Wednesday Week 4

 
This video compared the "old ways" of teaching to the "new ways" of constructivism. I think choosing one or the other as a whole teaching method is definitely not the way to teach. I think as teachers we need to be very flexible with our lesson plans as that is the best way to keep your students interested and active in your classroom. You should also be able to mesh different teaching styles together to work your material into the classroom.

Jigsaw Review:

I have parts of the jigsaw method that I like and dislike. For one I like the idea of a class working as a team effort as I feel they always should. The one thing I find iffy about it is that you want to be cautious using this with overly complicated lessons as a small group might understand an intense part of it but may have difficulty introducing it to the others in their class which will leave a divide in understanding in your classroom. I definitely plan on using this in my classroom but will make sure the lesson is appropriate for the practice.

Technology in Teaching review:

I think technology is something we as teachers should be happy about and embrace in our classrooms as a way to get the knowledge to our students in an easier function. The one thing I think teachers are scared of is having teachers use technology as the main way to teach when I think instead it should be used as an assistant instead of the main focus of a classroom. I plan on using the internet in all of my classes as well as cellphones when appropriate. I had one class this year that had an app on your phone to answer questions on a power point which was very fun and hands on as well as it gave the teacher a view as to how much the students were absorbing the information.

Motivation in teaching review:

Motivation is one of the top tier important things us teachers need to focus on because even the most bright students seem dim. This doubles for students struggling in the class because if they aren't interested or motivated to learn the material then they aren't going to try and figure out why they're failing or work to fix it. I for one am a student and person in general who struggles with motivation and suffer because of it and wish I had better motivators in my life.

Create:

http://blog.cengage.com/

This covers the why and goals of setting goals for yourself and tips on how to do so. Rather short but a good quick read on the basics.

This download link leads to a powerpoint covering the development of educational goals. It's a nice overview and potentially something you could show to your students in the beginning of the year to help them understand the importance of setting goals and how it can help them learn.

http://www.umassd.edu/

This covers goal setting with the idea of the acronym SMART:
S pecific
M easurable
A ttainable
R ealistic
T imely

to set up their goals. It's actually a very throughout site with great tips to help students.

Evaluate:

Learn to play pool

This is a video covering the basics of the game pool and uses a step by step video and how the use of angles is crucial to the game.

LEARN to swim FREESTYLE / Front Crawl in 3 Steps *Tutorial for BEGINNERS Kids or Adults

This is a video covering how to swim freestyle having an instructor cover the basics in a pool with a video camera showing the steps.

How To Finely Chop An Onion

This is a step by step way to cover how to chop and onion. This video shows his style and what to avoid as well as what to accomplish which is a great form of modeling.

Relate:

I think social media is the land of uncertainty for young students as well as something that they feel they use as a way to fit in to society. I think it's important to teach students that your internet history is never erased and they need to be wary of what they write on the internet because it can all be recalled by anyone. You should always be aware of putting anything strongly worded with concerns for peoples reactions and just be careful.