Blog post 8

Classroom Discussion

Discuss and learn, this is the best way which enables students to invent, create, imagine and dig for deeper meanings. In this way, students and teacher share their ideas to enrich each other. Let’s look why teachers use it in class. Actually, students construct their own meaning and ıt may be correct or not. However, they may not develop it by themselves so they may need ideas coming from their peers and teachers. In this way, they will differentiate their ideas with other, and they will again construct their own meaning by their cognitive process in a logical way. Also, students will improve their effective thinking process in this way because they will do critical thinking when differentiating their ideas and creating them again. Moreover, this is a group activity so communication skills of students will definitely improve when sharing ideas.

Discussion is a concept belonging to questions so it is really important to find or create correct and effective questions to improve discussion. Question types and their aim changes according to required skills. For example, factual question is more suitable for young children because ın their stage, they need mastery of basic understanding. Factual questions are more concrete so they are better for basic understanding. On the other hand, higher cognitive questions are more effective when basic understanding achieved because it is more suitable for students who are independent and have higher level thinking. It is really important that teacher should identify their students stage, and they should not force students to work on questions which are higher than students cognitive level because it may harm student’s motivation. On the side, discussion needs some wait time. People sometimes cannot give direct answers because of their anxiety or lack of information so teachers should give students approximately 3 second wait time for them to collect their ideas and present it. Also, sometimes teacher ask question and wait for a long time. This should not be done. If students have an answer, s/he does not wait for a long time and tell it to escape from that situation and silence in class. Otherwise, it shows that students do not have any idea about subject, so don’t wait for long time. If necessary, talk with students later.

We learned how to create correct discussion way. Now, let’s look how to create correct discussion plan. Firstly, teacher should choose an approach to support discussion and to go on a controlled way. Secondly, teacher should make a plan including objectives, discussion items and question for discussing. Thirdly, setting an arrangement. This includes how students and teacher will sit in the class environment. How effectively chairs should be designed to control interaction with students to teacher and students to students. Also, there should be empty places in class for teacher to reach every student easily. Lastly, teacher should definitely be careful when creating discussion because discussion should be open for all students to make all students active. Teacher should not focus a specific part of the class.

Blog post_7

Problem/project based learning

 

Since a long time, many countries are working to change their education system because they think that their education system does not meet with needs anymore and being inadequate. Actually, all countries have used teacher centered education system so far but some of them changed it with better education system and some of them like turkey still use it. When we look our education system, we can say that we are not so good. Actually, some test like Pisa shows that we are below of average of education quality compared to other countries. I think we force to use this education model but it is obvious that this model is not adequate moreover. What can we do? Should we change our education model? Actually, yes, we should change our education model. We have put teachers on the center so far. It worked for a short time but not anymore. It is the time to put students on the center so let’s focus the Problem Based Learning model which put students on the center of education. Problem based learning consists of presenting students with authentic and meaningful problem situations that can serve as springboards for investigations and inquiry. Students are problem solver and instructors are facilitator. They find activities belonging to problems in daily life and guide students when they work on them. Students approach problems from different dimensions so they can use physics and math formulas when they work on a social problem. They can develop themselves in many subject when working on a problem. Then, let’s see how problem based learning is used. At first, problems which are chosen by facilitator should definitely be real life problems because the aim of education is to make students ready for real life. Also, Problems should require alternative solutions because every child are special and they may focus problems from different dimensions with different solutions. We shouldn’t limit them. 

Also, we should not expect students to solve problems over their intellectual level. Problems should be balanced. On the other hand, we should know how to plan for problem based learning. As we did with teacher centered approach, we also should decide on goals and objectives because the goals and objectives describe the direction to remind where the lesson is going. Also, this education model aims to educate on problem solving so we have to design appropriate problems belonging to real life otherwise we cannot apply it on education. Actually, teachers are guide in this education model but they still have many work to do. They have to be very careful when monitoring and managing students work because they determine how students work on their projects. Moreover, they should be good evaluator because this education model makes students free on their thinking so evaluation rubric should be prepared very carefully.

