akristensen723's posterous http://akristensen723.posterous.com Most recent posts at akristensen723's posterous posterous.com Wed, 30 Nov 2011 17:44:00 -0800 Benefits of Utilizing Social Media in the Classroom http://akristensen723.posterous.com/benefits-of-utilizing-social-media-in-the-cla http://akristensen723.posterous.com/benefits-of-utilizing-social-media-in-the-cla

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I had a positive experience with the utilization of the new media social studies assignment. It was effective for me, because it allowed me to become a reflective learner. I realize things about myself that every pre-service teacher should know this includes: knowing how you were taught in the classroom has an effect on the way that you will teach your class and, ‘hands on minds on’ it the most effective approach to having students understand concepts on a deeper level. I also appreciated the use of twitter and blogs, because it was the first class that actually gave us tangible advice and ideas as to how to infuse technology into the classroom. Students want to be involved in the technological arena, it is engaging for them.

 

First of all I will explore the benefits for a teacher to be known within the teaching community. I remember a teacher once telling me that there was no use in ‘reinventing the wheel’ you can always learn from others who have attained a level of expertise. The teaching community in general is very willing to share, communicate and adapt previous ways of thinking. Therefore it is extremely beneficial for teachers to blog about what is working in their teaching practices and what they need to change. Reflective practice is of paramount importance in the education because you can constantly be adapting your practice by ways of infusing technology, adapting how the classroom is run (classroom management), redefining what constructivism looks like in your classroom and most importantly how students can be involved in a minds on hands on activity.   

 

Being involved in the blog community can provide a tremendous support as a pre-service teacher and beginning teacher. There are so many options, many ways to approach the program of studies within different entry points but it’s comforting to read about others experiences and how they reacted within the classroom. I know most of becoming a well-rounded teacher is experience and trying out different approaches until you find a blend that complements your teaching style and your students various learning styles.

 

There also is something to be said about getting your name out into the digital world. For students, colleagues and parents can find out what you in essence are ‘all about’ before meeting you this adds tremendous value.  

 

            Within my education class EDEL 435, we were asked to situation selves into twitter and were encouraged to back channel about what we learned in the classroom as well as sharing teaching resources. Within the arena as a pre-service teacher I found this exercise quite beneficial I found that there was value to be had in the twitter world. It is actually a mark of intelligence to get your point across in 140 characters and invoke thought in others. I know next semester as I jump into the world of my APT I will be relying on this community of educators if I am face with questions of effective teaching in any measure.

 

In regards to utilizing twitter in the elementary classroom I would say it’s largely based on their age, access to computers, and safeguarding measures from the outside community. If you were to utilize twitter in grades k-3: I would suggest collaborating as a classroom tweeting about what was learned during the day, and recording on #hashtag accessible to parents and school community. This allows for instant connection between the school community and home, and allows for parents to play a greater role in probing students about what was fostered that day in class.  In elementary grades 4-6 students are capable of setting up twitters accounts and I believe that they would find value in class discussion pages. It would be easy for students to state their views points and post resources that back up their findings. There is really endless ways to involves social media in the class it just really involves creativity and patience in the beginning phases. Ways to broaden students scope beyond their own community and into the global world will help students develop their global citizenship identity.      

Image taken by Douglas Porter 'Keyboard glow provided courtesy of Ahhyeah's Photostream 2.0 creative common license.

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Thu, 27 Oct 2011 16:48:00 -0700 Why Engagement Matters! http://akristensen723.posterous.com/why-engagement-matters http://akristensen723.posterous.com/why-engagement-matters

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“Student engagement is the product of motivation and active learning. It is a product rather than a sum because it will not occur if either element is missing.” ― Elizabeth F. Barkley

 

I’ve been a student for most of my life, so I understand my future students perspectives. Within the medium of the classroom students come with various backgrounds, knowledge skill sets and learning styles. As a teacher I am required by law to teach a required set of general and specific outcome from the Alberta’s program of studies. The ‘how’ is completely up to my discretion.

 

The basic questions students ask is why is this important to me? If the information seems outdated and irrelevant to their life they won’t engage with the material or enter into inquiry type thinking.

 

 I believe strongly in quality versus quantity, taking time to dive into topics of worth and asking students to respond by producing quality reflections. I understand that in classrooms teachers don’t have time to polish each writing piece but as often as possible students should be encourage displaying their work online.  

