Reflection 4
Inquiry-based learning is based on the fact that inquiry implies involvement that leads to understanding. Involvement in learning implies possessing skills and attitudes that permit you to seek resolutions to questions and issues while you construct knowledge. (Thirteen Ed Online, 2004) The word inquiry is defined as seeking for truth, information, or knowledge by seeking information by questioning. This is something that us humans carry throughout our lives. The importance of inquiry is that people need an understanding of how to get and make sense of data. (Thirteen Ed Online, 2004) Instead of accumulating date and information, we should move toward the generation of useful and applicable knowledge which is supported by inquiry learning. Using the process of inquiry, individuals construct much of their understanding of the natural and human-designed worlds. Inquiry is not really looking for the actual answer, but seeking appropriate resolutions to questions and issues. (Thirteen Ed Online, 2004) We cannot learn everything but we can develop skills and nurture the inquiring attitudes necessary to continue the generation and examination of knowledge throughout their lives. There are four essential elements of effective inquiry learning. They are:
1- Experts see patterns and meanings not apparent to novices.
2- Experts have in-depth knowledge of their fields, structured so that it is most useful.
3- Expert’s knowledge is not just a set of facts --- it is structured to be accessible, transferable, and applicable to a variety of situations.
4- Experts can easily retrieve their knowledge and learn new information in their fields with little effort.
Inquiry learning can be applied to all disciplines. We need many perspectives for viewing the world. Some views include artistic, scientific, historic, economic, and others. (Thirteen Ed Online, 2004) There are also some important outcomes of inquiry learning. One outcome is that it should be useful knowledge about the natural and human-designed worlds. How are they worlds organized? How do they change? How do they interrelate? And how do we communicate? (Thirteen Ed Online, 2004) The following show inquiry learning in practice: Students view themselves as learners in the process of learning, Students accept an “Invitation to learn” and willingly engage in an exploration process, Students raise questions , propose explanations and use observations, Students plan and carry out learning activities, and others. (Thirteen Ed Online, 2004)
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Friday, January 22, 2010
Reflection 3
Reflection 3
There are three types of Constructivist Lesson Plans. One Constructivist Lesson plan was created by George W. Gagnon, Jr. and Michelle Collay. The lesson plan was revised in the past seven years and the design contains six important elements. (Collay) The six elements are as follows: Situation, Groupings, Bridge, Questions, Exhibit, and Reflections. The situation asks: What situation are you going to arrange for students to explain? The situation should have a title and describe a process of solving problems, answering questions, creating metaphors, making decisions, drawing conclusions, or setting goals. It should also include what you expect the students to do and how students will make their meaning. (Collay) The groupings has two categories: first is how are you going to make groupings of students. It may me as a whole class, individuals, in teams. It also includes what process you use to group them. Second is how you are going to arrange groupings of materials that students will use to explain the situation. It may be by physical modeling, graphically representing, numerically describing, or individually writing about their collective experience. (Collay) The Bridge is an initial activity intended to determine students’ prior knowledge and to build a “bridge” between what they already know and what they might learn by the explaining the situation. It may be a simple problem to solve, having a class discussion, playing a game, or making lists. (Collay) The Questions could take place during each element of the Learning Design. You will need to use questions to introduce the situation, arrange the groupings, set up the bridge, keep active learning going, prompt exhibits, and encourage reflections. (Collay) The Exhibit involves having the students make an exhibit for others of whatever record they made to record their thinking as they were explaining the situation. It could be writing a description on cards, making a graph, chart, acting out their impressions, constructing a physical representation with models, or others. (Collay) Finally, the Reflections are the student’s reflections about what they thought while explaining the situation and then saw the exhibit from others. The students’ would include what they remember from their thought process about feelings in their spirit, images in their imagination, and languages in their internal dialogue. (Collay) Another type of Constructivist Lesson Plan is The Learning Cycle. It is a three step design which consists of the “discovery” phase, “concept introduction” lessons, and the “concept application”. The discovery phase is where the teacher encourages students to generate questions and hypotheses from working with various materials. The concept introduction lessons is where the teacher focuses the students’ questions and helps them create the hypotheses and design experiments. In the concept application the students work on new problems that reconsider the concepts studied in the previous steps. (Education Broadcasting Corporation, 2004) The third type of Constructivist Lesson Plan was created by Robert O. McClintock and John B. Black from Colombia University Teachers College. It is called The Information Construction (ICON). It contains seven stages: Observation where students observe primary source materials in their natural context, Interpretation Construction where students interpret observations and explain their reasoning, Contextualization where students construct contexts for their explanations, Cognitive Apprenticeship where teachers helps students master observations, Collaboration where students collaborate in observation and interpretation, Multiple Interpretations where students gain flexibility by being exposed to multiple interpretations, and Multiple Manifestations where students gain transferability by seeing multiple manifestations. (Education Broadcasting Corporation, 2004)
