Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Assignment 10: Cues, Questions and Advance Organizers

This is your last assignment for this course...all assignments are due 12/3...thanks for participating!!!


Although your course packet asks you to post to blog for parts A, B, C, and D…we are asking that you only post part D to the blog. We’re trying to make the blog more user-friendly and easier to read. Thanks!

Assignment #10: Complete the 4 part assignment format as you read, reflect, and respond to Chapter 10: Cues, Questions and Advance Organizers.

Remember: Although your course packet asks you to post to blog for parts A, B, C, and D…we are asking that you only post part C and D. We’re trying to make the blog easier to read and more user- friendly. Thanks!


A. Self Assessment of Current Beliefs and Practices: This component asks you to reflect on how and why you currently use the instructional strategy of Cues, Questions, and Advance Organizers in your classroom. The intent of this is to activate your prior knowledge of your strategy use so that you can make comparisons as you read the chapter. Below are the questions to help you complete your self-assessment.
• What is your purpose of using cues and questions in your classroom?
• Study the research results in Figure 10.1 for "Cues and Questions." In your experience, what makes some experiences with cues and questions better than others?

B. Read & Reflect “Research & Theory”: This portion of the assignment asks you to read chapter 10 and reflect briefly on your thinking after reading the “Research and Theory” section for Cues, Questions, and Advance Organizers. You may want to consider the point below in your reflection.
• Many teachers who are aware of the research on the use of "wait time" will confess that they do not use it often enough. What do you think are some of the reasons that might explain why teachers do not use this strategy systematically and effectively?

C. Practice: Choose one of the specific “classroom practice” strategies or techniques shared in this chapter to try out with your students (If you are not currently teaching, you may reflect upon how you would use this strategy in your classroom).

D. Final Strategy Reflection:
 Use the following sequence of questions/prompts to reflect on what you’ve learned about both the strategies presented in the chapter and what you’ve learned about yourself as both a teacher and a learner. Please post your brief reflection to the posting labeled Week Ten: Cues, Questions, and Advance Organizers by clicking on the “comment” link below.

How has the information you read in this chapter on Cues, Questions, and Advance Organizers effected your thinking about teaching and learning? What have you learned about yourself as a teacher and learner? Use the following questions to assist you in writing a brief strategy reflection:

• Research confirms that advance organizers are powerful when they help students focus on what is important, not on what might be unusual. All the different types of advance organizers described in this chapter, however, require up-front planning on the part of the teacher. How would you respond to a teacher who complains that there just isn't time to prepare the organizers?

• What will you do to improve the effect of using cues, questions, and advance organizers in your classroom? – Will you make changes?

• How might you monitor the effects of cues, questions, and advance organizers on student learning?

Assignment 9: Generating and Testing Hypotheses

Assignment #9: Complete the 4 part assignment format as you read, reflect, and respond to Chapter 9: Generating and Testing Hypotheses.

ALL PARTICIPANTS PLEASE READ THE NOTE BELOW!!!

Although your course packet asks you to post to blog for parts A, B, C, and D…we are asking that you only post part Dto the blog. We’re trying to make the blog more user-friendly and easier to read. Thanks!

A. Self Assessment of Current Beliefs and Practices: This component asks you to reflect on how and why you currently use the instructional strategies of Generating and Testing Hypotheses in your classroom. The intent of this is to activate your prior knowledge of your strategy use so that you can make comparisons as you read the chapter.

B. Read & Reflect “Research & Theory”: This portion of the assignment asks you to read chapter 9 and reflect briefly on your thinking after reading the “Research and Theory” section of Generating and Testing Hypotheses.

C. Practice: 
Choose one of the specific “classroom practice” strategies or techniques shared in this chapter to teach to your students (If you are not currently teaching, you should reflect upon how you would use this strategy in your classroom.)


D. Final Strategy Reflection: A sequence of questions posted below asks you to reflect on what you’ve learned about both the strategies presented in the chapter and what you’ve learned about yourself as both a teacher and a learner. Please post a brief reflection of how this went to the posting labeled Week Nine: Generating and Testing Hypotheses.

How has the information you read in this chapter on Generating and Testing Hypotheses effected your thinking about teaching and learning? What have you learned about yourself as a teacher and learner? Use the following questions to assist you in writing a brief strategy reflection:

• How might I change how use Generating and Testing Hypotheses in my classroom?
• What is something you now understand better about Generating and Testing Hypotheses?

