What a class!

All I can say is, "Wow!" I've certainly gotten a reality check with this class. This was my first grad class that I took since I've been back to work and I've felt one step behind. It was an adjustment. The past few semesters I was ahead of the game, going onto blackboard while my kids were in school and the "newborn" baby was sleeping. I was able to stay on top of all my assignments and felt like I was one step ahead. Lately, I've felt the opposite. At least I can say I've learned that for my next class, I need to budget my time a little better. The baby is now 6 months old and requires my attention to keep her busy. The older two children understand that mommy has school, but they still want time too. This semester I felt like I was getting pulled in twenty different directions. I'm keeping in mind the road ahead.... a Master's Degree and that's something that I can be proud to explain to my children... you CAN do WHATEVER you put your mind to, just try!

The Mommy's Guide to Applying Learning Theories at Home

So after carefully thinking about what we have learned so far in class, it dawned on me... I'm using learning theories during my classes, how can I or have I already applied these to my home?.  The first method that comes to mind is ARCS....gaining the attention of my children by simply holding up a boxed cake mix. My two older children are still developing their language skills and I look for ways to build their vocabulary. After seeing the cake mix, the kids are now interested in what's going on. The relevence to this activity of baking cupcakes is "what will helping mommy with this do for me today?" and they understand that they will get a cupcake after dinner. The confidence comes when they feel comfortable to put the batter in the cupcake tins on their own because they've done it before and know what to do and I praise them for putting just the right amount of batter in the cupcake tray. Finally, the satisfaction comes after they enjoy their hard work and eat the cupcakes.

Secondly, I think of Behaviorism... because, let's face it, if you have children, you practice Behaviorism. My kids know that if they make a mess, they need to clean it up. They hear the "clean-up" song and begin to clean. Early on, I've stressed the importance of taking care of your things. The kids know that if they make a mess and clean up, they get to play again later, but if they make a mess and don't clean up, they go to their room and are done with the toy they left out. Also, if they share their toys, they can continue to play but if they fight over a toy, I take the toy away and no one plays with it. Finally the ever popular, Eat your dinner! They know that if they eat all their dinner, they get dessert or a treat, but if they waste their food, no snack.

Finally, I refer back to the theory of Synectics...you think, "How could you possibly utilize Synectics with small children?" It's as simple as putting a puzzle together. My kids LOVE puzzles and they try to put the puzzle together. They have different ways of completing the task and solving the problem of turning a box of pieces into a picture. My daughter carefully seperates the pieces into two boxes. She puts the edges in one box, the middle pieces in another and then starts with putting the frame first. She completes the puzzle by filling in the middle. My son, on the other hand, looks at pieces and by trial and error, makes them all fit eventually. When they do a puzzle with me, I let them each do a bit of their own method. They are able to see how both of their ideas work in solving the puzzle.

That's how I apply a few learning theories at home with my kids. :)

Hooray for Synectics

Well, I'm sure everyone can guess that I am overjoyed our presentation on Synectics is over and went seemingly well... except for a few minor technical difficulties in the beginning. It was a pleasure working with Scott and Sue on this project and I learned quite a bit about Synectics... can see why it is a fav of Amy's. Funnily enough, I've used Synectics in my lessons at the school and not realized it. Some of my visual projects that are assigned to students require them to think outside the box..be creative... be original and do something that will WOW your audience, no matter how silly you might think it to be.

The other two presentations were fantastic. The groups seemed to have a great understanding of their topics and I've got to say.. loved the candy rewards (even though I was virtual) and loved the math song, because who doesn't love a good math song. I'm looking foward to the following weeks and presentations to see what the groups have to offer. Good luck to the remaining presenters.

Synectics- coming together

Well, I missed last weeks class due to conferences.... but this Monday is our big presentation on Synectics. My group has found a niche and we seem to work well together. Looking forward to presenting and checking off another done box. I think with the upcomming presentations we will get to see the variety of learners that are present in this group. It's always amazing to see just how everything we work hard for comes together at the end.

Reflections

Two classes down. This weeks class had some ups and downs. I'm one of those people that when told, "I have some good news and bad news, which do you want first?" I always select the bad news because it can only go up from there :)

After reflecting about last evenings class, I found myself thinking of how things can improve for the following week. First and foremost, the technical side of the feedback/echo was distracting. When Susan was giving her presentation on Google Portfolios/Profile we heard a lot of echo on our end. It became very distracting and I think that for future classes when we present our theories we will need to make sure that we don't have an echo as to take away from the hard work of our peers. Secondly, I think some of the newer students to the MAIT program were left wondering what they would use a Portfolio/Profile for. I think it would have been a little helpful for the newer MAIT students to see an example of an earlier Portfolio so that they know what kinds of finished product should be placed in your portfolio and explain why we have one. Finally between the hour long google presentation AND  the library presentation, many of us were left burnt out. A lot of information was given. I think if we could have watched the videos on Google and then discussed trouble areas and then had the library segment, we would have felt less overwhelmed.

Now lets look at the pros. Even though we had a lot of information given, it was useful information. We were able to see what more Google has to offer (added to all the fantastic things they offer). I'm astonished about how many free tools are out there for our use. Furthermore, we need to remember that we are lucky to live in an age where our instructor was in Aruba and could still run a class virtually.... amazing! Library skills are always critical, especially given the topics we have to research. I found that I felt more comfortable with the research process after hearing the library tutorial.

Looking foward to all of the upcomming presentations. Good luck to all.

First Class

I have to say that after last weeks class, I have my work cut out for me. This is definatley a change being back to work full time AND taking a class. I had it easy over the summer semester and being on maternity leave for the fall semester.... spring semester will be a challenge. I've got to get a routine down so that I don't feel overwhelmed. I'm looking forward to working on the Synectics theory because I have no experience with it and excited to learn something new. We'll see how it goes!

The finish line

This semester proved to be a make me or break me semester, and it made me! I was reluctant to take classes this semester with the impending birth of a baby, but with Amy's support it proved to make this semester successful! I feel a great sense of accomplishment and hope that it's all uphill from here. After going to the capstone presentations I went home and thought... "What will I do for a capstone??" But after talking with Amy I had an aha (Right Amy!!!) for my capstone, which has me very excited!

I've learned a lot of useful information this semester and I continue to look foward to taking more classes and turn-keying what I've learned to my co-workers and students. This was a fantastic class! Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year or in preparation for my trip someday.... Buon Natale e Felice Anno Nuovo!