Kimm+Leeman


 * __Journal Response #1__**

This is Kimm Leeman writing, a mother of two, a wife and for the past 22 years a teacher. I am originally from Canada as are my husband and children. We have been overseas teaching for six and a half years, two in Kuwait the remainder in Saudi.

My teaching certification is in Physical and Health Education and Biology for the intermediate and senior divisions. Throughout the years I have added a number of different endorsements including junior division generalist and counselling. At the present time I teach a smattering of PE, health and guidance from Kindergarten through grade nine.

By deepening my knowledge of curriculum design and assessment I believe and hope I will become a better teacher. There have been times throughout my teaching career when I really didn’t understand what the point of the curriculum was, how it was achieved or even in some cases that there was a curriculum apart from the textbook! As I matured throughout my career I have become much more conscious of what and how I teach the students I come in contact with. Having an in depth look at the curriculum process and assessment I feel I will teach with a more precise direction.

It is important that teachers are acutely aware of what they are trying to teach, how they endeavouring to teach each student in the class and what is being assessed. As a parent I have wrestled with some of the work my children do, how and if some of the concepts and materials were taught at all. When I reflect on my questions as a parent I am soon aware of the fact that I am also a teacher and might very well be causing some of the parents of the students I teach to ask themselves similar questions. It is with that thought in mind that I am approaching this course. Posted Oct 21, 2008 1:57 pm

__**Jouranl Response #2**__

Knowledge Alive

Perkins, the author of Knowledge Alive, regards the knowledge arts as extremely important. They are viewed as having the ability to enhance learning and deepen understanding of the student. The result being that ‘schooling’ becomes more exciting and alive for the student, giving the student investment and ownerships in their learning experience.

These ideas certainly give me cause to ponder. Have I been more interested in having my students simply learn the ‘facts and figures’ of the subject matter in order to regurgitate it on a test or other form of evaluation? Hopefully less often than the majority or time! Knowledge that is attained and used for nothing is useless. I think the beauty of the knowledge arts is learning what to do with knowledge and what can be done with knowledge. It comes down to the old adage ‘Knowledge is power”, what a person does with knowledge or how it is used is powerful; simply having knowledge is not enough.

It would make sense that curriculum designers use the knowledge arts as the foundation of curriculum development of any kind. Yes, one needs to have knowledge to engage the knowledge arts. However if a designer beings with the premise that the knowledge obtained needs to be organized, communicated, created and acted on then the way in which the knowledge of the subject is transmitted or developed would be dramatically different than if the knowledge or information need to be committed to memory until the test or exam.

Preparing for Today and Tomorrow

Eisner states that schools attempting to prepare students for the world today as well as the world of tomorrow should teach judgment, critical thinking, meaningful literacy, collaboration and service. He suggests the best way to prepare for tomorrow is to deal with today. The aim of a school focused on training students to be citizens of the future is to do well in their lives outside of school.

From my experience, especially in my overseas experience, I see the single greatest factor that gives rise to the ‘preparatory’ and ‘hoop jumping’ concept in education is quantifiable data. Schools seem to think that numbers give credence to how prepared students are for their future. If a student has a high GPA and scores well on the standardized test then that student is ready for what lays a head. This may be true in part. Colleges, university and many private schools give great weight to these numbers when considering granting entrance to the institution. If a great number of students from a Graduating class at any given school obtains entrance offers to Ivy League type schools, then the high school is considered to be a great preparatory school. It will continue to do what it has always done until the balance tips in a negative direction and needs to be adjusted.

In my subject area (middle school and elementary health) I am pleased to say that I have a greater opportunity to focus on Eisner’s aims than if I were in a different subject area. The school districts in my geographical area are quite focused on standardized test data. Most of the parents of the area are intently interested in the results as well. Since Health does not show up directly on any standardized test that I have come across, as a teacher I am less pressured to have my students ‘perform’. The performance I am most interested in is the student’s ability to demonstrate many of Eisner’s aims. Judgment, critical thought, meaningful literacy, collaboration and service are vitally important in maintaining all levels of health. If the students of today are going to be prepared for tomorrow and make a significant difference in worldwide health all of Eisner's aims need to be developed in these young people. These are the aims of my instructional classroom. Posted Oct 21, 2008 2:06 pm

