Reflection #10- Experience in EME2040

My experiences in this class have come to show me that technology plays a major role in the education world. This class is everything I thought an education class would be. After taking introduction to education last semester, I was a little disappointed with my experience, seeing as I didn’t learn much of what I expected to learn about education. This class has showed me the in and outs of the career and has engaged me in valuable, hands on experiences. One of my most valuable accomplishments I’ve come across in this class is being able to differentiate different types of lesson plans and be able to create my very own professional one. I have created lesson plans previously in different academic centers that I have worked at. However, EME2040 has taught me the process step by step. Let me just say, It’s not as easy as I expected. A professional lesson plan incorporates every little detail, and stresses that the teacher include procedures without the exclusion of any step. I learned the difference between a behaviorist, constructivist, transpersonal, and tellacolaborative lesson plan. This class has also showed me multiple instructional ways to spread information to students through the use of technology. Before this class, my lesson plans consisted of teacher one on one instruction, worksheets, or a book. Computers have come a long way and now bring a wide variety of opportunities for teachers and students. I learned how to create a professional instructional power point that can assist students in further understanding a subject in a more visual way. Teachers can also assign students a group project that instructs students to create their very own power point presentation. This is a good way to incorporate the knowledge of technology with the knowledge of the actual subject into one assignment. It gives room for the student’s creativity, enthusiasm, and fun. I also learned about a digital story. I have yet to create my very own digital story, but I have done research about them and they seem like tons of fun. They’re a great way for teachers and students to unleash their creativity while sharing information with the class. They allow us to use pictures, music, and voice over’s to create a fun slideshow for other students to enjoy and gain knowledge off of. Even though I am not done with my journey, so far, my experience in EME2040 has been a very good one. I hope to learn many more techniques and ways in which I can instruct a classroom through the use of technology.

Reflection #9- Technology in instruction

I never really thought of exactly how many opportunities technology brings into the educational field. In this class, I’ve learned so many mechanisms that involve technology in the process of instruction. Technology is a great way to get students motivated and excited about learning. If you think about it, If you are teaching a lecture straight from the book, you are most likely to bore the students to death. However, a teacher can combine that same lesson with the use of computers. There are now many new programs that make learning fun for students. There are reading, math, social studies, science, and even physical education programs that students can use to better their knowledge in the subjects. Technology has token a major leap from what it was back when I was in elementary. Students are more motivated in a lesson once they know they will be using computers, even if it is for educational purposes. There are websites students can access from their houses where they can practice their skills or even complete homework. Teachers can assign students a tellecollaborative lesson where they can communicate with students all over the world via internet. The internet open up millions of doors and opportunities for teachers and students. They can use email, messaging, and chatting to communicate with other students and learn about their native land. Teachers can also assign students research projects where students can search the world wide web for information regarding their subject. Websites such as google, and yahoo, and ask are just a few of the amazing websites brought up by technology. The possibilities with technology in the classroom are endless. Another great instructional method involving education are digital stories. Even though I have yet to create my very own, I have researched on them and they are definitely fun, creative, and educational. Whether it be a teacher creating one to instruct students or even having students create their very own to present to the class, they’re awesome! They are a great way to get students to have a visual and audio representation of the lesson being taught. It is a fact that the more senses involved in a lesson, the more likely a student is to catch on to what is being taught. Having a student create their own digital story gives them an opportunity to experiment with technology while still making sure they grasp the concept of the lesson. They’re a great way to unleash the student’s creativity and talents in each slide. Overall, Including technology in education and instruction is very crucial and important. Technology is becoming part of our everyday lives and it is important that we prepare our students for it. 

