What is inquiry learning?
Inquiry learning to me is getting involved in learning. Being able to take an active role in participating in lessons or learning. I believe that inquiry based learning is ongoing. It is working towards a goal not stopping at the “finish line.” One of the main purposes for last semester’s internship was an inquiry based project. I had to be completely immersed in the content and actively participating to reach my goal. Last semester I thought my goal was to get to the so called finish line, the end of the semester. I now realize that is not the case at all. I am still working on this project and I intend to work on it for the rest of my professional career. Inquiry is also interactive and exciting, learning new things everyday, exploring all the options and working towards that exciting goal.
What tools are available to organize a PLE?
I think that one of the tools, which we saw in examples and resources this week to organize a PLE is through the use of the technology resource Symboloo. It is such a fun and interactive website for children and it is easy to use. I learned about this resource back in my first technology class and it was very interesting. One thing that I think the students will love is all the ways to organize resources with all the different colors.
I think another great resource for organizing a PLE is the use of wikis. When I first started in the college of education I did not realize that there were such things as wikis and now I am well aware of their powers. I think that this is a great way to organize and share all of your information because it is an easy way to organize such a vast body of knowledge. I think that this is also a great place for others to see and interact with your work.
I am not really aware of other ways to organize your PLE so if you have any suggestions for me I would love to hear them.
What does a PLE for K12 inquiry look like?
This is actually a question I keep asking myself. I am interested in teaching lower elementary grades, probably K-2nd grade and this has been hard for me to imagine. One thing that I have found very helpful are other’s blogs in this class. I have seen a couple of different examples of PLEs in the classroom and that has really helped me. I think that one thing that it would look like in my own classroom is an interactive way to learn through technology. I think that I would have to some of the background work on the PLE when it comes to more complicated tasks but I would like even my Kindergarteners to learn the importance of Inquiry learning. I think this is one of my main learning goals in this class, to make sure that I learn more about incorporating this idea into a lower elementary grade level. I would love some comments and suggestions on how to incorporate this type of learning into that environment as well.
Some Links that I found helpful:
Inquiry Learning
This is a link that I found extremely helpful when I was first starting to learn about inquiry learning last semester. It is a website that explores the differences that inquiry based learning has compared to the traditional approach and I found a few great quotes on there that I really enjoyed.
Symboloo
Here is the link to symboloo if everyone does not have it already. I like this website for the use in the K-12 classroom because it is fun and interactive.
Delicious-Social Bookmarking
Here is a link to a social bookmarking website that I absolutely love. It is called Delicious and it is very easy to use. This could be a place where people can view your websites and sources that you have accumulated on a concept.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
PLEK12-Week 2
I think I have chosen my inquiry topic. I thought since this would be my first PLE I would choose something that I would really have a passion about-training dogs. I will talk specifically about training my own dog and finding new ways to do so. I am posting the link to my blog that is about training and I will post there about the links and resources I have found regarding my topic. I am also going to post updates on how the actual training is going with own dog.
Click here to view my training blog
Click here to view my training blog
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Situation Report 2
Project Overview
This week we entered the classroom for the first time. We introduced our idea to the second graders and had a discussion of our topic. We asked the students about literacy and why it is important. It was a very successful visit to the school. It was really great to see how excited the students are about our project. We introduced blogs to them and hit a little snag in our plan when the blogging website did not work on the student’s computers. So we demonstrated the blog on our teacher’s computer. We now plan to use Edublogs for the students to blog about literacy.
Current Roles and Responsibilities
My current roles have not changed from last week. I am still responsible for organizing the Thursday Roundup. Lauren and I came up with the lesson plan for this week and what we were going to work on for the rest of the semester. I was also one of the group members that were responsible for going into the classroom to work directly with the class.
Current Project Status
We are currently starting work in the classroom. The students will make their blogs next Wednesday (Monday was our plan before we realized that it was President’s Day). We are going to just have the students sign up for their own blog and if we have more time next Wednesday we will have the students write their first blog entry. We are going to encourage the students to work on the blogs on their own time if that is something they would like to do.
Preliminary Findings
I have found that it is truly inspiring to students to use social media in learning. They are just so excited to work on this blog, they want to write in it when they are not with us, they want to write their own stories etc. It is amazing to me that the students are actually wanting to learn. One of my group members sent me an article for the Thursday Roundup about the role of social media in a protest. I cannot believe that it has that much of an impact.
Next Steps
We plan to work in the classroom on our blogs and other social media.
This week we entered the classroom for the first time. We introduced our idea to the second graders and had a discussion of our topic. We asked the students about literacy and why it is important. It was a very successful visit to the school. It was really great to see how excited the students are about our project. We introduced blogs to them and hit a little snag in our plan when the blogging website did not work on the student’s computers. So we demonstrated the blog on our teacher’s computer. We now plan to use Edublogs for the students to blog about literacy.
Current Roles and Responsibilities
My current roles have not changed from last week. I am still responsible for organizing the Thursday Roundup. Lauren and I came up with the lesson plan for this week and what we were going to work on for the rest of the semester. I was also one of the group members that were responsible for going into the classroom to work directly with the class.
