ARCS "Motivates" and Constructivism "Relates"

Amy O. never seizes to amaze me with her excitement, intelligence, and interesting thoughts and ideas.... I always get introduced to something new when Amy O. shares. Her ARCS lesson showed me how motivation can be a key factor in implementing the lesson rather than a reward at the end of the lesson, which is more often the way I use motivation in my special education classroom. What a strong suggestion that could keep my students intrigued throughout rather than just extrinsically motivated!
Thank you to all for being so prepared and participatory for my Constructivism lesson. You made it a lot of fun for me to teach. I was so glad to hear you all found the subject interesting! Even though Constructivism seemed foreign to me when I signed up to present it, I realized that by putting together some of my strategies that I already apply, I can have a constructivist approach to teaching in a snap! I also realized that I can find ways to "set the scene" more often by pulling ideas from their reading selection ahead a time and create the opportunities to visually make connections. Overall, it was a lot of fun presenting and has inspired me to incorporate strategies from this theory more often based on the responses and feedback from all of you!! Thank you, again!!

Busy Bee.....BUZZZZZZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

With a week off of class, I found myself budgeting my time to work on my assignments that are up and coming. My personal learning theory is coming together as I type away.... Also, I have been working hard and getting excited about my lesson on Constructivism. In retrospect, although we didn't have class this week, it was one of my busiest weeks yet! The class is coming to an end and it is neat to see how everything has come together for me. I definitely feel like I am learning a great deal and it has been a rewarding experience. I definitely have felt challenged, but also feel like I have risen to the occasion. The Personal Learning Theory paper is the first one I have written in quite a while, but it felt like just yesterday when my ideas so easily came to me. When you are writing about something you are passionate about, which for me is to provide learning opportunities for my students, then it is easy to write. I am looking forward to class, presenting and watching Amy O. present as well!

Theories are NOT Scary..... AH HA!

I am simply amazed after each presentation how each theory from the reading comes to life, and I have a moment and say to myself, "I do that!". Everyone has done such an impressive job along the way in demonstrating how the theories are present in their lessons. As many times as I have heard of the different theories throughout all of my education classes, I haven't had the foundations to each theory embedded in my brain until this semester. I am very visual. I learn through experience and seeing something in front of my eyes. Now, I think I will forever remember what each person demonstrated in our class, as well as the lesson in which the theory was demonstrated. It is a pretty cool feeling. Everyone is to thank for the productive learning taking place..... Amy Ack. for putting the task in place and being there to guide the lessons and all of you for your hard work in presenting a theory through a lesson that makes the theory really come to life. I only hope my lesson does the same for all of you...... pressure is on!! Here is a glimpse.......

Last class was fun for me because it was the first time I could be at home with the computer actually working..... Wimba was a success. I must say it was nice to enjoy a glass of wine or two....... while being at home on the computer. Once in a while, it is cool to experience class from a different perspective. Being on the computer also allowed me to multi- task. I worked on some ideas for my "lesson plan" coming up on the 24th. I not only found an idea but also formulated the lesson plan in writing. Now it is time to get the ball rolling even more with my ideas. My lesson plans involves a constructivist approach to teaching about the Iditarod race. See you all on Tuesday! Good luck Jill and Ann!

Bring on the Fiber!

Terri blew me away with her synectics lesson. I haven't laughed that hard in a long, long time.... and that's a good thing. After the reading in our text, I wasn't 100% sure of what synectics meant exactly. After Terri's lesson, I really do understand the idea and the impact it can have in the classroom when applied appropriately. I had never previously heard of a shunt prior to this lesson. I am not up on the medical terminology. After the analogy of comparing it to constipation, it was extremely clear the purpose a shunt serves. Overall, Terri's lesson was well done and effective in teaching the theory to our class. I really enjoyed the class and definitely found much amusement in it all!
In addition to learning in depth about synectics, I was also excited to see how easy Noodletools can be to help me with my Annotated Bibliography. I have only used it once before, and the refresher crash course from my classmates brought it all back and I remembered how easy it can be. I am not as worried about "APA" any more. Back in my college days, I did not have the luxury of Noodletools!

Visit to Stockton

Tuesday night was a flashback to my college years when I used to spend quite a bit of time in the library to escape the loud music and partying of the college house I resided in at Rutgers. There is a certain smell and calming factor about being surrounded by a peaceful quiet and aisles of books. Aside from the atmosphere, a new page was turned for me as I realized how easily accessible the computer has proven to be within the library to find a variety of sources. As we were taken through the library website and all of its features, I had another flashback of how difficult it was at the library I used to visit in college to be pointed in the right direction. Last night I was relieved and feel much better about finding the research I need.
I also had an ah-ha moment as I flew through the Wimba checklist. Is it really get easier? I guess so!! It felt good understanding the terminology and knowing where to locate various tools and features in Wimba. Overall, class was very helpful!

Feb. 10th- Ah-ha!

It was nice to be in class this past week- conversing and bouncing off ideas about the foundations of cognitivism. Everyone's contributions to the discussion really brought it all together for me. I was unaware of how much I really understand cognitivism and bring it to the classroom as a teacher. As I read more and more about the different theories and how they all are cohesive with each other, I have my own experiences to relate them to and realize that these learning theories are in my everyday life- Ah ha!
As for class, the visuals that were presented throughout the lesson really helped me absorb the material and make connections. The coffee and chili were an excellent touch and made class feel like home. Until next time......