Reflection on
First Readings
For EdPsy 487
Darren Loschen
After reading
all the articles, I thought there are really some great things going on in the
classroom. I even thought to myself,
why didn’t I think of that, or why am I not trying that or getting other
teachers in the school to try it.
As I read through
the first article, I began to think, “Wow, this is so true.” Our district got in the mode of trying to
place computers in classrooms just to give the teacher a computer. We didn’t ask how the computer was going to
be used. Let’s just get it in a
room. I started to ask the teachers
what are you going to use it for. Most
responses were to type notes, check email, and let students type papers. Nothing to really change the way they
teach. I don’t know of any policies our
school has that are trying to transform teaching and learning. The main focus our school has is to align
the curriculum with the state standards.
Our school does have a technology plan in place that is supposed to lay
out a plan to improve access to technology along with increasing our teachers’
knowledge of integrating technology into the curriculum. I know we haven’t looked at the technology
plan too much after its approval. There
is a copy in my room that is sitting on a shelf along with a copy in the
superintendent’s office just sitting on the shelf.
As for the
beliefs and practices in the table provided in the article, I have to say I
would like to see a shift to the construction side. The roles that caught my eye were those of the teacher and the
student. I often tell the students in
my classes that we are going to try some things together, and I don’t
know exactly how it will work. I even
say that some students may know more about what we are working on than I do.
As a computer
applications teacher (and technology coordinator), it is hard sometimes to try
a lot of different things because I am required to show the students how to use
the software, so they can use it in other classes. I try to use the software in practical ways so the students can
continue to use it for other things than just typing a paper for a class. Therefore, I tried to think of projects or
activities done in other classes that were one of the five features of a
reformed classroom in the second article.
One project in an English class is that of creating a family
tree. The students have to create a
presentation using PowerPoint or other visual aids. Many students get involved in researching farther than they are required. Several students save their projects and are
proud to present them at a family reunion they attend. They often come back with stories of
relatives giving them more information to add or others just wanting a copy of
what they have done.
Students in my advanced class work in groups to create web pages
for the different activities in school.
Often one student will gather the information, all will collaborate on
the set up for the page, and another student will create the page on the
computer. The students then review it
on the screen and decide if it needs changes.
I often encourage students in my class to try to search for an
answer to complete a problem, and not to give up if they don’t remember. I remind them they have resources they can
check.
Our school is currently on the Block 8 schedule. We have four classes each day for 80
minutes. We have what we call “A” days
and “B” days, and we alternate each
day.
The last articles
in Learn & Live are great. As I
stated at the beginning of this reflection, there really are some great
activities in classrooms. In our
school, students in a history class have studied some battles from WW II and
then created small models of the battle in the classroom using little army men
and any other props that were appropriate.
Some students went to great links to be very accurate. Students in a science class must create a
notebook that contains several different types of leaves (that they must label)
that they gather from a field trip. The
family tree project I mentioned earlier is also a great project. I also mentioned the web pages the students
create. I feel this gives them some
ownership of the school’s website so they want to see it look nice.
Back to
Reflections/Activities