Throughout the duration of my Master of Arts in Educational Technology (MAET) program, I was instructed to respond to readings in the form of a blog regarding different perspectives of learning and technology resources. Below you can find six educational blogs.
Blog Post #1: Learning and Understanding
What is learning?
Learning, as defined in the Merriam Webster Dictionary, is “the acquisition of knowledge or skills through experience, study, or by being taught” (Webster, 2011). Throughout this blog, I am going to focus on the power behind the “experience” aspect of the defintion.
As a current 11th grade English teacher, I find myself creating specific sets of criteria necessary to be successful on an assignment, giving on the spot feedback to students in the process of an assignment, and teaching by helping students make revisions on their tasks. Are students learning? Yes. However, they are learning by me teaching the majority of the instruction rather than learning by doing it themselves, possibly failing, and then having to try to do it again. Also, known as learning by experience.
As stated in “How to Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School,”
“The goal of education is better conceived as helping students develop the intellectual tools and learning strategies” that are necessary for students’ growth throughout their education and their daily lives” (Bransford, Brown, Cocking, 2000, 5).
Teaching students techniques rather than teaching students by lecturing helps foster critical thinking skills, which in turn, “help[s] them see the power of using metacognitive strategies” to develop a stronger “level of understanding” (Bransford, Brown, Cocking, 2000, 22). “Metacognition refers to people’s abilities to predict their performances on various tasks” (e.g., Brown, 1975; Flavell, 1973). Being able to think about one’s thinking shows a deeper level of understanding and desire to learn.
Students are often faced with challenges and can either conquer them or be defeated by them. A student who uses metacognition will be more successful than a student who depends on being taught explicitly by a teacher. In the example “Fish is Fish,” the frog learned by experiencing the world around him on a first hand basis whereas the fish learned by listening/lecturing (Lionni, 1970, 10). The fish had the strong desire to understand the frog on a deeper level, so he attempted to experience the above water world on his own; he was “learning oriented” (Bransford, Brown, Cocking, 2000, 23). On the contrary, students who are “performance oriented” are concerned about making mistakes rather than learning from them (Bransford, Brown, Cocking, 2000, 23). A student who is “learning oriented” is more likely able to take a skill and transfer it to another task than a student who is more focused on getting something right or wrong (Bransford, Brown, Cocking, 2000, 23).
Transfer should be viewed “as a dynamic process that requires learners to actively choose and evaluate strategies, consider resources, and receive feedback” (Bransford, Brown, Cocking, 2000, 66). Students who are active learners are better able to take a skill they learned in math class and apply it to building a house. Transfer helps “students become more aware of themselves as learners” (Bransford, Brown, Cocking, 2000, 67). A student who does not delve into one’s metacognition hinders their ability to learn a skill in school and apply it to something else that is part of their life outside of school.
Overall, learning is a continual process that never ends. Learning is more than memorizing facts, listening to lectures, and answering questions, yet those are still forms of learning. Learning is done best when using skills and knowledge to evaluate a scenario and think about what the next outcome could be, when using multiple lenses to examine a scenario before acting upon it, and when using experiences to learn from mistakes. Without experiencing everything for oneself, information is likely to not be retained which creates a loss in learning to understand. Learning to understand creates the ability for students to transfer skills from one area to another, resulting in the expansion of skills across the board.
This brings me to my next focus: How do the learning processes of experts and novices differ?
Experts examine a situation before they make a decision. (Bransford, Brown, Cocking, 2000, 31). For example, Degroot researched chess experts’ ability to “outthink their opponents” (Bransford, Brown, Cocking, 2000, 31) and came to the conclusion that experts analyze a chess board and foresee the next ten plus possible outcomes before they make a move. A novice has limited prior knowledge, so they act upon their first thought and viewing (Bransford, Brown, Cocking, 2000, 31).
So, how does a novice become an expert?