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Assignment Eight: Setting Objectives & Providing Feedback

Assignment #8: Complete the 4 part assignment format as you read, reflect, and respond to Chapter 8: Setting Objectives & Providing Feedback.

ALL PARTICIPANTS PLEASE READ THE NOTE BELOW!!!

Although your course packet asks you to post to blog for parts A, B, C, and D…we are asking that you only post part Dto the blog. We’re trying to make the blog more user-friendly and easier to read. Thanks!

A. Self Assessment of Current Beliefs and Practices: This component asks you to reflect on how and why you currently use the instructional strategy of Setting Objectives and Providing Feedback in your classroom. The intent of this is to activate your prior knowledge of your strategy use so that you can make comparisons as you read the chapter. Below are the questions to help you complete your self-assessment.

• What is your purpose when you set objectives and/or feedback in your classroom?
• How do you set objectives in your current classroom instruction?
• When and how do you communicate classroom objectives to your students?
• What kind of feedback do you provide for your students?

B. Read & Reflect “Research & Theory”: This portion of the assignment asks you to read Chapter 8 and reflect briefly on your thinking after reading the “Research and Theory” section for Setting Objectives and Providing Feedback.

C. Practice: Choose one of the specific “classroom practice” strategies or techniques shared in this chapter to try out with your students (If you are not currently teaching, you may share how you would use this strategy in your classroom).


D. Final Strategy Reflection: Use the following sequence of questions/prompts to reflect on what you’ve learned about both the strategies presented in the chapter and what you’ve learned about yourself as both a teacher and a learner. Please post your brief reflection to the posting labeled Week Eight: Setting Objectives and Providing Feedback by clicking on the “comment” link below.

How has the information you read in this chapter on Setting Objectives and Providing Feedback effected your thinking about teaching and learning? What have you learned about yourself as a teacher and learner? Use the following questions to assist you in writing a brief strategy reflection:

• The generalizations related to setting objectives explain that goals should be clear and specific, but also flexible enough for students to personalize the goals. Consider the objectives you are expected to use, that is, those provided by your school, district, or state. To what extent do you feel they meet the criteria of clarity, specificity, and flexibility?

• How does the information in Figure 8.3 about "Corrective Feedback" shed light on your own experiences with giving and receiving feedback? For example, does it surprise you that research indicates that simply telling students whether an answer is right or wrong can have a negative effect on their achievement?

• How might you change how you communicate objectives to students and parents?

• How will you monitor how well students are meeting their learning objectives?

• How will you engage students in the feedback process (consider use of rubrics?)

Assignment Seven: Cooperative Learning

ALL PARTICIPANTS PLEASE READ THE NOTE BELOW!!!

Although your course packet asks you to post to blog for parts A, B, C, and D…we are asking that you only post part Dto the blog. We’re trying to make the blog more user-friendly and easier to read. Thanks!

A. Self Assessment of Current Beliefs and Practices: This component asks you to reflect on how and why you currently use the instructional strategy of Cooperative Learning in your classroom. The intent of this is to activate your prior knowledge of your strategy use so that you can make comparisons as you read the chapter. Below are the questions to help you complete your self-assessment. After completing your self assessment please post a thought or two as a comment (click on comment link below) to this posting labeled Week Seven: Cooperative Learning.

• What is your purpose for using cooperative learning in your classroom?
• What kind of cooperative learning activities do you use with your students?
• Think of a time when you used cooperative learning and was pleased with the results. Why did it work well?
• Think of a time when you used cooperative learning and was not pleased with the results. Why didn’t it work well?

B. Read & Reflect “Research & Theory”: This portion of the assignment asks you to read chapter 7 and reflect briefly on your thinking after reading the “Research and Theory” section for Cooperative Learning After completing your chapter reflection, please post it as a comment (click on comment link below) in the posting labeled Week Seven: Cooperative Learning.

C. Practice: Choose one of the specific “classroom practice” strategies or techniques shared in this chapter to try out with your students (If you are not currently teaching, you may share how you would use this strategy in your classroom.)


D. Final Strategy Reflection: Use the following sequence of questions/prompts to reflect on what you’ve learned about both the strategies presented in the chapter and what you’ve learned about yourself as both a teacher and a learner. Please post your brief reflection to the posting labeled Week Seven: Cooperative Learning by clicking on the “comment” link below.

How has the information you read in this chapter on Cooperative Learning effected your thinking about teaching and learning? What have you learned about yourself as a teacher and learner? Use the following questions to assist you in writing a brief strategy reflection:

• How might I change how use cooperative learning in my classroom?
• What is something you now understand better about cooperative learning?

