Lesson 14: Maximizing the use of the overhead projector and the chalk board

“Indeed, in no…country have I ever seen a good school without a black board or a successful teacher who did not use it frequently” –Horace Mann, noted American Educator.

Among all instructional equipment, the chalk board is the most available. The overhead projector is versatile equipment that is quite common today. By learning how to use them properly and in an inexpensive way we are able to realize our instructional objectives. There are techniques of using the chalk board and OHP proven to be effective by practitioners. Adopting them in our teaching spells visual and lasting learning for our students.

Chalkboard techniques:

a. Sharpen your chalk to get good line quality.

b. Stand with your elbow high, move along as you write.

c. Use dots as “Aiming points” this keeps writing level.

d. Make all writing or printing between 2 and 4 inches high for legibility.

e. When using colored chalk, use soft chalk so that it can be erased easily.

 The Overhead Projector (OHP) Techniques

Among the outstanding attributes of overhead projection are the many techniques that can be used to present information and control the sequence of a presentation. Keep in mind these features of overhead projection.

You can show pictures and diagrams using a pointer to direct attention to a detail.

You can use felt pen or waxed based pencil to add details. It can easily be removed by a soft cloth.

You can control the rate of presenting information by covering with an opaque material and exposing the data as you discuss. This is known as the progressive disclosure technique.

You can super impose additional transparency cheats as over lace on a based transparency so as to separate processes and complex ideas into elements and present them in step by step order.

You can show 3 dimensional objects from the stage of the projector.

You can move over lace back and forth across the base in order to rearrange elements of diagrams or problems

You can simulate motion on parts of a transparency by using the effects of polarized light.

Lesson 13; Teaching with visual symbols.

“Visual symbols will be made meaningful if we can use them as summaries of our own direct experiences or our own rich indirect experiences... A little can stand a lot”

Like a picture a graph and all other visual symbols, are worth a thousand words,  The proper use of visual symbols will contribute to optimum learning. 

Visual symbols come in many forms – drawings, cartoons, strip drawing (comic strip) diagram, map, chart and graph. For these visual symbols to be at your finger tips, you ought to be skilled at making them.

The collection, preparation and use of these various visual symbols depends to a great extent on your own resourcefulness and creativity. They may be used in different ways and in different phases of the lesson depending on your purpose. If you use them skillfully, your classroom may turn into a beehive of busy students.

a. drawings

            a drawing may not be the real thing but better to have a concrete visual aid than nothing. To avoid confusion, it is good that our drawing correctly represents the real thing.

b. cartoons

            A fist rate cartoon tells its story metaphorically. The perfect cartoon needs no caption. The less the artist depends on words, the more effective the symbolism. The symbolism conveys the message.

C. Strip drawings

            These are commonly called comics or comic strips.

D. Diagrams

            It is“ any line drawing that shows arrangement and relations as of parts to the whole, relative values, origins and development, chronological fluctuations, distribution, etc.”

Types of Diagrams

1. Affinity diagram – used to cluster complex apparently unrelated data into natural and meaningful groups.

2. Tree diagram – used to chart out, I increasing detail, the various tasks that must be accomplished to complete a project or achieve a specific  objective.

3. Fishbone Diagram – It is also called cause and effect diagram.

It is a structured form of brainstorming that graphically shows the relationship of possible causes and sub causes directly related to an identified effect / problem. It is most commonly used to analyze work – related problems.

E. Charts

            Is a diagrammatic representation of relationships among individuals within an organization. We can have different types of chart:

1. time chart – is a tabular time chart that presents data in ordinal sequence.

2. tree or stream chart – Depicts development, growth and change by beginning with a single course ( the trunk ) which spreads out to many branches or by beginning with the many tributaries which then converge into a single channel.

3. flow chart – Is a visual way of charting or showing a process from beginning to end. It is a means of analyzing a process. By outlining every step in a process, you can begin to find inefficiencies or problems.  

4. organizational chart – shows how one part of the organizational relates to other parts of the organization.

5. comparison and contrast chart – Used to show similarities and differences between two or three things.

6. pareto  chart – Is a type of bar chart, prioritized in descending order of magnitude or importance from left to right. It shows at a glance which factors are occurring most.

7. gaant chart – Is an activity time chart.

F. Graphs

            - There are several types of graphs. They are:

   -          Circle or pie graph

o       Recommended for showing parts of whole.

   -          Bar graph

o       Used in comparing the magnitude of similar items at different ties or seeing relative sizes of the parts of a whole.

   -          Pictorial graph

o       Makes use of picture symbols.

  -          Line graph

·        Graphic Organizer – an informal organizer

G. Maps

            Is a “ representation of the surface of the earth or some part of it.”

Kinds of Map

1. Physical map – Combines in a single projection data like altitude, temperature, rainfall, precipitation, vegetation and soil.

2. relief map – Has three dimensional representations and show contours of the physical data of the earth or part of the earth.

3. Commercial or economic map – Also called product or industrial map since they show land areas in relation to the economy.

4. Political map – gives detailed information about country, provinces, cities and towns, roads and highways. Oceans, rivers and lakes are the main features of most political maps.

Map language :

            1. Scale

-  Shows how much of the actual earth’s surface is represented by a given measurement on a map.

-          On some maps, scale is shown graphically while some is expressed in words and figures.

2. Symbols – Usually a map has a legend that explains what each symbol means. (ex: railroads, mountains, lakes and plains)

3. Color – The different colors of the map are part of the map language.

4. Geographic grids – The entire system of these grid lines are called grid lines. These grid lines are called meridians and parallel.

            - A meridian is a north to south pole line

            - Parallels are lines drawn around a globe with all points along each line with an equal distance from the pole.

