Reading and Poetry, Aside Finishing Project

Seems I haven't had time to write poetry since beginning Grad School, but I have read some of Chris' on the http://www.poetrymelee.com/ blog. He never fails to have time to at least get words down on the page or jump into the river with a new bride. Now that's a true-life metaphor...Pink would like it. I am reading The Dangerous Book for Boys and getting into Pablo Neruda. Most interestingly, I am watering my spring plants every day and waiting for them to flower. I have never had the patience for plants and have killed most all I planted. I hope it is different this year. The baby loves to pick tomatoes from the vine and eat them while they're sunny. Note: Elephant ears take a long time to show.

This week I'm finishing this Ed Psych project with a sense of relief and new conviction. After all is said and done, I'll try to post again and put everything in perspective. Until next time...

Been a While

So, I haven't written in over a month. The temper of our group has not changed much nor has my opinion of this distance education experience in project-based learning. Constructivist activities like this are all the buzz in education right now, but what it comes down to is just a different face for little willingness to think, apply, or create anything new. What started out for me as an exciting place for personal growth has become defeating. The other members of my group are, at this point, only concerned about meeting requirements and getting finished. We have accomplished little that required a real, cohesive group experience. Even the summary that we wrote for the front page of our Wiki, remains disjointed and fractured, just as our group has been. I will post a few discussions that I have had with other group members just to illustrate the conflict that goes on in these situations, but all-in-all I have given up. Except to work on my individual contribution, and help the others when asked, I am holding on to the ideas with Second Life and The Paperless Classroom. We could have presented our project in Second Life, and we would have atleast been different in our delivery method, but oh well.

This is an interesting site on rubrics: http://www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/rubrics.htm
I was in support of them until this experience. With this project they have been used only to "make sure we've covered everything" and take all the creativity and originality out of the project. Look for the conversations...

Until next time.

Conference Call

We had a conference call last night. I have decided to take a backseat, and see what manifests. We assigned group roles, and I am working with the other "Lisa" in the group doing outside research, that means research other than from the Woolfolk text or Pink's book. She emailed me this morning to let me know a bit about herself. I was grateful because she is one that I felt like was ganging up on me over proposing the idea on WebCT last week. I thanked her and responded reciprocally. I am currently still working on "The Paperless Classroom" idea, but yet to see if I will use it in the end. All the research that I do can come under the umbrella of "virtual labs," or most of it, so I am going with the flow. I don't want to be extremely different in the information that I present from the group, but I really have liked looking into the whole deal. Several classes all over the nation have experimented with this, it was not an original idea come to find out...as any idea is today. I will post some links with pertinent information to "The Paperless Classroom" next time.

Also, I set up a website www.constructechvist.com to post my Philosophy of Education, Resume, and other supporting materials for my interviewing process. Schools have already begun to post there openings, so I have to get crackin' on this as soon as possible.

Until next time...

To be tied and burned at the stake

Well, at first I had a positive reaction from the "Paperless Claaroom" idea, but my excitement was short lived. FIRE. FIRE. FIRE. Alarms were going off all day today. I now regret even suggesting the idea. Two other group members and I debated about it most of the day on the discussion board, and I ended up losing my temper, not at their objections or considerations to the project, but at how they were talking to me. We haven't held a vote, but I consider it a void proposition for the group at this point. I did ask one of the group members, that is the most even-tempered and a thoughtful supervisor, if I could nominate her for group leader--she probably does not want my endorsement at this point. It would be like the Osama Bin Laden endorsing Hillary Clinton. Anyway, one group member went to our professor and pleaded her case. Dr. A said that she thought we could both do as we pleased as our ideas fit under the same umbrella of "virtual labs." So, I can proceed as I wish, and the others can proceed as they wish.

I still feel like I have again separated myself from the group, and I am just really confused at how to navigate the people and personalities of the group. I am struggling with how to get along in this situation. I know that I have very high expectations of myself and others, and that frustrates people. I know that I am hyper-sensitive to other people's emotional and mental states...I tend to absorb people's energy like a sponge and react on a personal level to it all.