There are three types of Constructivist Lesson Plans. One Constructivist Lesson plan was created by George W. Gagnon, Jr. and Michelle Collay. The lesson plan was revised in the past seven years and the design contains six important elements. (Collay) The six elements are as follows: Situation, Groupings, Bridge, Questions, Exhibit, and Reflections. The situation asks: What situation are you going to arrange for students to explain? The situation should have a title and describe a process of solving problems, answering questions, creating metaphors, making decisions, drawing conclusions, or setting goals. It should also include what you expect the students to do and how students will make their meaning. (Collay) The groupings has two categories: first is how are you going to make groupings of students. It may me as a whole class, individuals, in teams. It also includes what process you use to group them. Second is how you are going to arrange groupings of materials that students will use to explain the situation. It may be by physical modeling, graphically representing, numerically describing, or individually writing about their collective experience. (Collay) The Bridge is an initial activity intended to determine students’ prior knowledge and to build a “bridge” between what they already know and what they might learn by the explaining the situation. It may be a simple problem to solve, having a class discussion, playing a game, or making lists. (Collay) The Questions could take place during each element of the Learning Design. You will need to use questions to introduce the situation, arrange the groupings, set up the bridge, keep active learning going, prompt exhibits, and encourage reflections. (Collay) The Exhibit involves having the students make an exhibit for others of whatever record they made to record their thinking as they were explaining the situation. It could be writing a description on cards, making a graph, chart, acting out their impressions, constructing a physical representation with models, or others. (Collay) Finally, the Reflections are the student’s reflections about what they thought while explaining the situation and then saw the exhibit from others. The students’ would include what they remember from their thought process about feelings in their spirit, images in their imagination, and languages in their internal dialogue. (Collay) Another type of Constructivist Lesson Plan is The Learning Cycle. It is a three step design which consists of the “discovery” phase, “concept introduction” lessons, and the “concept application”. The discovery phase is where the teacher encourages students to generate questions and hypotheses from working with various materials. The concept introduction lessons is where the teacher focuses the students’ questions and helps them create the hypotheses and design experiments. In the concept application the students work on new problems that reconsider the concepts studied in the previous steps. (Education Broadcasting Corporation, 2004) The third type of Constructivist Lesson Plan was created by Robert O. McClintock and John B. Black from Colombia University Teachers College. It is called The Information Construction (ICON). It contains seven stages: Observation where students observe primary source materials in their natural context, Interpretation Construction where students interpret observations and explain their reasoning, Contextualization where students construct contexts for their explanations, Cognitive Apprenticeship where teachers helps students master observations, Collaboration where students collaborate in observation and interpretation, Multiple Interpretations where students gain flexibility by being exposed to multiple interpretations, and Multiple Manifestations where students gain transferability by seeing multiple manifestations. (Education Broadcasting Corporation, 2004)
Friday, January 15, 2010
Reflection 2
Reflection #2
There are many differences between the formats of the Behaviorist and the Constructivist lesson plans. The first most obvious difference is the amount of elements contained in each. The Behaviorist contains eight elements and the Constructivist contains 6 elements. The Behaviorist format was created by Madeline Hunter. She was an internationally known educator who devoted most of her career to an analysis of what makes instruction effective. (Behaviorist Lesson Plan #1) The Constructivist format has a large variety of creators. Each element was introduced by various educators in the past. (George W. Gagnon) The Behaviorist lesson plan begins with the Purpose/Objective which is basically what the lesson is for the day and why the students need to learn it. (Behaviorist Lesson Plan #1) The Constructivist lesson plan begins with the Situation. The situation is to determine what is going to be arranged for the student’s to explain. (George W. Gagnon) The second element of the Behaviorist plan is the Anticipatory Set which is a short activity to focus the student’s attention before the lesson begins. (Behaviorist Lesson Plan #1) The second element of the Constructivist plan is the Groupings. There are 2 categories of the grouping element. First is how you are going to make groupings of students and second is how you are going to arrange groupings of materials that students will use. (George W. Gagnon) The next step for the Behaviorist plan is Input. Input is the vocabulary, skills, and concepts the teacher will impart to the students. (Behaviorist Lesson Plan #1) For the Constructivist plan the next step is the Bridge. The Bridge is an initial activity intended to determine students’ prior knowledge and to build a “bridge” between what they already know and what they might learn. (George W. Gagnon) Following that we have Modeling for the Behaviorist plan. Modeling is when the teacher shows in graphic form what the finished product looks like. (Behaviorist Lesson Plan #1) In the Constructivist plan we have Questions. Questions should be asked to introduce the situation, arrange the groupings, set up the bridge, keep active learning going, prompt exhibits, and encourage reflections. (George W. Gagnon) The Behaviorist plan continues with the Guided Practice which is when the teacher leads the students through the steps and then the Check For Understanding where the teacher uses questioning strategies. (Behaviorist Lesson Plan #1) The Constructivist plan continues with the Exhibit which involves the students making an exhibit for others of their thoughts. (George W. Gagnon) The Behaviorist has a seventh element which is Independent Practice where the teacher releases the students to practice on their own. The last element of the Behaviorist plan is the Closure. The Closure is a review or wrap-up. (Behaviorist Lesson Plan #1) The final element of the Constructivist plan is the Reflections. These are the students’ reflections of what they thought. (George W. Gagnon) This is my description of the differences between a Behaviorist and a Constructivist lesson plan format.
