|
|
 |
|
Teachers use their knowledge of subject matter, teaching and learning,
and technology to facilitate experiences that advance student learning, creativity, and innovation in both face-to-face and
virtual environments. Teachers:
|
|
|
|
1a. promote, support, and model creative and innovative
thinking and inventiveness. |
|
My classes in this program have taught me to keep an open mind and look at both sides of an issue. Through my collaboration with students from many other
areas, I've learned how important it is to try to see "through someone else's eyes". In the classroom, I promote creative
thinking by encouraging my students to "think outside the box" and to try to imagine what it would be like walk in someone
else's shoes. We use the Primary Source Sets from the Library of Congress to help us understand what life was like during the time periods we study.
My students also know that I love puzzles, and we often use mindbenders
or logic puzzles as warm up exercises for our brains. Some of the puzzles we use are found online at places like Education
Puzzles from Puzzles.com. By sharing my interest in puzzles with my students, I am modeling creative
thinking. Sometimes you have to be very creative to find the solution!
My students began learning to use Power Point by creating presentations
about themselves and about the planets. I modeled this activity for my students by developing an "All About Me" Power
Point and using it as an example.
|
|
|
|
Enter content here
|
|
|
Enter content here
|
|
|
Enter content here
|
|
|
1b. engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving
authentic problems using digital tools and resources.
|
During this degree program I've learned how important it is for my students to see real world connections between what they are learning and what is
going on in the world around them. I've learned to model making connections between the lesson and world events, and I encourage
my students to start making their own connections. We use CNN to see what's happening in the news, and I get news clips on historical events from United Streaming , a part of Discovery Education. When students can watch an archival clip of Martin Luther King, Jr. giving his "I Have a
Dream" speech, or hear Lyndon B. Johnson being sworn in on Air Force One, history comes alive for them.
During our study of the Constitution, my students did a project on Land Rights. They were unfamiliar
with eminent domain, so I had them research several eminent domain and land rights cases, and then they worked in
groups to complete the INTEL Tools for Teachers "Showing Evidence Tool" to support their viewpoint on the issues.
|
1c. promote student reflection using collaborative tools to
reveal and clarify students' conceptual understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes.
|
One of the best sites I've found to help students clarify their
understanding and provide support for their viewpoints is the INTEL Tools for Teachers site. My students have used the Visual Ranking Tool to rank the importance of items such as things they would take on a trip to the moon, characteristics they feel are important
in a friend, and supplies needed for travel on the Oregon Trail. They've used the Showing Evidence Tool to visualize and provide support for their viewpoint on an issue. We've also used the Seeing Reason Tool to help students clarify their understanding of a concept and share that understanding with others.
|
1d. model collaborative knowledge construction by engaging in
learning with students, colleagues, and others in face-to-face and virtual environments.
|
My students know that I am still taking classes, and that I get
excited over the new things I am learning. I share that excitement with them by telling them about what I am learning, and
using my new skills in class. Over the past few years I have become very involved in online learning, through this degree
program, and by taking classes from PBS Teacherline and INTEL. I also participate in workshops and conferences, and I always share what I learned with my students-both so that they know
why I was gone from the classroom, and so that they can see how important it is to be a life-long learner.
|
Comments or questions: glister@westerncusd12.org
|
|
|
|