I am going to have to practice stepping back, not always being the one to ask questions. I just single myself out by doing that. A physicist friend once told me that he never asked questions in High School. He said it was not that he didn't want to discuss, explore, inquire; but, he was told by his classmates to be quiet and don't make things "more complicated" than they have to be. I feel like this. I have to learn to just keep my inspiration to myself and only share it with those who can dialogue about it without feeling threatened. Tomorrow, I must forward. I am going to start writing my Educational Philosophy and stay off of WebCT for awhile. I need a psychological break.

Until next time...

Posted "Paperless Classroom" Idea to WebCT

I posted the "Paperless Classroom" idea to WebCT, just to see how the group will react, if they will be interested, will they want to cut my eyes out? We'll see. Dr. A didn't say one way or the other, but I get the feeling she doesn't want me to leave my group, so I will just do whatever is thrown my way. Perhaps, if the group doesn't take the idea, I will go at it alone for my professional portfolio.

She has asked for us to present to her on Friday. She wants to know the things we have done for the project thus far, so that should be interesting.

Until next time...

Meeting Covered in Flurries, YakPak Service Interrupted

Last night was our scheduled meeting. YakPak on PBWiki was down, so we had to fall back to the chat room in WebCT. Two other group members and myself also went on conference call. After 30 minutes of nothing being accomplished, I just said I had to go. Looks like another meeting has been scheduled for Wednesday, which I won't be able to attend because I have finals in another class. I know I don't do well with working with others, but this has to be the most exasperating process that I have even been through. A friend suggested that I should just sit back and enjoy the ride, but that's not my style. This is a rare opportunity to learn something and produce a result that can be beneficial to so many teachers. Should I just relax and let the product happen as it may or should I try to take another route? I emailed Dr. A today, flushing out other possibilities. Here is the email:

Dr. A--

"You know that I have been frustrated in my group, but currently, I have settled into the "ethos" of the group and have climbed in the box with them. I think what they are doing is thinking out of their boxes, for most of them. Integrating "virtual labs," which I think we have termed computer driven interactive media, into their curriculum is something novel and interesting for them.However, Pink suggest in his book that flipping an idea can give new, original perspective: so, I took our proposition, "Using virtual labs as a way to reach right-brained learners" and flipped it. I started to see that maybe we should be asking "How can knowledge about the whole-brain learner and 21st century learning skills be made part of technology

My specific focus on technology would be would be what I call "The Paperless Classroom." It will address issues of not using textbooks, project-based learning, student driven curriculum design, and technology proliferation (I don't use integration in this context because it applies a force from without. Proliferation suggests a dissemination from within). I would like to look at the Alabama COS and present an Internet based alternative to the common Language Arts Classroom. Ultimately, I would like to combine the objectives of the Technology COS, the Language Arts COS, the Mass Media/Communication COS, and the History COS to create a year long integrated curriculum, but for the time that I have left, I don't think that is possible, so I will focus on Language Arts.

I have been studying a lot about constructivist principles and want to propose that these changes in the way we educate along with immersion in technology is a very innovative way to teach and to improve education for students of all ages. What do you think? Do I have enough time left? Will I be penalized for leaving the group? Your advice is appreciated."

I am awaiting a response. Oh yeah, I reserved my URL for my on-line student literary magazine today. "Meta-Poiesis" will be a something one day...take a look at the place holder www.meta-poiesis.com

Until then...

Forecast Proves Correct, "A Flurry of Activity" Before Deadline

I am excited to see my group mates posting to PBWiki and WebCT. Dr. A posted an admonition in the color RED, bold, highlighted, on the Wiki. She obviously wasn't seeing the work that she had expected. However, I think the deadline meeting for tonight at 5 p.m. was the thing prompting everyone to get working. Sometimes it is the small changes that get you the most excited. Several thoughts by our members have excited me: I will post one of them here. I am so excited to see some of them "thinking outside of their boxes."

