Reaction to "How Teachers Can Share Their Own Learning"

 "How Teachers Can Share Their Own Learning"

This article authored by Edutopia blogger Bob Lenz focuses on the importance of professional development for educators. According to Lenz, however, it is not attending the professional development seminar that is beneficial to the teacher (and his or her students). Instead, for professional development to have any benefit or real purpose, an assessment of teacher learning needs to be conducted. Only if teachers are actually learning, evaluating themselves, and improving their teaching practices does professional development have any value.

I thought that the author's views in this blog post were valid and I could connect what he stated about professional development in education to continuing education requirements for health care providers. I am a teacher in a dental hygiene program at a community college and I have an active Registered Dental Hygienist license. I am required to complete at least 36 hours of CE every 3 years to keep my license active. In order to get my CE for several of the webinars or seminars that I attend there is a written test that you have to take to get your certificate. Since there is an assessment of learning this gives the learning experience more value in my opinion. I feel that after participating in a course of some sort I should be able to demonstrate what I learned.

References: 
Lenz, B. (2013, November 20). How Teachers Can Share Their Own Learning. Retrieved from: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/teachers-show-their-own-learning-bob-lenz.

Reaction to "7 Things you should know about... Lulu"

One of our assigned readings from this week was the Educause article "7 Things you should know about... Lulu." I was interested in reading this article because I had never heard of Lulu before and was curious about what kind of a program it was. I was surprised and excited to learn that Lulu can be used by people that want to publish original works. I have authored one article in my career as an educator, but I am interested in doing more writing at some point. I was delighted that it sounds like Lulu is an easy way to self-publish and even get an ISBN for original material. The article mentioned that there are several templates to use on Lulu and ways to personalize the product so that it is just how you want it.

I can see several applications for Lulu in my own personal and professional life. However, I feel that Lulu might also be a way for the college students that I teach to prepare professional works themselves. Lulu is definitely something I am interested in investigating further.  








References: Educause. (2008, January) 7 things you should know about Lulu. Retrieved from: https://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7033.pdf

Reaction to Richardson Chapter 6

In Chapter 6 of "Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms" I learned more about the ways that Twitter and social bookmarking services can be utilized effectively by educators. I have no current experience with Twitter but have learned through reading this chapter and several related online articles that using Twitter is easy and can be useful. For example, if I had a Twitter account for my class, my students would all be required to follow me so that when I updated class related information, they would all get the notification quickly and in real-time. According to Richardson, I could also use Twitter to link to presentations or relevant articles for my students to access. (p.88)

Regarding social bookmarking services, in this chapter I was introduced to Diigo and was able to understand more about the bookmarking service that I am currently using in this class, Delicious. So far, I have liked using Delicious and have found that it is a neat way to organize links all in one place. I have found that tagging links is easy and following others with similar interests is a great way to find new resources. I am learning lots of new ways to collaborate and share information with others!

References: Richardson, W. (2010) Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin.

Reaction to "The Power of Introverts: An Essential Understanding for Teachers"

 "The Power of Introverts: An Essential Understanding for Teachers"

This was an interesting article that I found on my Edutopia RSS feed. The author, Edutopia blogger Elena Aguilar, shares what teachers should know about introverted students as well as considerations for introverted educators.

I could relate to this article because I feel that I am an introvert by nature. I like my quiet time and prefer to work on tasks in solitude. I am grateful that I work with a fairly small number of students on a daily basis. My classes of dental hygiene students are no more than 24 students and I feel that I can have a more personal relationship with them and engage them in discussion more easily than I could if I were teaching to a large lecture hall with 80 plus students. Aguilar states that for introverted teachers it is sometimes necessary to take a quiet break and refuel between tasks so that you can temporarily transform into an extrovert when necessary. I feel this is what I do everyday.

Aguilar also states that as educators we should be mindful of introverted students and "take time to cultivate them" instead of only focusing on the outwardly participatory students. I try to get each of my students involved during class discussion, but I try not to force them too much out of their comfort zone.

Reference:
Aguilar, E. (2013, November 25). The Power of Introverts: An Essential Understanding for Teachers. Retrieved from: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/power-introverts-essential-understanding-teachers-elena-aguilar.

