In my context, to build and apply this process it is not easy, however it is not impossible.
I would like to follow these steps to reach a real self-directed learning process in my Spanish and English classes.
To inquiry my students about the concept of autonomy and freedom they have.
To contextualize (e.g invite them to stay out the class after break, under own decision) the concepts and take them to the academic field.
Students should write their short and long term in Spanish or English class
Students should write how they can reach them and why.
By analyzing their performance through the class (self-assessment).
Invite them to share with classmates that s/he has learned in other space different from classroom.
Finally in my real class I try to promote self –direct learning, using autonomy concept (each individual makes decisions for his/her life and is responsible for them, it does not matter the results) also I ask them copy information when they consider it works for something in their learning process and finally they follow a chart which they need to write the activity, the score(quantity aspect) and their performance on it and the reasons, to take them into a self-assessment process.
The table below represents some of the
ways our learning skills, styles, and preferences may be categorized. This
information is limited and will only provide a starting point for understanding
how you learn best.
As you evaluate yourself, remember� there is no one best way to learn! As unique
individuals, we all have different personalities as well as learning styles and
preferences. Throughout our lives, we must adapt to a wide range of learning
situations-- and it is highly unlikely that our strengths will always match the
demands of the situation. So the trick is to build on our strengths while
developing other strategies and skills that will broaden our abilities.
You may want to consider enrolling in
the Study Skills course offered by the college to get more detailed information and
assistance. Or you can check out some of the assessments available on the internet.
Principio
del formulario
Skill/Preference
Evaluation of Ability/Strength in Area:
Low
Medium
High
Study Skills: How would you rate yourself in
the following study skills? Areas in which you rate yourself low may be
topics of this web site you will want to explore; or you may wish to enroll
in a study skills course to develop these skills.
Managing your time and study environment.
Reading textbooks.
Taking class notes.
Using information resources (library, internet,
etc.).
Writing papers/completing projects.
Preparing for and taking exams.
Skill/Preference
Evaluation of Ability/Strength in Area:
Low
Medium
High
Learning Style: The categories below represent
ways that you process information. Assess your "style" by
determining how you learn best in most classroom situations.
Regardless of how you rate in these areas, you should consider ways to
develop "other" styles so that you will widen your range of
expertise!
Visual: You learn best by
"seeing" the concepts-- diagrams, flowcharts, time lines, films,
and demonstrations.
Verbal: You learn best from reading,
hearing spoken words, participating in discussion and explaining things to
others.
Active/Tactile: You need to experience
learning by "doing" or by getting personally involved.
Reflective: You need time to reflect
on new information on your own and at your own pace.
Factual/Linear: You prefer information to be
concrete, specific facts and data. You find it easiest to learn material
presented step by step in a logical, ordered progression.
Theoretical/Global: You are
most comfortable with "big-picture" ideas, symbols, and concepts.
You need to see the whole picture before details make sense to you. You
easily "get" the patterns and relationships between ideas.
Skill/Preference
Evaluation of Ability/Strength in Area:
Low
Medium
High
Preferences: Considering these areas of
preference will help you to determine where and when you should study for
best results.
Persistence: This indicates your
willingness to stick with a task even when you are uncomfortable or tired.
Verbal risk: This indicates your
willingness to speak up in class, even when you are nervous about doing so.
Time: The time of day when you
perform best: morning (low), afternoon (med.), or evening (high).
Grouping: Low would indicate your
preference to learn or work individually; medium, in small groups; high, in
large groups.
Mobility: Indicates your (low,
medium, or high) need to move around and take breaks.
Sound: Do you need to study in
areas where sound is low, medium, or high?
Lighting: Do you prefer low, medium
or high amounts of light while reading or performing other study skills?
Temperature: Do you prefer a cool
(low), medium, or warm (high) temperature?
According to this questionnaire, I am classified like an visual learner, and some strategies to improve my learning process as a self directed learner, are;
Final
del formulario
Learning Styles and Preferences
Strategies to Strengthen These Learning Styles
VisualVisual learners learn best from what they see: diagrams, flowcharts, time lines, films, and demonstrations.
Add diagrams to your notes whenever possible.
Organize notes so that you can clearly see main points and supporting facts and how ideas are connected.
Use visual organizers (graphs, charts, symbols, etc.) to help show relationships between concepts/ideas.
Color-code notes to help you to see categories of information.
Use visualization as a way to study/prepare for tests and to retrieve information.
