Wow can you believe it is already the end of the semester? Geez it seems like it has flown by. So let me see to catch things up to date with me and what I have been doing.

First OutPost… Wow this was an interesting task. I have never really played a text based game before and this was truely a learning experience. At first I had no clue what I was doing and just walked around lost until someone felt sorry for me and helped. The other player helped me level up and showed me the basics of playing. I completed the first quest and then they left me on my own. Needless to say I died over and over again. Then I finally got the hang of it after many hours of playing. As of the last time I logged in I was at different levels on different categories. Level 4 Cleric, Level 3 Mage, Level 1 Warrior and Level 1 Thief. I haven’t gotten to a level 5 in one set category but overall I found this to be a good learning experience. I see how this game could be of use to students. It could help with their typing skills, reading skills, and their imagination. Think about it. They can make the game to be what ever they wish with their imagination.

Next the final. Geez I can’t believe it is time for this already. It has taken me forever to come up with an idea. I hope I am on the right track with the project. I was trying to find something of use to me in the future and I have went for it. I just hope it is completed in time.

I just wanted to let everyone know that I am really sorry for my absence. I have been really sick fighting the stomach virus then a cold and know allergies. I have been having a lot of trouble getting on the internet and being able to concentrate on the screen. I know this has made it hard for everyone to get their posts in and I am sorry. I should be up and going and will try to make up all the missed posts I have not been able to do. Again I just wanted to let everyone know that I am truely sorry.

Jean Piaget began his theory from the observation of his own three children. His work wasn’t accepted at first because it was so different from the behaviorist tradition. Piaget studied the way learners’ thinking develops. When people think of Piaget the first thing that comes to mind is his theory of stages of development. The four stages of development are Sensorimotor Stage (0 to 2 years) children experience the world through movement and senses. During this stage the children are extremely egocentric. This means the children think the world revolves just around them and they can’t see another person’s point of view of the world. The next stage is the Preoperational Stage (2 to 7 years) which the children in this stage start out strongly egocentric and it begins to weaken. These children cannot conserve or use logical thinking. The next stage is the Concrete Operational (7 to 11 years) this is when children begin to think logically only with practical aids. These children are no longer egocentric. The last stage is the Formal Operational (11-Adult) this is when children develop abstract thought and can easily conserve and think logically in their mind.  The Piagetian theory, really applies to students from ages 11 to 15, and it has especially been used when it comes to differing middle school program changes. Most middle school curriculum has been designed to involve substantial amounts of hypothesizing, conceptualizing, and symbolizing. The educator has to provide many instructional strategies to help relate the content to all students in all stages.

I looked over his post for articles on theories and I came up with two. The first is one that I had noticed others and written about so I will not bore you with a repeat of twhat they had written, I will just put a link to the article http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi. It is entitled Reflecting on Reflection. It has an interesting diagram that might be good to take a look at.

The other article that I had looked at was titled:  The Price of an 8 Pack of Learning Theory Lectures? Nothing! Just a Lot of Bonk!. The link to this post is http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi. This article talks about how a professor from Indiana records his lectures on learning theories. The price he had to spend or the University had to spend was nothing. Nice huh? I looked at the article that was linked to the title. It took me to the post of the Curt Bonk and his TravelinEdMan post. He has links to his videos that you can look at if needed. It goes on into comments from George Siemans and the Connectivism Blog.

This actually pretty interesting overall. But to understand the whole article, you need to look at the comment pages as well.  

Teaching and Learning Theories are closely related. As we study to become a teacher, we are told over and over about different learning theories. We are told how they have affected the way teachers teach and how they have changed the ideas of education and the meaning of education over the years. During our first or second semester we are told to make our own “Educational Philosophy”. In doing this we are told to take what we know about learning theories and build on them. This is how we have been taught to teach.

Learning theories are the basis of education. We base are teaching styles on what we have learned in the past about learning theories. We are told what works and what doesn’t and how each learning theory is better for different situations. We take all this knowledge and use it to help us do the best we can at reaching our students.

So we take what we are told throughout our whole college experience and use this information to help aid us in our teaching of the younger generation. We take what we know about these great theorists and use their gains in education to benefit us in our classrooms.

Where does the “teacher’s pet” come into play?

