While I have what I consider a "style" of teaching, I also know that this style is sometimes subject to the dictates of equipment, time, and environment. For example, My Student teaching assignment at Ross High School was a block schedule. Each class was about 90 minutes. Other schools I have taught in were on traditional or 50 minute periods. These are two dynamics that assuredly alter individual style. As far as equipment is concerned, in some cases I have also had to take my own data presenter in to use in several instances as well as using my own laptop with its limited capabilities so when I discuss my "style," I have to add the disclaimer that my full style potential has yet to be realized. In my own classroom, when I am gainfully employed, what equipment is not provided, I will be able to supply myself in order to be able to utilize all of the facets of my teaching style. I mean, I have to have fun too right?
PowerPoint:
For Years I hated PowerPoint! I do not know why, I just did not
like it. That was until I did my practicum hours with Tim Herzog at Hamilton
Freshman School. The way he utilized the PowerPoint in the classroom was
right up my alley and really worked well with my philosophy and style.
If used correctly, PowerPoint can be a very effective way to teach to
multiple intelligences, if misused, it can be torture.
So
how do I use PowerPoint?
A lesson with me that requires lecture and notes would utilize several
slides for the presentation of information. Each slide would cover a topic
or concept/idea and within that slide, there are hyperlinks that give
visual or auditory representations of the subject matter. After presenting
the notes, I use a remote (Gyration)
mouse and click on the hyperlink to the corresponding item. For example,
in a recent lesson discussing the "Jazz Age" and Jazz, I wanted
to give the students an idea of the creation of Jazz and the various genres
that combined to make up the new art form. I hyperlinked the term "BLUES"
to a Muddy Waters song, "RAGTIME" to a Scott Joplin tune, and
then "JAZZ" to a Louis Armstrong/Ellington tune. This gave students
an auditory history of the evolution of Jazz that they seemed to respond
to well. I also hyperlink to video segments that give visual illustrations
of the subject matter as well. Sometimes I even link to seemingly irrelevant
items, that actually make connections as I did the time I showed the movie
trailer for "The Hunt For the Red October" when discussing the
Bolshevik Revolution.
These machinations, I believe, help keep the student interested in the
lesson, teach to various learning styles, and help foster higher order
thinking by challenging analytical processes. Even the tenuous connections,
seemingly random in nature, challenge the students to make analytical
connections to the subject matter.
I also use PowerPoint to do warm up exercises. My favorite I like to do
is an invention I came up with called WWML? Where in the World is Mr.
LaValle? I put up 5 pictures of sites from around the world that students
have to try to figure out the locations. The 5 images or sites all have
a common theme that the students must try to decipher. It is a fun way
to get the students ready for learning and typically, I try to tie the
theme into the topic or unit we are studying. In the PowerPoint presentation
at the bottom of this segment you will see that I did not use hyperlinks,
but instead put the corresponding images on subsequent slides (too hard
to put on the website any other way!) and the WWML? is also in there as
well starting at slide 27. Hint: The theme was olympic in nature.
This style is very time consuming when assembling lessons especially transferring the hyperlinked items from my home Mac, to my school laptop that is still running Windows 2000 using a Flashdrive. Not much fun right now but this process will be far more seamless and I will have even more capabilities for using PowerPoint and technology to its full potential in my classroom when I have one central computer (mine or one provided by the district) and a centralized system. In my training to this point I have been limited as to the use of technology by the parameters of the classrooms I have been in. In my own classroom, I will be able to set up a system that makes the use of these technology tools a good deal easier and more effective.
Video:
I love video. I love to use segments or entire full length documentaries
to help put history or topics into context. I am not a big fan of using
feature films in the classroom as historical representations as too often
Hollywood gets it factually wrong. But I will use segments that are meaningful
and convey a sense or give a context to the topic. For example, I would
never show Legends of the Fall to my classroom, but there is one scene
in it that represents the counter arguments and sentiment of the times
toward American involvement in World War One. There are many cases like
this where a scene is so well done, or well written that it can become
a good factual and contextual representation of the era, topic, or issue.
