After a week off, I have started another new class. This class is called Enhancing Learning Materials through Technology and I will be taking this class for the next five weeks. To start out this class, we were supposed to read two online articles and respond. The first article I read was called Principles of Teaching and Learning. The article was split up into two different views. One looking at the aspects of effective learning and the other looking at the aspects of effective teaching. I currently teach high school age learning disability students. Many of the points brought up in the learning section of this article I see as struggles for my students. For example, a lot of my students have minimal background knowledge on topics in class. I often think this makes it much harder to get points across to students and for the students to get a good mental picture of what we are discussing. I often have a much more interactive class if I have a few kids who do have background knowledge and can help others in the class with the topic at hand. However, there are those times when I have students who think they know something and they don't and I have to correct them. But I look at that as a learning opportunity. Many times when students bring ideas that aren't correct up in class, that is the best time for them to be corrected and to truly understand the topic. Another point in the article that I can relate to with my students is the motivation aspect. Overall, I feel that I do an adequate job of motivating my students and helping them be more open to learning, but there are always some students who are very hard to motivate and then it is hard for them to grasp the concept. I would like to be able to motivate all learners, but not sure if I will ever reach that goal. Another issue in this article that I agree with is the climate for learning point that was made. Although many of my students are socially and intellectually younger than their chronological age, I still try to provide a learning atmosphere that is positive and that treats the students like any other ninth grade students. I think that is a major part of their learning if they see the teacher cares about them and notices that they don't baby them and expects a lot from them.
In the other part of this article relating to teaching principles, there were also a few points that stuck out at me. The first point made about having relevant knowledge of students is crucial. I try to do that on a daily basis. I want to know what my students are interested in whether it is outside of school or in their classes. I feel I get a lot more out of my students when they know I care about them and when they see that I can relate what we are talking about in class with something they are involved with often outside of class. The other point that I think is really important is the ability of the teacher to make explicit expectations. I do this daily and also make sure that the students understand what will be going on from day to day or week to week. I like having a structured class where my students know where to look every day for what will be happening as well as know the materials that are expected of them to have in class. I also expect each of my students to do well on assessments, even if I know many struggle. I expect all of my students to re-do their assessments if not done at a certain level. I think these high expectations make the students realize that I care that they learn information that is taught in my class and that they should take more of the learning on to themselves so they are not constantly making assessments up. The other point I want to touch base on is recognizing our "expert blind spots". I have done a lot in my life which has given me a lot to share with my students, but I know that may be over many of the students heads. I am constantly asking questions with students and make sure that how I present information is not presented in just a way a person who has experienced the topic can relate to. Finally, once every few weeks, I will ask students what they enjoyed in my class and what they feel I should have done differently. I have changed some things that I teach based on student feedback and enjoy having that feedback to base how I will teach next year.
The other article that I read was called A meta-analysis of the effectiveness of teaching and learning. This article was looking at the overall effects of technology in the classroom. I found it interesting that some of the studies showed that having computer assisted instruction had positive effects, yet the effects were small. I would have thought that just by having computer in the used in instruction, the positive outcomes would be much more pronounced.
On my very first interview for my first teaching job the Superintendent asked me, “Can all children learn.” It was an easy answer – “Yes.” Then he asked me, “Can all children be motivated to learn?” Not such an easy answer, but still I believed the answer was, “Yes they can.” His last question was the hardest; “Can you motivate all children to learn?” After what seemed like five minutes of deliberation in silence I responded, “I can promise to try my best.” I figured that was about as honest of an answer I could give. So needless to say, the part of the article that dealt with student motivation was of most interest to me, and I understand your concern about not being able to motivate every student, but over the years I have learned that while each student learns in a different way, each student is motivated in a different way. Our job is to find what their motivation is, which can be like an art form, or like searching for a needle in a haystack. With some students, it is both.
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