Reaction to "How Do I Get a PLN?"

How Do I Get a PLN?

In Edutopia guest blogger, Tom Whitby's entry I learned what a PLN or Personalized Learning Network is and why I should have one as an educator. According to Whitby, a PLN is "a mindset" that embodies collaboration between education experts and professionals (2013). Benefits of having a PLN include access to information that you otherwise would not have, mentors in other geographic locations, and someone to hear your thoughts.

Whitby outlines steps for building a PLN and states that "20 minutes a day" should be set aside for education collaboration. I learned that I have already begun to build a PLN (without even knowing it) by following educational blogs such as this one. I need to remember after my Master's degree is complete to continue to engage in communication with other educators.

Reference:

Whitby, T. (2013, November 18). How Do I Get a PLN? Retrieved from: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/how-do-i-get-a-pln-tom-whitby.

Reaction to video "Using Wikipedia for Academic Research"

"Using Wikipedia for Academic Research"

For me, this video re-emphasized what I learned in previous weeks in this course about the use of Wikipedia in education. In our Class Wiki my group supported the use of Wikipedia by students and this video directly correlates with other research that we found on the subject. The author, bcveen,  explains that Wikipedia can be used as a first resource for research and how to use Wikipedia to find additional information.

What I learned in this video that I had not thought of before is using the outline provided by Wikipedia to make your own outline for a research paper. I think that this is a good idea. If not used directly for making an outline, the subtopics provided by Wikipedia would be helpful as well in making a concept map of related information that may need to be included in the research paper.

As an educator in the community college setting I do not want my students to use Wikipedia as a primary source, however I do support the use of Wikipedia in finding out initial information on a topic and I think that it would be helpful in outlining.

Reference: bcveen. "Using Wikipedia for Academic Research." Online video clip. You Tube. You Tube, 22 Jul. 2008. Web. 17 Nov. 2013.

Reaction to "Habits of Heart: Helping Students Reflect and Act on Gratitude"

 "Habits of Heart: Helping Students Reflect and Act on Gratitude"

I really enjoyed reading this entry from Edutopia blogger Maurice Elias. In his post, Elias explains the benefits of expressing gratitude and ways to foster this attitude in the classroom setting. Elias provides 5 activities that students can engage in that encourage an attitude of gratitude.

I think that it is important for students of any age to be reminded of the importance of having an attitude of gratitude. I also believe that educators should embody this mindset. In healthcare fields such as dental hygiene I think this involves appreciating everyone on the dental team including the front desk staff. In our clinic at the community college I take the time to say hi to the custodians every time that I see them and as a faculty member I hope that my students notice and follow suit. Each person should be recognized for the work that they do and the role that they play in making an office or a school run smoothly.

I especially liked Elias' idea of writing thank you cards. I feel that people do not do this as often as they should. I also liked Elias' idea of having students write reflective journal entries where they think about their actions and the actions of others and how they are connected. This is something that I may consider incorporating into the Patient Management course that I teach.

Reference: Elias, M. (2013, November 14). Habits of Heart: Helping Students Reflect and Act on Gratitude. Retrieved from: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/heart-habits-gratitude-students-reflect-act-on-maurice-elias

Reaction to "What Teaching Teaches the Teacher"

 "What Teaching Teaches the Teacher"

Edutopia guest blogger Todd Sentell wrote an interesting entry on October 16th that I could really relate to. His post was titled "What Teaching Teaches the Teacher" and it is a personal account of his experiences as special education teacher. Now I have only been in the role of an educator for less than 2 years, but I have already learned so much more about my profession and my students in this amount of time.

Sentell notes that he has learned that "students that know as much as you do about the subject really keep you sharp." I can relate to this because several of my dental hygiene students have dental assisting or general dental practice experience and prior knowledge about a topic. These students ask very specific questions and make sure I know my stuff. He also notes how important saying "I'm proud of you" is. I am a strong believer in positive reinforcement and acknowledgement of effort. Many of my students are busy adults with a lot of different responsibilities to manage, with school being only one of them. I try to encourage them and tell them when they do something right because I feel it gives them strength to keep going. The last point that Sentell makes also rang true to me. He speaks about reflection on our teaching practices and mentions the benefit of thinking over what you did that day in the classroom and pondering the difficulties as well as the triumphs. I do this everyday and it helps me to plan for the next day, or year, and reminds me why I do the job that I do.

