I have always believe that it is beneficial for students to participate in hands on activities in a classroom as opposed to sitting in a desk and listening to a teacher lecture. I continually try to make my lessons hands-on, fun, and stimulating for my students. In this week's resources I learned a little about Contructionism and the role it plays in a classroom. The Contructionism Theory is the idea that you need to have first-hand experience with things to understand things (Leaureate, 2009).
Technology is a wonderful tool to have and implement in a classroom. Technology allows students to be hands-on with lessons and projects. I use several types of technology in my classroom. I have a SMARTboard and create many of my lessons using this tool. There are 10 computers in my classroom that allows my students to have access to what I am doing on the SMARTboard. We have created a blog together, watched Brainpop videos, viewed PowerPoints, etc. The use of technology in my classroom keeps my students alert, excited, and even in tuned with the lesson I am teaching.
My students love making PowerPoints. I think it makes them feel a little like they are the teacher, which of course they love. They pick a topic, research it, and then create a presentation that I allow them to share on the SMARTboard with the class. All of these things correlate with the Constructionism Theory by giving the students that hands-on experience they need to fully understand and absorb the information. It allows them to build something on their own, which is what Constructionism is all about.
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When having the students create PowerPoint presentations, how do you deal with the issue of citing information, such as the pictures that they may incorporate into their presentations from search engines like Google? I find that I am conflicted when I want the students to follow the appropriate rules for citing information but choose to spend my time on my science content as opposed to going over the increasingly complex issue of citing information retrieved from the worldwide web.
ReplyDeleteHi Abby,
ReplyDeleteI share your enthusiasm for creating lessons which allow your students to “construct” their understanding of concepts through hands on, inquiry based instruction. Your comment that the students “feel a little like they are the teacher,” made me smile. My third grade students really shine when the take the role of teacher and truly enjoy presenting their artifacts, created though the use of technology, to their peers. I chose this focus for a second master’s degree because something special happens when technology is incorporated into my teaching. My students crave it and its use truly focuses their learning.
I have struggled a bit with whether or not I should spend the time on having my students cite information. I teach 2nd grade, so I have tried to explain what citing information means, but it is a little over most of their heads. Usually, if students find a picture and use it, they will just cite that they got it from google images, or whatever source it came from. I figure that this is atleast a good introdution to citing.
ReplyDeleteI feel that students learn so much more than simple content when they create a lesson element that is a presentation. Clear and concise presentation of material is a life skill that is called upon as they move through academics and into a professional career.
ReplyDeleteAs for the debate on citing information, I feel it should be grade relevant and to the understanding of the students.
As a kindergarten teacher I spend as much of my day as I can giving my students hands on activities to do. I agree that it beneficial for students to participate in these types of activites. It is also a lot more fun for them and for me.
ReplyDeleteI also really love using Power Point with my class. I envy your 10 student computers. I only have 1 teacher computer so our PowerPoints must be created whole class. I secretly fear letting my five year olds loose on a computer so I do not mind doing PowerPoints whole class so much. I hope to get a couple of student computers next year and maybe I will be brave enough to let my students create on their own. You are right, I know they would love to share their creatations with the class.
I am impressed that your 2nd graders can create PowerPoints independently. I also teach 2nd grade and am having a difficult time when asking my students to create things using technology. I only have three computers in my classroom and many of my students do not have access to computers at home, therefore there technology literacy is limited. How long does it generally take for your students to complete a presentation? Do you grade it based solely on content? Do you also consider how well they used the technology?
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