Almost done!!

My “Big Question” I posed in Module 1 was:
Is there any one way to teach that is more successful than another or is it entirely dependant upon your specific classroom situation?
After taking this class, I learned that there is certainly not one correct way to teach. However, some approaches may be more successful than others. Like we discussed in Module 3, a constructivist would find that students who build on prior knowledge will successfully learn new material. There are a few concepts and ideas to teaching that are universal, but many concepts are not. Even a universal concept such as rewards and punishment would have to be varied depending on a specific student and/or classroom situation. The only way I think this class could be redesigned to better meet the needs of my question would be to briefly take a look at each grade level. If I could understand the different basic needs of children at a certain age or better understand where they are in their development I believe I would be able to know more about what method of teaching would be most appropriate.
Following that train of thought, the video “Living their Lives Essentially Online” discussed what children at certain ages were doing online. A 13 year-old boy was on Myspace socializing while his 7 year-old brother was playing games on Club Penguin downstairs. This also plays into my curiosity of at what age do students learn or at what stage are they technologically.
“Evolution in Classrooms and Social Life” also discussed how technology plays a role in teenager’s lives. A high school teacher, Steve Maher, referred to teachers as having to be “entertainers” to their students. He also stated that “walking into a classroom without technology is like walking into a desert”. Even here at Marquette, it is rare to find a student who does not personally own their own computer. Adolescents are incredibly technologically advanced compared even compared to our parent’s generation. One teacher had been teaching for decades and she had tried to hold onto the traditional classroom but she realized that it was crucial to have technology nowadays. Technology is easier for students as it is not only a part of our education, but a main aspect of our social life. Another teacher noted that people are becoming more comfortable being more public than in the past. Each student who has a Myspace or Facebook has a profile listing a myriad of information about themselves.
This was a major issue that was found in “Self expression, trying on new identities”. One girl said that she was conversing with a stranger online and he had asked her to send him pictures with minimal clothing on, and she did it because to her it was “just a picture” and it was “something to do”. Another young girl, age 15, posted mild pornography of herself in order to erase the image she had previously had. It was the concept that people can now create a digital representation of themselves, information being true or not. People can display identities how we so chose, even creating new identities online.
I was surprised that I was shocked watching these videos. I never really pay attention to how large of a role technology plays in my everyday life until it is brought to my attention by some outside source. Facebook, especially in college, seems ever so important to students as it is a way to socialize with friends and stay in touch with old friends from home. We use technology nearly everyday and in nearly every class…we are completely consumed by it. I believe it is crucial for teachers to understand this concept and be aware of the role it is playing in their student’s lives.

Control (Part 2)

After reading a few other student's blogs, I think that the majority of us have very similar viewpoints to control in the classroom. As I have previously said, I believe a balance in control is a crucial aspect for teachers and students to gain respect. I found that many other students also found that through control, respect can given and recieved and a strong relationship can be built.

Shannon said something i found to be very true. She said, "The way I see it is this: students and teachers both learn through using technology, if the situations are right for learning." Integrating technology in the classroom can be very tricky. It's not necessarily something that can be determined by age, but by skill level and maturity. A teacher has many opportunities to observe her students and he/she knows what is appropriate - what technology to use, when to use it, and how much control to give. Everyone can benefit from using technology, but a teacher has to be aware at how technology can hinder learning. The teacher ultimately has the control - not only their own control, but the control to give his/her students control. I believe it's a delicate balance that requires a good, skilled & well informed teacher to know how to integrate technology and balance control in the classroom.

