A sigh of relief...

I have to be honest. I was quite intimidated with this course when I first started. I have only been out of college for five years and teaching in my own classroom for three years, which seems like a short amount of time. But when I started reading learning theories, I almost had a panic attack. For one, I could name only a handful and remember the parts of each if I looked them up online. And my major source of stress is a lack of professional development and fear that I’m not meeting my students’ needs because I can’t name the learning theories!

Good news! The course was a nice refresher for me, and everything came rushing back to me. Even though I might not be able to remember every single learning theory word for word, I’m still using them in my classroom! This is when I can let out a sigh of relief!

So, when we started, my main learning theory was based on Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences. I believe that all students learn in different ways. I know this from firsthand experience, and I stick wholeheartedly by this method. In every lesson, I try to meet the needs of every single student in my classroom by providing them with different types of learning experiences and choices. I feel as though this is a very general theory, and many of the other theories we learned in this course fall under the umbrella of this theory, and actually fit perfectly for me. I already focus on the constructionist/constructivist approach, and I really enjoy incorporating social learning into my classroom.

Based on those theories, I have learned that technology needs to be a major contributor to my classroom. No “buts” about it, I need to find a way to use technology in every unit, if not more! The best part about this course is that I learned how easy it is to integrate technology in a fundamental way.

I would definitely like to try to use VoiceThread with my students. In fact, it appeals to me more as a way to get a discussion started outside the classroom, and it also seems like a fun tool for presentations when you run out of time to share them with the class. It’s always nice for students to get to see each other’s work and be able to comment on them. It’s perfect! The other tool I know I’ll use is concept mapping. Just from trying it on my own, I can tell that it’s very useful in helping students learn information. As a matter of fact, I can still remember facts from my virtual field trip to the sun! Plus, it’s a motivator because it’s a “fun” way to take notes.

As I have been taking these courses, I have noticed that parents are very apprehensive when I bring up the subject of technology, so as a goal, I would like to provide more information to give more validity to my use of technology in the classroom. This could be in the form of blogs or letters to parents giving them an explanation of my goals and objectives in using technology in my classroom. My next goal is to make sure I continually use technology in every lesson. It’s important to know that all of these technological tools relate to teaching theories, and if I start off the year immersing my students in different types of technology, I will be able to promote appropriate use of that technology while also meeting all standards.

Let's give them something to talk about...

The social learning theory is all about making connections with other individuals to create meaning in learning.

Cooperative learning is defined as students working together to "attain group goals that cannot be obtained by working alone or competitively" (Johnson, Johnson, & Holubec, 1986). This is part of social learning theories because it involves the interaction between two or more students, and together they create their own meaning from discussions and collaboration on a project. In cooperative learning groups, students are each responsible for their own learning, but they can use their other group members to expand on that learning through discussions and conversations.

Some of the social networking tools described, like Voice Thread and even Facebook, provide an opportunity for students to interact with outside participants who may have the same interests and talents as them. They require students to learn based on who they are in a more authentic way, via discussion posts, etc.


I have created my first Voice Thread, and I have to admit that I really enjoyed making it because it was so ridiculously easy to use! I like that once students learn how to use the program, they can even use it for their own personal reasons.

The following VoiceThread was made based on a project I would like to complete with my 7th graders after they read, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli! The VT itself has all the information I want to get out to the students, but I think it's still missing something.

Stargirl: A Project