Out of the myths that were presented,
most did not seem very surprising to me. I have heard many controversies on the
idea of multiple intelligences but it seems to be something that teachers and
educators think about. We know students learn best when they are more involved
and use hands on approaches to learning, so why is multiple intelligences so
“wrong”? I do agree with the article from Science Daily that students shouldn’t
be labeled as “visual learners” “kinesthetic learners” and so on. Rather,
lessons should vary with many aspects of learning styles that facilitate deep
understanding and work well for all the students involved. In my classroom I
want to make sure that students are not only enjoying learning and the
information being presented to them, but also given multiple chances to gather
information from different forms.
Being
educators with many resources available to use we can often run into issues
with correctness and trends. The article by Will Thalheimer explains the falseness
of a claim made about learners. Graphs, articles, and pictures have shown that
the information saying that learners do NOT remember 10% of what they read, 20% of what they see, 30%
of what they hear, etc. As teachers we might take this into consideration when
we are creating and presenting lessons. However, this information is not
credible. Research is so important and something that teachers need to be aware
of in order to be sharing effective information to their students. In my
future, before claiming information to be valuable for students teachers I will
need to research and research several different sources. Far too often the
education system asserts that certain people, curriculum, and methods of
teaching are going to work best for students. Teachers need to have their own
opinions and say when looking at these aspects. With proper research and
information we can accurately give students the correct methods, give fellow
teachers the best people to model and change the minds of administration.
I agree with you that most of they myths I had heard before. I have taken multiple psychology classes where professors have provided research articles where the multiple intelligence theory have been "debunked", saying that one learning style isn't more effective than an other. Although these ideas have been pointed out as myths they seem to work in education. As the old saying says: "If it's not broke, why fix it." I think this applies here because I think that many educators present information to students using different medias and techniques as to reach to the "visual", "verbal", etc. learners. It is imperative to use differentiated instruction in our classrooms which I believe is in a way based off the multiple intelligence theory. I agree with your statement that we shouldn't label learners, I believe that labels give excuses or a way out. With labels students might start thinking that they are unable to learn any other way. Thus I think as educators we should continue to diversify our lessons in a variety of ways as to reach out to all students.
ReplyDeleteI believe that it is our responsibility to perform research and collect evidence to either support or disprove these claims when we get our own classroom. We can't take one person's opinion or research as a say all, end all. We shouldn't read or hear one take on the myths and believe it to be true without doing extra research on our own.
With that being said, do you believe that there is any specific technology that you want to incorporate into your room, as a special education teacher?
Along with you Kaitlyn I have also had a lot of psychology classes that prove these theories as myths while at the same time having education classes that teach them as fact. Mackenzie and Kailtyn I agree with you both on the fact that while these may not be proven in ways of learning styles and multiple intelligence they can still be of use in education.
DeleteI think a main point of this assignment is to be aware of the many theories that come and go. Yes, have different teaching techniques and having hands-on activities have positive effects in the classroom but we have to always be aware of the reason why we are using these theories. We can use these techniques because they have positive results but that does not support theories of how the students learn.
Jackie, I agree, but many teachers do not do the evaluation to make sure that the results are, indeed, positive. Given what we've seen on how everything 'works', teachers need to make sure that what they do maximizes learning. It is very easy for teachers to fall prey to these myths because they see something that validates their concept of 'works'.
DeleteI think one of the main technological devices that we would use in the classroom is devices used for communication for students that are non verbal. This device has been tremendously valuable and beneficial in special education classrooms. When could other forms of technology be used within the special education classroom not just for replacing journals, presentations etc.
ReplyDeleteI think another great use for technology in special education is to teach and practice life skills. Technology is so prevalent in our society that all people should be knowledgable about its use and the various devices and features.
Jackie,
ReplyDeleteI really like the point that you brought up about knowing why we are using these theories and techniques in our classroom. I believe that all too often teachers and administrators try to incorporate theories into their teaching without conducting further research. I think that sometimes teachers continue to use techniques and theories that don't have supported research just because that is what they have always done and don't want to change. Thus the point that you brought up about conscientiously knowing why the theories we implement into our classroom are working or not working is a key to successful teaching.
Mackenzie,
I agree that communication devices for non verbal students will be prevalent in our classrooms, as these devices give a voice to students who other wise don't have one. I think that technology will be used in simple every day, daily life tasks. As you hinted to and mentioned technology is a ever growing part of our daily lives. Technology is there to help make our lives easier. Thus while teaching in a special education classroom we are going to have large emphasis of our teaching focusing on basic life skills. I believe that this is where technology can come into play other than just replacing journals and such. I believe that we can teach our students how to navigate the internet, use alarm clocks, the microwave, even ATM machines and such devices like that. I think that in a special education classroom the most basic technology like using clocks and microwaves are something that we can incorporate to help with basic life skills. (Of course this is dependent on grade level and such...)