Reflections on Using TeacherWeb

Looking Back on Using TeacherWeb and Its Capabilities
Kimberly Schutte

After having created my TeacherWeb and discussing in our groups the possibilities for the use of a TeacherWeb in our future teaching, I see a few ways that it could help support my classroom and my students. TeacherWeb can be beneficial for both teachers teaching and students learning. First, TeacherWeb can support teachers and their ability to teach because it allows parents, guardians, care givers, students, and other teachers to be involved in the learning process for their classroom. By providing information on a TeacherWeb kind of website, everyone involved in the student’s education can be aware what is occurring in the classroom. It is important to understand that teaching and learning is going to be a team effort in order to be effective. Another way that a TeacherWeb type of website would benefit teachers is that it allows for quick assignments, reflections, or review quizzes. I think using the review quizzes is beneficial specifically for teachers because it allows teachers to make a quick quiz and have students take it to be a quick assessment of student progress for a certain subject, topic, or lesson. In fact, these quizzes will be scored automatically as well as can provide the students with the correct answer so that they may see the answer right away when they take the quiz. For the teachers, it can provide them with information about the students’ progress in a quick and easy way. In addition, using a grade page on the TeacherWeb allows teachers to have students’ grades be easily accessible but private as well so that students do not have to wait for paper grade reports. However, the TeacherWeb pages are not just beneficial to teachers but to the students as well. Learning can be enhanced with this type of website because on TeacherWeb, teachers can provide students with a wide variety of resources available especially such as web resources and web 2.0 resources. Even further with the web 2.0 resources, students can connect with other students on educational wikis and blogs to collaborate on projects and homework. As well, these resources provide students to become engaged in their learning with a fun, interactive website placed on the TeacherWeb. Another specific way that students can benefit from a TeacherWeb is that it can provide a class schedule for homework, tests, projects, and important school dates. This allows for students to be aware what is going on in class, what is coming up and what is do so that they may focus on what they are learning. As well, when students are absent from class which may be due to sickness, family obligations, and school-related activities, they may check the TeacherWeb to see what has happened in class that day. This allows for them to not fall behind as well as obtain class handouts that they may have missed. As well, students can access these handouts at home if they forget them at school, misplace them, or lose them. All in all, a TeacherWeb kind of website can be beneficial for students and teachers in their collaborative learning experience.

Blogs and Wikis in Education

The use of blogs and wikis in education
Kimberly Schutte

With the growing use of the internet and technology in the classroom, teachers are always looking for new and interesting ways to engage their students in their education along with integrating technology. Such a new way to integrate the internet into the classroom is through the use of blogs and wikis, especially since more and more are being created today for the use in K-12 educational settings. In fact, there are a number of interesting and innovated ways to integrate a wiki or blog into the classroom. On interesting aspect of using a blog or wiki in the classroom is the ability for students to do collaborative work. With the ability to do more and more group work, students are becoming engaged in their learning which is exactly what happens with the ability to do collaborative work. Students who have the ability to use an educational blogging webpage or a wiki can work on projects with other students outside of the classroom. They can discuss the project or issues they are having as well as decide how to divide up the work load. Another innovative or interesting way blogs and wikis are being implemented into K-12 classroom include creating online class publications such as a class newsletter where not only students can access and read the publication but they can be part of it by writing their own articles to be part of the online class publication. This allows for students to be part of their classroom as well as reflect and express themselves to the other students, the teacher, the school, and the families of the students. Finally, another very interesting use of blogs and wikis in the classroom setting is the multimedia that students can use to access at home as well as at school. By have resources from school such as videos, podcasts, photos, and songs, this is a way for students to access these resources outside of the teacher’s classroom in order to learn from them even more. Further students can make comments and collaborate about these resources as well as use them for future reference, in homework, or in future projects.

An RSS reader or an aggregator could pose as a possibly helpful tool in the classroom setting. Just as a teacher provides news to students frequently, especially new information, the use of an RSS reader or aggregator could serve as a similar provider, without the use of extra paper. A teacher could have the students join and create a RSS reader or aggregator for themselves. Then the students could subscribe to the teacher’s blog, the class wiki, news websites relevant to the subject for the classroom, and any school related blogs, wikis, or news web pages. This way, when students log onto their RSS reader or aggregator they can receive the latest news from their teacher, their classmates, their school, and the news. As well teachers could have parents or guardians create an RSS reader or aggregator so that they may as well get the latest news concerning the education of their child.

