Blog #5: State Standards of Kindergarten

I think it is a good idea to have a list of what kindergarteners should know by the time they leave to the first grade. It allows all teachers to know what needs to be taught. Having broad goals does not ensure that every student is learning what they should be. While this idea is not a sure way to ensure learning, it does provide a benchmark for teachers to follow and will increase the likelihood of that happening. Many of the standards seem reasonable, like being able to say, spell, and write their name. Some of them seem rather difficult for the kindergarten level, such as distinguishing the number of syllables in words by using rhythmic clapping, snapping or counting; I noticed this occurring in a first grade classroom. Some argue that these standards may be restrictive. This may be true, but having “benchmarks” does not mean that a teacher cannot go beyond what is laid out as a standard; a teacher can always go farther than what is required.

Blog #4: Digital Camera Lesson Plan

There are many lessons that could go along with a digital camera. One of my favorites was used in one of the first grade classrooms I observed in. The children were learning to identify trees by their leaves. As we all know, leaves tend to crumble when they become dry, so the teacher instructed them to go outside and find leaves and then they took pictures of the leaves. After printing the pictures off, they would write the name of the tree that the leaf came from. They then used the pictures to help practice the identification process. For the test, the teacher copied the students’ pictures for the test!

Blog #3: Philosophy Summary

These are a few words that summarize my teaching philosophy:

• Cooperation
• Devotion
• Student-Centered
• Motivation

Blog #2: Gardner, Bloom, and Dale

Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence Theory divides intelligence into eight different intelligences because he believes that IQ testing is too limited. He divided these eight intelligences into linguistic (words), musical, logical-mathematical (reasoning and numbers), spatial (pictures), bodily-kinesthetic (body), intrapersonal (working with others), interpersonal (self), and naturalist (nature) intelligences. Gardner believed that too much emphasis was put onto linguistic and logical-mathematical skills in the classroom and this did not allow students who had musical and artistic talents. He believed that students are more likely to succeed when more than one of these methods is put into place. This theory supports the use of technology. It allows the students to learn by methods other than lecturing and writing assignments. Students can use computer programs to work on there speaking, mathematical, and spatial skills and then can choose to work alone or with partners to use their interpersonal or intrapersonal skills. By using computer programs, the Type II use of technology because the computer is replacing the teacher.

Website source: http://www.thomasarmstrong.com/multiple_intelligences.htm

Benjamin Bloom’s theory of taxonomy is the idea that there are six hierarchical levels to the mastery of information. Each level is used to build up to the next level. The bottom of the pyramid is knowledge, then comprehension, followed application, then analysis, comprehension and finally, the last step being evaluation. In order for students to get to the comprehension level, they must have mastered the knowledge and comprehension level first. This theory detracts the use of technology and places more emphasis on the teacher and his/her lesson plans. It is up to the teacher to decide how to teach information to the students and make sure they demonstrate knowledge through the evaluation of the material. This theory uses Type I technology because it is up to the teacher to implement or aid in his/her lesson plans.

Website sources: http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/index.php?title=Bloom%27s_Taxonomy
http://faculty.washington.edu/krumme/guides/bloom1.html

Dale’s cone of experience is a system designed to “categorize media according to realism.” The media ranges from concrete to abstract and requires concrete examples and experience to help students understand. There are different levels to the cone (text, pictures and audio only, audio-visual/media, dramatization/live experiences, simulations/role playing, direct purposeful experiences) and each level provides more experiences and a greater likelihood that the student will remember the information. Technology is supported from this theory; examples from the text book include multimedia interaction, audio broadcasting, and videos. This requires the use of computers, television, audio players, the internet, and a form of video player, as well as many other forms of technology. This theory uses Type III technology because it requires the teacher to provide concrete examples and experiences for the child before they can relate to the material being presented. While the videos and audios can help the teacher with the lessons, the teacher must provide the real life experiences in order for the greatest likelihood of the child remembering the material covered.

Websites used: http://www.nyu.edu/its/pubs/connect/spring05/whelan_it_history.html
http://web.utk.edu/~mccay/apdm/selusing/selusing_d.htm