I started coaching my first year in college and I remember trying to teach some JV offensive lineman how to run the “trap” play. I kept running the play over and over again and they couldn’t seem to get it right. I went to my head coach told him that I have been working on this play all week and they still don’t understand. He asked me: “What have you done different to help them learn it?” I started thinking and I couldn’t answer him, I knew right away he was right and I need find various ways to help the students pick up the play. So after that day I gave every student a copy of the play and we discussed it, I showed them a video of the varsity team running the play, I had them run them talk me through the play against stationary dummies, I had them walk through the play and then I had them go through it live. Next thing I know they got it, and they start running it to perfection. From that point on in my coaching and in teaching I have always incorporated multiple ways for the players and students to pick up the plays or lesson.
“Training students to respond in emotionally and socially appropriate ways actually affects concrete brain circuits, particularly those in the prefrontal cortex. In addition, SEL reduces the production of the stress hormone, cortisol, which is beneficial for the body and the brain. When there is a high level of cortisol in the brain due to anxiety, working memory is disrupted. If students can learn effective, calming responses to negative emotions, they improve cognition. “ (Smith & Throne, Differentiating Instruction with Technology in the Middle School Classroom) After reading this fact it was clear to me that differentiating an assignment is essential to having an effective classroom. It is clear to see that by working with students with varying abilities it is imperative to mix the lessons to accommodate each of your students learning abilities. In doing so you not only understand each student in your classroom better, but you are preparing your students for success for they are able to use the modality that works best for them. “When time is held constant and a single form of instruction or instructional material is used, it is impossible to make claims that all students will achieve high standards. The historical lessons of the achievement gap have already taught us this. The use of technology tools and cognitive supports represent essential and underutilized interventions for enhancing the academic performance of struggling students.” (Failure is not an Option, David Edyburn) Each teacher is stuck with the same time frame to be prepared for the state test and to prove we have taught our subject sufficiently enough to show improvement. However if we keep trying the same method over and over again we only reach a small percentage of our students. But if you use various methods of technology and lesson plans to help find the best learning modality for each of your students. I know for each of my units in class I try to use differing lessons to help bring home the point. I normally start off with the students using Quizlet.com to have the students create note cards of the new vocabulary terms. Then we will use PowerPoint to present my lectures but I will also print off the lectures for those that need to have it in person so they can focus on listening. Then I will use YouTube videos to help the student visualize the topic at hand. We will normally have an in class discussion which leads to a blog discussion for the students that don’t like to talk and they have to provide articles to support their views and causes them to read support material to help sink the topic in. Many times I will supply the article for my students who have difficulties reading using NewsELA so I can lower and raise the Lexile levels. Finally I will normally have a group assignment in which the groups are varied by test achievement so the upper level students can assist the lower level students. I find this allows the students to really grasp and understand the topic. One great thing about teaching Social Studies is the content is conducive to learning and sharing cultures. One way I try to allow the students to share their culture is through Edmodo in which I use their blog feature. I have found that students who normally are quiet in class, tend to open up and share their thoughts. This allows students to share their points of view and can be great when discussing the many political debates that social studies lends itself to. I find Current Events to be another great way to learn and understand various cultures of the areas around us. I like to use NewsELA in order to control Lexile levels of what my students are reading but also to allow my students to read and understand the topic and learn about new cultures in world. We will then discuss similarities we have in the U.S. and how we can relate to the topic. “Much of the Social Studies curriculum is based around the idea of learning about the world around us and the myriad ways that people across the globe function and live differently but effectively. With technology we, as social studies teachers, have a chance to allow our students to explore and experience the world in a new virtual way.” (Technology in Social Studies, Boughan & Kerwin) This quote is 100% correct as I you google earth to show the area we are talking about and have students explain how the region might impact wars, economy, or socially. You can also take virtual tours of buildings or museums which allow the students to have a firsthand experience as if they were on a field trip. Blog posting is an extremely affective way for students to share their ideas and get instant feedback. This allows students the chance to feel comfortable about what they are saying and share in a non-threatening environment. Once the communication opens up students start to share information and start to discuss similar topics with students from various parts of the world. They begin to notice differing stand points on similar issues with rationales they never would have dreamed of. They also find resources that support these topics from various countries that they never would have found had they only been working in their school. Blogging not only allows for students to learn various cultures and concepts from abroad but they can also learn details about