The use of blogs and wikis in the classroom can have both beneficial factors as well as disadvantageous factors. Blogs and wikis can enhance education in ways that simple traditional teaching cannot reach alone. With using a blog or wiki, students can collaborate on homework, projects, or discussions outside of the classroom through the use of technology. This allows for the possibility of more small group projects as well as engaged learning. As well, just as wikis and blogs are important for interaction between the students in the classroom, wikis and blogs are resources that allow students to gain outside resources from other students in other towns, areas, states, or nations through connections online. As well, teachers can share resources and ideas online allowing for different possibilities of activities and lessons to occur in the classroom. However, using wikis and blogs in the educational world does have its setbacks. Because we still live in a world where technology is not readily available to everyone, as a future teacher, the use of wikis or blogs outside of the classroom just may not be a feasible option with the diversity of technology available resources to students. As well when considering the use of the internet in any classroom activity, teachers have to be aware of what may be found on the internet, placed on the wiki or blog, and who is reading the blog because some material may not be appropriate. Even further, the internet may not always be a dependable tool with the loss of internet connections and web pages being deleted, this could affect the student’s ability to use and actual use of a wiki or blog in an educational setting. Nevertheless, there are a vast number of possibilities that are becoming available for use in the classroom through the integration of technology and no matter what, as a future teacher, one must consider both the pros and cons of the use of these technologies in the classroom.

Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom

Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom
Kimberly Schutte

Just as with learning styles, students vary across the different multiple intelligences. After completing the multiple intelligences inventory online, I was able to rediscover information about myself as well as make new finding about myself concerning the different multiple intelligences. When looking at my results concerning the multiple intelligences, I have a relative consistency of ranking fairly the same in all of the nine different intelligences. However, I have especially high strengths in the multiple intelligences of logical and kinesthetic intelligences. When looking at each of these types of intelligences, one can see that there are a number of core characteristics that relate to that strength. The core characteristics surrounding the logical intelligence include a range of different types of reasoning ranging from linear to concrete to even abstract. Within each reasoning of the core characteristics include more specific characteristics such as working to find order in the world around us, taking a system and then breaking it down into the different parts of the system, and using symbols to represent elements of the real world. After reading about the core characteristics surrounding the logical intelligence and considering my own learning style, I can see that the characteristics of linear reasoning which involves working to obtain order as well as consistency in the world and the ability to use abstract reasoning to use symbols to represent real world elements as a major part of my life and learning. The other intelligence that I found high strength in is kinesthetic intelligence. Some of the core characteristics surrounding the kinesthetic intelligence include being task oriented which is where someone strives as well as reflexive through swift and intuitive responses to physical stimuli. The core characteristics that best relate to me and my learning including being a task oriented learner as well as being concrete by being able to express my feelings and thoughts with body movements.

After learning what type of multiple intelligence strengths represent myself and my learning makes me consider the different multiple intelligences that my students will have as a future teacher. Looking at the multiple intelligences that I find strengths in and relating it to students who could possibly have similar strengths, I find a group of characteristics that many students would have in common. Students who would also have strengths in the logical intelligence often would look for order, enjoy problem solving, find working on puzzles amusing, and work at a rate quicker than most. Those with strengths in the kinesthetic intelligence enjoy activities through hands-on work, rather work in “learning communities” or with other students rather than at their seat alone, and find games that are done in groups enjoyable.

Realizing that there are different types of multiple intelligences allows us to see how there will be a number of different students with different strengths and different ways of learning. After considering these multiple intelligences, then we can take this knowledge and apply it in the classroom when creating lessons and activities. Students who find strength in a logical sense be allowed to take part in the building assessment rubrics for class assignments, use safe and healthy debate in the classroom, and have puzzles as a part of the “learning environment”. Teachers should set goals for the entire classroom that are not only concise but reachable. As well teachers should use tasks in the classroom that are open-ended giving the class options as well as involve problem solving. When considering the kinesthetic intelligence found in some students, they should be offered activities that allow movement in the classroom due to rhythm and music as well as using manipulatives when involved in mathematics instruction which is something I find especially important as a future math teacher. Teachers should also have students involved in hands-on experiments specifically in science and in order to make lessons interesting use “creative drama” in teaching.

With the growing number of opportunities that technologies allow in the classroom, this must also be taken into consideration when considering the different intelligences in the classroom. In order to stimulate learning among students who have strong logical intelligences, teachers should utilize technology in lecturing, use of webquests, problem solving tasks involving technology, and graphing calculators. Strong kinesthetic intelligence students also have ways for technology to be integrated into the classroom to inspire learning to occur. Such technologies that can excite students to learn include the use of construction tools, pulleys, simulations that use eye-hand coordination techniques, and digital probes.

As one can see, a firm understanding and use of learning styles and multiple intelligences can really improve learning within the classroom. In fact, as a future teacher I find that understanding that there are many different multiple intelligences and learning styles that I must have diversity and excitement in my lesson plans in order to intrigue all different students in my classroom. Even further, having a solid knowledge about how different students with different intelligences learn is important in order to see how all of the students in a classroom learn. Looking into the future, as a future teacher I find that I want to learn about how my students because it will be important in order to allow for learning to occur in the classroom.