Theories, Wordle, and Lesson Plans

Last week in class we covered a wide range of topics. To start off, two weeks ago we divided into groups to venture into Teaching/Learning Philosophies. Our group's goal: Behavorism. A very cut and dry theory, information gets poured into student's brains and the student is expected to give the information back. Positive and Negative Reinforcement is a main aspect of this theory. It is a very popular theory that is commonly used with trainingd dogs. My job was to research the theorists of this philosophy. It was pretty interesting to learn about the history since I was never fully aware of how it came about. I can't say I was surprised since Aristotle, Pavlov and Skinner was involved with creating this philosophy, so it was very interesting to reseach! Overall, I think that our group did a pretty good job. It all came together quite nicely thanks to Google Docs. I developed a love for Google Docs while doing this project. I have never even thought of creating a Google email before this project but I am so glad I did! I don't have PowerPoint on my computer since I never really thought to download it when I first got my laptop a few years ago so Google Docs is soooo nice! It lets you do PowerPoint which is amazing news for me since it is the only way I can access it on my computer! Without Google Docs, this project would have been a lot more difficult. I think we had pretty great teamwork and really interacted a lot during the week we had. I think our presentation went pretty well, it was nice being the first group to go. One downfall was we didn't think we had enough time to go over the quiz with the class. We were pretty focused on making sure our presentation was only seven minutes. Aside from the quiz, I think it went well! Also, I think that all the other groups did great with their presentations!! It is always nice to learn from your classmates, and they all made it very easy to understand their theories.

One thing that I loved about class was Dawn's microteaching and the fact that she introduced us to Wordle. I think that is such an awesome site to use both teaching, and in everyday life. That is one thing that I love about class. It has only been about a month, and Dr. Smirnova has introduced about fifty new websites that I never knew existed!

A little overwhelming was the introduction to Unit Planning. It seems a little scary, but after hearing Dr. Smirnova's past student talk about at the end everything will come together, I am very excited to start this journey! It seems like it might be a difficult one, but I am ready for the ride!