There are many differences between the formats of the Behaviorist and the Constructivist lesson plans. The first most obvious difference is the amount of elements contained in each. The Behaviorist contains eight elements and the Constructivist contains 6 elements. The Behaviorist format was created by Madeline Hunter. She was an internationally known educator who devoted most of her career to an analysis of what makes instruction effective. (Behaviorist Lesson Plan #1) The Constructivist format has a large variety of creators. Each element was introduced by various educators in the past. (George W. Gagnon) The Behaviorist lesson plan begins with the Purpose/Objective which is basically what the lesson is for the day and why the students need to learn it. (Behaviorist Lesson Plan #1) The Constructivist lesson plan begins with the Situation. The situation is to determine what is going to be arranged for the student’s to explain. (George W. Gagnon) The second element of the Behaviorist plan is the Anticipatory Set which is a short activity to focus the student’s attention before the lesson begins. (Behaviorist Lesson Plan #1) The second element of the Constructivist plan is the Groupings. There are 2 categories of the grouping element. First is how you are going to make groupings of students and second is how you are going to arrange groupings of materials that students will use. (George W. Gagnon) The next step for the Behaviorist plan is Input. Input is the vocabulary, skills, and concepts the teacher will impart to the students. (Behaviorist Lesson Plan #1) For the Constructivist plan the next step is the Bridge. The Bridge is an initial activity intended to determine students’ prior knowledge and to build a “bridge” between what they already know and what they might learn. (George W. Gagnon) Following that we have Modeling for the Behaviorist plan. Modeling is when the teacher shows in graphic form what the finished product looks like. (Behaviorist Lesson Plan #1) In the Constructivist plan we have Questions. Questions should be asked to introduce the situation, arrange the groupings, set up the bridge, keep active learning going, prompt exhibits, and encourage reflections. (George W. Gagnon) The Behaviorist plan continues with the Guided Practice which is when the teacher leads the students through the steps and then the Check For Understanding where the teacher uses questioning strategies. (Behaviorist Lesson Plan #1) The Constructivist plan continues with the Exhibit which involves the students making an exhibit for others of their thoughts. (George W. Gagnon) The Behaviorist has a seventh element which is Independent Practice where the teacher releases the students to practice on their own. The last element of the Behaviorist plan is the Closure. The Closure is a review or wrap-up. (Behaviorist Lesson Plan #1) The final element of the Constructivist plan is the Reflections. These are the students’ reflections of what they thought. (George W. Gagnon) This is my description of the differences between a Behaviorist and a Constructivist lesson plan format.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Reflection 1
Reflection #1
A lesson plan is defined as a teacher’s detailed description of the course of instruction for an individual lesson. (Wikepedia, 2009) A lesson plan is a necessary guide for the teacher in that it tells what to do, in what order to do it, and what procedure to use in teaching the material of a lesson. (Dynamic Flight, 2007) There are three main types of lesson plans. The Behaviorist, Cognitivist, and Constructivist lesson plans. They are all three derived from theories. The Behaviorist lesson plan is derived from Behaviorism. Behaviorism is based on observable changes in behavior. It focuses on new behavioral patterns that will become automatic after repetition. (Schuman, 1996) The Cognitivist lesson plans are derived from Cognitivism. Cognitivism is based on the thought process behind the behavior. When changes occur in behavior, they are observed and are used as indicator’s of what is going on inside the learner’s mind. (Schuman, 1996) The Constructivist lesson plan is derived from Constructivism. Constructivism is based on the premise that we all construct our own perspective of the world by using individual experiences and schema. It focuses on preparing the learner to problem solve in ambiguous situations. (Schuman, 1996) The Constructivist lesson plan has five key principles. They are: 1- Pose problems of emerging relevance to students. 2- Structure learning around primary concepts. 3- Seek and value student’s points of view. 4- Adapt instruction to address student suppositions. 5- Assess student learning in the context of teaching. (Brooks) There are different approaches in writing lesson plans. An example of a lesson plan would include the following: Some philosophy to begin with, the learning outcomes, the instructor role, the student role, some activities, and the assessment. There is also something that is called Inquiry-based learning. “Inquiry” is defined as a seeking for truth, information, or knowledge – seeking information by questioning. We begin the process of inquiry when we gather information and apply it through our senses as babies. The following are factors that are involved in the application of inquiry learning: a context for questions, a framework for questions, a focus for questions, and different levels of questions. (Exline) When writing lesson plans, teachers must take into account the academic standards. Academic standards are public statements about what students should know and able to do. Standards describe the goals of schooling, the destinations at which students should arrive at the end of the unit, or term. There are content standards which indicate what students should know and should be able to do and there are performance standards which measures how well a student’s work meets the content standard. (Concept to Classroom)