 

Social networking has exploded all across the globe, why because it is engaging and interactive. Students need to ‘buy into’ what the subject matter that the teachers are presenting. Using technology is a good medium for students to access knowledge, publish their work and communicate with other students (via skype, twitter, or wiki.) Teachers just need to change their mindset; it is the same skills manifested in different forms other than paper and pencil. Helps foster inquiry initiatives.

 

The most important feature is that students are intrinsically motivated to facilitate their own learning. The more engaged there are in the online community the more they will be willing to extend their learning beyond the requirement level.

 

 The teachers passion for learning needs to spill onto the students. You want to create a ‘love affair of learning’ for your students.

 

The pivotal question I asked myself when choosing the career path as an educator. Was “will I be an engaging teacher who makes it my daily goal to have students excited about learning?”

 

 I’ve had plenty of teachers from either end of the spectrum. I’ve obtained enough rote worksheets to fill 3 cabinets. But the moments I remember and are most fond of are when we were able to be active in our learning. We were allowed to get out of our seats and see the impacts of reaching out into our community (community projects.) Or that social studies teacher that allowed us to do a live depiction of ‘trench warfare.’ Engagement = resonating memories that last beyond when the students leave your classroom.

 

"It's Summer" Image captured: by Dia

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Wed, 12 Oct 2011 17:53:00 -0700 Reflection of Youtube clip ‘The World is Flat’ author Thomas Friedman http://akristensen723.posterous.com/reflection-of-youtube-clip-the-world-is-flat http://akristensen723.posterous.com/reflection-of-youtube-clip-the-world-is-flat

 

 

 How will globalization affect you as a learner and as a teacher?

 

 

With increased globalization, my role as an informed citizen is a continual process. Change is inevitable; with growing global access to the internet/ technologies the world more interconnected than ever. The most significant change is that knowledge is assessable; I am able to know what happening around the globe with the click of a mouse. This means that I need to hone in on my critical thinking skills, repeatedly asking ‘how will this affect Canada’s role in the World and how will this affect my community and my role in society?’

 

Globalization affects my role as a teacher, by changing the structure of my classroom. Utilizing the same materials and resources from previous years may deem irrelevant to future students. Students who have grown up with technology are more adept to utilizing devices and software programs, I need to educate myself and become proficient with the technologies I utilize so that the technologies are an aid not a hindrance or source of boredom.  I must always update my technological infusion.  As well as being an informed global citizen who bringing’s in topics of discussion on a regular basis.      

 

 

 

 How will it affect your students and how will this/ should this affect the teaching of Social Studies?  

 

In essence I will need to think beyond the school/community that I’m teaching at, I will need to ‘teach from a globalize perspective.’ Students are in an environment where they are able they are constantly transforming how they think and process ideas/ technologies. From a cognitive perspective, students have preconceived ideas/ notions that they are bringing into the classroom, the teachers’ job is to effectively help aid in the scaffolding. We do not know what jobs or technologies will be provided in the future but developing strategic thinking strategies will help students to adapt. We cannot teach from a unilateral perspective anymore, countries interact with each other in such a dependent fashion that we need students to realize the importance of global issues.  

 

 

 

 

Photograph taken by Royce Blare

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Thu, 06 Oct 2011 21:15:00 -0700 Social Studies Active Learning Approach = Inquiry Based Learning http://akristensen723.posterous.com/social-studies-active-learning-approach-inqui http://akristensen723.posterous.com/social-studies-active-learning-approach-inqui

(This writing piece is a reflection of Neil Stephensons ‘Inquiry in Social Studies’

 

 To be honest this ‘inquiry based learning’ has shaken and stirred the way I see myself teaching social studies in the classroom. I am a product of rote fill-in-the blank worksheets, and recall quizzes that included detailed historical dates, times and people. While these techniques did in fact meet the required learning objectives and requirement of Alberta Learning they were so far removed from connecting to me as a learner. The basic core of the Alberta social studies program of studies is focused upon two key concepts: citizenship and identity. So as a teacher I need to be filtering every activity that I’m asking my students to participate in through these concepts.

 

Stephenson described social studies as the ‘the study of what it means to be human.’ In essence social studies helps students develop the assets that they will need to be fully functioning citizens in society. Students enthralled by an adult who brings meaningful subject matter to the class each day about issues, events, people, moral dilemmas, and political referendums. Inquiry goes beyond just telling students about the outside world, students become ‘meaning makers’ they are faced with issues that can’t easily be solved. Students learn that they need to become well informed, and that they need to look for multiple sources from many varying perspectives.