Biology Teacher #2
"I've just been wondering. Could I not do the same thing we are attempting with my high school classes? If I divide the class into groups of 3 or 4, then assign each group a topic associated with the class. For example, in Algebra I the topics could be adding integers, solving equations, factoring polynomials. In Geomery the topics could be similar figures, translations, and trigonometry. The assignment would be for each group to create their own wiki page, just as we have done. The pages would all be linked to my classroom page, just as ours are. The students would be required to research and find 2 or 3 websites that help explain or expand their individual topics. The students would be able to collaborate on the web while bringing important informaiton to the class. This would involve the students in the direction of the class, allow them to utilize technology, and hopefully spark a greater interest in the subject matter. As Dr Alexander has requested, this could be adapted to ANY class in any school. The pitfall could be the accessablitily of the internet. I realize some students don't have that opportunity. However, that problem could be remedied in many different ways: use the library, meet at a friends house request use of the mobile lab at school or reserve classtime to go to the computer labs. What do ya'll think? Is this way off line or more in tune with what Dr Alexander wants us to be doing? Why should we, the teachers, dictate the sites the students use? Can't they be involved in that process also?"

My comment:
"(Also added on PBWiki Comments Tab...I think you are absolutely right. Give them some quidelines on how to evaluate quality sites and let them go. Here's one link http://www.cybersmartcurriculum.org/act_sheets/CY00_Stdnt_G68_L18.pdf. Letting them select their own sources takes a lot of the guess work out of our job as teachers, sometimes we don't know what is appealing to the student, and I think we would be surprised at their choices. It also allows them to think critically about what cirriculum they are studying and how to best "teach" that to others and themselves. The self authoring on PBWiki gives them a place to explain the choices that they have made and why they have made them. They should become their own teachers (thinking about how they best learn), teachers of their peers (thinking about the suitability of the content that they choose to teach others), and hopefully we can learn something from them, too. Plus, they will feel a sense of accomplishment that their "learning" has actually had a affect on the class, the world. So many times they just don't see the "Why" behind what we ask them to do in class, and we as teachers don't think we should have to explain to them (if we are even sure ourselves). I think your idea is "BIG." The fact that you are willing to relenquish your stance as "giver of information" and empower them to find their own is part of that shift in "ethos" that I was talking about on the CT Board with Courtney. Good Job! Keep us posted on what you find, the successes and failures. You could even write this up as an experiment in project-based learning for a peer journal or for our WIKI presentation. What we as teachers learn in the classroom is very important, and we should share it with other teachers to help shape changes in education. We don't need someone "high on Capital Hill" telling us what works, we need to find out for ourselves and share it. Change come from within, not from the outside. This is the essence of what we should be teaching students, and ourselves, to guide us all in meeting the demands of the 21st century. Kudos to you!"

Rhetoric and Poetry

Out of our quarrels with others we make rhetoric. Out of our quarrels with ourselves we make poetry.
--William Butler Yeats

Leda and the Swan

A sudden blow: the great wings beating still
Above the staggering girl, her thighs caressed
By the dark webs, her nape caught in his bill,
He holds her helpless breast upon his breast.
How can those terrified vague fingers push
The feathered glory from her loosening thighs?
And how can body, laid in that white rush,
But feel the strange heart beating where it lies?
A shudder in the loins engenders there
The broken wall, the burning roof and tower[19]
And Agamemnon dead.
Being so caught up,
So mastered by the brute blood of the air,
Did she put on his knowledge with his power
Before the indifferent beak could let her drop?

William Butler Yeats

Until next time...

Which box? Changing ethos?

Another couple of posts...

Date: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 6:04pm
I think we have a great thing going with our topic. It is going to be great; we just have
to get it all together. Remember Dr. A said she does not want a term paper. I think she
just really wants us to think outside the box (which we are because not many teachers,
to my knowledge, use virtual labs) and do something, using technology, to improve
student achievement. I definitely think that is what we have! I know personally as a
teacher, I am finding some great stuff out there that I plan to use in my classroom that I
never would have done if it had not been for Dr. A making me think outside the box. I
have always been a lecture and sometimes a hands on teacher, but now I am going to
use a lot more hands on because after reading Pink's book I see how different this
generation is due to the technology that is at their fingertips. We have to change our
teaching strategies from lecture to discovery learning if we are going to reach this
generation and generations to come!


