Research Summary

2009 was an interesting year. I took a year off teaching (well actually I was given a year off) to finish my MEd. On Friday my scroll arrived in the mail from Massey University to mark the final stage in a four year journey.

The highlight of my study was the research project that I completed in November. I explored personal dynamics in the classroom and how these influence teaching and learning. This was essentially an historical literature review that drew upon the influence of humanistic thought on classroom practice. The "bottom line" in this project was that the extent to which a teacher can positively connect with students on an interpersonal level determines the extent to which students will find the learning experience fulfilling.

I am not about to try and summarize thousands of words in one post. But what I will do today is share a summary of one of the sections where I explored the qualities of effective teachers. Here is a summary:

• Effective teachers display both overt and covert qualities. That is, some qualities can be clearly seen. Others are internally held beliefs.
• Overt qualities are REALNESS, ACCEPTANCE and EMPATHY. Realness involves the teacher being genuine in their encounter with their students. Acceptance speaks of the teacher unconditionally regarding students in a positive manner. Empathy is the teacher's ability to understand a student's world from the learner's perspective.
• Covert Qualities are beliefs which are often expressed in expectations and intentions. Students seek to understand teacher's beliefs and intentions so they can find out what the teacher believes about them personally. When a learner perceives that a teacher views them positively they respond positively and engage in learning more readily.
• Learning experiences are directly linked to both the overt and covert qualities that I have mentioned. Teachers who frame their students in a positive manner will develop refreshing experiences that require students to be all they can be. Students are more likely to strive toward "being all the can" if the essential overt qualities are present as they will feel supported and motivated to do so.

Blogger as a Learning Tool

I am just getting started with this particular blog and am planning to make this a regular feature of my weekly schedule.

In this first entry I have picked an initiative that has made a big difference to teaching and learning in my classroom in 2010. Children in my class are really catching on and enjoying using Blogger as an eLearning tool. There are a few issues surrounding the legality of allowing 11 year olds to use Blogger. I was able to overcome this due to a chance conversation that I had with Dorothy Burt at the Learning in Schools Conference earlier in the year. She showed me how it was possible for me to personally own student's blogs while giving them the right to edit them.

Take a look at a couple of blogs from Somerville Intermediate's Room 28...

Greer's Blog

Sonna's Blog

Michael's Blog

Getting your class started in Blogger involves the following steps:

1. Create a blog for each child in the class. You need to use a standardized format to make it easier for the students. For example I use sis (short for Somerville Intermediate School) then the students name (e.g. sonna) then 28 (which is our room number). This guarantees that I won't be denied the use of the blog title because it is very unlikely that anyone will own a blog titled: sissonna28.blogspot.com.

2. Next you need to create a Google account for your class to use. If you have a class email address just use this.

3. Now give the class account access to each blog as an 'author'. This is done in the Permissions area of Blogger.

4. You'll need to go into the class email address and confirm authorship to each blog.

5. Make sure students are aware of the expectation that they should only access their own blog and that they are NEVER to fiddle with the work of others. This is the only obvious shortfall with using Blogger in this way. You must remember that students have access to each others blogs because only one username and password is being used.

Please email me if you need any help working through this process.

p.crowhurst@somint.school.nz

Or may I suggest looking at Dr Vin who specializes in all things Bloggerish...OR... the ever informative blog of Dorothy Burt.