I chose "Illustrate through Multiple Media" for my principle. I created a video on a great website that I love. I forgot to mention in the video some more details about why it is great for UDL. A website based on virtual manipulatives really helps to illustrate key concepts in a non-verbal way. Geogebra allows students to have hands-on application with shapes, area, numbers and so much more! The card that I chose for this screencast was the 3 of clubs and it meant that my "pretend classroom" has 1:1 iPads and multiple students for whom English is not their native language. This site allows for many different languages to be used. Having an iPad for every student is fantastic and it doesn't crowd any learning for the children. Geogebra is also a great interactive website that shows the components of shapes and rules through text, models, and simulations.
There is a website that gives all kinds of articles on educational myths. One article states that just because you have a "different learning style" than someone else doesn't mean you should get special instruction catered to you so you can learn it better. It states that teaching through a different learning style doesn't really benefit the student and that it is a waste of time. (That is, however, not to account for disabilities. Of course there are many disabilities that need to have lessons taught a certain way.) I find this very surprising and have to disagree with this research. It has been proven that in order to solidify something to long-term memory it is best to teach it using all 5 senses, or as many of them as you can. Verbal instruction isn't as effective as verbal and visual instruction with me. But it goes deeper than that, they say that if you can apply other senses to a lesson like touch, smell or taste then you will surely solidify it to long-term memory. It has also been proven that chewing bubble gum while studying for a test and then chewing that same bubble gum during the test will help you remember what you studied. So, I feel as though the article needs to have another look and focus on more basic learning styles to really see why they benefit others.
Upon this same website there is another article that talks about how technology and more specifically computer activities/games are more beneficial than tutoring. This one I can believe and seems like common sense. Activities and games on a computer that are educational are very powerful when it comes to learning new material. Games are meant to capture the attention of students with all of the colors and flashing lights. There are hands-on games that make students want to win in the end. They challenge themselves to the fullest. Kind of going along with the previous paragraph is that this type of technology allows students to see, hear and touch the lesson which better commits it to memory. It just makes sense. This is also an idea that my cooperating teacher thinks highly of. She uses BrainPOP and Flocabulary with our 3rd grade students to help them learn their math facts. There are fun songs that help them and they have all aced their multiplication tests! Speaking of math, there is an article that states that people get their math abilities from their genes, specifically from their parents. I disagree with this article to a certain point. The article says that if you are good in math then your parents are/were also good in math. I am great in math and more importantly I am a mathematics major in college, BUT neither one of my parents were good in their math classes in high school. So this article puzzles me a little bit. There are many other great articles to read about on this website as I have only listed a few, but learning about all of this new information has made me realize that I can now back up my statements or responses to when someone talks to me about teaching in learning styles or if someone says that technology doesn't help very much. I have done my research, have you? |
Archives
November 2016
Categories |