EME 2040 Chapters 3 & 8

EME2040 Digital Blog post 3

Chapters 3 &/or 8

 Educational learning theory: Dr. Maria Montessori

 The Montessori system of education originated in 1907 when Maria Montessori opened

 “Children’s House” in a low-income area of Rome, Italy. (1)This is a child centered model that utilizes

 scientific observations of child behavior by teachers to shape lessons and projects. The underlying

 understanding is that children have a natural curiosity that leads to learning if given a “supportive

 and thoughtfully prepared learning environment”(2) This model may seem like a behaviorist approach

 because it relies on the scientific method of observing children. It does not fit this model, however,

 because it does not employ a conditioning method common to traditional classrooms of grading student

 work. There is only learning through self-direction, and comprehension/development observation by

the teacher. In this way Montessori models a Constructionist approach with the student creating their

 own learning.

                                                                                                        

Here is a video that explains a bit more about this model: 

Here is the link for the video: (2) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nb7QLOCW8hs 

The Role of feedback in the Montessori Model

    Although Montessori students do not receive grades, they do receive feedback.There are no

 A+’s for great work or F’s for bad work, instead, as a student expresses interest in a subject they

 are encouraged to investigate that subject. If a student is having difficulties, the teacher may ask

 a student that has mastered the skill or subject to help the other student with the goal of reinforcing

 their own understanding while providing the mentor-ship of a slightly older student to the struggling student  rather than making that student rely on the much older teacher to “save” them. This builds self-confidence and a sense of family within the class itself.

Check out my BitStrip on this subject:

 The Better Classroom

Created by April Bogar 5/31/2016

Here is also a nicely illustrated video contrasting 

Montessori vs. Traditional classrooms

Retrieved 5/30/2016 from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NGRpzQ9vCE&list=PLPJXjT4wHl0itBTlwyU4BPBrGovXGSz5G

Communicating and collaborating in the Montessori model

Each classroom “level” consists of three ages, 3-6, 6-9, 9-12, 12-15, and 15-18.
 Grouping in this way  allows younger students to learn from older ones while the older students
 reinforce their understanding by teaching the younger students. This method reminds
 me of Lev Vygotsky’s “Social Development” and “MTO (More Knowledgeable Other)
” Constructivist model. This grouping model also affords the teacher the time to work with
 students individually or in small groups, that may need more detailed or supervised instruction. Another benefit to having multiple ages in the learning environment is that it is more true-to-life.
 In college and in the working world students are going to need to get along and work with people
 older and younger than themselves, so this builds social skills as well. The Montessori model is very
 much an inquiry-based teaching method in that it is almost entirely student driven. The teacher
 does follow a curriculum, but they present the information, “ through an integrated approach that
 brings separate strands of the curriculum together. ” (5)The students are understood to be naturally
 curious and questioning. This quest-for-knowledge and exploration is encouraged by the teacher who
 takes on more of a partnership role by leading the student to possible sources of information that they
 seek or exercises to build an active understanding of a concept. This self-directed study builds
 self-confidence and critical-thinking skills as the student goes beyond information
 accumulation to connecting concepts to real-world application.

I have created a flip-quiz to reinforce some of the concepts from chapters 3 and 8

I hope you enjoy the game:

Flip quiz for Chapter 3 & 8

( I look forward to learning how to embed BotStrips and Flip Quizes into my blog posts)
(I am embarrassed,but I have attempted ti fix the formatting multiple times with no success)

Resources:

(1) Retrieved 5/29/2016 from- http://amshq.org/Montessori-Education/History-of-Montessori-Education

(2) Retrieved 5/29/2016 from- http://amshq.org/Montessori-Education/Introduction-to-Montessori 

(3) Retrieved 5/30/2016 from- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NGRpzQ9vCE&list=PLPJXjT4wHl0itBTlwyU4BPBrGovXGSz5G 

(4) Retrieved 5/30/2016 from- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nb7QLOCW8hs 