local issues as well. A great project that I have fun in my government class is writing a letter to our senator. We start off by sending invitations to our classroom blog and we have a preset topics for the guests to reply to. Normally it is referring to issues that we have locally that we can impact. From there we have discussions about what we can do to resolve the issues and I have my students provide resources of pros and cons of our solutions we are coming up with. Once we have the issue and the most effective way to solve the problem we write a letter to our senator explaining to them the problem and methods we have deducted to solve the problem. By doing so we have been able to solve community problems, while learning the governmental process and communication skills. Technology can bridge many gaps that a traditional classroom had never been able to. Technology can introduce new cultures, it can make you aware of your environment locally and globally, and it can help devise ways for each student to pick up the classroom subject. Through the use of technology you can even the playing field of education and also build a community of family through the sharing of culture and heritage. With the ability to vary the depth of the topic and vary the rigor of the topic, I can now help students on various educational levels work together to share and gain knowledge at a higher rate with the use of technology. Reference: Grace E. Smith & Stephanie Throne. (2009). iste.org. In Differentiating Instruction with Technology in Middle School Classrooms. Retrieved 3/16/2015, from https://kennesaw.view.usg.edu/content/enforced1/699842-CO.430.ITEC7430.12252.20154/Differentiation.pdf?d2lSessionVal=s0fYZPejNl David L. Edyburn. (2006). iste.org. In Failure is Not an Option. Retrieved 3/16/2015, from https://kennesaw.view.usg.edu/content/enforced1/699842-CO.430.ITEC7430.12252.20154/Assistive%20Technology.pdf?d2lSessionVal=s0fYZPejNlLITd9ZA9NLdqChH&ou=699842. Kim Boughan and Matthew Kerwin . (2006). wikia.com. In technology in social studies. Retrieved 3/16/2015, from http://schoolcomputing.wikia.com/wiki/Technology_in_Social_Studies. Lyn Hilt. (2011). plpnetwork.com. In The Case for Cultivating Cultural Awareness. Retrieved 3/16/2015, from http://plpnetwork.com/2011/10/26/the-case-for-cultivating-cultural-awareness/. As I look back now at my teenage years I am very glad that I didn’t grow up today in the information age. The only people who knew what was going on with me, were the people I wanted to know. And the many things I did with my friends can only be found with my friend’s memory and not on someone’s hard drive one thousand miles away. In my opinion today’s teenagers have to navigate more difficult territory than any other group of teenagers who had walked their footsteps before. Today there are websites for everything, and many of them inappropriate and accessible for students to easily find. On top of that students can communicate with people all over the country of which most of the time it’s with someone they haven’t met. Of course the information at the hands of everyone today is amazing and the ability to find answers in seconds can obviously help expand ones education, but being students must be taught how to be safe while they are on-line.
“58% of 12-year-olds have a cell phone.” (netsmartz.org) this single stat is terrifying to me when you realize all of the resources in a person’s hand with having a cell phone. Now as a teacher I actually enjoy my students using their cell phones in class, however we have guidelines. First off phones can’t be in sight while there is an active lesson going on. Second the use of phones will be for educational purposes only and only when the teacher gives notification. Third if you are found doing anything outside of the stated purpose, your phone may be taken to the front office per school rules. With these rules being said, I found the ability of my students to research questions they or I ask or to find resources to support their beliefs has been a wonderful asset to my class. Students get instant answers to their questions, also the ability to poll my class to get instant feedback on my lessons. With all of the positives there are many scares that students have in regards to cell phones with teenagers. According to edudemic.com “One out of six teenagers have received a sext message and four percent have sent messages themselves”. What scary is these teens don’t realize that these pictures are out there forever and can now be sent to everyone and can influence decisions made by their future colleges or potential professions. I had a situation at one of my former schools where a student of mine sent out a picture to her boyfriend, thinking he would be the only one to see it. However he then sent the picture to his friends and then it went all over the campus. This changed her life, as she was arrested because she was 18 and sent it to her then 16 year old boyfriend. What she thought was a secret between someone she cared about instantly altered her life and could have been avoided by just saying “No!” As a kid I had my core group of friends and the many I knew from school, and those were the kids I shared information with. However today students have thousands of friends, or so they say they do. Students start to accept anyone who asks to be their friend of follow them, as the amount of people whom are their friends is a status symbol in school. Of course the lack of precautions made by teens allow people from anywhere to friend and now observe their information on-line. “75% of children are willing to share personal information online about themselves and their family in exchange for goods and services – eMarketer” (elearningindustry.com) This of course now setting themselves up to be swindled by someone lying about who they are and even worse being targeted by a sexual predator. This is extremely scary considering this fact: “Only approximately 25% of children who encountered a sexual approach or solicitation told a parent or adult” (elearningindustry.com). Cyber Bullying is also an epidemic amongst teenagers today, due to the courage someone gets being able to confront the person without ever seeing them. “About one-third of online teens (ages 12-17) have been cyberbullied. Girls are more likely to be targeted.” (netsmartz.org) We