Blog Post #4

Asking Questions: What questions do we ask? How do we ask?




Asking questions is essential to improving comprehension. Questioning helps students make a connection between what is being taught, and how well they understand the subject matter. It also serves as verification that they have successfully mastered the lesson. In our modern education system questioning is more important than answers according to Dr. Strange. As we transition from No Child Left Behind to the Common Core Curriculum good questioning skills are critical for present students to learn. The Common Core is geared towards students learning things conceptually rather than mere rote memorization of facts. This is why students must learn how to ask great information seeking questions.

In Ben Johnson's post "The Right Way to Ask Questions in the Classroom" he is troubled about teachers asking yes or no questions to students concerning their comprehension of the lesson. Johnson believes that questions like these help students falsely persuade the teacher about their understanding of the subject. Furthermore, it does not push the students to think critically. However, he provides the antidote to this problem from research done by Mary Budd Rowe. She believed that if teachers ask a question, pause for three seconds, and call on a student this will motivate all students to being thinking about an answer. Only after another students name is called will they experience relief because they were not chosen. Randomly calling on different students to answer questions will keep students thinking and alert because they understand they could be called upon any time to give an answer.



In "Asking Questions to Improve Learning" Washington University in St. Louis compiled a list to help educators ask question that will help students actively learn. The following are strategies I found most effective: When planning questions keep in mind your course goals, and aim for clear, direct, and specific questions. The first strategy suggest that teachers should shape questions to course goals. For example, what does the instructor intend for the students to learn. Do you want students to learn new a new concept? If this is the goal you should form questions to confirm that the students learned the material. The next strategy is to ask simple questions. When educators are teaching a new lesson they should ask questions that progress toward the depth of the subject rather than ask complex questions in the beginning. Critical thinking skills have to be built so students can ask good questions.

Blog Post #16 Final Reflection Video

C4T #1

     Mrs. Deyamport shared her experience at a recent statewide gifted conference on her blog. She explained how developing her PLN network has enriched her life. Personal Learning Networks have allowed her to connect to other educators and new resources that have ultimately made her a better teacher. She explained how these people have provided valuable insights and inputs sharing their experiences and providing solutions to certain questions. She encouraged her fellow peers to begin developing their own PLN so they could receive the same inspiration she had obtained.

     For my second comment on Mrs. Deyamport blog I thanked her for sharing some wonderful assignments she created using Google Classroom. I had never heard of the app before so I decided to do some research. Google classroom was designed for teachers to help them save time by keeping classes organized, and improving communication with their students. It functions like a cloud based product where students and teachers can store assignments. As a future educator I will use Google Classroom to help improve my effectiveness as a teacher.

 

 

 

    

Blog Post #5 part 2

     My Personal Learning Network has helped me grow trememdously over the course of this semester. The most useful resources I have grown fond of are TeacherTube and Twitter. TeacherTube is a useful resource of online instructional videos for students, teachers, and parents to learn about anything educational. This site contains videos, docs, audio, and photos that all center around educational content. Twitter has become my most useful over the course of this semester. At first I was reluctant to create a twitter account however, I've found it useful for keeping me informed about events happening on campus. Twitter has shown me how important it is to be connected to the people around me. Furthermore, it has taught me how useful it is to make new connections.