Assignment Six: Nonlinguistic Representations

ALL PARTICIPANTS PLEASE READ THE NOTE BELOW!!!

Although your course packet asks you to post to blog for parts A, B, C, and D…we are asking that you only post part Dto the blog. Thanks!

A. Self Assessment of Current Beliefs and Practices: This component asks you to reflect on how and why you currently use the instructional strategies of Nonlinguistic Representations in your classroom. The intent of this is to activate your prior knowledge of your strategy use so that you can make comparisons as you read the chapter. Below are the questions to help you complete your self-assessment.

• Nonlinguistic representations help us to recall and use information every day. Think of a topic that you understand very well and notice how many images related to this topic you can generate in your head. Now identify a topic with which you are familiar but that you do not understand well. Try to generate images and notice how difficult it is.
• What would be the purpose of representing knowledge in different forms everyday in our classrooms across curriculum areas?

B. Read & Reflect “Research & Theory”: This portion of the assignment asks you to read chapter 6 and reflect briefly on your thinking after reading the “Research and Theory” section for both Nonlinguistic Representations.

C. Practice: Choose one of the specific “classroom practice” strategies or techniques shared in this chapter to teach to your students (If you are not currently teaching, you may reflect on how you would use this strategy in your classroom). You may want to consider the bullets below.

• This chapter explains that nonlinguistic representations are powerful ways to learn and recall information but that many classrooms are very linguistically oriented. Think of classroom experiences that are often effective but that are inherently linguistic (e.g., reading the textbook, engaging in a discussion, listening to an explanation). Suggest several specific ways that these linguistic experiences could be even more effective by guiding students to generate and use nonlinguistic representations, such as graphic organizers, multimedia, and role-plays.
• When do you ask students to represent knowledge using forms other than words?

D. Final Strategy Reflection: Use the following sequence of questions/prompts to reflect on what you’ve learned about both the strategies presented in the chapter and what you’ve learned about yourself as both a teacher and a learner.

How has the information you read in this chapter on Nonlinguistic Representations effected your thinking about teaching and learning? What have you learned about yourself as a teacher and learner? Use the following questions to assist you in writing a brief strategy reflection:

 How might I change how use nonlinguistic representation in my classroom?
• What is something you now understand better about nonlinguistic representations?

Friday, November 9, 2012

Assignment Five: Homework and Practice

ALL PARTICIPANTS PLEASE READ THE NOTE BELOW!!!

Although your course packet asks you to post to blog for parts A, B, C, and D…we are asking that you only post part D
to the blog. We’re trying to make the blog more user-friendly and easier to read. Thanks!
A. Self Assessment of Current Beliefs and Practices: This component asks you to reflect on how and why you currently use the instructional strategies of Homework and Practice in your classroom. The intent of this is to activate your prior knowledge of your strategy use so that you can make comparisons as you read the chapter. Below are the questions to help you complete your self-assessment.
• Think about the kinds of homework you assign to your students and what some of the purposes of those assignments might be.
• Do you have questions about using homework?
• How do you decide which skills students need to practice a great deal and which skills they can just have a basic proficiency in?
• What makes skill practice effective?

B. Read & Reflect “Research & Theory”: This portion of the assignment asks you to read chapter 5 and reflect briefly on your thinking after reading the “Research and Theory” section for both homework and practice. You may want to think about the bulleted thoughts below.

• Reviewing the research on homework emphasizes the importance of commenting on students' homework assignments. What strategies would your recommend to a teacher who wants to assign homework but claims that it is logistically impossible to comment on students' work?
• The research described in this chapter suggests that, especially for older students, homework seems to be positively correlated with student achievement. Even when some parents who are opposed to homework become aware of this research, they express strong negative feelings about homework. What do you think are some of the reasons for these feelings?

C. Practice: Choose one of the specific “classroom practice” strategies or techniques shared in this chapter to teach to your students (If you are not currently teaching, you may reflect on how you would use this strategy in your classroom.)

D. Final Strategy Reflection: Use the following sequence of questions/promps to reflect on what you’ve learned about both the strategies presented in the chapter and what you’ve learned about yourself as both a teacher and a learner. Please post your brief reflection to the posting labeled Week Five: Homework and Practice by clicking on the “comment” link below.

How has the information you read in this chapter on homework and practice effected your thinking about teaching and learning? What have you learned about yourself as a teacher and learner? Use the following questions to assist you in writing a brief strategy reflection:

• How might I change how use both homework and practice in my classroom?
• What is something you now understand better about homework or practice?