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My Experience as a Learner

Schools I have attended:

My experience as a learner has primarily taken place in parochial schools. With the exception of kindergarten, my entire K-12 experience took place in the Catholic School System of the Archdiocese of Dubuque. Following my graduation from Beckman High School in 2003, I began attending Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI, a Jesuit instruction established in 1881.

Upon the completion of the Spring 2005 term, I will have completed 64 credit hours at Marquette. Classes I have taken include: Intensive Elementary and Concentrated Intermediate Spanish, Growth of Western Civilization One and Two, Introduction to American History, Rhetoric and Composition One and Two, Introduction to Fiction, Philosophy of Human Nature, Theory of Ethics, General Psychology, Introduction to Theology, Hebrew Scriptures/Old Testament Selected Books, Major Concepts in Modern Science One and Two, Introduction to Schooling in a Diverse Society, Critical Inquiry into Contemporary Issues, Psychology of Human Development in Children and Adolescents in a Diverse Society, Children with Exceptional Needs, and Using Technology for Learning and Assessment. Education 079: Using Technology for Learning and Assessment is the reason for this website/e-portfolio’s publication. Along with this website, we were assigned a number of other projects, including an educational iMovie, the creation of a lesson plan, and the construction of a concept map.

The creation of a lesson plan was the first major project in Education 079. Lesson plans are detailed guides as to how a unit or subject will be taught. While I have made lesson plans for various Red Cross Learn To Swim classes, this project marked my first time creating an academic lesson plan. I used Lesson Architect to create my lesson plan. Lesson Architect is an online guide to creating lesson plans; it provides a step by step template, making the construction of a lesson plan simple. The dynamic instructional design (DID) model of lesson planing and Lesson Architect are very similar. While specific steps may differ between the two, the majority of the data in either type of lesson plan is the same; both models also tend to have unnecessary information. DIDs, for example, require an analysis of the learners; after a while this step becomes repetitive and unnecessary. Lesson Architect contains a section for State standards; again this section becomes unnecessary and repetitive.

Lesson plans do not need to be made from scratch, they can also be obtained in a variety of places online. Simply Google searching “lesson plans” provides a wealth of useful ready-made lesson plans. I recommend using these lesson plans as guides to creating your own lesson plans. Combining the best parts of these lesson plans can greatly aid in the creation of a good lesson plan.

Lesson plans are an excellent teacher resource; however they should be used more like outlines than instructions. Trying to follow lesson plans to the letter limits the instruction of students. Using lesson plans as an outline allows educators to role with the punches, making it possible to adjust to the needs of students as they arise. Lesson plans will no doubt be an integral part of my future career as an educator.

Concept mapping was the next major project we embarked on in Education 079. Concept mapping is a way of visualizing the brainstorming process and the relationship between various subjects. Concept maps can be made by hand or using computer software; we used Inspiration to create our concept maps. Personally, concept maps fail to help me, I prefer to create outlines and lists. Inspiration has functions which create lists and outlines, but any word processing program will do the trick.

Despite the limited effects of concept maps on students such as myself, concept maps are very helpful to visual learners. Members of my I-Movie group were visual learners, and as such they used Inspiration to help them keep track of ideas for our movie. Concept maps will defiantly be a mainstay of my teaching style because of the benefits they provide to students. When presenting information to students, it is important to present it to them in a multitude of mediums; concept mapping will be one such medium.

Our final project in Education 079 was the production of an iMovie. iMovie is a video editing program created by Apple. iMovie makes the production of movies very simple; files (video clips, PowerPoint slides, photos, etc.) are imported into iMovie, then edited to the users desire. iMovies make a great addition to any classroom. Assigning groups of students iMovie projects forces students to learn content while allowing them to express their knowledge creatively. Allowing students to choose between constructing imovies or research papers enables students of different learning styles to effectively learn.

While iMovies can greatly help classroom instruction, there are also drawbacks. iMovies require video equipment which schools may not be able to afford. Digital video converters, storage devices, computers, cameras, and iMovie software is expensive. The expenses involved in integrating iMovie into the classroom is to great for many schools. iMovies, especially for K-12 students, would also take up a considerable amount of class time, detracting from teacher instruction.

My overall experience in Education 079 was positive. The importance of using technology to tailor to the differing learning styles of students made itself evident in class. My understanding of iMovie increased considerably, I could teach students how to use the program. My only complaint concerned the lack of clarity in the syllabus. The syllabus simply needed to set dates for assignment complection, as well as better describe what the assignments were.

Relevant Websites

Home
My Experience as a Learner
My Work as a Teacher
My Life Outside the Classroom
My Documents
Education 079 Class Website
Maquoketa Valley Comunity School District
St. Joseph Elementary School
Beckman Junior/Senior High School
Marquette University
Imspiration.com (concept mapping site)
Concept Map Example (must download trial version of Inspiration)
Lesson Architect Website
Example Lesson Plan
Exmple Lesson Plan continued
Apple's iMovie in the Classroom Page
Example iMovie