Tutors,
Tools, and Tutees of Written Language: Case Study
Breanna
Naglich
Towson
University
Abstract
For
my case study I utilized teacher.org to select a second grade writing lesson in
which to study and gauge the value of the Tutor/Tool/Tutee implementation
strategy. The lesson to be dissected within this study is titled “Learning
About Adjectives” which is to take 30-40 minutes while addressing ELA
standards, and meeting the objective “The
learners should be able to give adjectives to any describe any noun the
teacher provides.”
Lesson
Review
As
an anticipatory set, the teacher is to ask the students if they have heard of
the story the three little pigs. The students will listen to the story read a
loud and record which pig they like and didn’t like. As a whole group
experience, the teacher will record and adjectives that they hear through their
share out. The teacher will tell the students that adjectives are words that
describe things that we like and dislike.
As
guided practice students are invited to act out characters as the class
describes how the character is portrayed. The independent practice states that
students will write two adjectives for every noun that the teacher says aloud.
To differentiate, the teacher can supply a word bank for the students to
utilize. For the closing of this lesson students are invited to share what they
learned and state an adjective that best describes their family members.
Lesson
Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths
of the lesson is that the plan includes a story that the students most likely
will know, and have the students respond to the text prior to the direct
teaching of what an adjective is. I think that this lesson was wise to relate
the adjectives to the students family members but some troubles can come from
asking students to use adjectives to the other two types of nouns such as
places and things. I think that technology can be leveraged to engage students
and apply the Tutor/Tool/Tutee method.
Taylors
Implementation Strategy
To
apply the tutor/tool/tutee I would supply students with greater problem solving
opportunities. In my second grade class we are learning to frame sentences. By
this time in the year, second graders are taught and expected to write
sentences with capitalization, basic punctuation, and able to locate the noun
in a sentence.
Tutor/Tool/Tutee
by Robert Taylor addresses how technology takes three distinct forms within
education. The text begins with Taylor stating that we will not know the extent
that technology will take in future education and the impact that it will have,
but there are three forms in which we utilize technology (Taylor 3)
As
assumed from the title, the first method in which education is thought to
increase efficiency is as a tutor. Utilizing digital tools to tutor or teach is
a trend spreading throughout our educational system. With adaptive tools and a
wealth of information, educators are supplying learners with various with tools
that are meant to teach new information. The second facet in which technology
is utilized in education is as a tool. This is a supporting device that helps
the learner clarify and prove their understanding of new information. Taylor
addresses this tool as the use of calculators and programs rather than a
research tool. Finally, Taylor speaks on how technology is used as a tutee.
Rather than teaching peers, students are asked to prove their understanding
using various technological mediums. Taylor states that this requires students
learning how to program. While students may not be teaching the computer new
information, they are required to problem solve.
Tutor
I
would adapt a digital Skinnerian game to work as the tutor. The program would
supply students with a sentence in which the noun is underlined and the student
is required to select the adjective. If the student guesses correct they are
rewarded with points or stars towards their game, if they get it incorrect the
adjective flashes then the student can correct their work. In this format the
technology is acting as the tutor, teaching the identification of adjectives
for students to begin formulating their own definition of what an adjective is.
Tool
and Tutee
Technology
as a tool would be used to create a list of words that could be adjectives for
the following sentence. The dog barked.
This sentence would look similar to the sentences given in the game and
students will create a list of words that they think could have showed up as
the adjective when they were tutored. While it would be tough to expect second
graders to program as the tutor to the technology tutee, students can utilize
technology to train ozobots to string together sentences. Ozobots are able to
follow colors on a paper to do different tasks or sync with a que of tasks that
are arranged on their student devices. These students which have become experts
through this structure are now to guide a small robot through the steps of a
proper sentence. Students are going to teach the robot to follow the path to connect
the sentence parts located around their table.
Conclusion
While
the improvements to the lesson while adapting the tutor/tool/tutee method was
addressed in regards to this written language lesson, the examples were taken
to an extreme. There are many other ways that technology could be an aide to
this content lesson. The benefits of the technology for the tutor portion was that
students would be receiving immediate feedback. Simple programs can allow
students to know if they are right or wrong in their practice within seconds as
compared to minutes, hours, or days, depending on how the teacher is
responding, grading, and or passing back practice work. In addition, students
are engaged in learning tasks that require problem solving that creates another
connection for students to remember the new skills when prompted in the future
or upon building on the skill. It was enjoyable to see this lesson through
Taylors method and I am eager to use components of it in the future.
It is a delicate path in which teachers
implement technology and this is seen by their discretion in the innovators
mindset. Teachers today are taking traditional lessons such as the adjective
lesson addressed in this case study and are utilizing technology to create more
efficient and effective lessons that are motivating. I think that it is a risk
to use all three components of Tutor, Tool, Tutee in a single lesson for the
programing step can be difficult for students to master to learn basic skills,
but utilizing this frame work to encourage educators to be reflective on their
teaching practices and adjustments that can be made to lessons will open the door
for greater problem solving and student lead learning.
References
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