It took me a couple days to wrap my mind around the readings for this week. LeBaron is very wordy, much like Dewey. Basically, LeBaron points out that before a teacher can begin planning, that teacher needs to examine their philosophy and the nature of their classroom (types of students, types of learners, resources, etc.) He supports a constructionist approach to planning. “A curriculum dedicated to optimizing human potential will find comfort in a learning theory that stresses individual differences” (p.21). He goes on to say that “Technologies for this approach would be integrated throughout the learning environment supporting research and knowledge construction through local databases worldwide networks, data manipulation, software, and multimedia production” (p.21).
LeBaron also gave importance to collaborative planning where all resources (equipment and specialists) can be explored and shared. Jarvela’s article also focused on collaborative planning. My experience with collaborative planning has been a very positive and successful one. When I was student teaching, the kindergarten team would plan together and invite specialists on certain days to collaborate across the curriculum. When the children went to music, library, PE and computer lab, they would continue to learn about the things in class… such as Groundhogs day, Columbus Day, shapes, numbers or colors. At the planning sessions which would be one hour each morning, all of the teachers would bring their own resources on the SOLs that was the topic of instruction for that week. One day would be dedicated to planning for social studies and science, another for math and a third for language arts. (Day four was for a meeting with administrators and the last day was open for personal planning like photo copying.) It was very useful and a very productive use of time.
LeBaron, John F., et al. (2001). Technology and its place. Successful technology infusion in schools. Jossey-Bass, California: San Francisco. (Chapter 2 and Chapter 4).
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You have done a nice job ‘wrapping your mind around our readings!’ LeBaron does suggest a constructivist approach to teaching and learning when using technology. It is believed that this approach will provide more opportunities for active learning and problem based learning in our classrooms. As a result, students will be able to create meaning from the instruction.
It is tremendous that your student teaching experience provided this look into what a productive planning process can look like. It would be terrific if more teams of teachers met and provided insights into their classrooms and instructional practices. How can we make this common place in all of our schools?
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