__**   Response Journal #4 **__  Powerful Learning People learn what is personally meaningful to them. In health class when covering the topic of First Aid, groups of students are assigned a specific module to be covered. The groups are to present their findings to the rest of the class in almost any format they choose. This makes for a great variety in presentation. Students are very engaged since they have control over how they present and choose a presentation method that interests them. Some presentation examples include video, power point, drama and brochures. People learn more when they accept challenging but achievable goals. In coaching, I have experienced the thrill of watching young athletes go from virtually zero experience in a sport to being on a Championship Team. These athletes accepted the challenge to do more and go beyond their own limited expectations. As they were lead a step at a time they were able to track their development and set ever higher goals. Learning is developmental. In PE class it is essential that every class is approached with the attitude and understanding that the students will progress from where they are at the given moment to a new place on a continuum of skill and strategy development. In the game of volleyball two players maybe working on their serve, one learning the basic fundamentals of getting the ball over the net and the other perfecting their placement of the overhand serve. Individuals learn differently. It was quickly and strikingly apparent when I was teaching middle school math that students learn in math class as many different ways as they do in a gym class. Reaching the visual and tactile learners was more challenging in math class than in PE class. While teaching integers I recall using coloured poker chips to represent positive and negative numbers. Visual learners could see the colour representations while tactile learners were able to see as well as feel the chips when they rearranged the grouping in the equations. Much learning occurs through social interaction. Recently I was teaching body systems to middle school students. They worked in groups to come up with some type of demonstration to show the relationship from cell through to systems. There was a great deal of collaboration in a social setting that took place in order to come up with the final product. Much more learning took place than about cell/system relationships. The students demonstrated their ability to come to a consensus regarding the outcome of the task. People need feedback to learn. For many years my science students were required to participate in a Science Fair, which involved preparing a project. In order for the project to be meaningful and presented in a scientific manner the students required feedback frequently. If the final project was to be finished and presented on time strict timelines needed to be followed and most students required feedback to keep them on track and headed in the directions they wanted to go. Step by step review was valuable to the students. It allowed them to complete their experiments, review their findings and give serious thought to their results. Successful learning involves use of strategies – which themselves are learned. Having taught middle school science for many years I have a significant amount of experience helping students with science fair projects. The most valuable skills and lessons my students learned were those involved in the planning and execution of their plan for the project itself. Each student or group of students needed to plan the what, the how, the where, when and how long of their projects before they ever began. These learning strategies were most certainly transferable to all part of their academic life as well as their social life, which is where I saw the greatest transfer of learning from the classroom to real life, with the least amount of adult coaching. A positive emotional climate strengthens learning. From my observations and experiences a teacher has an amazing amount of influence on the emotional climate of their classroom and collectively as a group the school. One school of thought in teaching PE is to eliminate the marks associated with the ‘performance of skills on demand’. Testing day is not the day you come to class and try to make 10 out 10 free throw baskets in order to receive an A grade. Instead the focus is on the student’s growth and development, assessing where she started compared to where she ended up. I have found this method of assessing and teaching allows students to relax and feel emotionally safe in the gym environment even if the student is far from being a gym rat. Students are more willing to try new skills in new and different situations. They are not at risk of being a failure for trying. Learning is influenced by the total environment. Working in a single sex school for many years brought this statement to life for me. I had the opportunity to witness the development of learning confidence in many girls that I have not witnessed in any other school that I have taught in. The girls were comfortable in all roles in the school. They were not hindered by the presence of boys, they had no need to impress or bolster the esteem of boys at the expense of their own learning. There was an emotional and social security that allowed the girls to take calculated risks in their learning. The physical plant was steeped in history and tradition that exuded confidence and success. I have yet to be in another setting so unique. From the above conditions the following are most viable in my present teaching setting. Learning is developmental. Individuals learn differently. People need feedback to learn. A positive emotional climate strengthens learning. The above conditions are ones which I have direct control over and within my classroom almost 100% control. It is my responsibility as a teacher to ensure the above conditions are met to allow optimum learning for each of my students.

There are many benefits of constructivism and the constructivist classroom. Students are actively engaged in learning, they enjoy learning and therefore learn more. This method of teaching/learning concentrates on how to think and understand which results in education at its finest. Learning that takes place in the constructivist setting is transferable to other learning environments. The organizational principles that are developed can be applied in other areas.
 * __Response Journal #3__**

The constructivist framework of teaching gives learners an authentic ownership of their learning. The learning is based on the student’s questions and directed by their inquiry. As inquiry and questioning is developed creativity is engaged. Creativity leads to the ability of the individual to express knowledge in many different ways. The quality and quantity of knowledge retention is affected by creative communication and application in real life situations. Students also learn to question things and apply curiosity to the real world, allowing learning to be viewed as a life long process.

The collaboration and interaction encouraged in the constructivist classroom increases communication skills. Group work requires negotiation, mediation and facilitation at times. Students learn to reflect on the ideas of others as well as their own and to evaluate the value of each contribution. Another skill that is transferable to ‘real life’ settings.

Although there are many benefits of constructivism, educators must be cautious as they move forward in this area. There is a need for the teacher/educator to ensure that curiosity is developed in all students. Those children who may be lacking in support at home may need to be bolstered from within the educational setting. All voices must be heard. Often the loudest and strongest drown out the rest. Teachers must manage groups allowing true collaboration to ensue. Teachers may also need to make a conscious decision to adhere to teaching higher ordered thinking skills instead of teaching to a test to attain high scores. It is a difficult choice. One must make a choice to do either of the two and do it well. To choose both is to choose failure in both cases.

If you don’t know where you’re going you won’t know when you arrive! This is true in travelling as well as in teaching. If a teacher isn’t clear on where they want to end up (what the goal is) how will he/she know if they have reached it? I think of planning in UbD fashion like planning a vacation. First I decide where I want to go – my end point (desired result). Next I determine what evidence will tell me when I arrive such as the destination printed on the plane ticket, the road signs, famous attractions etc. These pieces of evidence will demonstrate that I have in fact arrived at my desired end point. The last thing I do is decide how I will get there and what I will do on the way (learning experiences and instruction, the how). If I just show up at the airport, or hop on a train without knowing where I am going, any plane or train will do and the end point will be acceptable since I didn’t start with the end in mind. A teacher must have a clear understanding of what the students are to understand, figure out how the students will demonstrate their understanding and finally design their teaching to meet their set targets. Having a direction and purpose to what is being done allows enhances the teaching/learning environment and eliminates busy work.
 * __ Response Journal #5 __**
 * __Response Journal #6__**

The major behavior that I associate with student understanding is their ability to apply their ‘knowing’ in the unfamiliar situation. When faced with a situation or scenario that has not been covered in the instructional situation a student’s depth of understanding is demonstrated in his/her ability to apply or use the concepts,processes or ideas that were studied. If a person is unable to apply the principles of what was studied in an unrehearsed situation then it seems fair to say that the student might have had a working knowledge of the material but lacked understanding of the principles or ideas. Understanding should transcend a specific situation. To demonstrate understanding someone must recognize when and where the ideas, processes or principles should or could be applied.