During week one of this course we were asked to articulate our own personal learning theory. I had shared that I believed that all students can learn and that I felt that students learned best when they were able to experience what we were discussing in class. I had also shared that I tend to teach my students in the same way that I learn, which is through lists and visual representations. However, through our learning in this course, we have a greater understanding of how the brain works and impacts learning. With this understanding I feel that I am better able to address the needs of my students. Understanding that the brain is visual and remembers information that is used frequently helps me to understand how and why students remember the things that they do. For example, I have created an acronym that I use with my students to help them remember the components of fitness. As a group, I have the recite it when they come in for class to aid in remembering their components of fitness and how each letter represents a different component. Additionally, this course has helped me gain a better understanding of learning theories and educational technologies to support student learning. In regards to learning theories, I have recognized that it is a good practice to use a variety of learning theories within my classroom. This practice will allow me to address and meet the learning styles of all of the learners that are in my classroom. Finally, the opportunity to create and use the various forms of technologies during this class has greatly expanded my teaching toolbox. Many of these tools will have a significant impact on instruction in my classroom, with the intention of reaching more of my students by keeping them engaged.
When I think about the immediate changes that I would like to make to my instruction, I think about the use of visuals and how students are better able to connect, relate and remember information through the use of visuals. I have already made some adjustments by when creating my daily objectives for students, I have added a visual representation for the lesson. This helps give students a clue about what they are learning, it immediately engages them and helps them to remember for future reference.
Technology also plays a critical role in engaging students. I have decided that the two types of technologies that I would like to integrate into my instruction is the use of VoiceThread and Spider Scribe. The use of both of these tools allows students to use visual representations when learning about new or reviewing previous concepts. Both of these applications will allow students to create an artifact of their learning. However, the artifacts would be different in respect to the fact that the VoiceThread would serve as a means of a response to a presented question and Spider Scribe would serve as a means for students to organize information that they have learned.
Part of the learning process also includes goal setting and making changes to what I currently am doing within my own classroom. I have considered what we have learned over the last seven weeks and the two long term changes that I would like to make within my classroom are to utilize visual representations as a means of conveying information to students and providing opportunities for students to participate in projects in which they produce something as a result of their participation. When thinking about utilizing visual representations as a means of conveying information to students, I want to get away from writing lists and use pictures instead. I have learned that the brain is visual and in order for students to best learn they need those visual representations to assist them in the process. I will start with adding pictures to their daily objectives and then use pictures to describe activities and concepts during class. It is my intention that students will be able to envision the visual representations to assist them with remembering and relating to content in the classroom. For my second goal of providing students with the opportunity to create their own artifacts in a project based setting, I would like to take some of our deeper cognitive concepts within the Physical Education curriculum and allow students to make artifacts and participate within a group to complete their projects. For example, my students have the tendency to struggle with nutrition and how it impacts their general well being. Therefore, if they are provided with the opportunity to create something in relation to nutrition and their well being they may be better able to make better lifestyle choices and have a greater understanding of how to take care of their bodies.
In conclusion, this class has provided me with a wealth of knowledge. The knowledge that I have gained from the brain, learning theories, educational technologies and instructional strategies have deepened my understanding of learners and how to efficiently meet the needs of all of my students. Additionally, it has added to my teacher toolbox, which has allowed me to grow professionally. Thank you for all of your support and providing us with the opportunity to experience these new technologies!
No comments:
Post a Comment