There is one task that can help a novice become an expert and that is practicing for hours and hours everyday until at least 10,000 hours of practice has been accomplished. However, there is more that goes into becoming an expert that simply practicing. “Experts’ thinking seems to be organized around big ideas” (Bransford, Brown, Cocking, 2000, 37) and novices’ thinking is “arranged on the basis of the problems’ surface attributes” (Bransford, Brown, Cocking, 2000, 38). Experts are able to make connections across texts and “possess an efficient organization of knowledge” when doing so. Novices lack certain skills that help experts organize their knowledge like the skill of chunking (Bransford, Brown, Cocking, 2000, 33). Chunking is when “various elements [are] configur[ed] [by] relat[ing] [to] an underlying function or strategy” (Bransford, Brown, Cocking, 2000, 32). Experts use resources to further their understanding on a concept and novices struggle with expanding their knowledge and understanding.
So how does this all relate to educational technology?
Technology within the classroom offers students to learn at different paces, also known as differentiating the lesson plan based on the needs of students. Permitting students to work at different rates gives them the opportunity and ability to fully understand the criteria being taught and offers students the option to learn the technology aspect at a different pace. Often teachers move through a lesson when the majority of students have shown an understanding. However, differentiating the lesson encourages understanding across the board.
Technology is a powerful tool that will help students become experts in using digital tools in school and elsewhere. Creating a cohesive classroom with technology, reading, writing, and other basic teaching requirements will allow students to make edits to their thinking virtually. This ties in the skill of transfer discussed earlier in the blog: “ability to extend what has been learned in one context to new contexts” (e.g., Byrnes, 1996:74). Being able to transfer thinking from one area to another will help students advance in what we call the real world.
Works Cited
Bransford, J. D., Brown, A. L., Cocking, R. R. (2000). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school: Expanded edition. Washington D.C.: National Academies Press.
Learning. 2011. In Merriam-Webster.com. Retrieved July10, 2018, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/learning
Lionni, L. 1970 Fish Is Fish. New York: Scholastic Press.
Blog Post #2: Importance of Questioning
Does anyone have any questions? *Silence* So, what you are telling me is that you all understand everything? *Still no one speaks*
This is a typical day in my 11th grade English Language Arts classroom.
When do children lose the spark, the curiosity, and the desire to learn? From a young age, I asked so many “why” questions to the point where my dad used to simply reply, “because.” As a child it irritated me. I wanted answers.
Warren Berger (2014) made a point to acknowledge how adults respond ironically to situations when he stated , “[adults] may profess to admire kids’ curiosity, but at some point we just don’t welcome those questions anymore” (40). We want children to learn, yet we shut them down in the moment.
And that is part of the problem.
If questions are supposed to create a deeper understanding, then why do we as educators and people shut down children’s fascination with questioning the world around them? Unfortunately, I will not come to a conclusion in this blog, but I will discuss the importance of keeping questioning alive in the classroom and some possible ways to make that happen.
As David Hackett Fischer (1970) stated, “[questions] are the engines of intellect--cerebral machines that convert curiosity into controlled inquiry” (as cited in Berger, 2014, 15). In essence, the more a child questions, the more a child learns. Questioning is a form of critical thinking, which fosters more knowledge. The more curiosity a child has, the more questions they ask. And the more questions they ask creates a bigger desire to learn for understanding.
As a high school teacher, I create lesson plans that are both engaging and rigorous. But what about those lessons that feel like a flop? Every “flop” lesson plan that comes to mind had one thing in common- the students were instructed to lead the discussion. However, I need to change my viewpoint. Just because the lesson plan didn’t feel successful and just because there was little discussion, that doesn’t mean it was a failure. In fact, it was the exact thing that needed to happen. It showed me my students’ lack of understanding on how to ask open ended, researchable questions.
So how do you have students become better at questioning?
First, do not let a “flop” lesson plan steer you away from doing the activity again. This was my problem as a first year teacher. I never wanted to do a socratic seminar… EVER again.
