Enhanced Teaching Philosophy

My teaching and learning philosophy is influenced by my background and life experiences.  My family and I moved to Connecticut from Puerto Rico when I was 7 years old. I spoke no English, other than the English I learned as a result of singing children songs.   In 1963, the classroom make up in terms of student ethnic diversity was very different than today. Bilingual Education and English Language Learners programs were non existent.   Yet the dedication, kindness, and empathy of one second grade teacher made a world of difference that helped me through and started me on a positive educational journey.  The sting of language and culture were lessened by her smiles and gentle mannerism. Her support encouraged me to learn and to adapt.  By the end of the school year, I was fluent in English even though a culture gap existed.  I was on my journey.  I wish I could say the journey was without flaw.  My parents were supporters of education and understood its importance and value,  however, because of economic reasons, our family moved well over 20 times during my K-12 years. These moves disrupted my flow of learning.   I share this story because my beliefs, ideals, and philosophy in education are partially shaped as a result of my personal life and educational experiences.

I believe teachers bring perspectives to the classroom that are based on their unique personal experiences. These perspectives can motivate students and  help them on their educational journey.  It is important for teachers to have an understanding, respect, and appreciation of their students’ background.  A positive and healthy student teacher relationship is built on mutual respect. The classroom is a perfect stage in which teachers can share their experiences and enrich the lives of their students.  Learning will flourish in a classroom where there is respect and appreciation.  

I believe among the emerging strengths in education is the institution of the Common Core State Standards. Regardless of location, students will learn and be assessed on a common set of skills.  For transient students,  this will prove beneficial.  Educational disruptions that occur when a student moves from one place to another will decrease. Common core skills in reading, writing, listening, mathematics, critical thinking and processing should be taught in all subject areas.  These skills are relevant and necessary in all aspects of life and should be taught in that scope.  

Our classrooms and communities are becoming more diverse culturally and ethnically.  Our global economy relies on the skills and knowledge of a culturally and ethnically diverse workforce. Collaboration and cooperation are key elements to success in today’s globally flattened economy.   It is of great importance that educators embrace the diversity found in the classrooms and in society in order to help students develop the skills and dispositions they will need for future success.  

Technology can make learning authentic and meaningful for students. Technology is transforming education.  Students are learning and gaining knowledge 24/7 beyond the classroom walls.  Outside the classroom, students are pursuing their interests and curiosity.  Their content  is rich and alive with multimedia and engaging. The Internet provides an abundance of learning resources and a venue to communicate and share information.  Student work can now be published on the Internet for the world to view. A very powerful and exciting time for both students and teachers. Teachers should endorse and support learning that is relevant to their students’ experience. Learning activities should develop the skills they will need to successfully enter college and/or work.  Learning experience should be developed that are student centered and of interest to students.   are motivated and more interested in their learning when they have a reason and purpose for learning.   Project based learning is a student centered approach that provides students with opportunities to practice and use skills, explore and collaborate, and offers an ideal learning environment of real life and purposeful learning.  Students are motivated when they have an audience that reaches beyond the teacher’s desk.  Students perform better when they know that their work will be presented to others. They take pride and ownership of their work.

Student reflection on what they have learned is an important learning activity. Providing students with the opportunity to think about their work and their learning will  help students gain insight about their learning and develop the skills for life long learning.

Finally, I believe in providing students with opportunities to get involved in school. Students who join clubs, sports teams, and participate in extracurricular activities will perform better academically.  They feel they are contributing members and citizens of their school.  They will take pride in their school and recognize it as a vehicle for advancement in life.  

My Digital Portfolio

César Poyatos
CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

I have been asked to identify what my digital portfolio of my participation in the University of New Haven’s Digital Media Literacy & Instructional Technology Program will include. After thoughtful consideration, my portfolio will be a collection of artifacts that represent what I believe are key concepts for the effective integration of technology in the K-12 classroom.  The purpose will be to serve as a resource for others who are interested in the use of instructional technology and digital media literacy.  Additionally, it will be a collection of exemplary work I have developed and will document my learning.  I will consider the following in my portfolio:

• digital literacy concepts
• models of effective technology integration
• considerations of teaching with technology (inclusive practices, digital citizenship, copyright)
• PLNs and resources
• global education
• technology tools for teaching and learning
• strategies & methods
• assessing with technology

I look forward to the opportunity to discuss, refine, and build my digital portfolio.

