Reactions from Chapter 6: The Social Web: Learning Together

Working with such young media users (K-5) and with such a large number of students (over 700) proves a difficult challenge when it comes to opening the doors to the Read/Write web in such a way that is educationally beneficial as well as safe and monitored; however, looking through this chapter, I gained a multitude of ideas.  Social Bookmarking is a great way to offer safe, appropriate, and approved sites in one location to allow students the ease of researching in a more controlled environment. I also think that Diigo sounds like a great resource for students to post work, share, and receive quick feedback.  I will have to do more research into this source! Additionally, I was a little intimidated by Twitter, but after reading chapter 6 find myself ready to open an account!  However, I am not sure how ready my students are for this type of environment in the music classroom.  I am sure it is better served for a homeroom classroom.  I do use Edmodo often, and think that using this site like Twitter to prepare students for that reality may be a great starting point.  But as Richardson says, "regardless of how you might think about Twitter in the classroom remember, the short (140 character or less) lesson is this: Think about Twitter for yourself first."  I think I'll take his advice.  I'll let you know how it goes!

Richardson, Will. Pedagogy and Practice from Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin, 2010. p. 97-112. eBook

Reactions from article: "Can Playing Video Games Give Girls an Edge In Math?"

Whether you agree or not, researchers have made notable connections between spacial skills and "creative and scholarly achievements". While I have your attention, no, the article title isn't saying this would only benefit girls; however, boys already have interest in video games and are currently benefiting from the mathematical benefits. This information comes from the blog Mind/Shift and their research from the journal, Psychological Science, "the ability to mentally manipulate shapes and otherwise understand how the three-dimensional world works turns out to be an important predictor of creative and scholarly achievements."  In addition, this research predicts, "the likelihood that the individual would develop new knowledge and produce innovation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, the domains collectively known as STEM". Additionally, the Journal of Cognition and Development, reported that "training children in spacial reasoning can improve their performance in math" and in a "single twenty-minute training session in spatial skills enhanced participants' ability to solve math problems, suggesting that the training 'primes' the brain to tackle arithmetic".  So, how does this all relate to video gaming?  The article suggests that children don't just learn at school, but at home.  It is this informal learning that adds additional impact on the child and suggest that parents fill this gap or add emphasis at home.  For older children this spatial manipulation of 3D shapes can come from video games.  The article claims that "males have historically held the advantage over females in spatial ability, and this advantage has often been attributed to genetic differences. But males' spatial edge may also reflect, in part, differences in the leisure-time activities of boys and girls, activities that add up to a kind of daily drill in spatial skills for boys." The article then states their opinion on how this type of informal learning could fill the gender gap and "produce more female scientists, engineers and mathematicians" as suggested by a study by University of Toronto researchers in the Psychological Science journal.  It is suggested by these authors that this higher-level ability to "mentally rotate objects" 'could play a significant role as part of a larger strategy designed to interest women in science and engineering careers.' So whether or not you agree with video games as your outlet for work with spacial learning, it is clear to see the importance of learning to manipulate spacial objects in some capacity.  I've always shied away from gaming; perhaps it's merely due to the marketing, games that don't really interest me, my competitive nature (I MUST WIN), or perhaps it is due to how I was raised.... OR perhaps, just because I'm a girl! But I do feel that I still hold a high understanding and interest in such areas as creativity, engineering, mathematics and the sciences.  It is more than likely in part to a hands on manipulation of objects.  Hey, we all love playing with Legos... right?

Paul, Annie Murphy. "Can Playing Video Games Give Girls an Edge in Math?." Mind / Shift. KQED, 24 Jul 2013. Web. 30 Nov. 2013. <http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2013/07/can-playing-video-games-give-girls-an-edge-in-math/

Reactions on article: A Must See Visual Featuring the 5 Levels of Student Engagement

As educators, we are always striving to engage our students in the learning process to ensure they are getting the most out of our lesson; however, how do we "rate" if our students are fully learning?  Blogger, Med Kharbach, says that "unless students see a direct relevance between what they are going to learn and how that information will help them in their actual life, it becomes hard to hook and maintain their attention."  He continues by stressing the importance of "context in learning" as this often times increases the "rate of retention and comprehensibility."  This visual provides a clear view into student's level of engagement from the highest commitment right down to "rebellion" or the "diverted attention - no commitment".  This could easily be turned into a rubric for self-assessment.  If students are able to provide you with feedback on their engagement or commitment to the subject matter in class, you can find better ways to deliver the particular instruction if needed.