Of course, the documentary is my favorite use of celluloid. Ken Burns
and the work of various other documentarians is such a useful tool for
the classroom. I try to keep a good working knowledge or do continuous
searches for documentaries on the subjects I teach as it adds that additional
element for the various modalities of learning.
So whether it is showing a brief segment, or a full length documentary,
I utilize a good deal of meaningful video in my classroom.
Because I believe so strongly in using all forms of media from audio to video to images, I try to utilize various unorthodox venues to find these items. In my home, the television rarely is tuned to anything but PBS. In this region we are blessed with several PBS stations that all have differentiated programming.
And, with the advent of digital television, we now have several PBS stations
at our disposal. I find shows like PBS Frontline, American Experience, Independent
Lens, Globe Trekker, and even Rick Steve's Europe to be useful and intelligent,
as well as entertaining resources for the classroom. I utilized the Forntline
segment on the changing face of the media ("News
Wars") in the Government class I taught.
There are so many well done shows and features on PBS that work so well
in the classroom that I will, most likely, be compiling and adding to an
already healthy library of recorded programs. Of course, with an internet
connection and display capabilities in my classroom, tapes would be obsolete.
In the same manner, various features on NPR also do a great job of giving
a more holistic view of a subject we may cover in Social Studies. There
are shows that feature individual stories like This American Life, as well
as shows that discuss current events in a more detailed fashion like the
Diane Rheem Show or All Thing Considered. These shows really go into great
detail about the topics we may be covering. I used a segment about Freshman
Congressmen trying to find office space in one of my government classes.I love to use expert or guest speakers. In my experience there is no one better to speak on a topic than an expert. Dr. Kopp at Miami University pointed out that there are people out there who have entire basements full of ephemera and memorabilia that deals with a topic you may be studying. There are people who spend all their free time visiting monuments, battle sites, or various other narrow but detailed focus of interests. These folks are great resources who are typically free, experienced speakers who are enthusiastic about the topic.
Also, I like to get kids up out of their seats. I like to utilize cooperative learning activities and group or partner projects that get kids up and moving. Rather than just explain what "Crossing the T" is, I want to get students outside and walk them through it, using marshmallows as 16" rounds!
I know the term Holistic is overused these days but it sums up my approach to teaching. This is also the part of my approach that may start to sound a little bit "out there." But I want to teach in a manner that, on any given day, every single sense is used by the student. The perfect lesson, in a perfect world would involve video, audio, and imagery displays of the subject, along with textual and anecdotal lecture for the auditory and visual learner, along with a sample of food from the region we are studying or a fragrance from the region. Topped off with a show and tell of some seemingly Draconian exotic item, that turns out to be a letter sealer or some other benign tool from history's innovations. I want to take this Holistic approach to teaching. I understand that every lesson does not lend itself to this style, and that district or building guidelines may also hinder these ideas somewhat (I currently am dealing with a no outside food rule), but there is no reason I cannot strive for this type of complete learning and instruction style. This is my goal, and as the years go on, I will be able to augment the foundation of my lesson plans to add more and more of these strategies. As I state elsewhere in this site, it has to be fun for me as well.
Object
Permanence?
Apologies to Piaget but this is a technique
I learned from Dr. Kopp as well. He would begin every lesson by passing
around some strange and wonderful object. During the first ten or so minutes
he taught, the class would pass the object through the room and after
about 10 or 15 minutes, he would then focus attention on the object, challenging
anyone to tell him what it is. Most of the time the answer was so obvious,
once it was given. But the use of this tactile strategy to not only stimulate
intellectual curiosity, but to add relevance and context to the lesson
was just so effective to me. I have only been able to try this a few times
in class but each time had profound effects. Once I passed out a part
to a jet airplane during a study of interchangeable parts in the Industrial
Revolution unit. Another time I was able to pass out my ancestors Ellis
Island immigration papers, and another time I passed out my Grandmother's
first and second grade report cards. Each item had an amazing effect on
the classroom when they learned what it is they were looking at. When
I am teaching full time, depending upon the subject, I plan to spend a
good deal of time in antique stores buying up odd $2 items for "Show
and Tell."
Please click below to view a sample of the website I created for the Senior Government class and the Sophomore World History class I was responsible for teaching during my Student Teaching at Ross High School:
