ED 714: Networked Learning Project A Chocolate Lovers Dream Cake

As you know I have chosen to make a delicious chocolate cake from scratch. You would think this process was a straight forward one. However, I have come to the conclusion there are a multitude of decisions that need to be made before even starting. Which chocolate to use? Do I use powder cocoa or chocolate alone? Should I sift the flour and other ingredients or is it not necessary? Will I do a cake with filling, or not, maybe a sheet cake? What about the finishing touches...frosting or ganache? I had more questions than answers so I had to go out online to do some researching.

The first stop I made was to Google communities to see if there was a chocolate lovers community, more specifically a chocolate cake community. Although the were several communities to join no one in particular fit what I was looking for. So where do I start, I don't want to make a chocolate cake, I want to make a Great Chocolate Cake!

Off to Google Search. The first thing I thought I should know was which brand of chocolate is best used for baking cakes. Well, who knew that Bakers Chocolate is not, by any means, a favored contender. One blog, @ Chow Discussions, had some simple advise for choosing your chocolate, "if it tastes good to you when you eat it plain it going to taste good in your cake" This post also listed several good brands of chocolate to investigate.

After watching several videos (which I put in Pocket for viewing later) I have decided to use a good 70% dark chocolate (brand yet to be determined) along with cocoa powder. I will sift my dry components. I will be making a layered chocolate cake with chocolate butter cream filling and a glazed ganache icing. Several postings mentioned Trader Joe's as having a good selection of dark chocolate, I will start there. I have not finalized my recipe as of yet, I believe I will use a combination of three, one for the cake, one for the butter cream filing and one for the gnache icing. Will keep you posted.

EDU710: Reflection on Module 2

What challenges exist as students work collaboratively as opposed to working alone?

Whenever we start a project in my class that is to be completed collaboratively we have our usual issues of who wants to, or not to, work with whom, how is the work divided, and/or who is going to do what part and how.  However, there are many positive aspects to working collaboratively.  It promotes discussion within the group.  No one opinion is correct, the students must work together to share their thoughts and ideas. and agree on how to proceed.  Mostly, it is successful.  

I have not included the use of technology beyond the usual internet search, image sharing and word processing. In the readings this week I was most intrigued by the article on the use of wikis. I am familiar with the concept, but the articles and offshoots  highlighted the benefits of online collaboration while using wikis. It makes sense to me that the use of wikis or other online collaborative tools would increase both creativity and productivity. This past week we, two of my classmates and I, wrote a paper collaboratively for one of our other classes. We utilized google docs writing and editing on the same document while at the same time discussing it on google hangouts. Use of online collaborative writing also allows for flexibility. Students are not confined to working on their projects in the classroom only. If one student is absent or does not have the required text in class they can still contribute at a later time.  It would only stand to reason that working collaboratively is advantageous to working alone.  The article “Online Collaborative Inquiry: Classroom Blogging Ventures and Multiple Literacies” by Arzt (2012) discussed advantages of blogging and the responsibilities of teachers to help students become proficient at using “technology as a tool”.  The piece on quad blogging between classes around the world was impressive and certainly fits the criteria of collaborative learning.

 

 

Cooking with TPACK

My video: Cooking with TPACK2

The assignment was for ED 714 Media, Technology, & Learning Across the Curriculum Class. In an earlier blog I talked a little about TPACK which is technology, pedagogy and concept knowledge. The overall concept of this assignment was, given only three tools from your kitchen (picked out by my helper, Carly) I needed to perform a randomly chosen task (also picked by Carly). The key was to use the tools given to perform the task assigned. I was given the task of making a fruit salad with only a bowl, salad plate and a wooden spatula. If I must say, my fruit salad came out pretty well with the exception of the grapes.

Networked Learning Project Topic: A Chocolate Lover's Dream Cake!

I have always loved chocolate anything!! One of my all time favorites is chocolate cake. I have made plenty in my day but never one from scratch., I mean real scratch like start with the flour...

ED714: TPACK and a little about me

For teaching to be successful with 21st Century learners, technology must be interwoven with the how, what and why we are teaching.

What is TPACK? It stands for Technological, Pedagogical, Content and Knowledge. The article by Mishra & Koehler (2006)  details what TPACK is and how it should be integrated to support good teaching. Basically TPACK is  a framework that combines the use of technology (ability to use available software and hardware), to enhance how you teach (pedagogical techniques),  as it relates to your content knowledge (what it is you are trying to teach). There are also a number of quick videos on youtube, a good one is TPACK in 3 Minutes by Royce Kimmons.

As a teacher I am always looking to improve my craft. To do this I use the internet, books, educational magazines and also observe fellow teachers in action. The key, I believe, is to always be curious, "what's next?"  I must maintain an open mind, everything changes.