I also recognized the problem- I assumed students would be good at questioning. I mean, it’s just a question, right? WRONG. “The process is [actually] quite difficult” (Berger, 2014, 62). Rothstein (2012) observed and explained how students are expected to “do something they’ve never done-- to think in questions” (as cited in Berger, 2014, 62).
Students are used to answering questions: What is the main idea of this paragraph? What does that simile mean? What is the purpose for writing this novel?
But when do they ever develop questions to think about and not for the purpose of specifically answering in the moment? They aren’t. And that is what needs to change by giving them more experience with asking and developing questions.
In my classroom, I give students a debatable topic. For example, schools should get rid of letter grading. The next step is giving them time to create questions. However, it’s best to ease students into this concept of questioning because it can become very overwhelming when you are not used to it.
I like to start out by explaining the different levels of questioning:
Level 1= literal
Level 2= inference
Level 3= universal/ evaluative
The universal questions are the hardest types of questions to create, but that is the end goal. Students need to understand that there are questions that often do not have a right or a wrong answer and there are questions that have yet to have an answer.
Another way to promote inquiry in the classroom is to practice not skipping over a student’s question just because it doesn’t seem relevant or because you are pressured by time. When we as teachers do that, we are inadvertently telling students that their question doesn’t matter. If you were told that your voice doesn’t matter, would you continue using it?
Lastly, praise the wrong answers. Yes, you read that correctly. Tony Wagner (2012) makes a valid point: “Somehow, we’ve defined the goal of schooling as enabling you to have more ‘right answer’ than the person next to you. And we penalize incorrect answers” (as cited in Berger, 2014, 46). Students lose confidence when you tell them they are “wrong.” Build a student up through encouragement and they will make more strides in their learning and effort.
Works Cited
Berger, W. (2014). A more beautiful question: The power of inquiry to spark breakthrough ideas. Bloomsbury Publishing USA.
Fischer, D. H. (1970). Historians' fallacies: Toward a logic of historical thought (Vol. 498). New York: Harper & Row.
Rothstein, D., & Santana, L. (2011). Make just one change: Teach students to ask their own questions. Harvard Education Press.
Wagner, T., & Compton, R. A. (2015). Creating innovators: The making of young people who will change the world. Simon and Schuster.
Blog Post #3: Why, What If, How
“Why do I have do this?” “Why am I always tired?” “Why are my work days so long?”
I ask Why questions on daily basis, but I limit myself to one. Instead I should be pushing myself into questioning even more, like saying:
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“Why do I have do this?” “Why are we doing this? “Why is it important?”
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“Why am I always tired?” “Why can’t I fall asleep earlier?” “Why am I more awake at night time?”
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“Why are my work days so long? ““Why don’t I look for another job?” “Why don’t I have better time management skills?”
Why questions are continuously being created, but only some people log them and turn them into What If questions. If people only asked questions and never proceeded to What If and How questions, this world would be a boring place. There is so much to learn, curiosity to expand, knowledge to grow, and motivation to build through the use of ongoing creative thought. Warren Berger has truly inspired me and opened my eyes into a new way of looking at the world around me. If there is one thing I learned from A More Beautiful Question, it’s the importance of being relentless. One question is limiting, but many questions are empowering.
To further elaborate, ill-structured problems are ill-structured because they haven’t been approached effectively with Why, What If, and How questions. There can be a solution, but it depends on all factors. A More Beautiful Question made me realize that. Why questions are able to get someone thinking about a problem. For example. Van Phillips “created somewhere between two hundred and three hundred prototypes of the Flex-Foot” (Berger, 2014, p. 37). Even though most of these broke, he never gave up. He let his failure move him forward. (Berger, 2014, p. 37). His questions empowered him.
As I worked on my Wicked Problem revolving around The Achievement Gap, I found my head spinning because there were so many questions to ask! We started with asking Why questions to help us get to a solution.
Here are some of our long list of Why questions that helped our creative process get us to a possible solution:
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Why are minorities struggling with the achievement gap more?
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Why is funding for education an issue in the achievement gap?
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Why is the achievement gap not getting smaller in all aspects (i.e. race, socioeconomic status)?
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Why are tests standardized?
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Why do we use standardized tests to measure the achievement gap when they are biased?
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Why are teachers pressured to meet a long list of standards with the idea that the more content they cover, the smaller the achievement gap will be?
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Why isn’t schooling more equitable?
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Why doesn’t the US government spend more money on education, giving those schools who need more a higher priority?
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Why is there an achievement gap?
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Why is money for education allocated differently in different areas within the same country?
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Why is the method of teaching the same even though it does not help close the achievement gap?
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Why is money not allocated in more equitable ways to close the achievement gap within the US?
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Why is it assumed that technology is the only way to close the achievement gap?
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Why are schools driven to meet test score instead of focusing on making sure students actually understand what they are learning?
After we had Why questions, we read research articles and took appropriate notes which led us to How questions.
What If
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What if funding was given to schools more equitably?
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What if schools that had low standardized test scores received more government assistance?
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What if highly qualified teachers were sent to failing schools?
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What if schools had to be racially diverse?
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What if lower income schools were funded more?
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What if free tutoring programs after school were given to students (especially because parents are usually working)?
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What if students had access to internet and computers at home?
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What if education was always deemed important instead of a “must do”?
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What if schools weren’t divided by socioeconomic status?
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What if teachers were supported in the classroom?
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What if teachers received professional development on how to close the achievement gap?
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What if test scores didn’t determine the achievement gap?
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What if schools retained teachers?
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What if certain subjects were double blocked so students had more exposure to that subject (reading, english, math, etc.)
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What if school was year round?
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What if one parent could always be at home?
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What if schools could do more to feed hungry students, clothe students, and provide additional psychological supports?
This led us to our How questions, which helped us find our solution.
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How can the community partner with schools to help close the achievement gap?
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How can teachers become part of their community to better serve and understand the students they teach?
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How can we provide psychological support?
Solution:
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Create a safer community space by going to the communities students live in to learn about their culture so we can better build relationships with the students and their families.
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Develop a trauma training through a school psychologist
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Have a homeroom style where each teacher has 20ish students and they meet once a week or everyday as part of their schedule
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Provide a Talkspace equivalent for every student to help them deal and cope with trauma in their lives
So how do I connect all of this to my classroom? As I have mentioned, my students are 11th graders and will soon be entering the lifestyle of a University student. In order to be sure students are prepared for college, it is part of my job to stimulate more critical thinking in my classroom. I believe teaching Why, What If, and How questions can help bring back the creativity and thinking into a classroom. Teachers “have inadvertently contributed to the professionalization of asking questions- to the idea that only the people who know more are allowed to ask” (Rothstein, 2011). It is my goal to ask less and expect more. I am going to put the heavy lifting into the hands of my students.
Works Cited
Berger, W. (2014). A more beautiful question: The power of inquiry to spark breakthrough ideas. Bloomsbury Publishing USA.
Rothstein, D., & Santana, L. (2011). Make just one change: Teach students to ask their own questions. Harvard Education Press.
Blog Post #4: Learning through Design
Before I created my new classroom design, I first thought about what I liked in my current classroom and why I liked it. What came to mind first was, of course, my relaxation area.I decided to expand my cozy nook by incorporating a couch, bean bags, and other types of comfortable seating. As an educator and a student in grad school, I know people sit differently when learning. Some people sit up right, some people sit on the floor while others stand, and some people lean forward. The important thing to remember is that everyone is still learning. For me, I usually have my hand on my face when taking notes because I think it’s more comfortable that sitting up right the entire time. And when given the option to leave our grad school classroom, I always went and found a comfortable couch or chair to sit in. If I am looking for more relaxing ways to learn, I know my 11th grade students are too. In my redesigned classroom, I made available 7 comfy seats for students to choose from.