Elements of a Digital Portfolio

Photo by: Langwitches, no modification

CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Electronic or digital portfolios are a collection of purposely selected work made by an individual, group, or institution.  The portfolio has a clear purpose and goal.  In the area of education, digital portfolios can document knowledge, show exemplary work, serve as a base for assessment, or any combination of these.  The purpose may be use to show credentials, to show achievements, for college admission, to obtain employment, or for a class grade.

Digital portfolios allow the creator to use text, images, and multimedia information to document and meet the purpose and goal of the portfolio.  Portfolios encourage personal reflection. The creator has the opportunity to communicate and share their thoughts on the work they have selected and on the learning process involved with the work.  Digital portfolios may also include comments and thoughts made by others about items in the portfolio. This additional feature may add to the creators’ knowledge and provide comments and feedback that could enhance the portfolio.

The portfolio should be well organized and the artifacts should be clearly labeled to help the viewer understand the content, locate the work, and easily move through the portfolio. A table of contents or index can be included to help organize the portfolio.

Sources:

Lorenzo, G., & Ittelson, J. (July 2005). An Overview of E-Portfolio. Educause Learning Initiative. 

       Retrieved July 7, 2014, from http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/eli3001.pdf

Mueller, J. (n.d.). Portfolios (Authentic Assessment Toolbox). Portfolios (Authentic Assessment
       Toolbox). Retrieved July 5, 2014, from http://jfmueller.faculty.noctrl.edu/toolbox/portfolios.htm

EDUC 7726 Teaching, Learning, and Assessing in the Digital Era

In today’s technology enriched world, teachers need to use technology to make learning more engaging and authentic, and to teach the skills that students will need for their future.  Teaching in the digital era requires teachers to use effective teaching strategies and embed technology in their lessons.

For my final assignment to my EDUC7726 Teaching, Learning, and Assessing in the Digital Era, I will summarize my learning. I used Popplet software  to create a pictorial representation of my learning. My Popplet can be found at the end of this post. It has the specifics and details of my learning.  I chose to use Popplet to document my learning because it was easy to learn and it was free.

In order to be an effective teacher in today’s world, teachers must meet the diverse learning needs of their student.  Universal Design for Learning is a method that teachers can use to develop lessons that meet the diverse learning needs of their students. Teachers also need to use effective teaching strategies such as those identified in Robert Marzano’s “9 Highly Effective Teaching Strategies” and John Hattie’s research on improving student learning and achievement will help teachers design lessons that will help students learn.

Dr. Ruben Puentedura’s SAMR model identifies the opportunity to use technology in  lessons.   The model matches the type of technology tool needed for a specific task.

Technology has many affordances for teaching, learning, and assessment. Students can use technology to collaborate, communicate, create, and use critical thinking skills as they read, write, and create online content. When teachers integrate technology effectively it leads to improved instruction.  Teachers are able to meet the diverse learning needs of their students by providing learning materials in multimodal format. Teachers can use technology to assess students during instruction. Assessment data can be used by teachers to determine how instruction should proceed and what learning scaffolds need to be put in place. Technology supports the symbiotic relationship between assessment and learning.

The following are benefits of using technology in teaching and assessment

• learning is authentic because students are using real world tools
• 21st century skills are practiced and developed
• facilitates the evaluation and assessment of student work
• learning materials and assignment can be presented in a variety of ways
• data collected through assessments can be used to drive instruction
• it promotes self and peer review

Technology supports student centered learning.  Student centered learning activities utilizes  students’ interests and strengths to achieve improved student learning.  Providing students  with choices on what they want to learn, how they want to learn it,  and how they want to show what they’ve learn are elements of student centered learning. Students take ownership of their learning and are engaged with their learning. Teachers become facilitators to support students in their learning. Using a student centered learning approach helps prepare students to become lifelong learners.