Date: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 6:42pm
I agree, we do have to make changes, but a change in "ethos" will have to take place for
people to really "see" what Pink is talking about. It is a total shift from the 19th century
models of education that serve to "mass-produce" good little American capitalists...learn,
make money, buy stuff, be a success...all that "good stuff." All ideas about objectives,
uni-directional instruction, and quantitative-comparative assessment come from some very
old and deeply ingrained ideas. Pink is right, but to change 100 plus years of
Progressive aftershock requires something more than we are giving it. Technology can
be a way just to "freshen-up" the same tired, boring, ineffective modes of
teaching/learning. What difference does it make if I see my teacher do it/hear her say it
or if I see it on the computer/read it from the computer if I am never asked to think
deeply? To make connections between ideas? To solve real world problems? To think
of others, to communicate and personalize the experience of others? To do something
that is good for society, for someone other than myself? I think the question we should
ask ourselves is not how we can use technology to improve teaching, but how can we
use teaching to improve technology or any area of our lives?

Until next time...

Will it? Does it? Can it? Should it?

Our chemistry teacher has been working on PBWiki and posting on WebCT. Here is one of our dialogues...
_______________________

Date: Thursday, February 21, 2008 8:24pm
I saw your links, they look good. I also went through the DNA Gel lab. It was cool. How
do you plan on backing it with EdPsych? I'm interested to see what your thought process
is here. Thanks.

Date: Monday, February 25, 2008 7:24pm
I am working on the ed. psych. stuff now. I just wanted to find some good labs and put
them up first. Now I am researching, and I am findind a lot of material that backs the
virtual labs. I found a few things in the woolfolk text, but more on the internet. How is
yours coming along. Have you found much info. to support our virtual lab ideas and the
whole right brain thinking topic?

Date: Monday, February 25, 2008 9:45pm
I have stopped working. I have become frustrated. I still don't know if we have defined
what right-brained means for us as a group, some people have suggested "visual
learner," so I am still confused. I have read tons of information and have posted a lot of
stuff to the wiki, but I am sort of stalled because I don't know how we are defining our
supporting information. I work opposite of you. I have to know the "language" that we
are going to use before I find content that will fit that definition. If that makes sense...

Date: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 5:58pm
The technology of our project is "virtual labs". We have to find information that backs up
our proposition that virtual labs will help students learn better, faster, etc...! We know it
will help them because it will keep them interested (due to using technology, computers)
and it will help them learn it quicker because it is hands on (discovery learning) and they
get to play with it and see pictures (which is how a right-brained thinker learns). Does
that make sense? We just have to get all our info together and put in an organized
manner onto our wiki. She said she doesn't want a term paper; so we don't have
to "write" a lot of stuff we just have to find an operating virtual lab and back it up with ed.
psych. There is a lot of ed. psych out there backing technology in the classroom and how
pitures help students remember info. better than words alone. Look at page 271 in our
text. It talks about mnematics (I don't have my book with me and I don't know if I
spelled that right or not, but I do remember the page number for some reason).
Anyway, it talks about how students learn better from a few words and pictures. Tell me
what you are thinking.

Date: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 6:23pm
I am fine with visual learning if that's what definition everyone wants for "right-brained,"
but it means alot more than that...if we choose "visual learner," we should just throw out
any mention of Pink's text...I just need to know the definition before I can know that
my "virtual lab" meets the standards of that definition. I don't want to waste any more
time.
_____________________________

My frustration is showing, and I hope I don't make anyone mad, but people assume too much about the change that computers can make to their classroom. Used innapropriately they are just like a textbook with moving pictures.

Until next time...