Kharbach, Med. "A Must See Visual Featuring the 5 Levels of Student Engagement." Educational Technology and Mobile Learning. N.p., n. d. Web. 23 Nov. 2013. http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2013/11/a-must-see-visual-featuring-5-levels-of.html.

Reactions to article: “Artistic to the Core: Music and Common Core” / Education Trends

Of course this particular article jumped out at me, as I of have first hand benefited from music.  Educator and musician, Dr. Karin Nolan, works with preparing college music students for their career and found the more often than not, students involved with the arts often times were more prepared for college.  "I'm not a gambling person, but if I had to place a bet on one sure-fire method for engaging students, increasing test scores, reaching students who fall below standards, challenging students who exceed grade-level standards, accessing students' creativity and originality, maximizing brain connections formed, applying concepts to new situations, and making the learning process more fun for the students and teacher, I would place that bet on... teaching the core curriculum through the arts."  In my music classroom, I strive to incorporate outside learning in my room to aid in making connections to provide a more authentic experience, but how often do teachers include the arts in their own classroom? Most teachers feel unqualified and perhaps uncomfortable with such incorporation; however, Nolan suggests that "teachers must think on their feet, modify plans on the spot, approach content from different angles, support uniqueness, and inspire and foster growth", all of which proves that teachers are capable of such creative thought, and if successful they may build a classroom environment that is enjoyable for both student and teacher and interactive, moving away from the confines of worksheets.  "Through arts-integrated lessons, students are engaged and focused on the content because it takes them beyond the confines of "traditional" learning. They get to hear, see, and become the content through the arts."  A very cool concept that should be considered by all educators.

Nolan, Dr. Karin. "Artist to the Core: Music and Common Core." Edutopia. The George Lucas Educational Foundation, 23 Nov 2013. Web. 23 Nov. 2013. http://www.edutopia.org/blog/music-and-common-core-karin-nolan.

Reactions to Chapter 5: RSS (Week 4)

In the past, I have been using the RSS feed from Google's Blogger site to stay up to date on the music world through blogs that I have subscribed to or followed.  Now that my eyes have been opened to Feedly, I have added the Feedly button to my browser and find that with a quick click, blogs from various locations are easily added and I am able to quickly view all of my news in one convenient location.  No wonder RSS stands for "Really Simple Syndication"! (Richardson, p. 84) I enjoyed the chapter and how Richardson tied in how to use RSS in your class in addition to the fun tricks with the aggregator.  Using an aggregator to sort student blogs for quick commenting and project submission makes perfect sense!  And, also using the feed for current event research and reflective writing is a great tool for older students to stay current and create authentic learning tasks.  Another great tool Richardson notes, is the use of the search feature.  "That student could actually create an RSS feed that would bring any news... to his aggregator as soon as it was published - kind of like doing research 24/7, only the RSS feed does all the work." (Richardson, p. 91)  That sounds like a wonderful idea!  My next unit is on melody, and I may just give this search feature a try to aid in finding new and exciting lesson plan ideas.  Very cool!

Richardson, Will. Pedagogy and Practice from Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin, 2010. p. 83-96. eBook.