Even though I believe that independent practice should be able to be practiced from any point in the classroom, sometimes I will want students to be working together as a group on a project that requires technology or art supplies. A surface area that welcomes everyone in the group, and one that facilitates discussion, is what is most important to me as an educator, and that is the reason I chose circle tables. It doesn’t close anyone off like a rectangle or square table would do. It also makes it easier to arrange desks by not having seats attached to desk tops. As stated in A Holistic, Multi-level Analysis Identifying the Impact of Classroom Design on Pupils’ Learning. Building and Environment, “more zones can allow varied learning activities at the same time” (Barrett, Zhang, Moffat, & Kobbacy, 2013, p. 688). This form of seating helps discussion and further understanding when students are in literature circles and having socratic seminars which will help push students into deeper critical thinking and discourse. It will also open up the possibilities of students sitting in the chill area of at the desk area, which helps vary learning.
Another important part of my classroom is the need for technology. I have put a couple desks against the wall with laptops on them for students to sit at. “Brain research is giving us great insights into how we can vary teaching methods to meet the needs of different learning styles” (Pigozzi & Peterson, 2010, p. 58) which is why it is important that I have a layout that offers comfort, discussion, and technology. I teach students with accommodations, like needing to use a computer instead of a printed novel to read, so this is a perfect area for students to access that information. However, I knew I needed more than two laptops, so I put a computer cart in the corner where other laptops with sit and charge when not being used.
I placed whiteboards on each wall of the classroom because I feel as if I never have enough board space in my current classroom. Sometimes I like to leave the visual thinking my class had on the whiteboard for display for the week, but I always end up having to take a picture instead because I never have enough space! Therefore, I chose to have four whiteboards in my redesigned classroom!
I created an accent wall in the classroom to make it like a home feeling instead of an office feeling with all white walls. I also added a lamp so all of overhead lights do not need to be on. Since I was redesigning my current classroom, I kept the same amount of windows I have in my room. Windows add extra light into the room, which is why I do not have a blind on the window. I also added gray carpet to make it more inviting and warm.
My favorite part of my new classroom is the seating. It allows students to engage in critical discussion and permits them to be comfortable. Overall, my classroom feels like a less intense environment and more like a safe space where students can learn.
Works Cited
Barrett, P., Zhang, Y., Moffat, J., & Kobbacy, K. (2013). A holistic, multi-level analysis identifying the impact of classroom design on pupils’ learning. Building and Environment, 59, 678-689.
Pigozzi, O., Peterson, O. (2010). The third teacher, 58.
Blog Post #5: The Achievement Gap
The Achievement Gap.
The name itself explains the problem. Why is there a gap in achievement? Why are students not learning equal amounts of knowledge across the United States? Why is funding not equal across the districts? Why are teachers pressured into closing the gap by teaching towards a test?
And we were off.
Immediately questions were furiously being typed into our group’s Wicked Problem planning document regarding the ongoing problem across the country. When were given a selection of Wicked Problems to choose from, the Achievement Gap highly interested me due to the community of children I serve. I teach in Houston, Texas at a charter school called KIPP. It is our goal to give equal opportunities to a children and to help the communities who are struggling the most get to and through college. The last three years I have been lectured, sat through professional developments, had meetings, taught towards a test, created rigorous lesson plans, retaught lesson plans, held tutorials, etc. to try and help bridge the gap my 11th grade students were suffering from. The gap divides them from going to a university with a high graduation rate for minorities to a two year university with low graduation rates for minorities. As a teacher, I want the best for all of my students, but I felt like I was at a crossroad. Am I not trying my hardest? Aren’t I doing what is best for my students? Why are their ACT scores still low? These types of questions can often make someone feel like they are failing and failing can often lead to someone giving up. However, I persevered through the challenges and devoted myself to trying to change my approach. So when prompted with the opportunity to further research it, I couldn’t pass it up.