Other Opinions and "Racing Thoughts"

Activity on WebCT has all but stopped. I have used the time to be inspired by my other classes, but I have real concerns, now that we have only 2 months to complete our effort. I have to write a paper for my class in Curriculum Studies. We are asking the classic question, "What knowledge is of most worth?" I will post a link to the paper after it is finished next week. I thought the artwork to the left is descriptive of my mood. "Racing Thoughts" is part of the Jasper Johns exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

I was looking for books on Amazon and found this guys reviews.
There are two reviews, one of Maxine Greene's The Dialectic of Freedom and one of Chet Bower's Let Them Eat Data. Other perspectives are good to take into consideration: a fine understanding of the problems that others have with the presentation of new ideas can help one communicate more effectively. Questioning--Openmindedness--the keys to creation. (Notice his only two posts are about writers on the "liberal" boundaries of Educational Curriculum and that they are both negative reviews. Something to consider, too.)

Until next time...

Thoughts That Have Got Me Going This Week

Here's the list I promised. I have to keep the "getting an education" in front of me, not the "going to college."

• CA Bowers, Environmental Education
• Role of post-modern language theories as it applies to Environmental Curricularists

"We have become alert to difference, diversity, the incompatibility of our aspirations, beliefs and desires, and for that reason postmodernity is characterised by an abundance of micronarratives. For this concept Lyotard draws on and strongly reinterprets the notion of 'language-games' found in the work of Wittgenstein.
In Lyotard's works, the term 'language games', sometimes also called 'phrase regimens', denotes the multiplicity of communities of meaning, the innumerable and incommensurable separate systems in which meanings are produced and rules for their circulation are created."

• "Eco Dictionary"
• The Commons, History of the Word and Modern Usage
• The Language of Poetry
• The Power of Myth

Until next time...

Grade "A" Mentality

"Traditional instruction is more concerned with the study of opinions about the real world than with the study of the real world itself. Internalizing others' views requires just one thinking skill—recall. Trying to make sense of one's own day-to-day experience requires the use of every known thinking skill. This notion has made relatively little headway in U.S. classrooms because, for many educators, the line between first-hand and secondhand knowledge is often fuzzy or nonexistent. Many believe that the important thing is for students to be knowledgeable. Where that knowledge comes from—whether someone hands it to the students or they figure it out on their own—seems to be of little consequence."

February 2008 Volume 65 Number 5 Teaching Students to Think Pages 64-67 "Cover the Material—Or Teach Students to Think?"

The bold in the quote above it mine. I was so glad to see a post from Dr. A today. The above is a quote from the article she wanted us to read. Our group hasn't been posting. I notice that when people don't stay in touch, connected in the discussion boards, if they don't let me see and hear their process of learning, I get uncomfortable. I wonder if anyone is thinking about things...if they are reading and looking and processing. I wonder if everyone is having as much fun and living with as many ideas as I am in this process. I don't know if my expectations are too much, but in my teaching, I think I would require some kind of cycle of "reflection" that requires students to process the experience from the "me" perspective, to make sense of all the new information by integrating it into their "being."

I couldn't believe that I was hearing myself last night, when I said to a colleague in another class, "As long as I can keep making A's on my papers. As long as I can get my license renewed, nothing matters." I wanted to slap myself. I am so entrenched in the "make the grade" mentality that I don't stop to think of all the incredible ideas that I have been exposed to and want to learn more about as this process of study has unfolded. I want to make a list of some items and post them so I don't forget what I was really passionate about this week while studying.

Until then...

Tornado

One of our group members was in the path of the Prattville tornado. She and her family are doing fine. Their house is still intact. My heart goes out to all the people who lost their houses, and especially to the kids that two of our teachers work with who have been touched by this experience. I am going to ask if our group members want to get together and do something to help, maybe with the High School.

Direction or Determination?

This self-directed group centered EdPsych project has shown me that people in general do not think out of the box (by that I mean they do not move beyond the traditional), nor are they able to apply techniques offered to them unless they are asked to make them part of the process. Possibly, depending motivation, they may even have to be told explicitly to apply certain techniques, with "grades" attached. This of course flies in the face of "intrinsic motivation."

