Costa and Kallick VS Marzano and Pickering

Hi everyone,

I think that both set of researchers findings in regards to Habits of Mind, are quite similar, with very few differences to be honest. I think the only differences I identified were that Costa and Kallick seemed to go into more detail by naming 16 Habits of Mind. In saying that, I think that with less Habits of Mind, Marzano and Pickering pretty much share the same scope, but in a much broader sense. It was interesting though to read about using all of our senses such as smell and touch to learn in Costa and Kallick's version of Habits of Mind.

Another difference I identified was that Costa and Kallick defined the term "Habits of Mind" more explicitly than Marzano and Pickering, but once again the same amount of information could be gathered from the Dol Manual.

In summary, I think that both set of researchers have nailed the topic on the head and as a learning manager, you should be confident in following either.

Feel free to comment

Regards

Jon :)

Integrating DoL and the 8 LMQ's

Hi everyone,

I think the diagram above suggests how well the 8 LMQ's and DoL integrate together in regards to building/designing a learning experience.

During the profiling stage, the research provided by Marzano and Pickering (1995) in their Dol Manual provides teachers with a framework to help gain positive attitudes and perceptions from their students about the classwork and classroom environment. Dimension 5 in their DoL manual provides teachers with proven methods to teach and develop positive and productive Habits Of Mind from the students.

By having such a well developed structure to follow when designing learning experiences, the Learning Manager should feel confident that all students will be able to meet the learning outcomes required from the learning experience. Adding to that, the lesson should should also be enjoyable and engaging at the same time.

In summary, I think the advent of the research done my Marzano and Pickering and Co. has really helped make teaching and learning more effective in the classroom. From a personal point of view, these frameworks have really helped me design my learning experiences and think that without them, I would have no idea how to design an effective lesson plan.

In a nutshell, if a person has the desire to teach and loves it as a profession, then the 8 LMQ's and DoL Manual are the "How to" guides to teaching and really make it a lot more easier and thus a more enjoyable job.

Feel free to comment.

Regards

Jon :)

Raise Your Pants and Raise Your Grades

Hi everyone,

I seen this video on TV earlier and thought it would be interesting for you all to see. A U.S. Senator is on a crusade to stop young people from wearing sagging pants. He goes on to say that by raising your pants, you will raise your grades. Personally, I thought it was a bit of a joke and that if the guy in charge of the campaign really thinks the campaign itself will help in regards to education, then he is kidding himself. Don't get me wrong, I think it looks ridiculous when people where their pants like this, but haven't these guys anything better to spend their time in office on such as gun and drug problems in schools????

Anyway I hope you all get a laugh out of it too!!!!!!!!!!!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuEhx1rtdbQ

Blogs In the Classroom

Hi all,

Like vokis/avatars, I think blogs will also be a useful learning tool!!! There are so many ways to implement blogs into the classroom, it would take me all day to type in the examples I can think of!!!!!!!!!!! I did find this video on youtube that will give you some insight into how to implement blogs in the classroom.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfJETK3am1M


I also came across a of couple blogs belonging to students at Orange Grove Primary School. These blogs also are examples of how blogs can be used in the classroom.

Students involved with this blog have also gone onto create their own blog's for their classmates and family to follow.

The Albert the Bear blog was setup to encourage students to practice their creative writing skills and from reading the postings on the blog by the students this seems to have had the desired effect as many students have inputted on the blog.

I subscribed to these blogs as I thought it would give me ever-growing insights into how this school devises uses for the blog in their learning experiences. I have added the url's of these two blogs below in case anyone else would like to follow them. I hope that this posting has been helpful to anyone who reads it and I am looking forward to any comments that may come forward.

Orange Grove Primary School Blog - http://www.ogps.wa.edu.au/
Albert the Bear Blog - http://web.mac.com/albertthebear/Site/Welcome.html

Regards

Jon :)

Voki's In the classroom

Get a Voki now!



Hi all,

My name is Bullwinkle I am starting to become addicted to Voki's. In regards to using them in the classroom, I think they would be a very valuable resource. As part of designing the learning journey, we as learning managers must devise something to be the "HOOK" of the lesson and what better way than using a voki. Instead of having to stand up the front of the classroom and fight for your students attention whilst introducing a new and seemingly uninteresting topic, why not implement the use of a voki. They could be easily used as a form of instructional strategy in most activities and would more likely grab students' attention and have them more engaged in the topic.

They would also be useful in things such as webquests to help students' work their way through the learning journey of the webquest.

Another advantage of the voki, is that they will be beneficial to the learning of those students with severe reading difficulties. By using a voki for instructions rather than text, students with reading difficulties will more than likely better understand the requirements of the specific tasks and thus more than likely produce better learning outcomes.

Teaching students to develop their own vokis will also help increase their level of creativity which in turn would then be reflected back in their school work.

Once I become a registered teacher and even when on prac this year, I will definitely be implementing vokis into my learning experiences as I am certain they will engage students in their learning journey and also have them enjoy it at the same time. Of course, it is important not to overly use this piece of technology as the novelty will then wear off on students and its purpose will soon be no more. Feel free to post any comments.

Regards

Jon :)

Types of technology that can be used in the classroom

During my time in the BLM, I was brought to the attention of Webquests. Webquests are designed as a form of inquiry-based learning and from I have seen and heard, they are very effective as a learning tool. Usually used in SOSE the webquest is designed to have students solve a real-life problem by working through a certain Inquiry Model Approach such as TELSTAR. By working through the Inquiry Model and viewing the links attached throughout the webquest, students learn by progressing through each segment of the webquest and as a final product are able to solve the real-life problem and relate it back to their own life experiences.

Not sure if my description is quite correct or even clear but I thought it might be a good idea to mention the types of technologies that I have come across in the school setting. Besides it's been a while since I have attempted a webquest and my mind is currently focused on my blog and e-portfolio, so my recollections of the wenbquest are going to be a little fuzzy.

I have attached a link to a webquest dedicated to water conservation which can be found at the following link - http://www.webquestdirect.com.au/webquest.asp?id=908&page=6977

Unfortunately, it does cost to sign up to the webquest site, however once we become teachers we can claim the subscription on tax :)

Feel free to have a look at what I have posted and hope you all find it as interesting as I did. The website for the website is as follows, along with their blog url if anyone wishes to follow it.

Blog url - http://www.webquestblog.com/
Web address - http://www.webquestdirect.com.au/

Regards

Jon :)

Integrating Technology into the classroom video

This video really spells out how important it is to integrate technology into the classroom's of the 21st century. Check it out and feel free to leave any comments :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cxyH1qgKZQ