Reflection #8- Educational philosophy

We all have different thoughts and approaches to education. This creates our educational philosophy or outlook. My educational philosophy would be a constructivist one. The constructivist approach stresses that we all, as learners, create our own interpretation or reality of things based on our past experiences. It states learning as an interpretation of the world around us, and our process of creating meaning. A constructivist approach in education is one that emphasizes hands on activities that help students connect to reality and the real world. In contrast to a behaviorist approach, it gives students the opportunity to think on their own, rather than having a teacher guide them through a lesson. Having students work in groups sparks their curiosity and motivation. It fuels the brain to process and work harder. Constructivism prepares students to face difficult situations and teaches them how to resolve them. It focuses on the learner setting goals and trying to reach them. I like constructivism because it stresses attention towards communication and interaction without such focus on the accomplishment of the lesson. It suggests that through assimilation, learners place their experiences into an already existing framework without actually changing the framework. Students will use their already existent perception of the world and combine them with their experiences in order to learn. I think the best way to focus on a students learning is to have them actually learn on their own through interaction and problem solving. Having students attempt and see results on their own is the best way to ensure learning. Constructivism focuses on accommodation as the use of failure leading to learning. We act on the expectation that the world works in one way that we believe. If we see it goes against our beliefs and violates or expectations, we fail, but yet, we learn from it. Constructivism focuses on HOW things happen, not paying much attention to students following the instruction and understanding the lecture. It is an active learning process, which has always been my favorite when it comes to instruction. Constructivism gives students responsibility and motivation towards learning. It makes them responsible for their capacity and speed of learning, depending on their participation and enthusiasm. 

Reflection #7- Digital Story

What is a digital story? That is a good question. I had no idea what a digital story was before being asked this question. Therefore, I researched it. A digital story is somewhat like a short educational video clip. It includes information in the form of pictures, video, audio clips, and text. It is basically the story telling of a specific subject or topic. It narrates some ones particular point of view. The person creating the digital story has many options and things to play with. It is a great way to unleash creativity. You can record an audio clip over an actual video. You can place text over a video, or even just display pictures while playing an audio clip. The possibilities are endless. A digital story can cover a wide variety of subjects. It can narrate an actual story, or present educational or historical information. A digital story is a short, personal presentation provided by the author based on their thoughts and opinions. They usually last about two to ten minutes. An effective digital story usually includes seven essential elements. These elements are point of view, a dramatic question, emotional content, the gift of your voice, the power of soundtrack, economy, and pacing. Point of view is basically the main point of the story and the authors point of view, pretty self explanatory. Next, there should be a key question that keeps the viewer attentive. The question will be answered by the end of the clip. Emotional content includes something personal and serious that connects the audience to the story. The gift of your voice is a great way to personalize the story. It’s always good to ass music and sounds that will add a little spice and attraction to the story. Economy is a metaphor to using just about enough content, however, not overwhelming the viewer. Pacing refers to the rhythm of the story, whether it goes fast or slow.  There are many types of digital stories. these include; character stories, memorial stories, stories about accomplishment or adventure events in our lives, stories about places in our lives, stories about what we do, or other stories such as recovery, discovery and love stories. Digital stories are a great tool in education. They can serve as a great lesson plan, or even as a way to integrate technology and multimedia in the curriculum. It helps content and lessons visual and easier to understand. This use of digital stories even makes teaching easier ! Students can even create their own digital story as a presentation tool when faced with a difficult project. In order to create a digital story, the creator must obtain the program “photo story 3”.

