(See my earlier blog post for the podcast reflection!)
It's interesting that the first question that I am to tackle in this reflection has to do with calculating and comparing unit costs. I seriously just taught this today! It wasn't so much comparing brand names and prices, but more about how to find the unit costs. In effect, I can go through these theories I went through to teach this to see how I utilized them in the classroom. The first one I'll discuss is the Cognitive Information Processing Theory. I try to use this theory in every one of my teaching practices. The one aspect of this theory I focus on is making the learning personally meaningful to the student. Since we were beginning to calculate unit costs, we went over some real life examples of where you would use this information. We talked about shopping for meat products (which are often sold by the pound), building materials, and fabric (which are sold by the foot/yard). If I were to extend this into comparing unit costs across brands, explaining how doing this can save you money would be a great connection for upper grades. I noticed that when I made this connection, the students were listening, as it applied to real life. As the theory states, now the students can apply this to an appropriate context, and the learning has true meaning to them. So in my case, when I would get to possibly comparing brand names and how the students could save money, the students could recall earlier cues to what they already learned to "add-on" this new information.
In a similar fashion, the Situated Learning Theory sort of expands on this notion of real-life application. The chapter gave a really interesting illustration regarding children in Brazil selling candy on the streets, using the mathematical knowledge for currency exchange rates, rather than the more "standard" math their peers were learning. The theory argues for learning from participation. With the classroom community I set up, I could give groups of students a scenario that would involve a real-life application to calculating and comparing rates. One example might be that they are responsible for a building project, and each student is in charge of certain items that are needed for the project. They would have to use their resources wisely, with shopping around for the best bargain to come in under budget. Many students will encounter, or be a part of, similar scenarios when they are older, so it would be a beneficial assignment for them.
The last one I'll mention is Gagne's Theory of Instruction, with a focus on the taxonomy part. I think a lesson like this could hit four out of the five learning categories (which are verbal information, intellectual skills, cognitive strategies, attitudes, and motor skills). I sort of covered the attitudes part earlier, so I'll focus on the others. The students would be given verbal information, so they know what they are learning and how to do it. They have a chance to intellectually apply this knowledge by working on the aforementioned project, while developing cognitive strategies (hopefully in part by the learning communities established, again mentioned earlier) to solve the problem. Motor skills aren't really addressed here, since accurate movement isn't really being assessed here. Hitting these four areas, however, is a good start.
One thing that struck me with Human Performance Improvement (HPI) and Human Performance Technology (HPT) was the analysis in how to close achievement gaps through what causes gaps in performance. The goal with HPI is increasing human capital, in my case, higher-order learners. Many times, gaps in performance in my classroom are caused by lack of incentive, environmental support (more often than not, at home), skills and knowledge, and individual capacity. I saw several ways I could use these causes in order to create better interventions. I have an incentive system in my classroom, but it's based on whole class behavior. Making it more individualized would help incite each student to perform. While not all my students have the best home life, I have put a great effort to provide a supportive environment in my classroom. I actually had some great success with this, as myself and fellow students have done a great job supporting each other in the class. I can use a lack of skill and knowledge on a certain topic (whether it be something I failed to teach effectively or that the student failed to learn) and create interventions that can approach the topic a different way. Of course, there are some great resources online that can enhance lessons that students might respond to better.
When first presented with social bookmarking, I didn't quite know what to make of it. I mean, as far as I was concerned, the "bookmark" tab in my browser sufficed. In setting up my own "delicious" bookmark site (which I am still in the process of bookmarking tabs for), it was the social aspect of the site that finally clicked with me why this is a useful tool. My colleagues and I are always sharing websites with each other, and we post several websites on our own sites to share with our students. Delicious puts all these sites in a convenient, user-friendly location, with the ability to categorize the websites. Not only are these sites easy to access for you, but you can "friend" your colleagues, and you can see each other's favorites. For instance, I could be looking for a good resource on reinforcing long division, and my colleagues might have a good website on their delicious site. If they are in my network, it can be a time-saver to just check out their bookmarks (all the while possibly discovering other great resources). A way students could use this to great benefit would be during a group project where students are in need of research materials. Having access to several resources your group members have found could be of great help. Just a few examples, but like with most resources, I'm sure I'm barely scratching the surface.
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