Click here to access my Popplet.

My Soap Box

This week in EDUC7726 Teaching, Learning, and Assessing in the Digital Era, we were  asked to stand on a "soap box" and speak for 8 minutes on a topic related to technology. We met as a class through Google Hangouts and delivered our "soap box" speeches.  I chose to speak about the "Top 10 - What Teachers Should Know about Technology". I enjoyed this activity because I was able to reflect and share my thoughts about what I feel is important for teachers to know about teaching with technology.  I was able to corroborate my thoughts with research, and I was able to share my understanding of ideas presented by others who have written on the topic.  Here is my soap box presentation on "What Teachers Need to Know About Technology".

The soap box topics presented by my classmates were all informative. I learned something from each. The topics were relevant and meaningful to my journey in the effective use of technology in teaching.  +Elizabeth Hick's "If students have the answers, what are the questions?" presented thought provoking ideas and research on questioning. With the proliferation of the Internet, finding the answers has never been easier. Questions posed by teachers today have to move beyond recall and summarization to questions that promote higher order thinking skills.   +Joseph Depalma shared a host of valuable resources and suggestions regarding the use of technology by young children. From  +Elizabeth Ferry 's soap box, "Stem to Steam", I learned about the trend to integrate "Art" into the STEM fields. +Amy Paskov's presentation on MOOCs and the issue with assessment generated a discussion on auto computerized grading of writing. +Gail Dandelske shared about the inconsistencies between textbooks and CCSS alignment. +Tim Flanagan spoke about the ISTE organization and the resources they offer. From his presentation, I learned about the standards for coaches of technology. Finally +Joan Robinson spoke of the future in technology and its uncertainty due to the rapid technological changes and advancements that occur. One thing is certain, it will look different than it does today.  She spoke of the need for teachers to find time to use technology and assess its effectiveness.

The "Soap Box" activity was an authentic learning opportunity, and I would like to thank our professor, +Laura Greenstein for suggesting the activity.  I think this activity is a powerful way to have students take a stance, research, evaluate, and synthesize information to create a presentation on a topic. I think my middle school students would also enjoy a "soap box" activity.  

Integrating Assistive Technology in the Curriculum

For my EDUC7724 Assistive Technology (AT) class, I was asked to closely look at one AT product included in Chapter 7 of the book Assistive technology for people with disabilities by  Bryant, D. P., & Bryant, B. R. (2012).  I decided to review Start-to-Finish. Start-to-Finish is a software application that helps students build reading fluency and comprehension.  It's packaged in a set containing a paperback, computer, and audio book.  Start-to-Finish’s newest offering is an online version of the computer books that work with iPads.  I reviewed the online version product demonstration video.  Start-to-Finish Online is a series of chapter books categorized by reading level and genre.  Books are available in two levels, the gold and blue levels.  The Gold Level contains books that are on a 2-3 grade reading level.  The Blue level books are at a 4-5 grade reading level.  Books are professionally narrated and are lively and animated. The pronunciation and enunciation of words is clear. As the book is read, the books’ words are highlighted on the screen. Students can go back and click on words to be re-read. The books are also illustrated. At the end of each chapter, a quiz is available to check the reader’s comprehension. Teachers are able to measure students’ progress and growth through a series of reports. The reports include how many books a student has read, the genre, and how well they have scored on the quizzes. The reports also show what words the students have selected to be re-read. Preferences are available for the reader. A reader can turn scanning on and off, and adjust the speed of the reading. The auditory feature can be turned on and off for reading of the books and the quizzes.  I found it interesting that the founder of the company that makes Start-to-finish, Don Johnson, is dyslexic and read his first chapter book at the age of 15. He is the author of one of the Start-to-Finish books, Building Wings: How I Made It Through School. In this book, he tells his personal story as a struggling reader. He is committed to helping struggling readers succeed in reading. Visit donjohnson.com for resources to help struggling readers.

