Blog #6

Inquiry learning is a critical part in today’s education. As it was mentioned in the How to learn? From Mistakes video, her grandmother “went to school to get information because that’s where it lived”. We now face a time that students don’t have to be at school because the information is everywhere. Educators are in a very critical position to increase the learning interest and skills of students. The reading from Implementing Inquiry states that “The power of inquiry-learning is its potential to increase intellectual engagement and foster deep understanding through the development of hands-on, minds-on and research-based disposition towards teaching and learning. How do we as teachers do this? Many times, inquiry learning is looked at as projects that students can do. I know that I have been guilty of this in my own classroom. Throughout our reading resources we find that inquiry is much more than that. Inquiry learning is used to “provide opportunities for both teachers and students to collaboratively build, test, and reflect on their learning” (Implementing Inquiry). Teachers must have a different mindset while approaching inquiry learning. Students need to be in control of their learning and facilitated by the teacher. This is often hard to do because teachers like to be in control of the learning environment. I know in my classroom it is hard for me to grasp this concept. I know that it will be beneficial to my students, but I like to know what direction they are headed. Teachers can prepare themselves for this learning environment by becoming learners too. Teachers can learn how to effectively change their classroom environment to increase inquiry skills among their students. In the article Implementing Inquiry, it states that “[Inquiry] requires that teachers see themselves as learners and researchers of both the subjects they teach and their professional practice as a whole. Education is a lifelong learning career. Educators are faced with new challenges every day. Just as the speaker, Diana Laufenberg, spoke about how veteran teachers may have different thoughts and actions toward Inquiry learning, it is important that you believe in your students as she believed in hers. Inquiry learning takes a lot of planning and thought. The learning should be meaningful to develop a deep understanding of the content.  In my classroom I would like to create an Inquiry based learning environment that teaches students to go on a journey, where they will have to dig, seek, ask and grow as learners. They will have to apply skills and knowledge and possibly imagination to reap an exciting learning adventure that will take them to deeper understanding.

I have chosen to develop some mini lessons on the unit of Geometry with a focus on area and perimeter. Students will develop a better understanding of area and perimeter by the questions that they will investigate and answer using different technologies and skills relating to real world scenarios.

Lesson 1 Questions:

-What is perimeter?

-What is area?

The first task/lesson that students will partake in is a basic study skills lesson on the definition of area and perimeter. The students will use search skills to develop a poster to express what area and perimeter are without using the wording of a definition. The students will become experts on the definitions of area and perimeter. This lesson will also focus on the proper techniques of searching on the web and the ethical way to use internet resources. Students will also develop skills of digital citizenship as they investigate.

Lesson 2 Questions:

-When drawing rectangles using the same area, will the perimeter stay the same?

-When drawing rectangles using the same perimeter, will the area stay the same?

-If shapes have the same area, do they always have the same perimeter?

Students will partake in a study of using different rectangles to see how measurements will affect the area and perimeter.

Lesson 3 Question

-What can you conclude about the relationship between area and perimeter?

*Students will be able to investigate and explain their findings with different means of technology. This will also allow students to develop computer skills. During the lessons students will explore the meaning of area and perimeter and develop and deeper meaning of them instead of just definitions. Students will share their understanding with peers when developing posters and other uses of technology such as google slides. The lessons will allow students to connect with information on the web through digital citizenship. The students will also be assessed by their deep understanding of the content using different ways of expressing their learning through posters, google slides and final presentation task.

Blog #5 Reflecting on Goals

Where do I even start? As I looked back at the goals I made a few week’s ago, I feel like I have already been immersed in a pool of knowledge that will only continue to grow throughout this course and my educational experience. As an educator, I want to stay up to date on the advancements that are made, but it is often scary for me to take that step. The resources this week have challenged me not to only be a better educator, but a better learner. It is very easy for me to get discouraged and overwhelmed at the beginning of a new course. I often worry about if I am understanding what is being asked of me or if I am putting enough time into my assignments because of trying to work and raise a family too. The resources that were available to us this week has made me see that learning is what I put into it. If I want to grow as a teacher, I need to put forth every effort to learn what I don’t know. This includes taking things that I am not familiar with a learning everything I can about it. In the article, Even Geniuses Work Hard by Carol Dweck, I like the way the “Not Yet” phrase was used. This is the type of learner and teacher that I want to be. To create a growth mindset in myself as well as my students, I need to develop this mentality. One of my goals is to stay abreast with the changes happening with technology to help my students be successful. I truly believe that in this course I will learn some valuable lessons for myself as well as my students. Blogs and the use of twitter are two resources that I have begun to use that I would have never thought I would. Developing a PLN will also continue to provide resources that I can refer to, to find answers and ideas quickly. I chose using pearltress to develop my PLN because I have never used it before. I wanted to learn something new. The video, The power of belief, sets a huge challenge before us. Through this video we are challenged to take that step forward and learn new things because we can. Many of our students develop a fixed mindset because they hit road blocks that tend to completely stop them instead of them finding a way around them. One statement in the video that stood out to me about being a growth mindset learner was the study of puzzles where the students were told “You must have tried hard”. This statement challenged the students in the study to do the much harder puzzles, while the others that had accomplished the task chose to stay with the easy puzzles. This is a true representation of what happens in the classroom. What we say and do has a lasting effect on our students. Even though I feel overwhelmed with the tasks set before me, I know that if I continue my search of resources and continue to challenge myself, I will develop a growth mindset that I can then convey to my students to help them become better learners and continue to look for challenges inside and outside the classroom.

