Module 1 Activity 12 Problem Solving

Problem Solving

This experience has made me realize that children enjoy finding solutions to problems especially those that directly affect them.  They take ownership of the situation and find it rewarding to work with their peers to work on problems.  Children seem to have a natural ability to find solutions and are very motivated when they can make a difference in their environment.  As teachers, we need to capitalize on this innate need to find solutions and provide the opportunities for them to do so in the teaching and learning environment.  In this way, the children will become constructivists in their learning and will take this approach throughout life. 

Module 1 Activity 11 Contrast Lesson

Contrast Lesson

The provision of contrast in a classroom can only serve to enrich the learning experience. I love to play the devil’s advocate and I did so in my Early Childhood class with my adult students.  The situation was enriching and totally rewarding for the students and me.  The students were fully engrossed in the learning due to the nature of the topic and the nature of the class (that is, students take a viewpoint and develop it via discussion). It was interesting that there were no dissenting voices apart from my own.  It would have been even more interesting if there were male students in the class.  Perhaps a co-ed class of school age students might have had a greater impact because of the diverse views that would most likely emerge. 

Module 1 Activity 10

Activity 10

This activity focused on providing opportunities for students to think, listen to others and formulate opinions. It reminded me that discussions are meaningful activities that should be used in a class to improve knowledge, understanding or judgment.  There is no right or wrong contributions and the students should be made to realize same and be encouraged to contribute to them.  It also brought home the fact that students should be given the opportunity to reflect on what transpired in class so that they can focus on ideas and put them into context.

Module 1 Activity 9 Questioning Techniques

Questioning Techniques

Questioning is a major factor in encouraging our students to become critical thinkers.  Many of our students are not capable of independent thought and teachers need to provide the opportunities for this to take place.  The reading made me focus on questioning techniques, especially the  use of open questions to encourage thinking. 

Module 4 Activity 4 Assessment Standards and Guidelines

Assessment is used to inform teacher practice and provides an opportunity to offer specific feedback to help students improve their learning. Assessment is the process of gathering and recording information about student work during a specific period of time.  Assessment may be formative or summative. In formative assessment, students monitor their own learning. They set curricular and learning skill goals, engage in learning, and reflect on the feedback from teachers and peers to help determine next steps. It is important that as teachers we do not test ICT specific skills but rather seek evidence of the students’ understanding in the presentations. I have come to the realization that it is better to assess my students ICT competence than to assess their ICT skills.

In addition, assessment guidelines are necessary to guide the assessment process whether it be through individual, self, peer or group assessment.  In my opinion, the major issue with assessment is that various methods are used and adequate feedback is given to the students.

Module 4 Activity 3 Diversity

Diversity

There is no doubt in my mind that I need to meet the needs of my students regardless of their varying abilities. I am aware that all students are different and they learn differently and it is my job to ensure that the experiences provided for them are meaningful to them.  This reading reminded me of the various ways in which students learn....those who are either active or reflective learners, those who are sensing and intuitive learners, those who are visual and verbal learners and those who are sequential and global learners. Teachers  need to assess the learning needs of their students and provide those experiences that will fit into how they learn.  The old way of assessing students using paper and pencil tests should be used sparingly if used at all since they cater for those students who are mainly visual learners.

Module 1 Activity 8 Piaget_Influence

Piaget Influence
This activity has reminded me of the need for teachers to be refreshed about the reasons why students learn the way that they do and made me think about what can be done to make them learn even more. It reminded me as a teacher that though students might appear to be similar in the stages of development, they learn differently at different pace, and this must be catered for in the classroom. No longer can a teacher go into a classroom and post tasks on the chalkboard expecting all students to handle all of them the same way.  No longer should the one test/exam at the end of a term decide a child's future. A good reminder for me is that all children go through these stages of cognitive development and we should not expect them to skip a stage. This means that we have to make the students naturally develop and provide the necessary experiences for this development to take place. We cannot and should not force children to develop before they are ready for that stage.