Pink's book gives ideas and techniques to enhance the right-brained, creative, emotional, integrative, experiential processes: I don't think it has crossed anyone's mind to put these techniques into application during our group project. What my group members have taken away from Pink's book is that the right-brain means visual, probably because they didn't get past the Chapter 1, which talks about the book Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. What a uninspired idea, "To use Virtual Labs to engage Visual Learners." Just another way to say, "Well, since we are giving them something to look at, we are addressing right-brain aptitudes." It is short-sighted, tired, and not at all creative. Sorry to be so direct.

I am not saying that Constructivist approaches can't work, but guidance has to be the key. Asking the right questions, giving some timelines for productivity, assigning roles, promoting interest and inquiry have to be present to propel learners down the constructivist path--at least until they can "read the road map" themselves. To achieve the level of integration that Constructivist techniques require for a student who has gotten away with rote memorization, a bit of critical thinking, and very little real creative thinking for their entire life takes much effort and planning behind the scenes.

I am reminded of a story that a friend and painter who died last year shared with me. She was a student at Black Mountain College in the 1940's. When I asked her how she painted, she said, "I never have a plan. I start by moving color around on the canvas. I use angles and color until I see a form emerge." I can relate this to Constructivist theory and appreciate that freedom, the unplanned application of energy and ideas can produce a deeper understanding of concepts. But, I was also very aware that my friend had years of formal training, she had "chosen" her color ahead of time, cleaned her brushes, and set a new canvas in front of her before she began. She came to the canvas with much preparation, perhaps even words from the nightly news or the topics of conversation at dinner running through her head. The act of creativity is never completely unplanned. The quest of the teacher is to find the line between direction and determination. We want to direct, not to determine--most of all we want the learner to "see the form emerge." I am waiting to see something emerge with this project...I'll let you know if I see it.

Until next time...

Disequalibrium and Disinterest

The only activity from our group has been a discussion post from one of the science teachers. I am not sure who is who at this point. She has voted "yes" to the "Virtual Labs for Visual Learner" idea. She has virtual labs that were provided with her teaching textbook and is eager to use them. This is commendable, I guess. Everyone is jumping to curriculum--"What kind of technology can I use to teach this and that?"--rather than looking at the psychological implications of the choices, "Why would I want to use it?"

Anyway, in the meantime, I was reading the Woolfolk Text and other articles on Constructivism trying to gain some insight into "structure" in regards to self-directed, group, project centered kinds of approaches to learning. From this current experience I am having with the EdPsych project, I would not in a million years give high-school students a topic, reference materials, and grading rubrics, ect. and set them on their way to produce an inventive project. Like most of my group members, they would want to work to the rubric, the grade...leaving out the "creative" and fun parts of the discovery process. Or, they would wait until the last minute, thus not giving themselves time for "immersion" in the topic. Or, they would do something not at all inventive or out of the box because they haven't done their research and really believe that they are being inventive. (What I want to know is what box are we suppose to be thinking out of? I question who is in which box? Aren't we all indifferent boxes, and "coming out" for one person doesn't mean any change at all for another?)

I think the group is not achieving its potential for two reasons: 1.) Most adults, even at graduate level education, are inexperienced in or unable to function at the area of "Formal Operations." The abilities to think hypothetically, consider alternatives, find all possible combinations, and analyze one's own thinking are difficult for many adults, not to mention teenagers. Most students would have little intent or ability to take information from two sources and integrate them into a "new" understanding, invention, or process. 2.) Placed in a social situation, Piaget reasoned that people were thrown into cognitive conflict, and that this "disequilibrium" initiated steps toward resolution that would produce change. Most people are resistant to change, especially adults, and many do not do any form of personal evaluation of their thinking or motivations. This is particularly devastating to many learning styles promoted by Constructivism.

To look at the abilities that Pink talks about in his book, then take into consideration the two assertions above, sets off alarms. His "six senses" seem to go beyond the cognitive abilities considered "Formal Operations." How can learners, because of resistance or inability, develop these senses when they require skills that are more foreign than the logic and analysis focused on by Piaget? Where does the ability to think creatively and analytically in unison to solve complex problems or develop real world solutions to problems come into Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development? How can people become reflective and empathic if asked throughout most of their lives not to be?