Bottom line, I feel that it is important for teachers to remember that we are learners as well!



References: Sentell, T. (2013, October 16). What Teaching Teaches the Teacher. Retrieved from: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/what-teaching-teaches-the-teacher-todd-sentell

Response to Chapters 5 and 8 in the Text

Chapter 5 in Richardson's book "Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms" addresses the use of RSS feeds in the educational context. The subtitle of this chapter is "The New Killer App for Educators" and I would have to agree. Before this class, I had never used an RSS feed reader, but it really is pretty cool. I like that it saves time because you don't have to visit each webpage independently. I can quickly click on articles that I want to read or I can "mark as read" things that I am not interested in reading.

I  can see that utilizing RSS feeds as an educator will help me be more time efficient, but I learned that application has benefits for students as well. Richardson points out that even if students are not using weblogs they can still set up an RSS feed reader to keep up to date on "current events and even topic-specific research" (p. 78). I am interested in having my students set up a Feedly account to stay up to date with dental articles. In their second year of dental hygiene education, the students are required to start consuming evidence-based research in the medical/ dental field and must write abstracts of what they learned. This is to prepare them for continuing education requirements once they have their RDH license. I think that using an RSS feed reader would be an ideal way to accomplish this.

In chapter 8 I was introduced to podcasting. I was relieved to read that Richardson explains that, in reference to podcasts, that "this is not the highly polished, professional radio you might be used to" (p. 113). I am self-conscious about recording my voice as a podcast for students, but I guess if it is understood that there will be some stumbling of words or "ums" included, then I won't be as nervous when I go to make mine.

References: Richardson, W. (2010) Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin

Reaction to "Teaching Your Students How to Have a Conversation"

"Teaching Your Students How to Have a Conversation"

I found this Edutopia article written by Dr. Mendler to be applicable to the Patient Management dental hygiene course that I teach. In this course we focus on effective interpersonal communication techniques. In his blog, Dr. Mendler notes that some students don't know how to carry on a conversation and through my observation of students or from reviewing their appointment taping with clients, I have found that statement to be true as well.  

Dr. Mendler gives 8 tips for speaking and listening that I wish to share with my class. The ones that I especially liked are to ask open ended questions, make eye contact, and encourage turn taking. Asking open ended questions will get the patient talking and then the student hygienist will be able to gain a clear understanding of the patient's concerns that they have. Some students talk to their patients while they are filling out paperwork or doing some other task, which does not give the patient the impression that the student truly cares or is listening to what they say. In addition, some students get so excited to share information with the patient that they forget to let the patient interject questions when they have them.

Another tip that Dr. Mendler shares, that I plan to personally demonstrate with my class is the first tip, Model a Good Conversation. It is my job to model behavior that I want my students to demonstrate and effective communication is key. We do role playing in this class so this is a good time for me to demonstrate effective patient communication for my students.

References: Mendler, A. (2013, November 5). Teaching your students how to have a conversation. Retrieved from: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/teaching-your-students-conversation-allen-mendler

Reaction to Chapters 4 and 7

Chapter 4 in "Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms" addresses the uses of wikis in the educational setting. Richardson explains that wikis are a unique way for people to work together and share information. I think that if I were to use a wiki in my classroom, I would use it similarly to how we are using wikis in this course. I think that it would be best for me to set up a "group wiki" where my students could work collaboratively on projects and share ideas. With the maturity level of my students (college age) and their knowledge of technology, incorporating wiki into my classrooms would not be that difficult.

In Chapter 7 I learned more about Flickr. I really love taking pictures and looking at pictures, so this chapter was especially interesting to me. I have only used Flickr a little bit in my teaching to find pictures for my Oral Pathology course, but I plan to start using it more. What I didn't know was about the annotation feature on Flickr. I can think of several ways that I could use this feature to explain part of a diagram. Richardson suggests that an option for use in the classroom would be to have the students annotate a picture themselves as a form of assessment. I think this would be a fun activity compared to the boring, old "label the diagram" assignment with paper and pencil that I so often use.




