During the first week of this course, I created a personal learning model that reflected my practice in the classroom. Looking back on that personal learning model, I feel that not a whole lot has changed since completing this course. I still use a majority of methods associated with Constructivism and Social Constructivism in my classroom. Like it said in my personal learning model, I still continue to open lessons in a way that activates students' prior knowledge and engages and motivates them to learn. My lesson activities usually revolve around student exploration where they create meaning themselves by working together using resources I provide. My closure activities still are designed to reinforce the content. As my personal learning model originally stated, I am still a firm believer in the power of experience and believe now more than ever that students learn best when they are actively engaged in the process. Dr. Michael Orey really helped confirm my own beliefs but also open my eyes to how powerful certain strategies and theories are. I also rarely if ever use operant conditioning or drill and practice type methods like in the Behaviorist theory. One theory I do not use but am considering incorporating a little is Cognitivism where I can "chunk" information in certain ways that appeal to the senses.
I think the only modification I would make to my personal learning model is the addition of Cognitivism in a small way. I do use a lot of visual pictures and so forth in my lessons, but I would like to incorporate even more. I also really want to add a limit to the amount of information I give to students. I liked how I learned in the Cognitivism theory that students really should not have more than seven new pieces of information in a lesson. Showing students connections between ideas is also a modification I would make that would be extremely beneficial to their learning.
This course has really influenced the way I see students and how they learn. I am more motivated than ever to make sure students are actively engaged in activities and in their learning. It is really interesting to observe other teachers in my building and decide what learning theory their activities represent. I feel more confident in my ability to impact student achievement because I know great strategies that are extremely effective that I learned from this course.
The immediate adjustments I would make with technology integration is to stop using my Interactive Whiteboard as a projection tool and more of an interactive tool with students. Also, I want to have students create more projects using technology instead of using posters or pamphlets. Two specific technology tools I plan to use with students are the PowerPoint or Prezi software where students can create something with new material they learn and also the VoiceThread software. These technology tools are excellent for students to use to show what they have learned or to have them create tools they can teach other students with. This technology is very user-friendly and would support their creativity and allow them to make connections between content.
My repertoire of instructional skills has definitely expanded as a result of this course. The strategies I read about each week that went along with the different specific learning theories were ones I tested out in my own classroom. Learning new strategies and trying them out really added to my experience and allowed me to see what worked and what did not. I feel very confident in my ability to effectively use certain strategies and I feel confident that using certain strategies will greatly impact how my students learn. I went from having a handful of strategies in a folder to an entire binder of strategies that I can select and use based on what and how I want students to learn content.
Two long term goals I have regarding technology integration in my classroom are: 1. Create interactive quizzes on my Promethean Board to use as pre-assessments or post-assessments; 2. Use the VoiceThread or PowerPoint presentation tools with students to have them create something with the content they learn. To achieve these goals, I need to spend time after school outlining my lessons better and planning ahead so I can be more prepared and ready. I also need to spend time on my own creative the interactive quizzes so I can use them year after year and only make small adjustments as necessary. I also need to create a VoiceThread or PowerPoint presentation to show students my expectations for projects. Time also needs to be spent teaching students how to correctly and effectively use these programs to create presentations.
Overall I really enjoyed this class and thought it was very beneficial to my own professional growth. I look forward to using the new knowledge I acquired to positively impact student learning.