(5) Retrieved 5/31/2016 from- http://amshq.org/Montessori-Education/FAQs 

(6) Created by April Bogar 5/31/2016: http://bitstrips.com/r/TR8WV 

(7) Created by April Bogar 5/31/2016:  http://flipquiz.me/review/94290 

(8) Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Chapter 1

Reflections on 3 concepts from Chapter 1:

 Becoming a 21st Century Teacher

The first chapter for this class focuses on introducing us to the concept of using technology in the classroom. The following video demonstrates the difference between the old and new classrooms:
The text begins by explaining how prevalent the use of technology is among young people and makes the case that the classroom must evolve to keep the pace of technology in the lives of students in order to keep them engaged and aware of the relevance of technology to learning. I was especially surprised to see the statistics of how much time young people spend engaged with technology. I am an only child to technology resistant parents, so I feel that I am in the technology gap group that is also mentioned. I am excited to see that there are so many tools available to enhance learning, but worry about children becoming too dependent upon technology. My excitement is mixed with apprehension as I am nearly overwhelmed by how far behind I am in getting used to  the myriad of technologies available. I am confident in my ability to learn new things, so I look forward to accessing and becoming familiar with the different categories of technology tools for the classroom because, as the following video shows:

, technology is very important for the future.
    The book describes something called a "digital childhood" which details the amount of technology young children use. This time is mainly composed of television, digital music and video downloading, and social media. I was surprised that seventy percent of children played video games and used the internet daily by the time they were in second grade. I understand that parents are very busy these days and electronics are an easy way to keep children entertained in a stationary way, but I question the wisdom that easier is better. Physical activity is important as is the exercise of using the imagination in play. If children get used to being sedentary and relying on visual and audio input for play, they may not develop adequately physically, mentally and emotionally. In fact this link provides insight to the possible problems associated with electronic media exposure during early childhood, Media use and Well-Being Study . I believe that balance in this area is the most important thing to ensure that children learn to visualize and conceptualize independent of electronic media.
   I was really excited to read about all of the different categories of technology that can be utilized in the classroom and to support teaching in general. I am especially interested in utilizing technology based libraries to catalog interesting sites that I can refer to for teaching materials as well as use to bring concepts to life for my students. I am certain that I will use a technology based office in my teaching career to catalog student grades and learning progress, as well as to collaborate with colleagues on education projects. I will likely be using many technology based learning environments, such as the one I am currently enrolled in now, to complete my teaching education as well as completing the continuing education that comes with the teaching profession. One day I hope to even use technology based text books along with the learning environment to carry a message of hope to unreached people groups and teach English to poor foreign children. I am very lucky to have the opportunity to live in a place and time that I have access to classes like this that are giving me a vision of how I will be able to make a real difference in the lives of children, not just inside the classroom but also, potentially, from very far away.
   I know that it is going to take time for me to become confident enough with these technologies that I would feel comfortable displaying them as a "Digital Resume" as having been mastered, but this needs to happen for me to be able to communicate to potential employers that I am a twenty first century teacher that is committed to engaging students with new technologies. I am very glad that this class is pushing me outside of my comfort zone in completing assignments using the web2.0 tool of blogging. I know this will go very far in helping me create an online identity as a teacher in the future. I am actually very curious to see all of the ways that I am going to learn to integrate technology into my assignments and projects. I believe this is called, "highly interactive, inquiry-based learning".
    It is clear that technology is only growing in its influence in our daily lives. It is no surprise then that schools need to incorporate it to remain relevant and to educate children on the academic applications of technology. By integrating technology into classroom experiences, teachers are able to engage students in a more holistic way. Technology allows for the differentiation of learning to tailor lessons to every learning style while providing a highly efficient way to track student progress. I look forward to learning much more about the application of technology in the classroom and for the organization of information for learning myself. I am confident that I can conquer these new technologies and become a great twenty first century teacher.
 
Source:
Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.