Helpful Website for Pre-K!

IXL

This website is a fun way to assess my students as a whole group. It has a series of questions that relate to math and literacy skills and they are separated by grade level. I used this with my students and they love it. They are able to visually see what they need to know. We did this on our smartboard and students loved getting the opportunity to come up and choose the correct answer. I think that this is a fun and simple way to assess student skill and knowledge. I especially like that the questions are simple enough for pre-k students to answer without that much help in reading the questions.

Update on Action Research: NInja Letters

It has been fun using ninja alphabet cards to enhance student learning in letter sounds. I haven't had the opportunity yet to use the phonic phones but I decided to make up a fun game using these cards for the students to remember their letter sounds. 

I'd show them the letter cards with the ninjas, and the students would have to move their arms in writing the letter while making the sound of the letter in a martial arts related manner. My students have really been enjoying this and seem to have more fun learning the material this way. This also allows for physical movement, which we love! 

Smartboard Activity: Letter Review

For my Smartboard lesson, the goal for students would be to review the sounds of some of the letters as well as be able to identify which pictures start with the capital letters (proper nouns). I have placed pictures of things and students that they are familiar with. We have been learning about the different continents and countries throughout our cultural unit. Students would have to place the correct letter (capital or lowercase) onto the pictures.

I think that this is a fun and easy way to review as a class! We're able to not only review the sounds of letters and proper nouns but integrate with our cultural unit. I've blurred out the faces of the actual students.

A Neurologist Makes the Case for the Video Game Model as a Learning Tool by Judy Willis

Like mentioned in my previous post, video games seem to have the potential to have more of a positive influence n education than we had originally thought. Can applying how our brains work while playing games to education increase student learning? 

I am beginning to think that it can. So many times we hear that students shouldn't have anything to do with video games and we try to limit their video game intake. I am beginning to see that if we use this desire that is in children for a positive impact in education, we wouldn't have to fight as much. 

I think that it makes sense to include students being able to see their progress in learning. With this progress, I think that it is important to make students see that they are able to reach these goals. This is what happens in games. We play and we see that the task is achievable and we are intrinsically motivated to try our best. "This is why students need to use what they learn in authentic ways that allow them to recognize their progress as clearly as they see it when playing video games" (Willis). When we play games and start the level over, we are learning from our previous mistakes and apply it to the next time we play. There is something about this in which we seem to be motivated to keep trying until we reach the end goal. "The motivation to persevere is the brain seeking another surge of dopamine -- the fuel of intrinsic reinforcement" (Willis). This idea of relating the video game model to learning it truly interesting. It makes sense to bring these two worlds together to impact student learning. 

If we know that video games are engaging, we can use the reasoning of why it's engaging and use it in our teaching. In engaging in these things in teaching and student learning, we could set students up for greater learning. 

The Gamer World

The thought of playing games all day throughout the classroom would definitely not be encouraged. I do like what Andrew Miller, the author of, What's a Gamer Brain and How can We harness it in Class?, says about using the gamer mindset to help our students learn. 

I particularly really like the idea of being able to redo work that students may have not done as well on. In a game, you are always able to start over, multiple times until you get it. In school, this is not necessarily the case. I was always a horrible multiple choice test taker. My anxiety and fear would overcome my whole body, causing me to do poorly. 

I also agree with celebrating students' victories! I think that encouragement goes a long way. When a student is encouraged it builds a confidence in them that they might not know they had! 

Maybe we should think more about how the gamer world could benefit student learning? 

Blended Learning

Blended learning is something that I could see continuing to thrive in education. With technology being updated all the time, this is something that could change education and how some things are taught or done in a classroom. I think if it is intentionally used in a proper way, students can learn in greater ways. We need ton make sure that teachers are using it as a tool versus a replacement to have more time to do other things. I think like any technology, it needs to be used as a support in teaching and learning.