Monica's Driving Question: Does the use of multiple digital platforms/tools build emerging reader stamina?
As I continue to build a bridge between my practice, I feel as though I will always have a need for the bridge. I am always learning changing and growing and teaching new materials and learning new grade levels and expanding my knowledge as an educator and a learner. This, of course, is all great! (As I am in the middle of a transition of not knowing what school site I will be teaching at next year or what I will be teaching.) It reminds me that I need to always be asking the End User questions and reflecting on my goals for the End User to always be the priority and the focal point of my teaching experience. However, the End User is always changing and there are so many kinds of End Users that I will be targeting throughout my path. This is an ongoing process to meet the needs of the whole student. So as I reflect on the SITE Model I realize first and foremost that I always need to have a connection with the student to start the process of understanding them. Their basic needs to be met first with their personal motives and values understood in their socio-culture. As I again reflect on my own experiences, I realize that words don't teach, but experiences do. My most memorable memories from anything are when my five senses are heightened and I engage in a new and expanding experiment that actually teaches me. This clarifies that my active memory only puts items into my long term memory when I experience fun and games and use my senses and emotions to really feel the experience. As Baggio says, I need to know my audience. My audience enjoys technology and games and learns best when having fun. My driving question is all about finding ways for my unfocused audience to learn through technological games that teach and practice focus. My problem that is arising is that the games either cost or the district is blocking them and the kids aren't allowed to play again. I'm not sure how to pursue my technology use of focus games with so many blocks on the free ones. The engagement is through the roof, but I am going to have to get creative on how to continue to pursue the games on focus and sustained concentration because the motivation and incentive is a very powerful tool increasing school attendance on Tuesdays, when I teach Tech Tuesday games and playful activities to engage students that struggle with reading. Students are enjoying it so much that other teachers are using it as a leverage to finish the work in their class before they are able to come to mine. I am really enjoying breaking down the motivations of the End User. So much so that I am starting to use a Forced Choice survey that breaks down what motivates the student to work hard and for what types of incentives. I am thinking about making it into a Google Form to do with whole groups for the beginning of next year. I have only been using it with really challenging behavior problems and the results are fascinating.
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May 2019
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