teaching
I spent about a half an hour writing an entire post about this video and it didn't save or post all the content I wrote. Then I tried update it and it wouldn't save any of the changes I made. So now I had to delete it and start over. So this is all I'm putting up. And in this moment I would just like to vent and say that weebly has been incredibly frustrating platform to work with. Horrible in fact, I would never recommend it to anyone. Ever. I will just say that I agree with Michael Wesch, and I liked his idea to gauge student engagement by looking at the type of questions they ask. And in this moment I would just like to vent and say that weebly has been incredibly frustrating platform to work with. Horrible in fact, I would never recommend it to anyone. Ever. I will just say that I agree with Michael Wesch, and I liked his idea to gauge student engagement by looking at the type of questions they ask.
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I really like that this theory brings up the fact that the concept of visitor of the internet vs. resident is not just old vs. young, but its more of a individual motivation to be a part of the online community. The person who visits the internet has a goal and purpose for being there, and then they log off and they are done with the internet. The resident is someone who has a part of their identity that stays online even when they log off. They get online and they stay there. The more often they log on, the more relevant their identity online is. If they don't log on and update that online identity, the less it may be a reflection of themselves. They are visible online. Its not just how you use it but how you view it and it's purposes. The visitor doesn't see the internet as a place to "hang out". They perceive their privacy as important and aren't interested in engaging or flaunting with "strangers". Residents see the people they know online as an extension of the relationships they already know. It's not just online presence but the continuum is about how your view the use of the internet and your motivation to use it.
I think that I am somewhere in the middle of this spectrum between being a visitor and resident, maybe I'm on the high middle tier. I think that the creation of this website has helped me become more of a resident. I have really enjoyed creating my website and having it out there on the web. I actually want to know how to make myself more visible for the purpose of connecting with people who have the same interests and passions that I do. I also maintain a few social media sites as a way to stay connected with friends and to engage in relationships with companies and people that I value in my life. I don't like spending a lot of time online, although I spend more time on there more than I want. I prefer to get online, do my thing, and then disconnect. I see the virtual extension of myself and my life online as just that, a virtual extension. It is "real" to me, but I do see that if I loose it, I am still me. You hear sometimes about people getting upset about what people say or do on Facebook and they claim in exasperated tones that "Facebook isn't real life". Well, I tend to differ. Social media and internet presence is real life because it is a close to real time representation of other people interacting. However, my virtual presence is not a definition of who I am. I see it being the other way around, and in that sense I feel in control because I define my virtual presence. I feel that that perspective allows me to feel comfortable and motivated to put myself out there in the interwebs while still maintaining my privacy and identity. This titled sounds familiar. Oh, its because I bought a book with the same title. I wanted to watch this video because I hoped that it would compliment the reading in the book that we are using this semester. Hopefully it will help me connect with the reading when that time comes. Douglas Thomas starts out by pointing out that we learn naturally in life, all the time. Except in the classroom. Why does that intuitive ability stop in the classroom? Well, he goes on to give various points that he considers to be "A New Culture of Learning" in the classroom. The main idea that brings together all the necessary parts of learning like creativity and overcoming roadblocks is to play. He says that "play is an emergence property of to application of rules to imagination." Seriously, who is this kid? He is amazing at public speaking and has some amazing insights. I'm very shocked and impressed that he is so confident and well spoken at such a young age. I'm curious how he came to be invited to do a tedtalk; what caused him to be having this conversation? He seems to have a great perspective on his age and current position in life. I suppose this is what makes the message he delivers so impactful. I recently gave a student survey to 9th graders and I asked the question "What short or long term goals do you have?" I commented to my co-teacher about how many students answered this questions with being "pro" at some hobby they currently have. For example, pro-skater, videogame maker, pro-surfer, pro-basketball player, pro-musician, etc. This caused me some reflection about what I wanted to be at that age, and what I want to be now. What caused there to be a discrepancy? What would I be "pro" at now? Am I really happy and healthy? Why or why not? "Once you're motivated to learn something, you can get a lot done in short amount of time...and on your own." I love this idea of hackschooling and the idea that "hacking" is can have a positive connotation. I think the concept of hackschooling is not new, but the way that they are using it is new. I'm the youngest of 4 siblings, so I feel like the way I have learned about life has been through hacking ideas from older siblings. I watched them all go through different phases in life in very different ways. I was able to learn what worked, what didn't, what my parents wanted, how to avoid punishments, how to be successful, etc. I learned by lifehacking. I learned what I wanted to learn about when the opportunities arose. It was intuitive and natural. I think a lot of people learn from life this way, but not in school.