 References: Richardson, W. (2010) Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin

Reaction to "Strategic Modeling: Balancing Structure with Choice" by Joshua Block

 "Strategic Modeling: Balancing Structure with Choice" by Joshua Block on Edutopia

I am enjoying reading the Edutopia RSS feed more than any of my other subscriptions on my Feedly account. I found this blog entry by a high school teacher named Joshua Block today and I could really relate to it. In this blog entry Mr. Block explains how he has come to terms with being a facilitator helping students come to their own conclusions and solve their own problems through modeling for them effective problem solving strategies. As a teacher at the college level, I strive to not just give my dental hygiene students answers to their questions, and instead give them guidance and help them come to the answer themselves. Sometimes this is easier said than done though.

Mr. Block gives some examples of how to practice what he refers to as "strategic modeling" with students. One way to do this is to "model thinking" for students using a sample problem. I do something similar to this when we work through clinical case scenarios as a class. Before the students have to complete case studies on their own I show them how to effectively work through the process and answer questions along the way. Another activity Block shares that may be effective is for students to share their work with others. Students can learn a lot from their peers and if the teacher points out strong points in student's work it can be a model for other students in their work also.

I think it is important for instructors in every discipline to model problem solving strategies as well as professional behavior. The students do watch us, and we have to remember that we are always "on stage."

Article Citation:
Joshua Block. (2013, October 28). Strategic Modeling: Balancing Structure with Choice. www.edutopia.org. Retrieved October 29, 2013 from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/strategic-modeling-balancing-structure-choice-joshua-block

Reaction to video "What is a Screencast?"

 YouTube video  "What is a Screencast?"

This video was somewhat helpful for me because prior to watching "What is a Screencast?" I did not know what a screencast was. The maker of this video begins the video clip by typing the phrase "What is a Screencast?" into his Google search engine. Then he reads what he finds as the definition of screencasting to the audience. In my opinion, the author could have explained what a screencast is in his own words, it would have been more meaningful and interesting. I believe that teachers that read straight from the book are taking shortcuts. Nevertheless, the author gives us a very brief explanation of what a screencast is demonstrates one for the viewers.

Now that I have the "What is a Screencast?" figured out. I still need to answer my questions about why I should use one and how to make one. I will have to conduct further research to answer these questions, but the video gave me a starting point.


ScreencastCentral. "What is a screencast?." Online video clip.
YouTube. YouTube, 9 Feb. 2007. Web. 28 Oct. 2013.

Reaction to Richardson Text- Week 2

I found Chapter 2 in "Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms" by William Richardson to be more insightful than Chapter 3. Chapter 2 highlights the benefits and uses of Weblogs in the educational setting. This chapter helped to answer some of the initial questions that I had about blogging such as why should I incorporate this into my teaching and how exactly could a blog be used for educational purposes? Chapter 3 wasn't as helpful because I have already begun experimenting with blogging. This information may have proven to be beneficial as a reading requirement before the start of class.

Richardson provides an argument in support of the use of Weblogs in Chapter 2. He states that "Weblogs truly expand the walls of the classroom" (p. 27). I can see how blogging might be an effective way for my students to work with other dental hygiene students from around the state, country, or even the world. The internet really does allow people in every geographic corner of the globe to share what they think and know with others. Another point that Richardson emphasizes is that "blogs archive the learning that teachers and students do, facilitating all sorts of reflection and metacognitive analysis" (p. 27). Reflection is a higher-order thinking skill that I, as a college instructor, feel is very important. I agree that blogging may be a useful application for reflective writing that I could use with my students.

In Richardson's "Scaffolding Blogging" subsection of Chapter 2 he shares how younger students can begin to use blogs and how older students can do more with blogging. Being that I teach adult learners (college students) I see that there are many ways that blogging can be incorporated in my teaching. Also, with practice my students may be capable of "complex blogging" which incorporates higher-order thinking processes (p. 31) due to their age and experience with technology.

In conclusion, I feel that there may be ways for me to use Weblogs with my students. I think that the most important and beneficial activity that my students could use blogs for would be self-analysis and reflection.


Reference: Richardson, W. (2010) Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin.

Reaction to Richardson Text

As I read Chapter 1 in the text "Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms" I learned more about the history of the internet and how technology is and can be better used in the educational setting.