Current Project Status
We are currently starting work in the classroom. The students will make their blogs next Wednesday (Monday was our plan before we realized that it was President’s Day). We are going to just have the students sign up for their own blog and if we have more time next Wednesday we will have the students write their first blog entry. We are going to encourage the students to work on the blogs on their own time if that is something they would like to do.
Preliminary Findings
I have found that it is truly inspiring to students to use social media in learning. They are just so excited to work on this blog, they want to write in it when they are not with us, they want to write their own stories etc. It is amazing to me that the students are actually wanting to learn. One of my group members sent me an article for the Thursday Roundup about the role of social media in a protest. I cannot believe that it has that much of an impact.
Next Steps
We plan to work in the classroom on our blogs and other social media.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Situation Report
My group and I had a meeting tonight that was very informative! We discussed many different important elements that needed to be discussed and we are starting in the classroom next Wednesday. We have chosen to focus on the importance of Literacy in the classroom as well as the surrounding community. We are going to incorporate technology in order to promote literacy and to spread the importance around community and beyond. We intend to incorporate blogs, podcasts as well as a public service announcement to promote their final product. We are planning on going into the classroom twice a week during reading block. We have 90 minutes of work time and we will be able to work on the blog each week. Our goal is to have them do at least one podcast that the students can add to their blog and then as a final project we will be making a public service announcement. I believe that this will make the student’s learning experience authentic and meaningful. It will also help the students learn about different technologies.
My current responsibilities are to work on the blog with students each Monday with another group member. I am also responsible for the drafting the Thursday roundup. We are all responsible for coming up with ideas and working together.
Our next step is to go into the classroom and introduce our ideas to the second graders. We will see how that goes, hopefully well! We are going to ask the students for their input and revise our plans to meet their needs and wants.
My current responsibilities are to work on the blog with students each Monday with another group member. I am also responsible for the drafting the Thursday roundup. We are all responsible for coming up with ideas and working together.
Our next step is to go into the classroom and introduce our ideas to the second graders. We will see how that goes, hopefully well! We are going to ask the students for their input and revise our plans to meet their needs and wants.
Some resources I found to support the use of a PLE
This first resource is about a college student that I can relate to, the student needs an outlet to express his beliefs, knowledge and ideas and through the use of PLE he can do so. At the bottom of this website there are some more links to youtube videos and other resources that I also found to be useful. The first link at the bottom is a video about why you should use a PLN, which seems pretty similar. These links made it a little more clear about why I should use it in my classroom and how to use it in my classroom. Under the first link is the link to the Podcast on Youtube. If you go to the first link it has other links as well such as a PDF file on why we should use a PLE that I found particularly helpful. I hope you enjoy the links!
Help students expand learning beyond the classroom.
Podcast on PLN
Help students expand learning beyond the classroom.
Podcast on PLN
PLE-Week 1 Reflection
What are your learning goals for this course?
My learning goals for this course is to understand the concept of a PLE even further. I have been doing some research and doing the required reading and I think that I would also really love to collaborate with other students in this class in order to understand further. Another goal that I have for this course is to meet more people that are also participating in this course. I am curious to discuss their views and understanding of the concept and how they could incorporate this idea into their own classroom. I often find myself learning more from others than I do from any personal research that I can do myself. I also enjoy hearing others ideas so that I can incorporate those into a K-12 classroom. Another learning goal that I have for this course is to see a PLE in action in a classroom setting that I could see myself working in. I think I learn very effectively when I have an real life example to follow. I am interested to see this being used in an elementary grade-particularly in an early grade such as Kindergarten, first or second grade. I cannot think of how this would be effective and I would love to see it used.
In what ways are you hoping to connect what you learn here with your own practice?
When I start my internship in the fall and then find my own place in the world of education in a year, I want to incorporate all kinds of technology into my student’s learning experience. I have seen the benefits of using some technology in the elementary schools but I want to take it a step further. I believe that technology can make a student’s learning authentic and meaningful to them. With a PLE, I believe I can make a student’s learning experience better and more effective. I look forward to learning about this concept even further!
My learning goals for this course is to understand the concept of a PLE even further. I have been doing some research and doing the required reading and I think that I would also really love to collaborate with other students in this class in order to understand further. Another goal that I have for this course is to meet more people that are also participating in this course. I am curious to discuss their views and understanding of the concept and how they could incorporate this idea into their own classroom. I often find myself learning more from others than I do from any personal research that I can do myself. I also enjoy hearing others ideas so that I can incorporate those into a K-12 classroom. Another learning goal that I have for this course is to see a PLE in action in a classroom setting that I could see myself working in. I think I learn very effectively when I have an real life example to follow. I am interested to see this being used in an elementary grade-particularly in an early grade such as Kindergarten, first or second grade. I cannot think of how this would be effective and I would love to see it used.
In what ways are you hoping to connect what you learn here with your own practice?
When I start my internship in the fall and then find my own place in the world of education in a year, I want to incorporate all kinds of technology into my student’s learning experience. I have seen the benefits of using some technology in the elementary schools but I want to take it a step further. I believe that technology can make a student’s learning authentic and meaningful to them. With a PLE, I believe I can make a student’s learning experience better and more effective. I look forward to learning about this concept even further!
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