When I created my blog I organized it in the same order in which the week’s discussions or assignments were completed. I can see myself using my blog as a portfolio in my future as my potential employers will be able to view my blog and see my knowledge of brain-compatible learning as well as my ability to make adjustments to lesson plans. I have to admit I had some difficulty when it came to uploading the power point presentation to my blog, I even had to call the blog sties technical support team for help. I ultimately found out that I would have to screen shot the power point presentation and upload it in that manner. When I first started uploading documents to my blog I was unaware that I was able to upload it as a complete document so I began by uploading page by page. I only left it that way as I wanted it to be in that particular order.
Modifying a lesson plan was not as easy as I originally thought it would be, finding on that had room for expansion was the toughest challenge I faced. I ultimately found the one on wind that was a good lesson but I felt was lacking and had room for improvements. Adding in the ideas of additional activities was easy as I have a creative side, not much but some and finding the common core standards was not too challenging. I think the toughest part, which I consider my weakness, for me was adding in modifications and accommodations. I feel this way as I have no real classroom experience with special needs students or students with a learning disability and this is why this is one area I could definitely improve on. About a week after this course started I got “the blue screen of death” on my old computer and had to go and purchase another one. The new computer runs with Windows8 and has Microsoft Office 2013 on it. I think this experience was definitely a brain-compatible learning experience for me. It seemed like I had to relearn everything all over again and play with things and I admit I got quite frustrated but pushing through it and figuring things out was defiantly brain-compatible learning. Additionally I knew that technology was important within the classroom but I have never been a fan of video games as I feel they take away from things that are supposed to be important, and my dad worked for Atari when I was younger so we got to test out all the new video games. However this class has shown me just how important educational video games can be and perhaps if they had them when I was younger I would not have such a terrible time with spelling and grammar that I still have today. Outside of the classroom is the real effects of environment has, one thing in particular from our text is that “forty-two percent of U.S. families with children start out with one, two, or three strikes against them” (Jossey-Bass Reader, 2007, p. 220). The strikes they are referring to include a mother not finishing high school before her first child is born, unwed parents, and most interesting maturity such as a woman being under the age of twenty upon the delivery of her first child. (Jossey-Bass Reader, 2007, p. 220). Reference: Fischer , K. W., Immordino-Yang, M. H., & , (2008). The jossey-bass reader on the brain and learning. (1st ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Our children and the students we are or will be teaching are all children of the digital age. A perfect example of this occurred about a month ago while my family and I were in Disneyland. My phone, a touch screen, had died and so while I took our daughters to meet Elsa and Anna my husband stayed at the hotel waiting for my phone to charge a bit before meeting up with us. While in line my little one, two and a half year old Jessica, was getting bored and wanted my phone but all I had was dads flip phone, not touch screen, so I gave it to her and she proceeded to use her finger to swipe the phone open, looked at me and said “mommy, daddy’s phone no work”. As the students we teach are of the digital age we must incorporate technology including games within the classroom. I believe that Dr. Willis gave prime examples as to why games can be beneficial within the classroom, including achievable challenges, incremental goal progress (level or chunks to a game), confidence, resilience or persevere through challenges set back, willing to take part in risk and ultimately growth in their mind set (Willis, J., 2013).
One particular game I have seen used at my daughter’s elementary school is ST Math (http://web.stmath.com/) with Jiji the penguin. This game works at the individuals students level right alongside Jiji, consists of ten or so question and when they answer the question correctly Jiji is able to pass through however when they answer the question incorrectly it blocks Jiji path. I feel this game could be considered brain-compatible as well as follows many if not all of the criteria that Dr. Willis discusses. The game is based on the individual child’s academic level so that corresponds with achievable challenge. Jiji is broken down into levels and students are only able to progress when they have mastered the level and therefore has incremental goal progress or chunks. Additionally this video game provides students with a progress chart at the completion of their computer lab time including what level and percent they are at. It builds confidence when the student sees Jiji pass through hand is not blocked by a wrong answer which also shows the students willingness to take a risk. The best part about Jiji is that the students are provided with the login information so they can practice at home, they are only allowed to redo levels they have already completed as a means to make it fair to all students however my daughter loves playing Jiji even at home when I am not working on homework you can be sure she is sitting at my computer playing Jiji. GAME: http://www.brainrush.com/lesson/addition-subtraction-2-s-5-s-10-s Reference Willis, J. (2013, January 28). Video game model for motivated learning [Video File]. TED Ideas Worth Spreading. Retrieved from http://tedxtalks.ted.com/video/Video-Game-MODEL-for-Motivated STMath (n.d.) Retrieved from: http://web.stmath.com/ Information Processing Model - |
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