 

Stephenson mention the two foundational concepts of inquiry which are authenticity and academic rigor. In short authenticity is when students are engaged in the world, with topics that concern the world. Secondly academic rigor is where student work in ways that utilize various social disciplines i.e looking at content matter from a historians point of view. There are many skills that are social studies specific, and students should be able to role play in the various disciples.

 

I used to have the preconceived notion that learning had to be based on the quantity of learning outcomes achieved. The more I learn about constructivist concepts I believe that it is the quality assignments that matters.  The ideas that excellent teachers have students create work that has long lasting value, beyond the scope of the unit. As a pre-service teacher the task seems daunting; but I enjoy the feature that learning can be messy with structure. Inquiry based teaching is a lot more work to construct but its benefits are to numerous not to take hold to. The questions that I asked myself while deciding how inquiry teaching could be applied in my practice. How one decides which big projects, or through line questions to choose?

 

The through line question is an interesting technique that caught my attention; it has to do with asking a relevant ambiguous questions. This question must be embedded with many opportunities to sink deeper into understanding and students must have a broad view of the issue before being able to coherently answer the question in full. I believe that having a through line question would help to focus teaching and learning, to be able to view the overall goal of the unit of study in its broadest form.

 

I also like the idea of having a ‘benchmark of historical thinking,’ this idea helps to establish historical thinking in a new way. Through analyzing events through a particular view point or perspective, students learn to equate historic with contemporary thoughts. I like this because it’s a very practical way to have students focus on the historical portion of their studies, through identify with people in the past helps learning to become more relevant in the present.

 

Another feature of the Inquiry based learning is that it can constantly be reviewed and tweaked. Using Galileo’s inquiry rubric which is divided into nine subgroups: authenticity, academic rigor, assessment, life skills, appropriate use of technology, active exploration, connecting with experts, elaborated communication and compassion. As a teacher I need to be reflective about my practice noting what works, what didn’t and how to tie the circular content to students in more impactful ways.  

 

Inquiry thinking is a way to go beyond the textbook and into events ranging from the municipal to global events. Deep connections, real world application, focus.

 

 

 

 

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Image is named: Window to the Soul

Photographer: Premasagar

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Thu, 22 Sep 2011 19:16:00 -0700 Where Historical Learning and Citizenship Intertwine http://akristensen723.posterous.com/where-historical-learning-and-citizenship-int http://akristensen723.posterous.com/where-historical-learning-and-citizenship-int

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The content of this article is response to Carla Peck essay “Peering Through a Kaleidoscope: Identity, Historical Understanding and Citizenship in Canada.

 

 Historical events are not one-dimensional, different cultural, racial and ethnic groups view events with different sentiments. If we are only looking through one lens (our own perspective) we will miss out on three dimensional construct. This three dimensional construct contains ones ethnic origins, location, heritage etc. Peck’s study focused on finding how students connected with historical matter, they were presented with a myriad of significant Canadian events and asked to choose ten (of which were significant to them) and categorize those ten events into one of the three narrative templates (each of which present Canada as a whole in a different light). Students choose narratives and historical events that were in sync with their ethnic backgrounds. These results suggest that there must be a greater link between historical events and citizenship.

Citizenship is defined as “the state of being vested with the rights, privileges, and duties of a citizen.” This is fostered from a young age and is enveloped within our democratic rights.

 

One of the curriculum objectives is for students to ‘know what it means to be a Canadian’ generally this objective is met by attaining facts yet not delving into the breadith  of the matter of various cultural lens and what this means to students personally. Historical accounts/ narratives cover the ‘basic questions of who, what, when, where and how’ (pg 63.) But what we need to be more concerned about address is discussing with our students ‘what matters in history and why is it important to know this’ (pg 63.) Each new generation looks upon the face of history and reinterprets’ it based on present day advances, technologies, politics etc. Thus the ownership is projected on the teachers, learning of students can be effected by culturally embedded biases about historical events, and multicultural values within the classroom need to be further developed.

 

 

 Ultimately as a pre-service teacher I am concerned with learning how to affectively teach my future students. Knowing that we each hold a cultural identity that in some aspects defines how we relate to the world. As a culturally sensitive teacher I cannot shield my students from facts and events that occurred no matter their cultural orientation. I can be an informed teacher that takes the time to look up multiple opinions and beliefs. That can look a great many ways; for instance I can look up primary sources or contact firsthand accounts of living decedents of the event (if available.) I also strongly believe in constructive discussion that showcases of different perspectives within a historical setting. Students would be asked to connect with certain people groups and flesh out what was important to them and how they can relate this to their own lives.

