I took my students down to the computer lab to facilitate our instruction. My goal of this lesson was to use the internet and have the students create QR (quick response) codes for their individual websites that we would later integrate into an art assignment and teach them the basics of using Dropbox.com.. It took the entire block to get the students to log into their Weebly accounts so they could find the web address for their websites, and even then about one third of them were able to accomplish this part. However, he time was a complete waste, not due to the lesson, but the constraints of the technology
One interesting curriculum planning approach mentioned in “Models of Curriculum Planning” by George Posner was Joseph Schwab’s interpretation of the Procedural approach. His approach involves extensive deliberation (1) regarding the selection of information to be taught. While I agree that it is important to consider all aspects of material presented, I do not agree that all teachable subjects need to have this much complexity at primary levels. Presenting students in Grade 1, for example, with a few different models and methods of addition will allow them to pick the method that they resonate with, rather than presenting these same students with every addition method, including subtraction as the inverse of addition would be too overwhelming at that age level. They are not cognitively advanced enough to grasp the abstract approaches until they have cemented the more visual ones first.
Here's something I made for my Language Arts class this summer.
Decimals are tricky things. They don’t seem to follow the same rules as whole numbers at first glance. However, if you look deeper, the rules are similar and it’s a matter of knowing and understanding the difference to be successful while using them. The article Models for Initial Decimal Ideas by Kathleen A. Cramer, Debra S. Monson, Terry Wyberg, Seth Leavitt and Stephanie B. Whitney details how to implement the use of a 10x10 and 10x10 +/- frames in constructing decimal concepts. Additionally, this article explores the use of 10x10 grids to help deepen students’ understanding of decimals. This helps to understand the concept of place value, comparisons (and subsequently addition or subtraction) between decimals, and demonstrating the link between fractions and decimals. 10x10 frames provide an easy way for students to create their own understanding of decimals and the rules they follow. They should be used to help scaffold students’ success with building initial decimal ideas.
Interventions: Differentiated Groups Grow Good Readers
“Fair is not everyone getting the same thing. Fair is everyone getting what they need.” –Anonymous Although much of the information presented in “Critical Elements of Classroom and Small-Group Instruction Promote Reading Success in All Children” (Foorman & Torgesen, 2001) reaffirmed knowledge gained through prior learning, the key point presented is that direct teaching of reading skills as a whole class and differentiated intervention groups are the key to successful reading acquisition for all students. I believe it’s extremely difficult to get somewhere without knowing where you’re going. Achieving success in this manner requires a lot of hard work, and luck. I find it’s much easier to determine your goal or outcome, consider the steps necessary to get there, then work on achieving them. As such, teachers should have an aim, be it to educate the student to the best of their ability, or just to get to the end of the year. I’m not saying that every aim is as noble as it should be, only that they exist.
|
AuthorPDP @ SFU Archives
April 2013
Categories
All
|