Behaviorism

When I initially think of behaviorism, I think of what some people would call the "old school" way of teaching.  This comes to mind for two reasons: one is B.F. Skinner's idea of operant conditioning.  This means that we reinforce the desired behaviors with praise or reward.   An example would be rewarding the students who turn in all their work on time with free time. The hope would be that this would promote this positive behavior thus increasing the learning taking place. The other side of this theory is to ignore or most often punish the undesirable behaviors as a way of trying to decrease the behavior.  An example would be taking away recess for a student who did not complete their work.  I believe this is used in some form in most classrooms.  I know that I try to use praise and reward as an effective method, but sometimes consequence and punishment are used also.  Both can be an effective way to manage behavior in the class.  The second idea of behaviorism is that drill and practice are the best methods to teach skills. 

The drill and practice of skills is particularly important when thinking of remediation of students.  Michael Orey states that students are sent to practice skills on a computer because they have not mastered the skills in the classroom.  He notes there is a negative connotation with this.   The resources provided this week are drill and practice sites that students could use to gain expected skills for the classroom.  I believe the skills that could be practiced are valuable to students.  Some of them like math facts or grammar rules are skills that I think students would benefit from the practice and drill method of behaviorism.  I think students would enjoy the ease and simplicity of the sites while still mastering an important skill.  I also believe that this type of learning could be used for summer practice and practice at home.

All teachers want students to learn.  It is our job to be certain to find the best method for each child.  I believe a variety of methods is most effective in meeting the needs of students.  The sites listed follow the behaviorism method of teaching through practice and drill.  I believe there is room for this in the classroom, but do not believe it should be the only method of teaching any skill. 

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011a). Behaviorist Learning Theory [DVD]. Bridging Learning Theory Instruction and Technology. Baltimore, MD: Author

Smith, K. (1999). The behaviourist orientation to learning. In The encyclopedia of informal education. Retrieved from http://www.infed.org/biblio/learning-behavourist.htm

 

Final Reflection

This course has been the most beneficial course I have taken.  The requirements for the course have pushed me to leave my comfort zone and work with technology in ways that I had never dreamed I would.  Not only has it sparked my interest in technology it has also helped my students.  They are excited about the new changes happening in our classroom.  I have incorporated a wiki for the intermediate teachers in our building.  My students are blogging and I am going to begin a wiki for our classroom as well. 

I am finding that although I am a learner also in the process of using the technology tools the students are still receptive to the changes.  They are showing me new tools and are excited about what is happening in our class.  Their enthusiasm for learning pushes me to incorporate more and more technology into our daily class.  It feels good to know that I am giving my students the best possible tools for learning and they are enjoying their learning more and more.  Providing students with 21st Century Skills is very important to me.  I want to prepare them to the best of my ability. 

Technology has also made the students be responsible for their own learning.  They are posting to discussions, making weather reports that we video taped, and they are working in groups to create rather than listen.  I have found that I am more of a facilitator or coach in the process than the leader.  According to David Hall being able to collaborate and communicate is a necessity for students since the jobs of the future will have employees all over the world working through the use of technology.

I have changed a few things since the beginning of this course.  I make an effort everyday to use technology in an exciting way whether it be the Internet for research, finding a video to expand an idea, or allowing the students to use the interactive whiteboard to do Math.  I am beginning to have students work more in groups to collaborate on projects than I did in the beginning of the year.  There are always ones who cannot get along very well and those are the students I try to be certain are getting along because they need to develop the skill more than anyone. 

One long term goal for my classroom is to create and utilize a wiki for the class.  I want students to have a place where they can log their work they have found on famous Hoosiers.  I think this would be such an accomplishment for the students to see at the end of the year.  It would also enforce collaboration and communication skills.  I need to teach the students how to use the wiki and then require a posting or two a week to maintain it.  Another goal of mine is create student portfolios that are electronic.  I think this would  be a way to showcase work as well.  Each student is given an account on our server.  Students would have a place to store their work.  I know that as a writer I rarely write with pen and paper anymore so I would like to teach students about the writing process with the computer in mind.  Most often my students do not enjoy the writing process because of revision and editing.  I think the use of the  computer may change this fact. 