            - Longitude is the distance in degrees of any place east or west of the prime meridian.

            - Latitude is the distance in degrees of any place north or south of the equator.

Poster -  a large printed picture used for decoration.

Lesson 12 – The power of film, video and TV in the classroom

“ Next to the home and school, I believe television to have a more profound influence on the human race than any other medium of communication.” – Edgar Dale

 The film, video and TV are powerful instructional tools. When they re used appropriately and moderately, they can make the teaching-learning process more concrete, lively, colorful and interactive. It contributes to a more lasting learning because of its visual, audio and motion effects. These effects make learning fun. However, misuse and abuse of their use in the classroom and even at home has far reaching damaging effects in the development of children’s imaginative and thinking powers and sensitivity to human life. The most significantly cited weakness of the tv is the effect of tv violence on peoples’ aggressive behavior.

With the coming of the VCR, viewing need or not to be passive anymore. We can have interactive viewing with VCR.

The film, the video and the TV are indeed very powerful. Dale ( 1969 ) says, they can:

Ø    Transmit a wide range of audio – visual materials, including still pictures, film, objects, specimens and drama.

Ø    Bring model of excellence to the viewer

Ø    Bring the world of reality to the home and to the classroom through a “live” broadcast or as mediated through film or videotape.

Ø    Make us see and hear for ourselves world events as they happen.

Ø    Be the most believable news source

Ø    Make some programs understandable and appealing to a wide variety of age educational levels.

Ø    Become a great equalizer of educational opportunity because programs can be presented over national and regional networks.

Ø    Provide us with sounds and sights not easily available even to the viewer of a real event through long shots, close ups, zoom shots, magnification and split screen made possible by the TV camera.

Ø    Can give opportunity to teachers to view themselves while they teach for purposes of self – improvement.

Ø    Can be both instructive and enjoyable.

While the film, video and tv can do so much, they have their own limitations too :

Ø    Television and films are one – way communication device consequently, they encourage passivity.

Ø    The small screen size puts television at a disadvantage when compared with the possible size of projected motion pictures.

Ø    Excessive tv viewing works against the development of the child’s ability to visualize and to be creative and imaginative, skills that are needed in problem solving.

Ø    There is much violence in tv. This is the irrefutable conclusion, “viewing violence increases violence”.

Basic Procedures in the use of TV as a Supplementary Enrichment.

* For enrichment of the lesson with the use of TV, we have to do the following:

Ø    Prepare the classroom

o       Darken the room but not completely so the students can take down notes.

o       The students should not be seated too near nor too far from the TV.

* Pre-viewing Activities

o       Set goals and expectations.

o       Link the TV lesson with the past lesson and/or with your students’ experiences for integration and relevance.

o       Set the rules while viewing.

o       Put the film in context.

o       Point the key points they need to focus on.

* Viewing

Ø    Don’t interrupt viewing by inserting cautions and announcements you forgot to give during the pre-viewing stage. It disrupts and dampens interest.

Ø    Just make sure sights and sounds are clear.

* Post-viewing

Ø    To make them feel at ease begin by asking the following questions:

1.     What do you like best in the film?

2.     What part of the film makes you wonder? Doubt?

3.     Does the film remind you of something or someone?

4.     What questions are you asking about the film?                      

* Go to the questions you raised at the pre-viewing stage.

* Tackle questions raised by students at the initial stage of the post-viewing discussion.

* Ask what the students learned.. Find how they can apply what they learned.

* Summarize what has learned.

Lesson 11- Making the most of Community Resources and field trips

“Field Trips offer an excellent bridge between the work of the school and the work of the world outside.”

Field Trips are expensive. They require much time for preparation and planning. However, considering the intensity and the extent of concrete experiences that come through field trips, we are encouraged to use them Only, if there is no other less expensive but equally effective instructional tool. Preparation and planning for the field trip includes discussions and decisions on what to do before the field trip, during the field trip and after the field trip.

Community resources like historical and scenic spots, museums, zoos, botanical gardens, places, of exhibits can be destinations for field trips. Other community resources can be people themselves such as parents, senior citizens and other members of the community.

•  Planning a field trip includes these steps:

1.      Preliminary planning by the teacher

2.      Pre-planning with others going on the trip

3.      taking the field trip itself

4.      Post-field trip follow up activities

* Pre-planning with others joining the trip

-          Other people accompanying the group need to be oriented on the objectives, route, behavior standards required of everyone so they can help enforce these standards.

* Taking the field Trip

Ø    Distribute route map of places to be observed

Ø    Upon arriving at the destination, teacher should check the group and introduce the guide.

Ø    Special effort should be made to ensure that:

o       The trip keeps to the time schedule

o       The students have the opportunity to obtain answers to questions

o       The group participates courteously in the entire trip

o       The guide sticks closely to the list of questions.

* Educational Benefits derived from a field trip

            -  Field trips can be fun and educational when they are well executed. They offer us a number of educational benefits:

1.      The acquisition of lasting concepts and change in attitudes are rooted on concrete and rich experiences which are fundamental to learning that lasts.

2.      Field trips bring us to the world beyond the classroom. The real world connection is more work but the benefits of broadening teaching beyond textbooks far outweigh the little bit of time it takes from a teacher’s schedule.

3.      Field trips have wide range of application. It is not meant only for children. It is for adults also.

a.      It can bring about a lot of realizations which may lead to changes in attitudes and insights. The field trip “ can nurture curiosity; build a zest for new experience and a sense of wonder.” ( dale, 1969).

  

• Disadvantages of  Field Trips:

            - These educational benefits can compensate for drawbacks of field trips, some of which are:

1.      It is costly

2.      It involves logistics

3.      It is extravagant with time

4.      It contains an element of uncertainty