Reflection 2 Week 3

This week I chose to make a Weebly and discover how to construct one. It was a little tricky at first as I have had no previous experience in website design. However thanks to the interface I quickly learnt how to create one. On the left hand side there is a task bar that you can easily click, drag and place where you would like the body of text, link, video, picture, audio file or any other option placed. You then add your body of text or the content you want to the corresponding box. You can personalise your Weebly in any way you like. However it is important it conforms in design to a standard layout for web pages.. If people cannot navigate your website quickly or efficiently they will give up and leave your website no matter how informative your knowledge is on the website.

The link to my website which talks about blogs in the classroom: http://wsgdlt2015.weebly.com/

This video by Kate Russell on how to create a Weebly is quite comprehensive and an excellent guide:

Weeblys are a fantastic tool that can be integrated into a class I could be teaching in classroom music.

The format of the Weebly I would most likely follow would be:

Page 1. Home page: Welcoming screen and a brief overview of the assessment.

Page 2.  Instruction: This would include all instructions for the assessment on the page as well as links to related videos, audio files, websites, articles and other useful research material as starting locations for the students’ assessment. I would also conduct a basic poll on the bottom of the page for feedback on how the assessment could be improved (increased transparency etc)

Page 3.  Criteria: I would have the full marking criteria on display so all students can use this as a guide while writing their assessment.

Page 4 Blog: At the top of the page I would type expectations of the students about blog etiquette, that assessment related posts are only allowed to be discussed on this blog and that all are to contribute in some way. Also give them a reminder that I will be monitoring the blog at all times.

A SWOT chat for use of a Weebly in the classroom:

STRENGTHS ·      All relevant information, blog and criteria is in the one website ·      Blog for all students to interact together and share ideas ·      Links to all media formats ·      Polls and feedback ·      Share information with a wider community	WEAKNESSES ·      Must have an always be online to access material ·      Online Distractions ·      Online resource legitimacy
OPPORTUNITIES ·      Collaborations at anytime of the day ·      New and unviewed or known resources ·      Sharing of resources ·      Incorporate the wider community ·      Shy students have a way to contribute without personally putting themselves out there	THREATS ·      Students not using blog etiquette ·      Those outside of school looking to see what students are doing with malicious intent ·      Online Distractions ·      The blog guidelines not being adhered to ·      Some students unwilling to participate in online activities

Here is Weebly's own short demonstration video about using the website in education:

Reflection 1 Week 2

During this week's activities with DeBono's Hats I felt that this thinking routine showed the learning theories of behaviourism, cognitivism, social constructivism and connectivism quite well. Behaviourism is the study of changes in one’s behaviour and introducing mobile phones into the classroom would certainly change students’ behaviour. Cognitivism theory is looking at the mental process of how people learn. As mobile phones are a large part of people's lives now, they are a part of exciting the senses. As such, mobile phones could be incorporated into daily learning for the three -staged process to occur which is as follows:

 1. Information is taken in by senses and transferred to the sensory memory. As the information is on the phone it can be used immediately to commit to memory.

2. When the information is regarded as important, the information is transferred to the short - term storage and onto short- term memory with reinforcement to the information.

3. When the relevant information links to other areas of information, it is eventually stored in the long -term memory.

Social Constructivism is at the core of mobile phones being integrated into the classroom as the theory is based upon social interactions within a learning community. The teacher can mediate scaffolding and supervise all interactions that are online. All the while the students can interact with one another all times of the day, support one another, learn together and most importantly add thoughts and experiences creating a richer more comprehensive learning experience for all students.

Connectivism is a theory that has been developed for learning in the digital age. It focuses on students learning with computers, the internet and networking with people on line. This theory becomes more and more relevant each and every day as society as a whole become ever more reliant on "always on line."

The characteristics of the wiki lead me to the understanding that all theories were in play through the nature of each hat. It made me consider many factors such as for and against, how would the teacher implement this effectively? What creative approaches could be used with mobile phones? How do I personally feel about this matter? What benefits are there to consider? What information (statics, research and examples of implementation) do I need to obtain before I can approach the school about implementing new technology or even new thinking into the school.

