Creating Culturally Relevant Curriculum and Instruction- I have to agree a lot with this concept. It is true that every student is more interested in learning about something they can relate their own life experiences to. When you could relate your school work to your life it is much easier to understand or remember. I feel like throughout all the years I've attended school, when I relate things to my life I find it easier to understand the subject. The book gave the example of the math problem, my example would be anatomy class. In order to remember certain definitions I would think of my body and how it functions, it would help a lot more to make sense of it. Another example would be when writing essays, I get a better grade on one that I can relate most to it instead of something I can't or don't know anything about. The fact that techonology can place curriculum topics within the context of known situations its wonderful and very helpful.
Expanding Teaching Methods and Approaches- The more ways we can have students communicating with each other the better. When students are able to communicate with each other they create better bonds. They are able to get to know other people outside your regular circle with different backgrounds or beliefs .This gives them the opportunity to learn new things. Having blogs for students or working in groups helps a lot for all of this to happen. In some way or another students eventually have to say something. The fact that they will know their classmates a little more than, this will help them feel more part of their classroom and more confident in sharing new ideas .Whereas students that are in a class with no form of communicating, thats when they start to feel left out and they are divided into groups where they think they fit in.
Assistive Technology To Reach Diverse Learners- I think this is very important to include in a classroom for individual with disabilities to do things they might otherwise not be able to do. I had the chance to experience this first hand my senior year in high school. I took the teaching assisting class we would facilitate another teacher for a whole period. Of course I chose the kids with disabilities. Being in their classroom with kids with all types of disabilities where the teacher had everything she needed to help these students succeed as if they had no problem. I did see there was one of the keyboards with the large keyboard lettering for one of the students. Another one would use a program on the computer that would read her the story she chose to read for the day.
In conclusion, I learned a lot after reading this chapter. All the concepts brought upon the chapter were really interesting to read and relate to it. This is a great example why I enjoy doing blogs for this class, because are assignments let me relate to my own personal beliefs and life experiences, therefor is a lot easier for me to write about.
In conclusion, I learned a lot after reading this chapter. All the concepts brought upon the chapter were really interesting to read and relate to it. This is a great example why I enjoy doing blogs for this class, because are assignments let me relate to my own personal beliefs and life experiences, therefor is a lot easier for me to write about.
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| Photo Credits to : Ingoism on Flickr |
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When I read your first couple of sentences, I wondered if you would conclude with your connection to the blog writing. If I wasn't required to use a textbook for this class (though I do feel overall, it is a good one), I would still be using a similar assignment to help students make meaning out of what they read. Using choice helps to differentiate for students, as well.
ReplyDeleteYour experience in the classroom with special needs children was a revealing experience, I'm sure. Opportunities to use assistive and adaptive technologies have been a bit underutilized, I believe. There are many tools out there, but they are often costly and/or they are just not known unless the teacher/district support is pursuing. Many students with special needs would benefit from that extra advocate!