 Finally, Problem based education offer a chance to be better. However, it requires some challenges to achieve it.

blog post 6

Cooperative learning

"Cooperative learning is a successful teaching strategy in which small teams, each with students of varying abilities use a variety of learning activities to improve their understanding on a subject"(Teacher Vision(n.d.)). Cooperative learning gives a chance to students to feel success as a group". Also, it is a method to bring together both high and low achievers to work in same group.  Cooperative learning has many advantages and some of its advantages is really supported when we look theories of some scientists like Piaget and Vygotsky. For example, in cognitive theory Piage sad that people are really active when constructing their own knowledge and cooperative learning give this change to students firstly to create their own knowledge. Also, in socio-cultural theory Vygotsky defend that social interaction affects construction process and how people create meaning out of experience. Constructivist learning is both interrelated with these two theory. Firstly, learners create their own knowledge, and then, by sharing that knowledge with each other, they manipulate their knowledge as stronger. On the other hand, cooperative learning has advantages for students with lesser abilities while they are working with gifted students but some of the researches think that it is not same for the gifted students. Moreover, they think that it is exploitation. Actually, I agree this Word. Gifted students can tutor students with lesser abilities and by teaching to someone, they can repeat their own knowledge and hold it in remembering stage but that is all. I mean that students with lesser abilities will not improve higher thinking of gifted students and will not be helpful for them to manipulate their knowledge and to make it stronger. Even so, this disadvantage definitely cannot Show that cooperative learning is not helpful. Rose even has a thorn. Also, cooperative learning has some technics to make it more helpful. For example, one of them is Stad. In this technic, students are grouped as 4 or 5 member and they help each other to learn materials by tutoring and testing each other. The other one is jigsaw. In this technic, students are again grouped but it is heterogeneous different from Stad. Each student work to learn a specific subject. Each member having same topic from different group comes together to improve that subject and they come back to their group to teach their learned subject with better understanding. The last one is structural approach. Actually, it is what we do with our peers when we help us to understand a particular subject before exam comes. We think the subject and understand it. When our friend asks us about it to learn, we teach it as we are making a daily conversation. Later, while waiting exam, when chatting, we ask some of us who are good at some particular subjects to learn. Also, seating arrangement is important. It should have some proper design while needed. Moreover, it should not be forgotten that every student should have a role in a group. This is important because every student should focus a specific responsibility. This will make them feel like a flywheel in a clock. If it stops the other components of clock will also stop.

teacher division(n.d.)What is cooperative learning and what does it do. Retrieved from: https://www.teachervision.com/cooperative-learning/what-cooperative-learning-what-does-it-do

Blog Post 5

Teacher Centered Approach

Teacher centered approach means “the control of the class is fully in the hand of instructor”. This idea can seem good in some situations. Actually, it seems that the class will being fully controlled by the person who have got education to educate and direct people efficiently. On the other hand, teachers who want to control the class belonging to teacher centered education should pay attention for some important point. Firstly, they have to plan their lesson in terms of its content, construct, and time. They should prepare objectives students will be achieving and work to get information about their students like their grade level and age group. Also, in terms of lesson content, they should not think that more information means more achievement. They should elect information and obtain its simple version to make it clear. However, they should not forget that preparing a direct presentation of content is not enough because it can be insufficient without diagnosing students’ prior knowledge. Teacher may need to add necessary thinks to the presentation content for prior knowledge of students to lead them to construct a relationship with new information. Moreover, when designing this plan, teacher should not ignore the time which will be being consumed and space because it is really important that the prepared content should be equal with the time given for it and students and teacher should not hurry up when presenting the lesson. Furthermore, attention getting is more important in this situation because holding students’ attention is really hard during long presentation.

Moreover, students should be informed by the teacher about what s/he aims for the lesson and expect from it. S/he should inform the students about objectives of the lesson. Also, teacher should be sure that students does not have any problem in terms of understanding the content and should continuously monitor the students to check that they really understand the content actively. Also, the behavior of the students is important in this situation because students understanding has a relationship with the behaviors of students and how those behaviors are controlled by the teacher. Reinforcement occur in this situation.  It is really important that teacher reinforces students as positive or negative. In all situation, teacher wants to increase an expected behavior but they are not same. Teacher always should belong positive reinforcement because it is accepted that positive reinforcement increases the student’s success and motivation more.

Let’s come to the teacher centered education model again. It definitely needs lesson plan but what about students who will be in the center of this system and their behaviors. Will they need any practice for the lesson? Teacher should assign short, meaningful amounts of practice for the students to use their behavioral thinking in their learning because behavioral learning is an important part of the peoples learning process.

