My full essay can be found here! In my essay, I share my experience of how to engage students’ learning and apply technology in the classroom. As a Chinese immersion teacher, I often think about two questions: 1.Are my class activities relevant to students’ life? 2.Does the teaching methods I use help students learn the subject knowledge through Chinese? Regarding the first question, in the book How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School (2000), “Teachers must teach some subject matter in depth, providing many examples in which the same concept is at work and providing a firm foundation of factual knowledge” (John, Ann, Rodney, et al., 2000). Combining concepts with real life examples builds solid foundation of students’ understanding. Regarding the second question, teaching becomes an art when conducting class activities aligning with appropriate methods——learning from the teacher, whole group activity, small group discussion, peer revision, learning centers, etc. In order to achieve the goal of applying subject knowledge to real life, the process from learning, understanding, changing, and creating requires teachers to break down the scaffolding step by step. A lesson of “represent” is a good example! I also share my personal experience of taking dancing class online to show how educational technology makes learning more efficient and interesting.

   Hope you find it helpful and useful!

References:

Armstrong, P. (2010). Bloom’s Taxonomy. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching.

Retrieved 2022 from https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/blooms-taxonomy/

Bransford, J., Brown, A.L. & Cocking, R. R. (2000). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience

and school. National Academy Press. http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?isbn=0309070368

Smithsonian Science Education Center. (2015, June 15). Good thinking! - Conceptual change: How new ideas take root [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3a_4471DEU&feature=emb_logo