Until next time...

Learning Naturally Without Structure?

I am asking myself what, if any, structure can be applied to the processes of "natural" learning?

This is an interesting excerpt from the article "Human Behavior In The Context of Training: An Overview Of The Role of Learning Theories as Applied to Training and Development" Journal of Knowledge Management Practice, Vol. 7, No. 2, June 2006.

"Constructivsts believe that all humans have the ability to construct knowledge in their own minds through a process of discovery and problem solving. The extent to which this process can take place naturally without structure and teaching is the defining factors amongst those who advocate this learning theory. Jean Piaget (1970), a Swiss psychologist, observed human development as a progressive stage of cognitive development. His four stages, which commence at infancy and progress into adulthood, characterize the cognitive abilities necessary at each stage to construct meaning of ones environment. In this sense, Piaget’s theory is similar to other constructivists’ perspectives of learning (e.g., Vygotsky). Fundamentally, Constructivism is a cognitive learning theory because of its focus on the mental processes that construct meaning. Other important learning theories equated with cognitive psychology are Scaffolding theory of Lev Vygotsky, and J. Bruner's Construtivist theory. Lev Vygotsky’s theoretical framework is that the culture we live in influences our social and cognitive development. Vygotsky (1978) writes: "Every function in the child's cultural development appears twice: first, on the social level, and later, on the individual level; first between people (interpsychological) and then inside the child (p, 57) (intrapsychological). He further adds that the potential for cognitive development is limited to a certain time span, which he calls the "zone of proximal development" (ZPD). The implication of his theory for training purposes is that the job of an educator has to identify this zone and to find out where the child was situated in this zone and build upon their specific level through a "scaffolding process". Building from what the learner knows is in essence anchoring the learning on past experience. A major theme in theoretical framework of J Bruner is that learning is an active process in which the learner constructs new ideas or concepts based upon their inherent /past knowledge. Much of the theory is linked to child development research (especially Piaget). In his most recent work, Bruner (1986, 1990) has expanded his theoretical framework to encompass the social and cultural aspects of learning. Under the theory of constructivism, trainers can focus on making connections between facts and fostering new understanding in trainees. Trainers can tailor their strategies to the trainee’s responses and encourage trainees to analyze, interpret, and predict information."

Wiki Update

Checked the Wiki and no activity. We have a meeting scheduled on the PBWiki Talk-To-Chat for the beginning of March. I expect a flurry of activity in a few weeks. I will be posting some Comparison Tables that look at similarities and differences between Pink's The Whole New Mind and Woolfolk's text this weekend. I think I am also going to summarize my ideas on "R-Directional Thinking," Pink's term, and how it enables us to touch upon the play between right and left brain activities (integration, empathy, holistic perception) and perhaps can broaden our scope in selecting "virtual labs" because it broadens our definition of "right-brained" competencies. Slow progress is still progress. Until next time...

Chatroom Meeting

Well, my group met in a chat room set up in WebCT on Monday at 5:00 p.m. I came away from the meeting feeling energized because I believed we had accomplished our objective of nailing down the topic/question we wish to use for the project: How can we use "virtual labs" to access "right-brained" thinkers? I have expressed reservations about seeing the brain as a right vs. left instrument and I posted them on a PBWiki page a weeks ago. During our chat, I quoted some pages from Woolfolk's text that support this, but we are still stuck with "right-brained" as our way to talk about higher-order, creative, intuitive, emotional thinking. I hope when the others have done their literature comparison that this will change. Anyway, at least we were all going in the same general direction. On a good note: although only one person responded to my post, "Who Are You?", on the discussion board, I felt like we all got along well, that everyone was heard, and that each person's questions were answered.