The part that really spoke to me was the section subtitled "Learners as Teachers" that begins on page 8. Richardson emphasizes the need for teachers to first experiment personally with technology before they try and implement it in the classroom. I feel that this is sound advice. Richardson shares that he experienced "transformation" through personal experimentation with various forms of technology.

I look forward to experiencing transformational learning myself in this course as I engage in creating media and using technology forms (such as this blog) that I have never used before. I personally learn best when I can experience things for myself. In this course I hope to gain a better understanding of how technology works, what mediums are most suitable to application in my educational work setting, and maybe overcome initial obstacles that I encounter. I am sure that there is a learning curve in using most of these programs and technology forms and this first time through will be beneficial for future applications.

Also, in this "Learners as Teachers" section Richardson states that educators might benefit from first exploring technology tools as they apply to our personal interests. Richardson asks educators to determine what we are passionate about and explore learning this way (p. 9) I have begun to do this by adding RSS feeds that don't apply directly to teaching, but rather to my personal interests. This combination of information on my Feedly account keeps me updated and interested in everything that I have to know and want to know.

Reference: Richardson, W. (2010) Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin

Reaction to YouTube video "Creative Commons- Get Creative"

YouTube video "Creative Commons- Get Creative"

This is not the first time that I have watched this video clip. However, today as I was re-watching it, I noticed that the more I learn about creating educational resources and using information that I find on the internet, the more the content in the video has become understandable and important to me.

The idea that collaborating with others and sharing information is beneficial to all is a relatively new concept. This video outlines the history of Copyright and explains the hindrances that have come with copyrighting with "all rights reserved." It further explains the advent of Creative Commons and the problems that can be addressed in sharing works under "some rights reserved" in order to "skip the intermediaries" so that  everyone can benefit.

I personally agree with the concept of Creative Commons. I think that it is a great way to work together with other people and can save time and energy from the teacher's standpoint. I don't see any reason to "re-invent the wheel" so to speak when someone else has already done so.

I have yet to license any of my own works under a Creative Commons license, but I intend to do so some day. I look forward to leaning more about this topic in our course.

Video Citation:

willmed. "Creative Commons- Get Creative." Online video clip.
YouTube. YouTube, 10 Apr. 2007. Web. 21 Oct. 2013.

Reaction to "Knowledge in Action Research Helping to Make the Case for Rigorous Project-based Learning" by Edutopia Staff

"Knowledge in Action Research Helping to Make the Case for Rigorous Project-based Learning" by Edutopia Staff

The title of this article sparked my interest as I was browsing new posts on my computer this morning.

Being a teacher in a community college dental hygiene program, my focus is as much on teaching theory as it is on teaching technical skills. The words "knowledge in action" ran true to my overall goal of educating dental hygiene students, so I decided to read on.

What I learned in this article is that, currently, research is being conducted to determine the efficacy of programs that involve what is referred to as "project-based learning" or PBL. According to the Edutopia Staff, programs that are based on PBL focus on giving students a chance to not only show what they know on paper, in the form of tests and essays, but also demonstrate their knowledge through doing something innovative with their gained knowledge. In other words, PBL is experiential and gives the students a taste of the real-world.

Although this article focused on research conducted on Advanced Placement students in the high school setting. I found this information to be applicable to my career setting in higher education as well. To me, the importance of implementing problem-based leaning in dental hygiene is paramount. My students will not be successful in the work place if they only know about dental deposits and not how to remove them. Similarly, they will not be effective patient educators if they only know how to remove the deposits and not how to avoid their accumulation.

It is my feeling that in virtually any educational setting the teacher should strive to create authentic tasks for students to demonstrate their knowledge. This ensures that the students have to move past the rote learning stages and understand how their knowledge can be applied. Application also allows students to see why learning something is necessary or important in the larger scheme of things.

It will be interesting to see what the results of this research initiative actually unveil. I will be following up on this topic in the future.




Article Citation:
Edutopia Staff. (2013, October 17). Knowledge in Action Research Helping to Make the Case for Rigorous Project-based Learning. www.edutopia.org. Retrieved October 21, 2013 from http://www.edutopia.org/knowledge-in-action-PBL-research