Chapter 1: Arc-of-Life Learning Quote: “We believe that this new culture of learning can augment learning in every facet of education and every stage of life. It is a core part of what we think of as “arc of life” learning, which comprises the activities in our daily lives that keep us learning, growing and exploring.” I chose this quote because I believe it represents a summary of the three examples that the authors gave when describing the culture of learning. The activities that we do through our daily lives is what keeps us “learning, growing and exploring.” While reading this it reminded me of the John Lennon quote… Question: “The new culture of learning actually comprises two elements. The first is a massive information network...the second is a bounded and structured environment….” What would be some first steps for teachers that are not connected? Connection: Through this class I have learned that there are plenty of educators out there, from the members of our cohort to those that share and collaborate on twitter to remind me that I do not need a school full of individuals that “get it.” The best school full of every teacher inventing, creating and challenging their students does not exist, but the opportunities to learn from nearly anyone does. It makes teaching in this new culture not so lonely! Epiphany: To continue with this same thought my epiphany is that while connecting to other educators is a great way to challenge myself, knowing how and when to share my learning with others is even more important. I may not be able to get everyone I work with on twitter but the more I share what I am learning the more possibility there will be for others to be inspired as well! Chapter 2: A Tale of Two Cultures Quote: "...In the teaching-based approach, students must prove that they have received the information transferred to them- that they quite literally “get it”. As we will see, however, in the new culture of learning the point is to embrace what we don’t know, come up with better questions about it, and continue asking those questions in order to learn more and more, both incrementally and exponentially.” This quote reflects this chapter perfectly because in order to under the difference between the two cultures one has to understand the shift from teaching based approach to learning based. Question: After reading the chapter I still question how to effectively move schools from the discussion/vocabulary of a “broken environment to a learning environment.” (Thomas and Brown) I think the answer would be to focus on those that are ready to learn themselves. Then, those that like to find excuses will hopefully find motivation to learn as well. Connection: My connection to this chapter and present day is shown in the quote “where the context in which learning happens, the boundaries that define it, and the students, teachers and information within it all coexist and shape each other in a mutually reinforcing way.” In just a little over a month the amount I have learned from peers, the global audience and my instructor is mind blowing! Epiphany: The process of learning the new culture is relevant and valuable. I shouldn’t hope for the end goal to come before the ugliness of the process! The ugliness is important! Chapter 3: Embracing Change Quote: “As information is constantly produced, consumed, updated and altered, new practices of reading, writing, thinking and learning have evolved with it.” Embracing change is not embracing what has changed it is embracing that everything is changing and will continue to change! Question: “With shorter time frames, this has become more difficult: Retraining every year, for example, is burdensome...what happens, then when you are dealing with change on a weekly, daily, or even hourly basis?” What does PD look like in a school environment when the information that is being taught is constantly changing? Connection: “Embracing change and seeing information as a resource can help us stop thinking of learning as an isolated process of information absorption and start thinking of it as a cultural and social progress of engaging with the constantly changing world around us.” Every new post that a peer shares, a link on twitter or a comment on my blog is engaging with the constantly changing world! Epiphany: My blog and the reading of the blog of peers is not about completing the assignments for the sake of completing this class. It is all about the learning and engagement with the world around us. Works Cited Thomas, D., & Brown, J. (2011). A new culture of learning: Cultivating the imagination for a world of constant change. Lexington, Ky.: [CreateSpace?]. I found myself laughing while watching Casey Neistat’s video “Instagram i Love You”. Mr. Neistat gives instagram (and really all social media users) some heads-up suggestions on how to effectively use instagram. It was not a literal, open the app, take a picture post how-to but more of a how to use instagram for a deeper purpose than that of narcissistic users everywhere. As a response to his video I thought I would write a “How to kill instagram."
