include: student, content, time, school, resources, teacher knowledge, and technical considerations. Children are the reason why there is even a profession of teaching in the first place. First and foremost, teachers need to keep in the mind their students when they plan. Teachers need to ask themselves what they want their students to learn, and how to most effectively go about teaching it. Content needs to be addressed in the lessons by having a clear order and methods that compose the lesson. Teachers also need to consider how long it will take to teach a unit, and if school functions such as field trips or holidays will interfere with the completion of it. A well planned teacher needs to take into consideration any district or state standards that need to be addressed. They also need to determine if any additional resources such as text book or technological aids are needed to complete the lesson. Finally, an educator needs to determine how knowledgeable they are on a subject they plan to teach, and if they need to review certain aspects of the lesson in order to effectively portray the information to the students. Finally, I would like to share the planning methods I use when I plan for my elementary music lessons. After establishing the topic for the class, I sit down and write a lesson plan consisting of objectives, procedures, and materials. I closely following the curriculum guide provided by the county in which I work that incorporates the state and national standards of music. Then I ask the question: What do I want my students to learn as a result of the lesson? Once this question is answered, I draw from a variety of materials for my lessons, including the student’s text book and references on the three major methodologies of music: Orff, Dalcroze and Kodaly. It is important to include something in the lesson that the students will find fun, such as a musical game or instrument playing. I find that children love doing these types of activities and learn more as a result of doing them. I also include activities that illustrate the different levels of learning. Knowing what a major scale is and being able to play one are two different things. I try to find a balance so I am not concentrating on one aspect of the material.
Planning can be the most challenging aspect of teaching. A well thought out lesson can teach students, but an entire units worth can inspire them.