Chapter 4: Learning in the Collective Quote: "In communities, people learn in order to belong. In a collective, people belong in order to learn.” Question: Am I motivating enough of my peers to participate in the collective? Connection: “Give a man a fish and feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and feed him as long as the fish supply holds out. But create a collective, and every man will learn how to feed himself for a lifetime.” I see our cohort as being a collective. Aside from my peers at work, I appreciate being a part of this community to reflect and create together. Epiphany/Ah-ha: The last paragraph of chapter 4 talks about not defining or directing a collective as that takes away from the very meaning of what a collective is. My type A personality struggles with not having defined roles-direction but I have learned you cannot force this. Chapter 5: The Personal with the Collective Quote: “Collectives are not simply new forms of public spaces. They are built and structured around participation and therefore carry a different sense of investment for those that engage in them.” Question: “Throughout life, people engage in a process of continuous learning about things in which they have a personal investment...yet...those things are rarely acknowledged in educational environments.” - How do we bring those that have more meaning to a teacher into a classroom? Connection: “At their best blogs give an individual the chance to interact with and become part of a collective that both shapes and is shaped by his or her thoughts.” Blogging through the course has allowed each of us to learn from each other than from any textbook. Epiphany: “The connection between the personal and collective is a key ingredient in lifelong learning.” We all say that we are or want to be lifelong learners but if we are not connected to a collective in some way we are not growing nor leaning. Chapter 6: We Know More than We Can Say Quote: “Students learn best when they are able to follow their passion and operate within the constraints of a bounded environment.” So much of what we have been doing in education has had nothing to do with the passion of the child. Question: “They had come to believe that things they felt passionate about should not be part the (formal) learning process. How do I inspire passion in young children, especially from poverty situations? Connection: “Yet, most teachers know that when students feel passion for a topic, they will seek out the tough problems, rather than the easy ones, and work harder to solve them.” This has 20%time project written all over it! Epiphany: Before starting my 20%time project I had heard that gaming can create a lot of learning situations but was not completely convinced. I would say I was way more on the completely not convinced side. However, the more I read about online-gaming, and multiplayer gaming, I am learning just how beneficial gaming can be for creating learning outcomes. Works Cited Thomas, D., & Brown, J. (2011). A new culture of learning: Cultivating the imagination for a world of constant change. Lexington, Ky.: [CreateSpace?].
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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. Thomas Friedman gives the outsider an inside look into how Google hires new employees in the article “How to Get a Job at Google.” Mr. Brock, the senior vice president of Google discusses what the company is looking for in future employees and offers insight to those who may be hoping to hit the profession gold mine. In theory, all that he talks about is what we would hope that any company looks for during their hiring process by the striking reality is that it is quite the opposite of what we are doing in education for the 15+ years that a student spends to prepare for said job. Here is how I break down some of Mr. Brock's thoughts regarding their hiring attributes, and what we as educators can do help prepare our students if Google is such a company that they would hope to work for.
“G.P.A.’s are worthless as a criteria for hiring, and test scores are worthless. ... We found that they don’t predict anything…” We need to move away from assigning grades on a test bases, and move towards content mastery. Testing reflects how well of a test taker the student is and not necessarily how much they know the content. “...the No. 1 thing we look for is general cognitive ability, and it’s not I.Q. It’s learning ability. It’s the ability to process on the fly. It’s the ability to pull together disparate bits of information.” Our classroom setting needs to include discussion that is not following a pattern on given worksheets. Too much of a student's day becomes predictable and instead of learning outside the box they are learning how to fit in the box. “...What we care about is, when faced with a problem and you’re a member of a team, do you, at the appropriate time, step in and lead. And just as critically, do you step back and stop leading, do you let someone else?” First, we need to include problems in our students day that they can actually discuss and solve. Worksheets with DOK1 questions that are fillers for time will not allow our students to grow as leaders. On another note, teaching students to not always be in the spotlight, is something even adults need to be learning. Too many leaders today could do a better example of stepping back to allow others to lead. We need to get this right before our students will ever see a need to change. “Without humility, you are unable to learn...successful bright people rarely experience failure, and so they don’t learn how to learn from that failure.” We need to teach failure, admit failure, embrace failure….all of it. How do we do this? Share with others via blogs something that did not work. Humble ourselves when we thought a presentation at work was going to go one way, and it went another. Admit misconceptions, own our mistakes, and ask for forgiveness. Listen with the intent of listening to hear the person, not to respond with our own thoughts. “...and loving to learn and re-learn. This will be true no matter where you go to work.” Ultimately that should be our goal starting at TK. Teaching our students to love learning and re-learning by emulating that ourselves. The day we stop loving to learn is the day we need to step out of the classroom to find it again or allow someone else to come in. While these are all important for educators, I think what is more important is that employers like Google make the switch and value those that are extraordinary and not someone simply because they have a paper from a certain University. Until then our students will only continue to follow the equation that millions others before them have followed to attempt to earn a successful job in our society. Resources: Friedman, T. (2014, February 22). How to Get a Job at Google. Retrieved June 20, 2015, from http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/23/opinion/sunday/friedman-how-to-get-a-job-at-google.html?_r=2 A week ago I was sitting in Starbucks checking off my to-do list. I was feeling pretty productive as I finished up watching a video by Michael Wesch called “Rethinking Education.” That was until I reached the task of reflecting on the video. I had so many great things I wanted to say yet I could not get my words together. The more I tried to come up with something the more I found myself clicking through twitter feeds, blog posts and pinterest links that were leading me absolutely no where. I got up and got a glass of water hoping a little stretch and fresh air might help refocus my energy to complete the post. Still nothing. Overload. I generally like to listen to different Pandora stations while completing work for this class and even that was getting to me. I turned off all extra noise giving it one last attempt to put words down on paper. Where do I even begin to express my thoughts on how important it is for all of us in education to rethink what the heck were really doing with students while they are in the four walls of our classroom? The irony of it all is that one of Wesch’s main points is that our classrooms are not keeping up with the limitless of information. Millions of people can access the internet and contribute to the knowledge. From there thousands are discussing the quality of knowledge that is being shared. As stated in the short film, “are you against the discussion of quality of knowledge?” (Wesch 2011) This is everything that we want our students to be engaged in---questioning and conversing over knowledge! With over 8,000 blogs a day being created, “where are our students in all of this?” (Wesch 2011) I am happy to say that I know education has made a lot of progress since the creation of this video but I also know there is still much work to be done. I started out my reflection sharing how I hit overload because even though technology has and continues to transform education, our students need to be taught discipline and focus strategies even more. The information online truly is limitless. As a parent that has two young children with homework assignments assigned digitally it is challenging to get them to focus on the task at hand considering with a click of a button they could be watching a My Little Pony episode on YouTube. We want our students to be most prepared for future but while we are preparing them for that many disciplines of the past are still very crucial in order to be well rounded citizens of today and tomorrow! Resources: Wesch, M. (2011, January 24). Rethinking Education. Retrieved June 20, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Xb5spS8pmE&index=9&list=PLbRLdW37G3oMquOaC-HeUIt6CWk-FzaGp |
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