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!