Blog #4

For this lesson, I would have pictures of several different items from a particular country that we were going to talk about and would give each student a picture of something to research. This could tie in with a geography or social studies lesson and also writing because I would have the students compile their research on the origin of the object and its meaning into a written paragraph to share with the class. Technology would be used to research and also give students typing practice. An example would be using the picture to the right and researching the lei and how it is used in the state of Hawaii or another island country. This would be a great way to introduce an upcoming lesson for students in second or third grade classroom.

Teaching Philosophy

creativity

various styles of learning

hands-on activities

making learning fun

building relationships with children while teaching them

Gardner, Bloom, and Dale

Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences says that there are eight intelligences that humans have. The intelligences are linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, bodily kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalist. This type of classification can help teachers know how to best educate their students in the ways that they learn. Teachers need to know this information about their students so that they can present material in ways that apply to all students. This theory supports technology in the classroom because some students can use it to their advantage and it could help them learn. Technology could also detract from this theory because technology might not be a strong point in any of the children based on their intelligences, since it is not included as one of them, and could prove to be more difficult for some. This is a Type I use of technology because the teacher needs to assess the intelligences of the students and then set up what he or she feels is the best way for the students to learn using that technology.

Benjamin Bloom's theory, called Bloom's Taxonomy, involves the developing of skills with knowledge. The six categories are knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Each stage requires higher level thinking abilities. As children grow, their learning skills go from simple to more complex. This supports the use of technology because if children start young working with it in the classroom, their skills will develop, just as their learning skills develop. It could detract because students may become reliant on the technology, such as using a calculator for basic functions in math, and will never be able to be sufficient without it. Type III uses of technology apply to this theory because as a child increases his skills to the synthesis and evaluation stages, he is not going to need assistance with it.

Edgar Dale bases his theory of the cone's of experience on the fact that people learn from the experiences that they have in life. We learn less from reading, hearing, and seeing so as the cone gets smaller at the top, so do the chances of us learning. His idea is that we relate to information better on a personal level and therefore will remember it better in the future if we experience it for ourselves. This will support the use of technology because students remember 50% of a video, according to Dale, and teachers can use that to their advantage when teaching.