Posting on a wiki and following one allowed me to see what other people's views, thoughts and considerations that I myself may have missed. In viewing these I have expanded my understanding of the topic. My posts to the wiki may have also helped someone learn something they may have over looked and we both had gained some useful insight. I myself personally have not come across any issues or drawbacks with this week's calibration other than my own fears of someone looking at my work and thinking that it is all bollocks.

This Hat activity was a fantastic way of showing us how to look at a new concept, technology or idea we wish to or are being made to implement into our classroom. It makes you think beyond your initial thoughts and look at the topic objectively. I will certainly be using this approach to contribute to the learning of my students in the future.

Blog entry 1

Watching the video from Edutopia I found the information covered

very informative ranging from the functionality of the brain, basic survival instincts in regards to learning, appealing to the sensors of students and minimizing stress in the classroom.

One key part of Dr. Willis’ video that has stuck with me since watching the video was the way in which she explained how the Reticular Activating System (RAS) works in simple understandable terms. The RAS is the filtering system that all humans use to distinguish what has changed. Is there danger or a stressful situation? What new information is there for me to acknowledge? Does it provoke curiosity?

After the RAS has acknowledged there is no danger, the learner can relax and learn in a comfortable environment going into a reflective mind stance. However if a student feels uncomfortable in the environment, they go into a reactive thought process and either Fight, Freeze or Flight state of mind occurs.

The student going into an oppositional defiant mood characterises Fight mode.  Freeze state can range from social anxiety syndrome to OCD and seizures. Flight mode is usually characterised with ADHD. The main causes of stress within school touched on by Dr. Willis was fear of being wrong, test taking anxiety (I’ve have certainly suffered with this), embarrassment with reading aloud and physical and/or language differences, bullying of any type, frustration with difficult material and boredom from lack of stimulation.

Appealing to the senses of students can be done in a number of ways as stated by Dr. Willis. This stimulus may include by not limited to:

Adding colourful posters with different shadings to the classroom walls, costumes and theme days, smells such as cooking and other interesting smells through science, audio stimulation can be a song or tune relating to the subject or even a small object that creates a sound just to get the attention of the students and thinking creatively and curiosity for the lesson ahead. Take a lesson that is traditionally taught inside outside to catch the children off guard.

During the lesson personalise every 10 minutes to help the learners, encourage them and help enrich the students with asking questions and being personal.

While winding up the lesson do something different to engage them again. Have the students throw a ball to one another to say a word each they remember from the lesson.

The benefits of using ICT’s within my classroom would be being able to link articles relating to the curriculum that are not available within the schools library for the students to access online. These articles would also include performance video of great artists performing a tune (shown on Youtube), which would be worked on in class, either in theory or for performance the students would be performing themselves.

The shortcomings of the traditional classroom and curriculum are that it does not factor student’s diversity, experiences and ambitions, socioeconomic back grounds, their life goals, dreams and desires or even some students learn best with one on one learning. As Dr. Willis pointed out she recommended a designated “sleeping area” which is some pillows under some desks on the side of the classroom. Some students may need a lie-down some days, but as she acknowledges the curriculum does not factor this in. 

I will finish with this statement by Grace Rubenstein (April 1, 2009), which I have thought about a lot over the last few days and it would certainly help eliminate the stress from tests: “Who knows: Maybe in some far off future, we could supplement the narrow results of standardized tests with images of changes in the brain.”

My Introduction

Hi There!

Welcome to my very first blog ever! Quick introduction then it will be over and I can stop shaking in my little space booties. I am a sax player who is studying to become a teacher to continue music with the up and coming adults of tomorrow!

I looking forward to sharing my reflections with my class mates on what I have learnt throughout this course over the next 6 or so weeks.

Cheers all for checking out my space and I look forward to sharing idea's with you all to gain a greater understand in our learning.

Wes