Reflection #6-Tele Collaborative Lessons

Tele Collaborative learning is a new and fresh way of teaching. It is the use of technology and computers in a classroom in order to expand creative learning and thinking. The use of computers in a classroom is an open door to millions of learning possibilities. Access to the world wide web is a great learning tool for students and an awesome teaching one for professionals. Besides all of the available websites with educational information for students, the internet gives access to many communication possibilities such as email and chat. Students can communicate with other students and professionals from any place across the world and exchange information and ideas. Students can also work with a number of different programs and online activities to further their studies. In the article of tele collaboration, middle school teacher, Brenda Dyck shares her experience of her tele collaborative lesson. She worked with two classrooms from complete opposite sides of the globe. Her students from the United States had online communication with students from Israel. They discussed the theme “the right to safety”. The students emailed back and forth and discussed their individual lifestyles in their native countries. The students didn’t seem to mention their environment until they were asked to write their papers discussing the safety level in their countries. The american students seemed to be perplexed and shocked with the responses submitted by the israeli students. They gained a better understanding and appreciation of what it exactly it meant to be an american and it’s great benefits. The teacher also used computers to show the students images from CNN of the terrorism in Israel. It wasn’t until this activity that the students really opened their eyes and minds to terrorism and the Israeli community. Through their recent online communication, students viewed the Israeli students as any other thirteen or fourteen year olds. It wasn’t until this conversation came up that students began to appreciate their country. Tele collaborative activities and lessons like these are great to open up and spark any students curiosity. They gain their attention because they are fun and consuming activities. Grabbing a middle school students attention can be a very difficult task at times seeing as they are going through a difficult age where nothing seems to be interesting. Technology, especially computers are a great and fun way to implement education. This lesson provided by Brenda Dyck was a very informative and valuable lesson. Definitely a life changing and eye opening experience for those students. It is an experience they will be able to share with their children when they grow older. It made students have a greater appreciation of the United States and our great safe environment. 

Reflection #5- Cooperative/ Collaborative learning

Cooperative/ collaborative learning is a very productive way of learning in a classroom. It is essential that a teacher incorporates at least two assignments through ought the school year that consist of collaborative learning. Working in groups enhances learning in many efficient ways. Usually, a group of two or more students are places together to solve a problem, or discuss a lecture that was brought up by the teacher. The main goal of a collaborative assignment is watching students actually cooperate with one another and work together as a team. Sometimes it is very difficult to place students in a team and expect each one to do their fair share in an assignment. Group work identifies responsibility from the team members. With evaluation sheets and group progress, the teacher can observe the behavior of students as they come together with a project or assignment. She can see who is usually a group leader and who is not such a hard worker. These group assignments identify a student’s strengths and weaknesses. Therefore, placing ones weakness with another one’s strengths creates the actual collaboration. Students help each other and balance out one another to come up with a final project. Students use all of their critical thinking skills together to come up with one final solution or conclusion to whatever assignment it is they are doing. When students work with one another they develop their interpersonal skills and come up with better ways to deal with conflict. Collaborative learning groups must consist of three things. First, the students must feel comfortable in their groups, but also challenged. Second, the students cannot be too big, that way all students can contribute and participate in the assignment equally. Third, the task the students are completing must be clearly identified. Collaborative learning helps students absorb knowledge and skills from one another and put it all together to create their own individual meanings. They learn through experience and  guidance from one another. Group work introduces students to diversity and the art of working and accepting ideas from other people. Collaborative learning will benefit students in the long run because it will be applied in many situations that we are faced with in the future. Working with a team is something that will be reflected when students enter the business world later on. Collaborative work helps students get a better understanding of a subject while also expanding their social skills at the same time. Collaborative work is a good way to enhance motivation in students because it is usually a more entertaining activity than any individual task assigned by a teacher. 