Control

I believe that control is a very important aspect to the classroom. Like the discussion prompt stated, one of the challenges of constructivism is giving control to students. As future teachers, we need to give our students control, while still maintaining control ourselves, in order to build a mutual respect.
Regarding control over technology in our classrooms, it is not necessarily inevitable. We can choose not to incorporate it in the classroom, however it may severely hinder students from learning skills and information necessary to future classes or jobs. If we give students full control with technology, it is likely that they will not behave properly, damage something, ect. For example, in high school I was able to use computers and the internet whenever I needed to. I was given a lot of control and freedom, but the school restricted student’s from accessing many websites. This was an indirect form of control because while the teachers weren’t sitting there telling us what to do, we knew it wasn’t appropriate go to on Facebook or other inappropriate websites during school hours.
Control in terms of importance in the classroom, like I have previously stated, builds respect. I believe this to be true because it is very similar to Choice Theory in that control is closely related to power. Younger students often resent teachers because they may be “too mean” – I find this to be they are too strict. After all, who wouldn’t want a teacher that would give them a little control, power or respect every once in a while?!

Module 4 Blog!

I’ve never really thought of any other elements being essential for survival until learning about Choice Theory. However, Choice Theory makes too much sense for it not to be true! In this module, I’ve learned that we need much more to survive than just food and shelter. William Glasser believed that we all have a need for fun, power, freedom, and belonging and that we need these things in order to survive.

I first looked at the PowerPoint which I found to be very helpful in understanding Choice Theory. When I was prompted to come up with a meaningful learning experience, one automatically popped into my mind. While I did not come up with the same words as the four basic psychological needs, my learning experience fits into all four categories. My high school hosted a preschool program in which high school students could teach the preschoolers math, social studies, science, art, and story telling. This entire program was a great learning experience for me that fulfilled all of the basic needs in a classroom. I had a tremendous amount of fun teaching the preschoolers and the course was definitely challenging as well as interesting. Each week we had to research lesson plans and then create the lesson to teach to the preschoolers the following week. Finding an appropriate lesson and putting it together was challenging at times. However, we did have a lot of freedom in choosing our lessons. Each week there was a different theme and we were assigned a subject and we were allowed to work from there. We were given the responsibility and we were trusted to construct an appropriate and effective lesson. Our freedom within the class led to concept of our need for power. The class gave all of the teacher’s confidence in our abilities to teach as well as a sense of achievement as we concluded our lesson plan. Each of these basic needs lead to the one I find to be the most important: belonging. Through this class I connected to not only my peers but also the students I taught. I gained many friendships and perhaps the most important aspect was that of ‘give and receive’. I feel as if I have learned just as much, if not more, from the students I taught as they may have learned from me.

I found the article “School Violence from the Perspective of William Glasser” to be a very interesting one. I certainly agree with the idea that all schools should have some type of violence prevention program. However, I believe that this should be paired with enhanced security systems for the greatest degree of student protection. While he raised many good points, I disagreed with some ideas he presented. First, I felt like he used many stereotypes in order to support his beliefs. In the first page of the article, Glasser referred to all unhappy and violent students as a boy or man. Glasser eventually refrains from stereotyping just men later in this article by clarifying that girls are more likely to be unhappy, but boys are more likely to be violent. Shortly after he made that statement, he continues to stereotype women he worked with into two separate categories. The first group he defined as “the girls we knew from their records had history of violence or had a way of dressing or wearing their hair that provoked negative attention in our school” (2). His second group of girls were those who “were most in touch with what was going on in school. They knew who was unhappy and what the unhappiness was about”. Despite these few stereotypes found throughout the article, I believe that there were much more positives than negatives.

I definitely agree with his statement that there should be one counselor per every 1,000 students (as there was in my high school). Also, his thoughts on relating to and connecting with others were very thought provoking. Glasser believed that without a meaningful relationship, problems become present in the family, marriage, school and workplace. In order to avoid these problems, we need to avoid his seven deadly habits. Glasser states, “[t]he world is dominated bye what I call the seven deadly habits of external control psychology – criticizing, blaming, complaining, nagging, threatening, punishing, and bribing” (3). Choice Theory is based off of the notion that we are internally motivated. This belief rests on the idea that all external motivations (such as the seven deadly habits) do not make us do anything. We are supposed to have control over our behavior and ultimately we do things based on internal motivation.

I believe our internal motivation is driven by our desire for the four basic needs William Glasser outlined for us. For what other reason do we find learning experiences to be memorable without the feeling of fun, freedom, belonging, and power? I would say those four cover each of every one’s needs.