Retrieved Marzo 15, 2014 from http://faculty.bucks.edu/specpop/interpss.htm
This activity ask you to think about the attitudes to face a self-directed learning process
SELF-DIRECTED READINESS
QUESTIONNAIRE
1. Self-awareness: My knowledge about my personal strengths and
capacities is …
Very limited 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Very
complete
2. Effectiveness: If I decided to make a change in my life, I would
likely …
Be unable to do it 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8 9 10 Do it successfully
3. Clarity: What I want to do next is usually …
A mystery to me 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Clear
to me
4. Goal-Setting: In my day-to-day life, I …
Take things as they come 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Regularly set goals to achieve
5. Planning: When I have a task to complete, I lay out a strategic
plan for doing it efficiently and effectively …
Not in my lifetime 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
9 10 Every time
6. Organization: When it comes to scheduling my time, and
prioritizing my work, I’m…
Hopeless 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Skilled
7. Self-examination: When I’m messing up, and I’m feeling low…
I think about something else 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 I try to figure out what’s happening
8. Process analysis: When a project I’m working on breaks down…
I quit 1 2 3 4 5 6
7 8 9 10 I figure out what’s going
wrong and fix it
9. Vision: I have a vision of my future that I want to make happen.
False 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 True
10. Strategy: When I want something to happen, I think through a
strategy to make it happen?
No 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Yes
Retrieved March 30, 2014 from http://www.gradutempore.com/p/learning-to-use-resources-that-are.html#.Uzipcvl5OpA
I would like to share with you, some aspects which have made that my experience as an adult learner has had different types of challenges, these are:
To be part a group again, it is not easy and it is harder when you do not have face to face relation with them.
To create new knowledge regarding my classmates´ feedback
To discover technology is a way which I need to follow step by step according to my expectations.
To organize time and activities in order to develop task and activities in an individual and collaborative form.
How Do I set my goals for class?
Think…..
How do you plan your
course/lesson objectives? Do you follow any specific procedure? Firstly I think about the grammar issue
I should explain, secondly I consider how can I explain it to the students,
then I set objectives, I try to set an objective per class and activity,
sometimes the objective can work for the different activities. Before I set the
objectives only for myself, now I write objectives, strategies and evaluation
form on the board so that students can know them too.
What features do you bear in mind when defining
performance objectives for a course/lesson?
The target group. In the school the
level and the students
üHow will they react about the topic and
the objective for the class
üWhat the objectives are and how students
can integrate to their context.
üI always wonder if I teach them can be
useful for their lives.
What way is the best to explain them.
Write
the process of
transforming your objective(s) from covert to overt processes. How
difficult/easy this has been.
First, I
consider Gagne categories and levels are pertinent, however in some parts of
the reading the relation among them is hard to understand, you need to clarify
steps, categories, skills, concepts and characteristics to have a complete
definition about what an objective isg.
I notice that try to convert my
objectives from covert to overt has not been an easy process, hence when I read Gadne and Magner
´ideas I could discover most of the time
my objectives were set as
activities in class or maybe I had objectives which were not clear enough for
students. According to Magner (1984) “ An objective describes an intended result of
instruction, rather than the process of
instruction itself.”
a.Write
the objective you selected from your lesson plans. Post both, the old and the
new version (performance-based) for your lesson. You may choose Gagne (1976),
Wenning (2008) and/or Mager´s (1984) proposal to define your lesson’s
performance objectives.
GROUP
CLASS OBJECTIVE (old version)
CLASS OBJECTIVE (new (version)
WORDS
INTELLECTUAL SKILL (Gagne 1974)
INTERNAL CONDITIONS THAT LEARNER
HAS/GOAL
EXTERNAL CONDITIONS THAT LEARNER
HAS/GOAL
CONTEXT OF LEARNER
Seventh
Identify
subject, correct form of verb to be and rules for ING to do present
continuous
The students of seventh grade
(audience)will be able
to classify (behavior)words in subjects and verbs in a written form (Degree)
Create sentences underlining subject and verb
Concept learning
üDisposition,
üNeeds of students,
üPerceptions
üRelation between teacher and
student,
üRelation between student and knowledge.
üUse of tools
Classmates
Home
Eleventh
Make
a short dialogue using two tense then write the tag questions
The students of eleventh grade(audience)
will be able to prepare
a short dialogue (behavior) about sports, music, fashion, school,or
friends using two tenses, it will be
in a written way
(degree)
Dramatize dialogues
Concept learning
üReadiness
üNeeds
üTools
üStudent´s point of view,
üVocabulary
Classmates
Sixth
Identify
cardinal and ordinal numbers.
The students of sixth (audience) grade
will be able to
distinguish (behavior) between cardinal and ordinal numbers in written activities.
(Degree)
Demonstrate through the writing form the knowledge between ordinal and ordinal
numbers