Reflection #4- Inquiry based Learning

In order to fully understand what inquiry based learning is, we must understand what inquiry is. Through ought our whole lives we are constantly forced to use our senses in order to make sense of the world. If we sit and observe a 3 month baby we will discover just exactly what inquiry is. A new born baby uses all of their senses (hearing, seeing, taste, touching, and smelling) to discover the things they do not understand about this new world they’ve come into. When a baby first sees something, their first reaction is to either put it in their mouth or touch it and play with it. When a toddler is going through their “little scientist” stage, they experiment with their senses to figure out exactly what each item does. Inquiry based learning is the process of using our senses and questions in the educational system. If we look back we notice that through our early educational experiences, we were brought up to believe that asking questions was wrong. We grew up with the fear of asking our teachers questions. We were taught to memorize a lot of information and then later we were tested on it. Inquiry based learning is a hands on approach that helps students make use of their senses and their brains. Storing information is not making use of the brain. Inquiry based learning encourages the process of curiosity and intrigue. Students try to find solutions to problems with the use of experiences and real life situations. We make understanding and sense of the world through trying to figure out how things work. Inquiry is not trying to memorize or know the right answer. It is trying to make sense of something, because there is never going to be just one right answer. Sometimes we memorize so much information, yet we have no idea what it is all about. We are scared to ask questions so we let our curiosity wonder off. Inquiry based learning includes a curriculum that encourages students to work together to solve an issue and brainstorm rather than reading a book and absorbing information. It is considered “discovery learning” where the teacher simply assists students to come to their own answers and conclusions. They do not give the answers to the students. Students experiment with their senses and objects to master better analytical and critical thinking skills.

Reflection #3-Constructivist lesson plan

A constructivist lesson plan is one that focuses mainly on the thinking process. It is a thought based lesson. Constructivism is the thought that we create our learning from the base of our own personal experiences. After many changes to the template of a constructivist lesson plan over the past seven years, it has finally come to a six step process. The six steps are Situation, Groupings, Bridge, Questions, Exhibit, and Reflections. Each of these steps are contributers to the thinking process. The first step; situation, is your goal, or what it is you want your students to explain. You want to explain to the students how exactly you want them to solve the problem you are giving them. Students should know what they are expected to do. The second step is groupings. You will decide how you want the students grouped in order to solve the situation. You can have students working independently, in couples, or in groups of three or four. Whichever grouping situation you choose to use should be done with a certain method. You can have students count off a number, pick a color, or a shape. Now, you must decide how you want to group the materials the students will be using. The materials should be easy to access and available to everyone. Materials are used to help students more easily explain their situation through physical representations. The third step is the bridge. A bridge in a constructivist lesson plan is somewhat similar to a “set” in a behaviorist lesson plan. It is basically the introduction and attention grabber of the lesson plan. The difference in a bridge, however, is that it is a connection of the students prior knowledge of the subject to what is going to be taught in the upcoming lesson. This is an activity that is done before the actual lesson and it can be done before or after students are grouped. The teacher can ask questions, hand out a worksheet, put up a picture, or start a discussion. It is a way of getting the students minds active before the lesson. It also helps teachers determine what level of prior knowledge the students have in the particular subject. The fourth step is questions. Questions should be used all through ought the lesson by the teacher. It is good to ask questions before, during, and after the activity. They encourage students to stay actively thinking through ought the lesson. The fifth step is the exhibit. This is when students record their thinking onto something physical and presentable to their classmates. Students can have a verbal presentation or charts and diagrams. Whichever method works for each group individually is fine. The concept is that each group of students is able to share their thinking and ideas with the other groups. The last step is reflections. This is the students opinions about their learning through ought the activity and what they thought about the exhibits and presentations of the other groups. The students will share information about their experience and what they gained from the lesson. 