In reading Mishra & Koehler (2006) I was reminded of technology gone by. Prior to teaching I came from industry having worked at Timex Corporation for twenty-two years as a Quality Control Engineering Specialist. I remember the days of communicating by telex, research and reports were written and typed with neatly written supporting data attached. I remember buying my first computer from a friend and realized, after only a week, that it needed upgrading. The first time using a word processor and then e-mail. Utilization of Micosoft Office was next. Word, how to do fancy formatting and fonts with color; Excel with and without saving-that was a lesson learned!; and of course PowerPoint, now that was a challenge! When my engineering days were over I returned to school to obtain my Masters Degree in Education and now teach 7th and 8th grade science in New Haven. I have been teaching for five years now and have learned a lot, both in and out of the classroom. In the past year I have invested in an iPhone, (which I had a student set up for me last fall, I am pretty good with using it now), an iPad, an "e" printer and now the google chromebook which was given to me for use in the IT&DML 6th year program at UNH. I am looking forward to learning how to better integrate technology with pedagogy and content knowledge! :-)

July 14, 2013

My philosophy encompasses three basic tenets:

1. All students can and will learn when in an environment that encourages curiosity and fosters the desire to satisfy that curiosity.
2. Before learning can take place the classroom needs to promote an environment of mutual respect for all.
3. Learning needs to be both transparent and purposeful.

Education in the twenty-first century will require that students are able to think critically, problem solve, and communicate effectively. Technology will play an ever increasing role in the lives of our students, and it is essential that they have the ability to integrate technology into all aspects of their lives. As educators it is imperative that we learn  how to incorporate  the latest technologies into our classrooms to allow us to better serve our students.

All students can and will learn in a conducive environment.

What is curiosity? Curiosity is the desire to learn, sounds simple enough. I, as a teacher, must access that curiosity and direct it towards the content of the lesson. According to Dewey, students should learn by doing.  Students should take an active role in learning, relating it to or   building upon personal experience. I believe that students learn and retain more when hands-on activities are included in the lesson. As a teacher, I must act as the facilitator in order to foster the development of the learning process in my students. Children are naturally curious, and the classroom should be a place where students learn how to satisfy that curiosity and continue along the path to further questioning and solutions. Learning is an endless, ongoing process that needs to be nurtured in the classroom and carried on in the rest of one’s life.

Another important aspect of learning is the concept of “student choice”.  Maria Montessori espoused the theory that within certain limits students should have “freedom to work uninterrupted on purposeful  activities”. Students who are involved with choosing how a concept should be presented will invariably be more involved with their own learning. For example, my colleague and I took a unit on the digestive system and rather than spend four days on “teaching” the system to them we introduced the topic, colored a diagram of the system including identification of the components and then assigned “the project”. Students were asked to explain how a piece of “whatever” went from the mouth to the toilet.  A list of mandatory vocabulary was given as well as a rubric as to how their project was to be assessed. The outcome was phenomenal! Students were able to work at their own level, some of the groupings included special education students which worked really well as one student could draw, another colored, and still another labeled the components. Student reflections were unabashedly positive and students even carried the lesson across disciplines into their Language Arts poetry assignment.

Classrooms must promote mutual respect.

I feel that before teaching and/or learning can take place an aire of mutual respect must be established within the classroom, not only between teacher and student but between the students themselves. The classroom needs to be a place where both students and teachers can interact with one another-communicate, collaborate, cooperate. Paolo Freire maintained that “education is dialogical and that dialogue itself involves respect”. There needs to be communication in a multi directional sense, that learning can not just be teacher centered where content is transposed from the educator to the students, rather it should be the exchange of knowledge, ideas and experiences. Students need to feel free to express and explore their own ideas and understanding. Feedback needs to respectful and non-judgemental.

Learning is transparent and purposeful.

In order to promote purposeful learning students need to be aware of what it is they are exploring.Transparency involves providing direction for student learning - there should be no mystery about the topic or focus of the lesson. All students should be able to state what is being explored.

Learning must be purposeful and authentic. When students have a goal or purpose for their learning they are more likely to remember the experience and incorporate it into the schema that they are building in order to  understand and participate in the world around them. Piaget believed that learning takes place in stages and that students use “assimilation and accommodation” for the acquisition of knowledge. When students are aware of the goal or are involved in creating that goal, then learning occurs. As teachers we aide this process by scaffolding lessons - content and skills - in accordance with the needs and development of our students in order to facilitate learning.

Of all of the educational theorists, the one I find the least inspiring is B. F. Skinner, who paradoxically has had an enormous impact on the practice of education for at least the last 30 years. Skinners approach to learning seems to me to be simply a matter of behavior modification. I find this to be too static and narrow an approach. Learning takes place in many ways, has many forms, and varies from learner to learner. The idea that we simply need to reinforce specific behaviors and negate others leaves out the creative and dynamic nature of learning. My philosophy of education addresses the realities of individuality, diversity, and human interaction in the learning process and seeks to encourage learning in diverse and adaptive ways.

As far as the next twenty-five years in education, technology will be both the good and the bad. It will provide many challenges and will also provide the solutions, along with some human help. As technology plays more and more of a role in the classroom school districts will need to provide the resources necessary to meet the growing demand. At present many urban communities do not provide sufficient access to, nor have the means for providing students with the tools needed to access the vast information on the Internet. This will be one of the greatest challenges of the next decades. However, if we teach our students to be lifelong learners and provide them with the skills that enable them be curious, knowledge seekers, I believe that they will be the ones to solve this problem. After all, most of our students already have cell phones.

I think I have it....test #2

Working on blogging...