Reactions from article: "Giving Good Praise to Girls: What Messages Stick"

Katrina Schwartz, journalist for Weblog Mind/Shift, poses an interesting view point when it comes to young girls reactions to praise, how praise is interpreted, and careful ways to "shift" this praise to aid in continued motivation, rather than creating resistance to success. This article was created based on research from Stanford's psychology professor, Carol Dweck's studies on how to praise kids.  Dweck believes that there is a problem with parents and educators merely praising only when a correct answer has finally been reached, without focusing on the process to get there.  Schwartz quotes Dweck as saying, "It's really about praising the process they engage in, not how smart they are or how good they are at it, but taking on difficulty, trying many different strategies, sticking to it and achieving over time."  In surprising findings, Dweck states that this type of praise affects girls more strongly than boys.  Girls tend to believe that "their abilities are fixed, that individuals are born with gifts and can't change" and often times quit tackling these areas of difficulty.  She continues by stating that this is most strong in STEM subjects.  Funny enough, boys often times do not fall victim to this type of mind set for example, rather than "believing math is a fixed ability doesn't hamper achievement - they just assume they have it."  Perhaps this shows evidence that girls lack the self confidence boys have and if it isn't perfect, they merely avoid the task all together.  Dweck offers the suggestion that "if adults emphasize that all skills are learned through a process of engagement, value challenge and praise efforts to supersede frustration rather than only showing excitement over the right answer, girls will be shown resilience."  The key here.... that some failure or set backs are healthy.  Dweck is quoted as saying, "If you have little failures along the way and have them understand that's part of learning, and that you can actually derive useful information about what to do next, that's really useful."  I can't say that I totally agree with Dweck's findings.  Being a female, I feel motivated by praise and enjoy learning from my mistakes to make the next time even better. I don't feel as if I don't succeed I should quit or "shy away" from the task in the future. Perhaps this is, as Dweck's research suggests, the parents role in encouragement from the time of birth and how it affects children's mindset and resilience for future challenges.  I was always challenged to succeed in life and that mistakes happen; however, we need to use these as a learning tool.  Perhaps this is what is missing in education.  In the music world, each task is a stepping stone to the next, therefore, it is crucial to ensure each child is working through the process and learning from immediate feedback.  I think this type of praise should be already occurring across the curriculum to build stronger, more confident students; girls and boys.

Schwartz, Katrina. "Giving Good Praise to Girls: What Messages Stick." Mind/Shift. KQED, 24 Apr 2013. Web. 16 Nov. 2013. <http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2013/04/giving-good-praise-to-girls-what-messages-stick/

Reaction on Chapter 4 - Wikis

As I am taking this course, I am becoming more familiar with wikis sites.  I am still working on discovering how I can include this source in my own classroom.  But I realized there are many options for getting my young learners started with wiki pages.  The book lists several wiki pages, that Richardson claims is a "wiki revolution", such as:  the Recipes Wiki, Wikitravel, Buffalo wings wiki, Wiktionary, Wikinews, Wikispecies, and Wikiquotes. (Richardson, p. 70)  And let's not forget the Star Trek wiki suggested as "one of the most impressive out there!" (Richardson, p. 71)  Which such endless, diverse options, I'm sure that it would be easy to find a starting point to at least get my toes wet with this new experience and offer my students a unique music experience through a collaborative process.  The book lists several challenges of using a wiki in schools; however, my major concern would be finding a way to do my part to expose the children to a wiki experience with such a large class load of over 700 students.

Richardson, Will. Pedagogy and Practice from Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin, 2010. p. 68-82. eBook.

Reflection on "A Wonderful Graphic Featuring the Importance of Music in Education"

Music is often times overlooked in schools and most likely considered the teacher's planning period. Music educators are consistently offering materials and empirical evidence to prove the importance of music on the overall child.  This article is unique as it offers a peek into the incredible benefits of music education through a quick graphic.  According to research, the article states that "music is an essential element in students overall education and in some cases it is a precursor of good academic achievements."  They continue by mentioning that music aids in "developing language skills and creativity", as well as helping with some cases of "neurological disorders".  The University of Florida's research also depicts that "music involves more parts of the brain than any other function that people perform."  In addition, research shows how music impacts education and SAT scores and the music student's results are without a doubt, leaps and bounds higher than regular ed students.  The graphic also adds that music students "receive more academic honors and awards", "comprise the highest percentage of accepted medical students", "improving children's abstract reasoning skills", and "are less aggressive."  Without a doubt, music education is truly an important piece of learning for every child, but how do we continue to push to show this importance and fight to keep music alive in our schools?