C4K Comment for November

      For my first comment for kids post I was assigned to comment of Maddy's blog. She had an interesting blog post about homework. She developed a homework declaration of independence declaring that teachers ban homework for their students. The reason behind this declaration is that homework causes unnecessary stress and it takes away students' freedom because they already attend school five out of seven days at week, for eight hours a day. Furthermore, she persuaded other students to sign this petition and they did. I commented on her post letting her know that homework is meant to be helpful. On one hand I agreed with her declaration. Too much homework can be stressful and overwhelming. I believe teachers should carefully consider how much homework to give each night. However, I let her know that the teachers care genuinely about her and want her to succeed so they assign homework so students understand what is being taught in the classroom. I let her know practice make perfect and this is why her teachers assign homework each night. They want their students to earn A’s in their class and be successful in life.
      For my second comment for kids post I was assigned to comment on Marilyn's blog. She wrote an innovative blog point on how to make homemade strawberry jelly. I commented on her blog letting her know this was a very informative post. I told her I love your simple and effective recipe to make homemade strawberry jelly. I have never thought about this method. I see your very creative and willing to experiment with different things in order to make strawberry jelly. This is good because one day you could be a famous chief, or with your experimental habits you may become a famous scientists. Keep up the good work!!
      Lastly, I was assigned to comment on Isaac's blog. He wrote about designing a suit for the future and the gadgets it would include. The suit would be called the Cyborg 2000. It would be made of metal, include a gun, and a microwave. However, the gun could not be used for evil, and if it was used for this purpose it would fall apart and be unfixable. I commented on his blog by complimenting him on his creativity. He also told his commenters to let him know what he could add to the suit to make it better. I told him that this is a cool, futuristic suit. I like how he mentioned the gun can never be used for evil and if someone tried to use it for that purpose it would fall apart. It seems he is advocating for a peaceful world, which is awesome. The camera on the suit is useful because it alerts you when unknown danger is near by an alarm going off. It seems this suit could be very useful for soldiers at war. The metal would serve as body armor so it would protect the soldiers from enemy fire. Another gadget you could add to the suit is insulated cotton. This cotton would automatically adjust to the body temperature of the person and warm them up if they were cold.

Blog Post 14

Joel Klein served as the Superintendent for New York City's Public School System. In a article published by USA today he was asked if there was one thing he could change about the educational system what would it be? He responded by mentioning that their are a lot of thing that need fixing. The following are a list of problems and solutions that he and Albert Shanker came up with to fix the school system.

Problems
1. Anyone with a college degree can become a teacher.
2. Teachers are rewarded based on seniority.
3. Their hasn't been a solid educational program developed that is compatible to other high-performing nations.

Solutions
1. Pick from the best(recruit from the top third of graduates)
2. Job security should be based on performance not seniority.
3. Their should be national teacher examination test compatible to entry exams for doctors and lawyers.

      First, the qualifications to become a teacher are too lenient. I agree with his first problem on teacher inflation. Just because you have a college degree does not make you qualified to become an educator. The school system is filled with unqualified teachers who have not been trained properly. Therefore, our students suffer academically from the broken pipeline of teacher inflation. In order to fix this problem we should adhere to the advice of Mr. Klein. We should recruit from the top college graduates to ensure our students are receiving the best education possible. This will produce more productive students and prepare them for the future workforce.
      Secondly, we should change how we reward teachers. The current reward system should be discarded and a new one should be implemented. I agree with Mr. Klein's suggestion. We should reward teachers based on performance, rather than seniority. As he mentioned just because a teacher is experienced doesn't mean their effective. Furthermore, our best teachers should be going to the low-performing schools in order to help close the performance gap between at-risk kids and high-performing students.
      Lastly, universities should change their teacher education programs. According to the National Center on Teacher Quality their hasn't been a program developed that is compatible to other high-performing nations. To solve this we should adhere to the advice of Albert Shanker. He suggest teachers establish their own board to monitor the profession and weed out ineffective teachers. Furthermore, the school system should develop national teacher examinations compatible to doctor and lawyer entry exams. These test will be administered to consider which teachers deserve promotions and rewards. This incentive will ensure the very best teachers enjoy the fruit of their labor.
      In conclusion, I believe that Mr. Klein and Mr. Shanker has provided American education will a blueprint for radical change. In my opinion, these changes should be implemented promptly so we can ensure our students have the best educators teaching them. Additionally, technology will play a huge role in this process. Teachers should be technologically literature in order to be an educator since their are so many ways technology is influencing education in a positive way. If we implement these strategies we will be on our way to becoming an educational superpower again.

Project #12 Part B

Here is our group's Project #12 Part B SmartBoard lesson.