Technology with fourth graders

I was surprised to find out how many hours my students spend using technology.  They spend more time playing video games or games on the internet than they do using social media sites, instant messaging, or text messaging.   I wonder if it has something to do with the age of the students.

http://soundcloud.com/tmcnew/tech-with-fourth-graders/s-mmji3

Partnership for 21st Century Skills

The website http://www.p21.org/ explains the new common core state standards (CCSS) and the needs for the increasing technology in our school curriculum.  I spent the day with the curriculum director of my school going over the common core standards and what that means for the previous standards.  I came to the conclusion that it will mean teachers will need to teach for depth rather than surface coverage.  I have always thought this would be the best way to teach, but have also worried about the standardized test that my students take.

The CCSS will create a national baseline for all students.  This means that all students in the United States will be expected to master the same standards.  This will be monitored by the key performance outcomes.  The standards are based on the 3R's and 4C's.  The 3R's are the core subject areas and the 4C's are critical thinking and problem solving, communication, collaboration, creativity and innovation.  Higher order thinking skills will help students transfer knowledge from one subject area to another.  Isn't that our overall goal?

I must admit that I am not normally a fan of change.  I tend to think  if something is not broken then there is no need to fix it.  With that being said, I realize that many of our methods of teaching are broken.  We are not preparing students for the world they will soon be required to function in properly.  Combining the entire framework with the necessary support will increase student engagement in the learning process. 

The site has an enormous amount of information for educators. I especially appreciated the links to professional development.  I will be taking this site to my administrators and encouraging them take a look at the possibilities.  I am currently learning about some of the technical aspects of teaching students for success in the 21st century, but I am worried about my peers who are not pursuing their masters degree at this time. 

The ideas on the site like recording their reactions to a book and then pod casting it so that others can respond is a completely different idea than any I have thought of.  I see how this is a higher level thinking skill than just a reading response.  I do believe students will be interested in this type of learning.  I also believe that I have a lot to learn about teaching students how to navigate the Internet as a learning tool.  This is why I am here learning with the rest of you.  I am excited, nervous, and exhausted all at the same time.  How do you feel about the future of education?

Fourth Grade Blogging

As I mentioned earlier, blogging is new to me. I am excited about the possibilities, but I am also unsure where to start. 

I am thinking that I may begin by having my students do a form of reading response.  I think the easiest and best way to teach and learn about blogging simultaneously would be for me to read a book to my class.  I could post a question or comment and ask my students to respond.  I think the discussions that could spawn from this type of communication would be very valuable to reading comprehension.

I am also thinking that a blog would be an excellent place to showcase student writing.  Students are apprehensive when it comes to writing and I often have to wonder if this is something that I convey to them.  I, too, am an apprehensive writer so having this showcase would help.

Inviting parents to view our blogs would also be an effective means of communication.  I think this would be helpful for those parents who work and are not able to get into the school on a regular basis.  It would be one more way to keep them informed. 

A few other thoughts:

• weekly assignments
• specific projects
• field trips
• helpful websites

My school does have a website to post this sort of information.  It is not user friendly at all.  Pictures must be loaded and deleted one by one.  I can say honestly that I do not utilize it because of the times it takes to use. 

Linked In

I think I have all of my classmates linked to my blog.  I am finding that this is not as difficult as it seems, but since I am new to this it is kind of like deciphering Japanese.  It makes think of my fourth graders and the first time I make them calculate double digit multiplication or convert fractions.  Reminds me that patience is the key.

New to blogging!: RSS feed

New to blogging!: RSS feed: I am unsure how to be certain if I have this set up as RSS feed. I hope it is correct.