Blog post_4

Motivation


               Motivation is the required fuel for people’s engine to continue working (Zaglar, Z.(n.d.)). Motivation is so important for people to show their best performance and to take an action. People sometimes finds it by himself or it sometimes finds people. Also, people needs motivation in classroom life to be enthusiastic and to show their best performance. In this way, students and teachers should work as synchronous. Teacher will produce an environment which students see themselves as feeling competent and self-determining. After that, students will see themselves as colleagues with high level of attractions for one another. In this way, a motivated environment will arrive. However, Motivation is not an easy task which can be applied by using every method. By using motivation, the aim is not only to ignite the human engine to take an action. It also should make people enjoyment. This motivation type is called intrinsic motivation. People is doing something for fun, for enjoyment and they don’t do it for a reward or to arrive a goal. It is now for the best performance to arrive. In this situation, people behaviors cannot be ignored. There will be some people who are bad and good rein forcers. Rein forcers works for an expected behavior to repeat. If they are good, they will work for a good behavior to happen by using strengthening methods like giving a chocolate to affect emotionally. However, they may be bad and they can make restriction for an expected behavior to repeat. On the other hand, other face of this picture is punishment. There are rules in every country. If a person does not obey those rules, he is interfered according to that rules. The aim is to finish that action not to happen again. Class also is a place having its own rules. If students do not obey those rules, they will be penalizing. This is a part of surviving in class. Also, the question comes to the mind. Should teacher make a decision between reinforcement and punishment to choose in class. Teacher actually should choose all of them and use them whenever they are necessary according to student’s needs. Student needs are important because they affect each other. If a student is hungry, you cannot expect him to be active in class. Moreover, if he doesn’t feel safe, he will not focus lesson properly. He will be focusing to take action by thinking where his brain goes to find a safer place. In this situation, teacher should make changes on learning situations and should create them with positive feeling tone. Students should forget their bad ideas in class. They should focus their interest and intrinsic values and they should think their achievable learning goals. Also, teacher should make them compatible with their peers so that they cannot see themselves out of group. Finally, motivation is everything in a class. It is a keyword and it is the fuel as I sad first.

If you don’t put fuel to your car, you should not wait it to work by itself. Don’t forget motivation is fuel of students…

Third blog post

Teacher Planning

Have you ever traveled with a ship does not have any instruction about where to go and how to go? You cannot because there are captains making plans for the ship where to go and how to go. We can regard the lesson a ship and captain as a teacher. We have two-sample lesson plan today and I want to compare them with their weaknesses and strength with you. One of them is plan of a computer lesson and the other one is plan of an e-mail lesson plan.

We have steps of lesson plan and we will talk about differences of the two-lesson plan with these steps. Firstly, I want to start with first lesson plan. It does not have a plan for required differention in case of teacher have a problem. Syntax of learning activities is not proper. It does not include a closure. It has an assignment as a project but project does not give any information. There is no in-formal assessment. The second lesson plan does not have any modification plan in case of a problem. Prior knowledge is not sufficient. Syntax is not proper.

 

 Let us start with showing weaknesses of the two-lesson plan. Firstly, I want to start with computer lesson plan. The essential question about using graphic drowns before and students will be able to interpret those graphics. The lesson plan has an obvious goal can be understood easily. However, some objectives are unnecessary and so special. For example, one of the objective about changing column graphic to figure graphic and the other one is about changing figure graphic to column graphic. They are same and can be written in one sentence. In addition, lesson will start but we still could not hear any sentence about any class modification.  Then, teacher starts giving a superficial introduction and much knowledge about subjects. I think this is so fast and syntax of learning activities is not proper. Students may not remember all information when practicing them so it should be step by step.  A bit information and a bit practicing should go together. Teacher does not ask any question to learn about students and does not measure class tension for understanding of students. Formative assessment is low during class time. Teacher determines what to do for evaluating after class but we cannot guess the judgment and evaluation criteria. On the other hand, the second lesson plan has an understandable goal but its objectives are not good, they are soon like the goal.  Introduction is not detailed and practice part does not give any information to create a lesson plan, it only tells that students will create a lesson plan. There is a checking for understanding part but it does not have any relationship with informal assessment. Closure is definitely same with goal. Finally, second plan is definitely terrible.

Finally, I want to talk about strengths of the two-lesson plan. In the first plan, before starting to the lesson, teacher use remembering which is a part of cognitive development by asking a question about last week’s learned facts for students to recall. In addition, teacher gives prior knowledge about today’s class subjects to inform students. Teacher works to increase class motivation by asking question about what they did last weeks. On the other hand, the second lesson plan approximately includes all properties of our required lesson plan steps but it does not include any helpful information in it. However, development part is the only part can be helpful. It can be used as a prior knowledge and explain general aim.