Letting Go

As I began to read the blog written by Grant Wiggins, I began to laugh at the illustration that he referred to by learning his greatest lesson on the soccer field. The reason for this being humorous to me was the fact that my daughter’s softball team is facing this same exact situation and I have never thought of it relating to education. I agree with the fact that he expresses about more learning comes from applying knowledge. I believe that we need to prepare our students for the future by helping them see the relevance of the learning now. We as educators needs to make learning meaningful and enjoyable by allowing the students to take control. Wiggins states in his blog that “Every coach must provide helpful scaffold, just as I did in my practices. But every coach also knows what many teachers seem not to know: unless you back off completely, on a daily basis, in scrimmages as well as games, to see whether or not students draw appropriately from the repertoire in a timely and effective fashion in challenges that demand it, you really have no idea what they can do on their own”. Every teacher needs to know what their students are capable of and they will never know unless they have the students take control and lead. Teachers are driven by the fact that we are to help student learn the content or standards provided to us. We do this by providing strategies and assistance. Wiggins stated in his blog that “Our instincts as teachers cause us to over-help rather than under-help”. We need to allow the students to become independent in their learning and be facilitators in the classroom. Recently, I have read of flipped classrooms where students are provided materials and/or lecture via google classroom or other online tools, this provides the students to be prepared for the instructional day without the teacher taking time to present the lesson. I can see this being very beneficial to the students to build inquiry skills needed to learn from their experiences and to become independent learners where the teacher is facilitator. One of the problems teachers face with this concept is wanting to be in control and not letting go. The Webinar that was led by Elyse Eidman-Aadahl, Lehmann mentioned in one of his statements that we need to be more focused at being “student centered and not teacher centered”. To build this environment students need to be pushed to “ask questions that [they] do not know the answer to”. Teacher can begin to create this inquiry skill by allowing students to do project-based learning. It was mentioned early in the Webinar that “Data being used to measure students and schools are not sufficient”. To know if students really understand the content, projects can be presented through web-based tools which will allow students to use inquiry skills to find resources and integrate the use of technology all at the same time. Great teachers inspire their students to go beyond the walls of the classroom and explore new learning through hands-on approaches to produce life-long learners.

Reflective Searching Blog #3

As I read through the resources for this week, I immediately thought about my students and how they complete assignments in my class. I have a computer class that works with a program called Classworks. The program is designed for students to practice on math and language arts skills with below, on level, and above grade level work. The students often sit in front of their computer and try to find ways to get around "working out the problem". We are living in a generation that expects everything to be right there in front of us. In the article How Google Impacts The Way Students Think it states, "When your formative years are spent working your fingers through apps and iPads, smartphones and YouTube, the digital world and its habits can bend and shape not just how you access information, but how you conceptualize it entirely. You see information differently–something that’s always accessible”. We don't want to take the time to really research our problems/assignments. I use the word "We" because I put myself in this category too. Technology has made our lives better, but in some ways it has hindered us. I truly believe that students lack in basic research skills. I have read many articles about the importance of building the reputation of the library. The library used to be viewed as the only place to really conduct research, but since advancements in technology have come, the library has now become almost an afterthought. I believe that this is where the library can regain some momentum and stress the importance of true research. Teachers have such a huge responsibility teaching the standards given to them each year. If the Media Specialist and teacher could team together, they could have the content and research skills taught in order to develop the lack of skills that their students have. I believe that it is importance to enforce these skills as early as Elementary School. This idea is somewhat presented in the article, How Teens Do Research in the Digital World. In this article it states, "the vast majority of these teachers say a top priority in today’s classrooms should be teaching students how to “judge the quality of online information.” Students need to have a foundation of basic research in order to develop strong research skills in later years. It is often easier to just "google it", but the possibilities are endless if we lead them in the right direction. 

Blog #2

It's amazing to think about all the technology resources we have available at our fingertips. On the other hand it's also scary and intimidating. In my classroom, I strive to use technology in order to help my students learn. Students need direction and guidance.

In the Elementary classroom, I have seen where technology is beneficial,but have also seen where it can hinder learning. With the vast resources we have available it makes it much easier for the students to just "find the answer". In the videos and articles from this week, I have seen the importance of teaching my students how to explore learning through technology. It's very important that students know how to seek information and explore it to promote their learning. The last article was definitely enlightening to me because I feel the need to become digitally fluent in order to help my students. In order to produce life long learners, educators need to be life long learners. Educators need to constantly seek information and resources to help their students be successful.

Education has definitely taken on a different level of learning. Early classrooms, students would come in, sit down, and have lessons taught to them. Classrooms now have "flipped" to where the students are in control of their learning. This is very hard for me to adapt to. I have often thought of my classroom being "mine", but through technology and learning I see that the classroom also belongs to the students. The classroom needs to be viewed as a place where students can enter and not be afraid to try new things and explore to increase their learning opportunities. It's exciting to think about what can happen in a classroom when students are fully focused on learning.

FRIT 7234 Goals

My learning goals for this semester in Information Fluency and Inquiry are....

1. As an educator, I believe its important to stay abreast to all the changes that technology brings us. In this course, I hope to expand my knowledge of the technology available to reach the diverse needs of my students.

2. I have yet to enter the world of twitter. In this course I hope to better understand the use of twitter and how to effectively use it within the classroom as well as personal interest.

3. While taking this course, I hope to be able to develop a vast number of resources that can be used to help me as well as colleagues create flipped classrooms where students are eager to learn and explore.