But, Tuesday morning there was a post to our discussion board that read "So, is our topic...using virtual labs to access visual learners? I don't think we decided on a specific topic, just the direction?" Again, I was so frustrated. We had talked about visual learning being one element of "right-brained" skills, but I had disagreed that we should be limited to this one area. This is a slightly-edited version of what I posted as my reply:

"I didn't come away with limiting ourselves to "visual learning." There are all kinds of skills that go with right-brain learning. I suggest we write some clear and concise objectives to present to Dr. A. in relation to the rubric that she provided for us, but for the purpose of establishing some "general" cognitive (problem solving/synthesis) objectives. I suggest that we actually have two objectives (the literature review of Pink and Woolfolk's books, and the application of "virtual labs" to access right-brained skills and thus improve learning for students). See proposed objectives:

A=Audience B=Behavior C=Condition M=Degree of Mastery

1.(C) Given a survey the literature (Woolfolk's and Pink's)
(A) our group
(B) will be able to write a visually pleasing, well-crafted, grammatically correct Wiki Frontpage that exposes the strenghts and weaknesses of teaching to the "right-brain"
(D) which can be used as common language and underpinning for our group's exploration of "virtual labs" as teaching tools.

2.(C) Given a selection of "virtual labs" provide by group members
(A) each person
(B) will present an independently constructed Wiki Subpage containing a "virtual lab" that accesses the skills predominantly controlled by the right brain
(D) and that can be used as a teaching tool in the classroom to improve the education of secondary students ages (10-16).

There are actually other objectives suggested by the rubric that are in the "affective" and even "psychomotor" domains, but I propose this for simplicity sake....I will post these objectives on the Wiki so everyone can see them and edit them if they choose. Thanks."

Since posting them day before yesterday, I have had no response. I will check the Wiki again tonight. Question: How can I communicate more effectively? How can I assure that we are all "hearing" and "perceiving" what is trying to be conveyed?

Books On The Way:
Raising Your Spirited Child
Mary Sheedy Kurchinka
How to Talk So Kids Will Listen, and Listen So Kids Will Talk
Faber and Mazlish

Someone told me that both books even help with adult interactions.
We'll see! Until next time...

Introduction -- Educational Psychology Project?

I feel like a psychology experiment. We are into the fifth week of a group, project-based learning experience for a graduate Foundations of Education class. I have decided to write this blog because I believe from this point forward I am going to learn as much about Constructivist Philosophy and its real world application--working with others and my assets/limitations in this area--than about the psychology of education or technology application in the classroom. I have a lot of work to do.

This class, billed as an on-line course, met for the first time in early January. At this point we went over accessing WebCT, filled out forms for classroom observations, and were given a basic syllabus. Automatically, I thought "there are no dates, no specific exercises, no schedules with time frames." My left-brained organizer went into melt-down. I have survived my whole life by compensating for my creative spirit with detailed organization and planning. Then, our professor, Dr. A, a small woman with a clear, demanding presence read aloud our project assignment: "Based on your readings in Woolfolk's 10th Ed of Educational Psychology and research, identify virtual and other technological ways to enhance the educational process for students of all ages." She held up another book that she wanted us to read in addition to our text, for research: A Whole New Mind—Why Right-Brainers Will Rule The Future by Daniel H. Pink. My right-brain cheered, “Finally, an opportunity to learn something my own way!”

We were then given a break and a brief opportunity to introduce ourselves before "finding" our group members. Most people had already formed their groups during the break, most of them knowing each other from work or other graduate courses. I was recruited, I think, because I have education and work experience in computer support, which I talked about in my self-introduction. I was honored to be asked to join this group: the members are gregarious. I could tell they have a passion for education and wanted very much to succeed in this class.

We are a group of seven: myself--a single mother of two boys, poet, literature teacher, editor, and computer technician; and as I write, I realize that I do not know a lot about my group members, so I am going to post a question on our discussion board to find out more about them. I’ll talk more specifically about my group members and our interactions in the next post. I am going to post a few times in the next day or so to catch up with what is actually happening today. Until next time…

Currently I’m Reading:
Constructivism as a Paradigm for Teaching and Learning, Concept to Classroom
A Passion For the Past: Creative Teaching if U.S. History, James Percoco
The Spectacular Spider Book, Valerie Davies