Student engagement

Through observations and experience, it is interesting to see when students are motivated, engaged and interested in learning. In my own experience, depending on the type of learning and teaching, learning isn't always fun and engaging. I've also observed classrooms and got the opportunity to see what types of learning are more engaging for students. 

From my observations, teaching and my own experience, I noticed that students enjoy visual representations, manipulative, acting/performance and especially technology related activities. I also, loved to learn when I could do hands on learning. For example, even in math contents, it is so much more interesting when the teacher talks about the content and have us work with cubes or shapes or computer game.

During my student teaching observation, I taught a math-area & perimeter lesson. I made sure every student had a zip lock full of cubes. These width, length and depth were all one inches long and they could be attached/detached to another cube. After introducing the lesson about perimeter and area, I had the students build their own model with the cubes. The students were given 2 minutes to build anything they wanted to. From there on, the students found the perimeter and area of the cubes and recorded on their white board.

I noticed that the students were having so much fun. Many students wanted to continue the lesson, because it was fun! Not only was the lesson engaging, but also students were able to have conceptual understanding of area and perimeter. I believe engaging and interactive learning helps students understand better and remember the concept more easily. 

Positive Student Learning through Technology

Technology is a useful resource in today’s classroom. As many groups have presented in our 240 classroom, technology allows students to become more engaged, promote higher order thinking and encourage creative and critical thinking skills.

As it is mentioned in articles, technology and computers has positively affected students, especially in low-income schools. The students were able to use their cognitive skills and apply their knowledge with the use of technology. This way, the students seemed to be more motivated and engaged in learning. In addition, technology allows students to have fun! In an article I read by James Gee, he went one step further from the norm of content fetish- teaching and testing the material, to actually doing and experiencing the learning through the use of games. The students virtually interacted and involved in the activities, as if they were part of the game. Students learned through hands-on activities and they were able to visualize the learning math/physics/English concepts.

In addition, the use of computers allowed students to explore new information and ideas. Since, the internet has so many useful information, students are able to gain new insight and find answers to questions they have. Although, some schools are not as privileged as other schools, most teachers want to promote the use of technology. If the students have computers at home, the teachers encourage students to perform their work using computers. Technology allows constructivist instructions and learner-centered environment. It is a great tool to support positive environment and active & engaging student learning. 

Technology in Classroom

During my student teaching experience I was amazed and amused with the use of technology in the classroom. In my first quarter of student teaching, the only technology I used was an overhead projector and powerpoint. However, my second quarter student teaching experience, truly opened up my eyes to technology. I was first exposed to smart board during my second quarter student teaching. I have never seen nor used a smart board before. At least during my school years, it wasn't common at all to be using technology, let alone a smart board. Smart board was something similar to a white board, but with more accessible features. It connected directly to the computer; hence, I was able to use anything I had on the computer, which made it more interactive; furthermore, it saved paper!

The smart board allowed me to be flexible and in a way, more accurate with my teaching. For example, during my lessons of shapes, area and perimeter, I was able to explain it directly through the smart board. Instead of explaining the concept  through the worksheet or by drawing (using my unartistic skills) on the white board, I was able to retrieve an exact picture of a hexagon, square and other shapes on the smart board, "shapes" feature, with a simple "tap." Not only was it convenient, but it gave me more time to teach and explain the concept; in addition, the pictures were much more presentable.

I also remember teaching a solar system unit. I was able to pull up a small clip on the computer and show it directly through the smart board. Instead of having to burn a cd or use a VCR to show a video, I was able to use a site online. Not only did I have variety of clips to choose from but it was so easily accessible. The students were very engaged. Through this clip, they were able to be interactive with one another and apply their knowledge to their "postcard to Mars/Venus/Neptune..." and more.

When technology is accessible to a classroom and when it is used correctly, it can do wonders!

Chalk Talk Contest

Six times two equals twelve.
Twelve times twelve equals one forty four.
Multiplication was a fun math standard for me. I was able to solve multiplication very quickly in elementary school. Therefore, I was picked for a "Chalk Talk" contest.
For Chalk Talk contest, I had to pretend to be a teacher and teach a lesson on the chalk board!
Pressure Much?

Although, I was picked for the "Chalk Talk" contest for my multiplication skills, my lesson to be taught was fractions.
I met with my math teacher everyday (I had a separate math teacher & homeroom/English teacher) in order to go over the fraction lesson. First I picked two different fractions. For example 3/4 & 5/6. Then, using the fractions, I had to add, multiply and divide the fractions. When I solved the fraction problems on a piece of worksheet, it seemed very simple and easy. However, teaching a lesson was a totally different story.

Not only did I had to be knowledgeable of the content, but I had to present the problem to make it understandable to the students; in addition, I needed good classroom mannerisms, such as voice projection, penmanship and board presentation. There were much preparation and thought involved that I did not realize prior to my practices. Although, I was knowledgeable of the content, it was pretty hard presenting the knowledge across to someone, let alone to those who have never been exposed to such problem.

Everyday, after school or before school, I practiced with my teacher. First, I taught the lesson in front of different classes, then I competed at the District. At the competition, I had couple minutes to present my fraction questions and explain the processes to the judges. Everything went smoothly, but during the open-eneded question, I all of a sudden froze. I wasn't able to place top three by couple points, but I can say that I learned so much from the competition.

First of all, knowing a content and "really knowing" a content, enough to teach it, was a different question. I noticed that it allowed me to understand more fully when I taught and presented the problem aloud (I believe I can still easily teach a fraction lesson!) Also, presenting in a different group allowed me to be more confident. Furthermore, I noticed that math has so many different strategies. I realized that understanding of a content deeply depend on how it is taught. It truly take a great teacher to teach a certain subject/ content well. My appreciation of teaching soared and that was one of the reasons why I was inspired to be a teacher.

My Educational Experiences with Technology

My first educational experience with technology was in 4th grade in Korea. I had a mandatory typing class that my mom enrolled me into. I was not too hyped about it, but I liked the fact that it was something different than an ordinary book.  Then, I came to America and I remember doing fun activities on the computer. I clearly recall using the colorful, round MAC computers. At the time, it was super pretty, but now that I think about it, WOW! that was super tacky. Anyways, I do not recall the exact name of what I used, but there was a clip art feature, where I drew pictures and added sounds to explain a scene. I thought this was the coolest thing ever. Our class would share the drawings with each other and we had so much fun! When I came home, I would go online and play games, such as snake or do typing activities- the words that fall and you have to type before it reaches the floor. Oh how thrilling it felt to beat the time.

My next encounter of educational technology was in middle school. I remember going on a craze for educational games. Motivated to excel in school, I would buy "Where in the world is Carmen San Diego" CDs from Scholastic Books. Then, I would play the game and convince myself that I was learning a lot. I think my main intention was to move onto the next level. One funny incident I remember was in 7th grade. Although, I was exposed to typing games and certain features of the computer, I was still not too comfortable with typing, let alone knowing all the features on the computer. As I was typing my draft of poetry, I guess I pressed the wrong button. EEK! Because in a class full of only typing hands, my computer decided to go off and it made the loudest sound! I wish it were a pleasant sound. In a panic to turn it off, I pressed every button, until a friend decided to help me.

I would say the most vivid experience of technology was when I first discovered AIM in 7th grade~ I know I had to use a dial up, every time to go on aim, but I didn’t care because I couldn't believe I was able to converse through this mean. I think this was a great way for me to learn typing!