had a situation in which a coach was being disciplined by his school for inappropriate actions. This was prompted by one specific player and the other girls on the team went on an online rampage. Calling her names, hacking her account and posting false information and threatening her. Why was this perpetuated, they never saw each other, it was all via text or Facebook and not once did any of the girls confront her in person. Of course once these students were caught many of them were suspended and one girl who was threatening her came close to being prosecuted. So how do we solve these problems, how can we secure something which is vast and we can’t supervise at all times? First and foremost we need to have parental support and diligence. Parents must be educated to know what is going on in with their students and in particular what they are doing online. Parents and teachers need to be active in monitoring student’s online activity from their internet searches, social media practices and their cell phone messages and calls. Parents must also join in with the teacher and explaining to the student’s safe and ethical online practices. So what are these safe and Ethical Practices?” First education and talk with students, let them understand the appropriate ways to use the internet and the consequences of their actions. They need to understand that anything they put on the internet is there forever and cannot be removed and with the right searches can be found by anyone. They need to realize that people put false information out there to gain access to our personal information so they can take advantage of the situation. Students need to understand the seriousness of the situations they could get themselves involved in. Going through practice scenarios are great ways to have students visualize possible ways they may encounter these cyber-attacks. Obviously schools do have safeguards in place to continue to provide student safety online thanks to CIPA (Child Internet Protection Act). However there are still sites that students can find accidently that aren’t blocked by these firewalls. “One of the most roads to navigate in the world of the read/write web is how to balance the safety of the child with the benefits that come with students taking ownership of the work they publish online” (Richardson, 2010). The first step in securing safety in this environment is having the parent’s permission and notification of blogging or wiki activities. Second you must only provide at most a first name or a code name to ensure no one knows who your students are. Third you must decide are you going to keep this private and only allow your students access or are you going to make it public. You must monitor all comments but be sure to closely watch comments made by outside sources. Outside sources can be great resources for your student’s education but can also be there on false pretense. You must also monitor your student’s feedback and make sure it is appropriate and relevant to the topic. Other ways to remain safe online through social media is to set your settings to private and only allow people you know to become friends or whom you allow to follow you. Be sure to keep all of your personal information blocked and never provide it to anyone who asks. Never meet anyone you don’t know online and if someone asks to meet you inform your parents and do it in a public place with your friends. Remember if you wouldn’t say it to their face, don’t say it to them online. Teachers remember to monitor the comments put on your educational sites, and be sure to provide positive feedback for constructive feedback and be sure to delete and reprimand for inappropriate feedback. Provide resources that are safe and help guide your students to appropriate and educational resources. Have the students agree to and sign pledging that they acknowledge, understand and will follow the correct internet safety protocols. Finally practice what you preach, lead by example and show students the appropriate netiquette you would like them to follow. Finally we must remind our students that everything that is on the internet is forever. Their future employment or college admission can be altered by one post or one picture that is posted online. Students feel that they are the only one who sees what they right but with the ability to screen shot or snipping tools can easily save and send out to other students. Students don’t realize that even though we aren’t supposed to be judged by our cover, that our first impression is sometimes the only impression we get. And if our first impression is what we have posted on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, we might not even be able to make a second impression. The ability to find information in an instant wasn’t capable when I was a teenager, but the access to so many inappropriate materials wasn’t as well. The current generation of students is setting the ground work to how we handle the internet and cell phones in regards to safety. This generation has to realize that anything they say or do can be captured in a cell phone video or picture and placed on social media in an instant. Though I am jealous of the vast resources available to our students, I am glad that I didn’t have to set the new parameters of how generations will react to technology through my positive or negative actions. But with the right precautions and understanding of technology, students can use the great resources to expand their knowledge far beyond I was able to get at their age. Reference: Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. (3rd ed.). Thousand Oak, California: Corwin. undefined. (2001 - 2015). netsmartz.org. In Basic Internet Safety. Retrieved 3/9/2015, from http://www.netsmartz.org/CellPhones. undefined. (2001 - 2015). edudemic.com. In The Teacher’s Guide To Keeping Students Safe Online. Retrieved 3/9/2015, from http://www.edudemic.com/guides/the-teachers-guide-to-keeping-students-safe-online/. Robert Lucas. (September 11, 2013). elearningindustry.com. In The Teacher’s Guide to Keeping Students Safe Online. Retrieved 3/9/2015, from http://elearningindustry.com/the-teacher-guide-to-keeping-students-safe-online. |
Adam Rich
First time Grad Student and 13 year teaching veteran. Archives
November 2016
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