All kidding aside, instagram in education could be used to share themes, moments, growth and ideas not just selfies or pictures of your lunch. Find something that speak volumes in a picture and share that- allow for that moment in time to represent learning and creativity and instagram can and will continue to build global audiences everywhere. Or….take a 1,000 selfies and kill it. Your choice! There were two ah-ha moments that I had while watching the video “Transforming Teaching and Learning with an Authentic Audience.” The first was my misconception about what an authentic audience really represented. Yes, I knew it meant real people but for some reason along the way I thought the real world-global audience should be readers that knew more than the author in the subject. How incredibly wrong I was! The authentic audience means so much more than that! The work, once published is shared with literally millions of people readily available to give feedback, thoughts and further ideas for a student (of any age) to continue to create. Instead of the worksheet or paper staying in the realm of one or two sets of eyes so many more can contribute. My other ah-ha moment was after listening to the students share their reactions to their peers feedback I was motivated to evaluate my responses to my peers’ feedback in this course. I have been trying to check off boxes (literally in my hanging criteria) instead of looking at it from the viewpoint of learning together and creating together. I know we are all incredibly busy but I don’t want busy to be my excuse for not authentically contributing more to my peers! As an educator I see an incredible door that has been shut for too long for our students. How many of them do not feel like their voice is important? How many do not even know they have a voice? We want them to contribute in class but we could be asking them to contribute to the world and yet so many are busy filling out the worksheet with a blue crayon because benny bear starts with a b and blue starts with a b. I can see how this can be successful in a high school but I wonder what this looks like in a kinder class? While they would not be sharing paragraphs I can imagine the students sharing a drawing with one or two words describing a common theme. The other day I came across an app called “drawp for school.” The idea behind the app is something like google classroom in that the teacher can send out an assignment to multiple students at the same time, and then the student can share the progress back to the teacher. While the audience is still just the teacher it is one way for students in younger grades to feel valued for their thoughts and efforts besides completing a worksheet that will end up in the trash. I think another way to start small is to work with teachers in similar grades across the district as a means to create a smaller audience, yet still authentic outside the walls of our school. Reference Jakob, J. (2013, June 6). Transforming Teaching and Learning with an Authentic Audience. Retrieved July 2, 2015. For our choice book reading I choose to read “It’s Complicated- The Social Lives of Networked Teens” by Danah Boyd. After listening to Jeff describe the book it was exactly something that I was looking for but did not know existed! Also, I previously read "Alone Together" by Sherry Turkle and was wondering if Boyd's research would compliment Turkle's research or pose a different viewpoint. Finally, as a parent of 7 year old twins, I tend to be a little more on the over cautious side with allowing them on the computer (internet) and wanted to hear from a researcher’s perspective how social media is connecting (or maybe not connecting?) our youth. I am a couple of chapters in so far and love what I am learning! In eight periods of high school classes, my host students rarely spoke.” In an article titled “A Veteran Teacher Turned Coach Shadows 2 Students for 2 Days - a Sobering Lesson Learned" an anonymous HS teacher shares what she learned from her experience of “being a student.” Many of her observations are reflective of what I have seen as well. In my current position as an ELD ST, one of our tasks last year was to create an observation protocol tool and then observe students during their ELD time. I saw exactly what the HS teacher saw in that a majority of the class, the students rarely spoke. Yet, we all know that if the students can speak it, they can read it and write it. So, if our students are not speaking how can we expect them to progress in reading and writing? I know from observing the classes that the good intention of the teacher was there, and the lesson was thought out--except for the opportunity to build on each others learning. Jeff Zwiers author of “Academic Conversations: Classroom Talk that Fosters Critical Thinking and Content Understandings” wrote, “unfortunately, academic conversations are rare in many classrooms. Talk is often dominated by the teacher and a few students, or it does not advance beyond short responses to the teacher's questions. Even certain teaching approaches and curriculum programs neglect to train students how to maintain a focused, respectful, and thoughtful conversation.”
How many of us as adults attend trainings and grumble at having to sit all day? The moment the presenter says “lets take a 10 minute break” you can hear the jubilation of a little bit of freedom. While some participants will begin discussing what they want to do after- or where to go for lunch a majority are discussing what they have just learned. They are having authentic conversations about their learning and building off of what their peer has shared to solidify their own learning. We crave this moment yet we turn around and enter our classrooms only to stifle that same learning experience for our students. I would hope every teacher has a chance to shadow their own students during a day or the very least shadow a fellow grade level to really see what the education experience is like for our students. Hopefully then the biggest lesson to take away would not be waiting 14 years to learn a crucial lesson that can change the lives of so many students. Resources: Wiggins, G., & Anonymous. (2014, October 10). A veteran teacher turned coach shadows 2 students for 2 days - a sobering lesson learned. Retrieved July 2, 2015. Zwiers, J., & Crawford, M. (2011). Academic conversations: Classroom talk that fosters critical thinking and content understandings. Portland, Me.: Stenhouse. |
KellyI like people. I love their stories even more. Archives
August 2015
Categories |