With so much information on the internet, and so many people on there Earth, I can see that there is a need for something like hackschooling. Its unfortunate that school doesn't utilize this more, but I'm really glad that someone like Logan could shed some light on hackschooling and how influential it can be. The 8 TLC are so important for all humans, not just children or students. There should be more of these types of opportunities at younger ages. And we should be influencing our children to be happy when they grow up. When I look back at my journey from childhood to adulthood, had someone encouraged me to incorporate the 8 TLC, my choices would have been very different, and I think I would be much happier with my career decisions. As my first post, I would like to introduce you to my style of writing and inform you that I am not a born writer. I am not even a skilled/trained/learned writer. I went through all the classes and procedures that most do to become proficient at writing, so I am able to express myself with words. However, it is not a talent or even something I have a flare for. In fact, my many poor grades and close calls at not passing college level writing classes and exams, has ingrained in me that writing is my weakest skill. Ever. Of all skills. Please take my errors and my expressed feelings with a grain of salt. And probably just smile at me when you see me and know that deep down, I am not, nor will I ever be, a great and mighty writer of anything. And I'm okay with that. So, now that formalities are out of the way, I want to give my insights after reading "Why School?" by Will Richardson. "Today, we have an Internet connection, we have fingertip, on-demand access to an amazing library that holds close to the sum of human knowledge, and equally important, to more than two billion people with whom we can potentially learn. Compare that to the library in your childhood school and the faces lined up in your yearbook. The enormity of the difference is hard to put into words." In the beginning the author sets up a pretty clear picture about how students learn in this day and age. The steps he gave to the current needs of education were given through the example of his son Tucker are as follows: 1. Have a passion for the topic 2. He updates the curriculum based on what he needs to know (meaning he is able to identify his own gaps in understanding and fill them. This is a very complicated metacognative step that many students don't always have inside the classroom.) 3. Finds his own teachers. People he can relate to and is willing to learn from. 4. Performs his own self assessments. 5. Determines what needs to be done based on his self assessment. Does he need to start over? Is his work good enough? And lastly, 6. He provides feedback to his peers. Because of technology and the internet, the needs of students has dramatically evolved over a relatively short period of time. As a result, what has been reliable in the past can now be almost a damage and hinderance to stuents now. The author calls for a reform and I think it is clear that his ideas outlined in "Part II: New School" are spot on. "We have to stop thinking of an education as something that is delivered to us and instead see it as something we create for ourselves" For me, as I watch teachers on camps at my school sites I wonder how they make time for any planning at all. I feel like the main reason not making changes or reform is because there is not time. Teachers are just surviving, getting from day to day, and few have the skills needed to do this AND provide meaning well thought out lessons. It seems that in order to do it all you have to be blessed enough to have a special talent or flare to doing it. Being new to this, the idea of having to plan an entire years worth of deep meaningful lessons is daunting and overwhelming. I could pick one of Richardson's six skills but I don't know that in my first year or even right now that I have the time to develop anything. Hypothetically I would want to be better at providing lessons that help students discover and where I don't just deliver information. But if I'm speaking hypothetically then I would want to acquire all his 6 skills. The hard part is the how. How to find the time, how to use the time appropriately, and how to execute. At this point, I have found few mentors that can display a solution for that. For me, as I watch teachers on camps at my school sites I wonder how they make time for any planning at all. I feel like the main reason not making changes or reform is because there is not time. Teachers are just surviving, getting from day to day, and few have the skills needed to do this AND provide meaning well thought out lessons. It seems that in order to do it all you have to be blessed enough to have a special talent or flare to doing it. Being new to this, the idea of having to plan an entire years worth of deep meaningful lessons is daunting and overwhelming. I could pick one of Richardson's six skills but I don't know that in my first year or even right now that I have the time to develop anything. Hypothetically I would want to be better at providing lessons that help students discover and where I don't just deliver information. But if I'm speaking hypothetically then I would want to acquire all his 6 skills. The hard skill to develop is talking to strangers. Not only do I naturally struggle socially, but finding the time to learn how to express myself digitally other than how I already am will be difficult for me. I am and expect to be consumed with how to find the time, how to use the time appropriately, and how to execute. At this point, I have found few mentors that can display a solution for that. "High stakes testing has corrupted the spirit of American education." I also found this quote very interesting from the reading. I can agree and disagree with this statement. I do think that the incredible focus on testing has taken away from the point of education. However, is it a state that was imposed onto education, or has education and educators made it such?
The other day I was in a department meeting for the entire district regarding NGSS training. So many teachers are frustrated and upset with the change to NGSS standards. The main reason being that the state has issues these standards, they are expecting them to be implemented, but no one has designed an assessment for it yet. Oh my gosh, how are we supposed to teach it without the assessment? I'm new, so I don't see the issue that everyone else seems to be hung up on. I'm hung up on the time issue. But the assessment issue seems negligent. Its hard to tell if teachers have have created the state we are in, or if No Child Left Behind has created it. Many jump to point fingers at the government, but is there something in our nature that prefers to know the end result? Just something I have been thinking about.... |
AuthorI teach. I CrossFit. I like to talk about both! Archives
May 2015
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