eandugala

                  An Amalgamation of Holistic Teacher and Critical Theorist  Hi, I'm Esther Andugala and I teach 6th grade science at LCJ Summit Middle School. This is my fourth year teaching middle schoolers. I have a passion for teaching science and I would love to instill the same in my students to question the world around them to find answers. In this blog I would like to briefly describe how my teaching and learning experiences have been influenced by both holistic teaching and critical theorists.  Even before I describe how I consider my pedagogical philosophy to be a blend of both, I would like to demystify and elaborate what holistic teaching and critical theorists mean for the uninitiated. A holistic teacher provides an engaging environment for the student to respond. The students experience a democratic way of learning where the power is shared between the teacher and the students equally in terms of the choices they ma...

                          Professional Development on Universal Design for Learning for Teachers Hi, In this blog we will deep dive into an article about the benefits of professional development (PD) on universal design for learning (UDL) for teachers. In this day and age, the needs of learners have become more varied than ever. Since the inception of the IDEA (individuals with disabilities education) act, the responsibility of doing justice to learners with varied needs on teachers has increased. The universal design for learning (UDL) framework is seen as an answer to cater to these varying learning needs in the student population. Teachers need to be trained on the principles of UDL and then execute them in the classroom. An article by (Craig et al., 2019) has focused on a week long PD on universal design for learning for teachers. The study looked at a few parameters but their emphasis was on whether there was a d...

                                            The effectiveness of AI tools in Education Artificial Intelligence has become a part of our world more than we realize. There are so many tools available on the internet for us to dabble with, but I feel that we should tread cautiously and use AI judiciously only in certain situations. As with any tool, there are pros and cons and there is also an additional responsibility of checking for credibility. The ease of use is so tempting but sometimes taking the easier route will bite us in my opinion. We could use AI for inspiration and ideas but not depend on it solely for completing a said task.  I used the following (NGSS) Next Gen Science Standard MS-ESS2-1: Model the processes within the rock cycle physically and digitally to generate a lesson plan in an AI app called Magic School. International Society of Technology Edu...

                                                   How People Learn II: Learners, Contexts and Cultures Hi, In this blog we will briefly look at the processes that support learning, their connection to Gura's discussion of "The Creative Learning Environment" and the ISTE standards for students. This infographic describes the 3 major components of  the processes that support learning impacting curriculum design. It makes a connection of Gura's ideas of creativity and the ISTE standard of creative communicator leading to extension in learning (Kolb, 2017) References Gura, M. (2020). Fostering Student Creativity. EdTech Digest the State of the Arts, Creativity, and Technology 2020: A Guide for Educators and Parents Kolb, L. (2017).  Learning first, techno...

      Authentic Intellectual Work: A Possible Connection with National Education Technology Plan     Authentic Intellectual Work      Authentic intellectual work goes beyond mere following facts and procedures but involves application of knowledge and skills. In contrast, traditional approaches involve memorizing, retrieving data and repetitive computation without much emphasis on higher order thinking and understanding concepts. Unfortunately, they do not prepare students for adult life where they are expected to apply the skills they learn in real life situations. The goal for authentic intellectual work would be to carefully investigate a specific problem resulting in a solution which would be a lesson learnt far outweighing academic achievement (Newmann et al., 2007). The components of authentic intellectual work are construction of knowledge through disciplined inquiry that would have meaning beyond success in school (Newmann et al., 2007). C...

                                                                                                                                                             Technology Education and Extended Learning:                                                                     Middle School Science Curriculum                                       ...