A lesson plan is defined as a teacher’s detailed description of the course of instruction for an individual lesson. (Wikepedia, 2009) A lesson plan is a necessary guide for the teacher in that it tells what to do, in what order to do it, and what procedure to use in teaching the material of a lesson. (Dynamic Flight, 2007) There are three main types of lesson plans. The Behaviorist, Cognitivist, and Constructivist lesson plans. They are all three derived from theories. The Behaviorist lesson plan is derived from Behaviorism. Behaviorism is based on observable changes in behavior. It focuses on new behavioral patterns that will become automatic after repetition. (Schuman, 1996) The Cognitivist lesson plans are derived from Cognitivism. Cognitivism is based on the thought process behind the behavior. When changes occur in behavior, they are observed and are used as indicator’s of what is going on inside the learner’s mind. (Schuman, 1996) The Constructivist lesson plan is derived from Constructivism. Constructivism is based on the premise that we all construct our own perspective of the world by using individual experiences and schema. It focuses on preparing the learner to problem solve in ambiguous situations. (Schuman, 1996) The Constructivist lesson plan has five key principles. They are: 1- Pose problems of emerging relevance to students. 2- Structure learning around primary concepts. 3- Seek and value student’s points of view. 4- Adapt instruction to address student suppositions. 5- Assess student learning in the context of teaching. (Brooks) There are different approaches in writing lesson plans. An example of a lesson plan would include the following: Some philosophy to begin with, the learning outcomes, the instructor role, the student role, some activities, and the assessment. There is also something that is called Inquiry-based learning. “Inquiry” is defined as a seeking for truth, information, or knowledge – seeking information by questioning. We begin the process of inquiry when we gather information and apply it through our senses as babies. The following are factors that are involved in the application of inquiry learning: a context for questions, a framework for questions, a focus for questions, and different levels of questions. (Exline) When writing lesson plans, teachers must take into account the academic standards. Academic standards are public statements about what students should know and able to do. Standards describe the goals of schooling, the destinations at which students should arrive at the end of the unit, or term. There are content standards which indicate what students should know and should be able to do and there are performance standards which measures how well a student’s work meets the content standard. (Concept to Classroom)
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Bio & Statement of Purpose
Hello, My name is Lourdes Moreno and I am 21 years old. I was born on September 19, 1988 which makes me a Virgo. I was born and raised here in Miami, Florida but my parents are both from Cuba. I love Miami, even though I would love to travel around the world. I have a 25 year old sister who is a Registered Nurse. I am very proud of her. I am also happily engaged to the love of my life and hope to be married after I graduate and form a beautiful family together. I have a pretty small family and we are always together sharing as many moments as possible. I am a very sweet person and I love to help people. I am the type of person that keeps things to herself until one day I explode. I have always been a spoiled little girl and I thank my parent’s everyday for everything that they have given me. Ever since I was little, I always wanted to be a teacher. I remember as I child I loved to play teacher, even if it was by myself. I remember I would beg my sister to be my student and she never wanted to play me. I changed my mind a few times but in the end, I knew I wanted to be a teacher. I love kids and for some reason kids love me too. I have been working in a private school for a few years now and I love being around children. I love what I do and in order to help I would like to learn how to teach Special Education. I find it to be very interesting and at the same time I want to make a difference in those kid's lives. I believe that the reason that I became so interested in Special Education is because as I have observed these students, I have realized that most of them do not behave well because they can’t. I would like to help these kids overcome this problem and help them feel comfortable. I see those kids that just can’t stay in their seats and the more you scream at them the worse they get. They just can’t control themselves. It’s so sad! I have also been able to observe autistic children and children with down- syndrome. It is amazing how two children that have the same disability and act so differently. Very soon I hope to become a very successful teacher and continue doing what I love to do!
First Day of Class
Professor Mcnair, I really look forward to being part of your class. I feel like I am going to learn a lot in your class in order to become a great teacher. I will be putting my picture up before thursday. Thank you for the opportunity to be in your classroom, I hope to have a great semester.
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