Reflection #2-Behaviorist vs. Constructivist format

When creating a lesson plan we can either use the behaviorist format or the constructivist format. There are many difference amongst these two approaches in delivering a lesson. A behaviorist lesson plan is created with the theory that with repetition a behavior will become automatic. A behaviorist lesson plan consist of eight steps. The first step is purpose and objective. Here the instructor will state what the student should gain from the lesson and what they will be able to do by the end of the lesson. Also, it should state how well the student will be able to achieve that certain task. The second step is the set. The set is like an “attention grabber”. It is the introduction to a lesson. An example of this would be asking questions before the lesson starts or showing pictures of what the lesson is going to be about. The third step is the input which is the skills the teacher will communicate to the students. The fourth step is modeling. The teacher shows an example of what the finished activity will look like. The fifth step is the guiding of the student through the lesson with the use of the hear/see/do method. The sixth step is one of the most important ones. It is a checking for understanding. It is very necessary that a teacher makes sure the student is understanding what is going on in the lesson. They can ask questions to ensure that everyone is grasping the material. The seventh step is realizing the students to work independently on the assignment. The last step is the closure to review what was learned from the lesson. The constructivist theory is based on the idea that we create our own thought about the world through experiences. The goal of the teacher is to prepare the student to problem solve in difficult situations. A constructivist lesson plan format involves six steps. The first one is the situation. The teacher will create a situation or setting for the student to explain. Then there is step two, grouping. The teacher needs to figure out how she will group the students to work on the lesson and how the materials will be grouped also, whether is be through physical interactions, writing or numerically describing something. The third step is the bridge. This step is designed to connect students knowledge to what they will learn from the lesson. This can be done by asking questions or starting a discussion. It is also somewhat like an “attention grabber”. The fourth step is questions. Whether they be questions to start a lesson or throughout a lesson, questions are important to ask in order to encourage children. The next step is to exhibit. It is a way for students to communicate to others what they are thinking as they are solving the situation. They can do this through a visual or audio representation such as charts, pictures, videos, clips, etc. The last step is a reflection of what the student learned and  felt about the situation and lesson.

Extra Credit- 3 poem comments

Gilded seahorses escape the carousel
This poem is showing the comparison of a seahorse to the human brain. It is showing how we all long for freedom and happiness. Our lives are like a carousel that keep going round and round like circles, yet we still want freedom along the way. I really liked this poem. In the picture I do see two sea horses facing one another.


rorschach plaat # 10
This poem is definitely very metaphoric. It is trying to describe a certain animal or species, but I can't quite put my finger on what animal it is. The picture looks like a crab or spider.. but the description doesn't really match that.


The Jawbone
This poem is describing the biblical story of Mary and the birth of jesus. An angel comes to announce to her that she is expecting a child. The husband of Mary prays that this son would change the way his people lived and their beliefs. Jesus came to earth and saved many people, yet killed many foes. I do see the picture of a jawbone. I guess the jawbone describes jesus mouth and how powerful his words were in changing the world.

Reflection 1- What is a lesson plan?

A lesson plan is is the basic molding of the overall curriculum in a classroom. A lesson plan is a guide that indicates what teacher will be teaching each individual day. A lesson plan incorporates a lot of thinking and brainstorming. A teacher is responsible for gathering materials and ideas together to deliver a certain instruction or lesson to students in a creative way. Lesson plans should be interesting and fun. In order to create one it is necessary to do some “planning”. A teacher must observe the age group they are going to be working with and built a lesson that will fit them adequately. A lesson plan should contain elements such as materials, objective, time, and evaluation. There is a purpose to every lesson, a certain subject you are planning to cover and educate students about. That would be the objective. For example, if the lesson is having children classify items under “paper” “plastic” or “glass”, the teacher is trying to increase awareness and inform students about recycling. That would be her objective. There are different approaches and methods to deliver a lesson. There are three different approaches to guide students in a lesson; behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism. Behaviorism is just basically repeating a behavior until it is obtained. Cognitivism is observing the behavior and making changes to receive the feedback you want. Constructivism is making students experience things on their own in order to prepare them to face different situations. These three methods or “approaches” are very efficient and useful when coming up with a lesson plan. They help thing of an objective and a purpose to every lesson. They may also help spark creativity in the lesson you want to create. It is very important that a lesson plan covers the needs of the students in terms of what they should be learning at a certain time in the school year. However, it is also important that the lesson sparks the interest of the student in order to increase motivation. If a child is not interested in the lesson they are being taught, they are more than likely to not gain much from it. Lack of interest is one of the major reasons students do not grasp a lot of information they should be learning in school. Themes are a good way to make a lesson plan interesting. For example, learning math through helping “Timmy the Turtle” get to his mom. The  child will be so caught up in getting the turtle there they will not even notice how much they’re learning along the way. Overall, a lesson plan is one of the most important things in a teaching career.