I think this product would be beneficial to struggling readers. It would help them develop reading fluency and comprehension. In a video, teacher Lisa Delgiudice shares her students are comprehending and actively engaged in reading while using Start-to-finish books. She spoke of one reader who made facial expressions denoting anger when the narrator was reading the words of a character who is angry. The teacher attributes the program’s ability to make the books come alive through narration as being very powerful for struggling readers.   

There is a cost associated with this product. There are several pricing packages that range from a 4 title package to site and district licenses.  

Digital Formative Assessments

Formative assessments are an an integral part of the learning process. They can provide valuable feedback to the teacher about their students’ learning. This feedback can be used to adjust teaching to ensure students successfully meet the learning objectives.

I reviewed three digital formative assessment tools, Kahoot, Socrative, and Padlet.  I learned how to use these tools through the online tutorials available on their websites.   I was able to quickly learn how to use the tools and found them to be very easy to use. All three tools are free, web based, and no software downloads are required.  Student registration is also not required for any of the tools. The tools are user friendly and easy for teachers to quickly start using.  Students have access to the formative assessments created through a link and a password or number.

Kahoot - Kahoot is a student response system. It has a game-like interface with a timer and optional background music. Optionally, Kahoot keeps score in game-like fashion and announces winners. Kahoot may be used in any stage of the learning and teaching process. It can be used as a before learning activity to measure knowledge about what will be studied. It can be used during learning to gain feedback on the effectiveness of learning materials. A Kahoot can also be used at the end of a lesson to provide feedback on how well students have met learning objectives. This feedback can be used to determine wether the teacher needs to revisit the material or  if the class can move on to a new learning objective.

Socrative- Socrative is a student response system. Once you register, you are assigned a room number.  In order for your students to access the survey/quiz,students go to t.socrative.com and enter the room number. Once in, teachers can scroll through questions and get immediate feedback. The question types vary from T/F, multiple choice, and open-ended questions. Similar to Kahoot, Socrative can also be used in every stage of the teaching and learning process.

Padlet - Padlet is a website of collaborative work spaces known as  “walls”. Teachers create walls for students to write on. Teachers specify how they want their wall to be shared. The software provides options on the access and writing on the wall. For example, if the wall is made private, only those with the link and password can write on the wall. This is how I plan to use Padlet with my middle school students. Students can work online in a private area that is shared only with the class.

An example of applying  Formative Assessments tools in a lesson about teaching the Dewey Decimal System

I will use Kahoot to pre-assess students’ knowledge of the Dewey Decimal System. From this data, I can efficiently create a plan for teaching and can tailor my lessons to help students meet their learning objectives. The data will also be helpful for grouping students for collaborative learning activities on the Dewey Decimal System.

I will use Socrative (my room number is 520236) to develop multiple choice questions to check student understanding of the Dewey Decimal System classification during learning. Socrative will provide a snapshot of how well students are understanding and applying the learning materials. This feedback can be used to adjust teaching materials and methods. For example, if the results of the Socrative questioning is poor, I can provide additional and different learning materials to present and explain the Dewey Decimal System.  Formative assessments during learning can help determine the effectiveness of materials used in learning and identify the need for additional or different materials for learning.

I will use Padlet to allow teams of students to show their understanding of the Dewey Decimal System classification. Students visit the wall and add subjects/topics beneath each of the Dewey Decimal Classifications.  This formative assessment will let me know if they understand the classifications of the Dewey Decimal System. From this assessment, I can identify where my instruction will go next. I may need to reteach the lesson on the Dewey Decimal System using a different approach, or the results may suggest moving on to a new learning objective for my students.

Digital formative assessments provide an excellent source of information on the effectiveness of teaching materials and methods on student learning. Formative assessments provides feedback of the learning that is occurring during instruction. By using formative assessments tools, teachers can use resources efficiently and effectively to improve student learning.  

Here is a link to a list of 36 Digital Formative Assessment Tools.