After much research and questioning, as a group we defined the Achievement gap as the difference in academic performance between various groups of students (i.e. race, socioeconomic status, geographic location, etc). Standardized test scores are mainly how the gap is measured between minority students and their white middle class counterparts. Dropout rates, graduation rates, enrollment in honors, advanced placement and “gifted” courses, and admittance to college and professional programs are also compared when analyzing the achievement gap.
We developed many thoughtful questions, but struggled with finding a solution because there are so many problems and issues that go into the development of the gap. However, we feel confident that our possible solution will help students and families who are suffering from the achievement gap. Charles Basch wrote, “It is neither reasonable nor realistic to expect that, on their own, schools can close the gaps in education or eliminate health disparities among the nation’s youth. Schools should not be solely responsible for
addressing these complex and recalcitrant problems” (2011). I want to focus on “health disparities” because he also writes, “Research clearly shows that these health problems influence students’ motivation and
ability to learn” (2011). If students are going through trauma, their attention and focus is not what the teacher is explaining, but rather on the issue that is happening in his or her life. Which brings me to another focus- why are low socioeconomic students not given the same opportunities as middle/upper class students? Students are not given equal opportunities for health care, school supplies, cafeteria food, etc. and something needs to change!
This bring me to our solution: we believe there is an achievement gap for many reasons, but health problems being the focus. We want to build a community that is a safe place where students can get help from professionals for free. Students who are seeking trauma deserve a confidant to speak with, but often do not have someone because the school doesn’t have the funds to pay for anyone, which in turn prevents students from asking for help. Building a stronger community amongst teachers, parents, students, therapists, etc. will ideally create a safe place for students to discuss their problems and free their mind from outside issues while they are trying their hardest to learn in school.
Basch, C. E. (2011). Healthier students are better learners: A missing link in school reforms to close the achievement gap. Journal of school health, 81(10), 593-598.
Blog Post #6: TPACK
MAET: Master of Arts in Educational Technology
Technology. Computers. Cellphones. Applications. Doc Cam. Projector. Remote. Lighting. The average person has at least one electronic device on him or her at all times and the average classroom is filled with a multitude of technology, but are teachers using it to their fullest potential? I know I am not, and that is one of the many reasons I decided this program was a good fit for me.
TPACK is the sweet spot that consists of “content, pedagogy, and technology” (Herring, Koehler, & Mishra, 2016, p. 1). I am confident in my ability to create a curriculum full of 11th grade English Language Arts content, but how can I integrate technology into the curriculum? Throughout the last six weeks, I have spent time finding new resources and applications to use in my classroom this year. I was unaware of all the tech tools that are available and that are free to be “transferred” into a school environment (Bransford, Brown, Cocking, 2000).
FlipGrid sparked my interest. I wondered how I could create an engaging discussion for students who don’t like speaking up in class or for students who might miss an assignment or even to keep a discussion going after school hours. FlipGrid is an easy way to record yourself and your thoughts on a topic. For my first unit, we read The Great Gatsby. I plan on assigning group discussion (pedagogy) through the use of FlipGrid (technology) to help foster critical thinking through the use of a novel (content). And this is only one tech tool that can help create that “sweet spot” in my class.
I also plan on incorporating the application Socrative into my classroom. It is a technology tool that can quickly assess students’ understanding on a standard and can be used for multiple choice, true/ false, exit tickets, and other types of assessments. I plan on creating exit tickets aligned to the standard I am teaching to assess students on the material they learned that day. I am able to teach ELA content through reading, writing, lecturing, discussing, and group work, and then I can end the day with technology being incorporated into the classroom. Once again, this is able to hit the “sweet spot” by having in depth content being taught and learned through the use of many styles of learning, and ending with an assessment through the form of a piece of technology.
I already knew technology was important, but TPACK helped me learn the benefits of bringing into the classroom.
Works Cited
Bransford, J. D., Brown, A. L., Cocking, R. R. (2000). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school: Expanded edition. Washington D.C.: National Academies Press.
Herring, M. C., Koehler, M. J., & Mishra, P. (Eds.). (2016). Handbook of technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) for educators. Routledge.