Kharbach, Med. "A Wonderful Graphic Featuring the Importance of Music in Education." Educational Technology and Mobile Learning. Educational Technology and Mobile Learning, 2013. Web. 9 Nov. 2013.

5 Powerful Questions Teachers Can Ask Students by Rebecca Alber with Edutopia

Whether you are a new teacher or experienced teacher, we often times fall victim to the dreaded process of asking AND answering your own questions.  I find this happens most when I “over plan”, run out of time in class, ask questions, but forget to provide students with ample time to answer.  As discussed in our Educational Psychology class, there is a period of time, called “wait time” that we must wait after asking questions to allow students the opportunity to retrieve or recall information.    Rebecca Alber, writer for Edutopia, brings up a good point, “for an inquiry to be alive and well in a classroom that, amongst other things, the teacher needs to be expert at asking strategic questions not only asking well-designed ones, but ones that will also lead students to questions of their own.” (Alber) Alber suggests that educators keep questions simple and offers five questions as a guide.  What a great idea! 

Ask:

“#1.  What do you think?

#2.  Why do you think that?

#3.  How do you know this?

#4. Can you tell me more?

#5. What questions do you still have?” (Alber)

These series of questions progresses students from a basic questioning of recall to higher level thinking.  Students will use their factual knowledge to connect to existing schema, understand through reasoning, and reflect through a basic self-assessment.  Another great suggestion by Alber is “to help students feel more comfortable and confident with answering questions and asking ones of their own, you can use this scaffold:  Ask a question, pause, and then invite students to ‘turn and talk’ with a neighbor first before sharing out with the whole group.”  (Alber) One would hope this would ease the nerves of presenting in front of the class. 

Alber, Rebecca. "5 Powerful Questions Teachers Can Ask Students." Edutopia. The George Lucas Educational Foundation, 31 Oct 2013. Web. 1 Nov. 2013. <http://www.edutopia.org/blog/five-powerful-questions-teachers-ask-students-rebecca-alber>.

Reactions from Chapter 2 Readings: Pedagogy and Practice from Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms by Will Richardson

Blogging is not new to me; however, as pointed out by Richardson, I probably fall in the category of the two-thirds of the population of posting every two months verses several times a week. (Richardson, p. 32)  After reading the text in Chapter 2, I felt empowered to begin blogging in my classroom right away.  I have been following blogs through RSS feeds and can’t wrap my head around the fact that as Richardson reports, there are “over 180 million people” participating in the Read/Write Web. (Richardson, p. 32) I wish there was more time in the day to search through content for more ideas! Fernette and Brock Eide, learning specialists quoted by Richardson, reports that “blogging in its truest form has a great deal of potentially positive impact on students.”  Further, they list various impacts blogs have on the student such as: “promote critical and analytical thinking; be a powerful promoter of creative, intuitive, and associational thinking; promote analogical thinking; be a powerful medium for increasing access and exposure to quality information; combine the best of solitary reflection and social interaction.” (Richardson, p.33) I have been brainstorming ideas on ways to incorporate this technique in my music classroom.  This year I am transferring my classroom into an inspired classroom, a process in which the computers are moved from the exterior walls to the center of the room to aid in an inclusive environment.  In addition, I teach over 700 students and often times find it hard to “get into the students heads”.  Through blogging I hope to allow students the opportunity to reflect on learning so that I can truly see what students are learning and find areas of weakness as well as strengths.  Richardson says that “through the unique process of blogging,… students are learning to read more critically think about that reading more analytically, and write more clearly.  And, they are building relationships with peers, teachers, mentors, and professionals within the Weblog environment”. (Richardson, p. 33)  If I am able to successfully transfer this concept to the music room, I will not only build relationships with my students, but also transfer music learning to language arts through the writing process.  I hope to pull from the plethora of ideas listed at the end of Chapter 2.  I can’t wait to get started!

Richardson, Will. Pedagogy and Practice from Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin, 2010. 30-55. eBook.