The “teacher’s pet”! Don’t you love them? They are the students that love to help. They will do anything you ask and not ask any questions. They will grade papers, run errands, copy papers, go get your drink, just face it; basically anything you ask, they will do. These students are not always your brightest students, but they work really hard for you. These students are usually your students that like to talk or are the complete opposite and don’t talk at all. But you can guarantee they work really hard in your class. They just have problems getting that “A”. They are usually your B students and sometimes your high C students. They just need that little extra attention.

What’s the function of a “know-it-all” in the class? Does that person have a purpose in the over all scheme of things?

The “know it all”! Yeah we all have at least one in our classes. This is the student that loves to point out your mistakes and try to prove you to be wrong. They think they know more than you and you are always wrong when it comes to them and they are always right. They are your overachievers. They do more than you ask. They are the ones that ask every single day if you have their papers graded, whether it was only last period when they took the assessment. They don’t consider that you have more students to worry about than just them. They expect you to drop everything and do what they want or give them the attention that they need and strive for.

Do they have a purpose in the over all scheme of things? I know they do. And at times it is hard to see that. They keep you on your toes. At times they can be useful, that is if you can use their knowledge to help others and yourself. They seem to be annoying sometimes but overall they can be an asset to the class. You just need to learn how to manipulate things were they are getting what they want as well as helping you.

In the dynamic system that is a course, is there more than one role for students?

There are many roles for students to play in a classroom situation. You have students who ask questions and help engage themselves and others into the discussion or the class at hand. This is that student that has his or her hand up wanting to know more. They have very good questions and good comments that go along with your lesson. They are not only helping themselves and you, but they are also helping other students to understand the material. Maybe it is easier to understand coming from a fellow student rather than the teacher, who is old and apparently don’t know what they are doing. 

You have students who are really quiet and sit and want to learn, whether they understand or not, they sit and look at you as if they are paying attention and leads you to think that they are so you keep on going and going. This student helps motivate you to keep on talking and going with the lesson that you are teaching.

 Let’s see, in a classroom, you also have that student that is considered to be funny or the class clown. This student puts a funny twist on your lectures. Whether the timing is appropriate or not, they seem to make the class, including yourself, laugh. Laughter is a good thing to include in the class. It allows students to relax and not be in an environment that is so serious all the time. It allows students to enjoy class, even if the remark isn’t suitable for the topic.

There are so many roles students can play in a classroom, where do I go next? Let’s see, we have the know it all (Which I will discuss in the next post), the sleeper, the one that asks annoying questions that has no relevance to the topic, I can go on and on. But let’s see what you guys think so far.

The role of a teacher? Well I feel that the role of a teacher could be many things all in one package. The teacher is the facilitator. The person that suppose to make an opportunity to learn available. He or She needs to be a good listener, a good observer, a good role model, needs to be knowledgable in their content area, a good spokesperson, a leader and a follower, someone that is willing to above and beyond to help in anyways needed, needs to be confident, and so on. This list could go on and on if I wanted it to.

The point is a teacher is many things all in one package. They are expected to be a person that is able to make learning available. Whether learning is done online or in a classroom, a teacher is an important role. The only difference I can think of when it comes to teaching online and in the classroom is that in a classroom you have to worry about classroom management and the behaviors/interactions of the students. You see them face to face and have to make sure their needs are addressed. With being a teacher to an online course, you don’t have that face to face interaction as you would in a classroom.

Any suggestions? Comments? 

Wow! What a question! You know I say this a lot but I feel there is really two different ways to answer this. I mean first thing is first. You have to ask yourself what do you mean when you say teacher. Any one can go through the motions and facilitate a classroom. All you need is to know the content and there you go. If you look at the Eastern Hemisphere, you have people that are made to teach for two years before they can go out and pursue the career in which they want. So are these people going to be really trying or just going through the motions? Good question huh? This to me would be a good example of a teacher that is imposed upon.

But then if you look at a teacher that wants to teach and feels the need and desire to teach. They would arise within and step up and go beyond what is expected from them. These would be your great teachers. Those that you see using different teaching styles and strategies. These are the teachers that you see coming in early and leaving late. The ones with smiles on their faces and you can just tell that really enjoys their job and what they do. They want to make a difference in children’s lives and that is what they set out to do.

So what do you guys think? I mean there are two different types of teachers out there and just by watching them teach and hear them talk about their experiences you can tell which type they are.