 

An important feature for any historical lesson is for the educator to sit down and write down the basic who, what, when, where and how. Identify the authors biases, and your own personal biases. Then take time to think what is important for the students to know about this historical period and how can I present it to them from a neutral standpoint.  Since a neutral standpoint is difficult to attain perhaps the idea of bias should be addressed within the classroom.

 

Questions:

-Should we change the system of thought that goes into the social studies curriculum or modify the curriculum to meet the student’s various cultural heritage?

 

-If historical thinking is so closely situated with how students perceive their identities how can we help this to be a positive process?

 

-Canada is a multicultural country that accepts persons from all over the world. So if we teach from a primarily anglo-saxon perspective, students from different backgrounds will have difficulty relating and answering the internal question ‘why is this important to me?’

 

Photo created by: Artworks name 'Swirls' by kymberlyj.imagekind.com

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Tue, 13 Sep 2011 18:33:00 -0700 Social Justice. Around our own neighborhoods or within the Global Communities http://akristensen723.posterous.com/social-justice-around-our-ownneighbourhoods-o http://akristensen723.posterous.com/social-justice-around-our-ownneighbourhoods-o

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As a grade eight student, I signed up to be part of the leadership class that required us to commit to twenty hours of community service. As an adolescent it was transformational to see suffering that was occurring not far from where I lived and find ways that I could alleviate it. We were responsible for finding and contacting organizations, finding transportation, along with finding ways to support our chosen organization by raising funds through bake sales, talent shows etc. As a teenager it helped me burst out of the small world that I was accustom to and realize that as an individual I am able to make a difference in a local and global setting. Whether it was as simple as making a senior citizen smile or knowing that I had been part of a machine that contributed to serving a dinner meal at the Mustard seed. It also helped develop leadership skills to take ownership to break out of my shell and communicate with adults as equally contributing member of society.

 From on environmental standpoint, In my grade 4 science I remember our teacher asking us to collect various garbage bins from classrooms. We then proceeded to dig through the garbage and make pile for recyclable objects, a pile for organic material that could be utilized for composting and a pile for trash. To this day I can still remember being amazed at just how much of the ‘trash’ could be utilized further. At the end of the sorting process resided a significantly decreased pile of trash fit for the city dump. Having this hand on approach to ‘waste in our classroom’ helped me to construct mentally the environment impact or ecological impact within my own life and could later grasp the large and vexing problem of ‘waste within our global society.’

 Service projects can be utilized in many different manners; they can be utilized as a main focal subject matter and then be branched out into other subjects for support. For example if the class project was to raise money and awareness for people effected by the earthquake in Japan. In Language Arts as a teacher I would try to connect with another grade four classroom with pen pals to help to bridge the gap with technology. Service projects can be district wide, school wide or within a single class room.  In efforts not to recreate the wheel I researched the efforts of the Toronto District School Board Social Action Plan. Their vision statement: for all schools in the Toronto District School Board to have an opportunity to learn about local and global issues and to participate in actions that affect positive change. That is made possible by a special ‘free the children event’, resources and in services for teachers to learn how to unpack their knowledge of students ‘social justice.’

Other excellent resources to bring Social Justice topics into the class room is through literature with guided questions to follow. Also an example of a cross curricular learning tool presented by Unicef calledWhen Disaster Strikes”- deals with the devastating flooding in Pakistan. It reaches all grade level K-12 and provides a comprehensive guide to presenting information in a sensitive yet powerful way.

Service projects helped me connect to society, by providing me with responsibility which helped me become a Canadian citizen. Social justice within the social studies curriculum can be intimately intertwined within Alberta’s program of Studies objectives which are to be: critical and creative thinkers, to perform research, to enhance decision making and problem solving.   I believe that the greatest roadblock to change is apprehension and apathy that states that we cannot change the way things are and thus should conserve our energy and float on. As a future educator I want to be able to equip my students with the mindset to be change makers.

 

The Photo Used: Is called "Lonely Hands" Maccarese (Rome), Italy (July, 2004). This shot is dedicated to all people that opening their hands find every day only sand, to all people of Africa that die for water lack

 

 

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