Hello again, folks. Pleasure to see you all again. I'm sure you all miss blogging as much as I do, and it's good to be back.
As I viewed the education reform webinar, the musing of Alfie Kohn really resonated well with me as he discussed the topic of quantifying student success and learning. Societies (Ours, specifically) infatuation with standardized testing, numerical rankings, grades, and others of that ilk have had an overall detrimental impact on all that we do. What I like about this topic is that it really speaks to our own experiences and background knowledge, since the majority of us MACers attended public school settings that made sweet, sweet love to standardized testing and assessments. My own personal take compels me to suggest that student motivation is one of the biggest barriers that must be shifted or overcome as we attempt to try and climb back up the ladder of the most educated, industrial societies in the world. Improving performances on standardized tests is imperative, but addressing the needs and barriers students are presented with almost daily will answer and solve a lot of the issues teachers continue to struggle with as they try to develop significantly positive achievement trends in the classroom. Once students have answered a lot of their own questions intrinsically, I think you'll see an upwardly mobile trend amongst students and achievement test performances
Friday, October 5, 2012
Friday, August 3, 2012
The Last Class
We had a panel of former MACers join us today, and I think the experience was extremely beneficial. It was really nice to be able to here how people who were in our shoes are performing in the professional work place today, and the experiences they shared were definitely appreciated and - at time - eye-opening.
Once such eye-opening experience was the consensus amongst the panel about the role of cell phones in today's classroom. Brace yourself: Kids use them a lot. One of our guest speakers who teaches at Country Day discussed how prevalent the use of cell phones for kids today when it comes to discovering rote information, going as far to say that students literally ignore academic text books when it comes to test preparation and instead opting to compile notes via websites like Wikipedia. On one hand, we can appreciate the ingenuity and willingness of our students to engage with technology and use it as a medium to find relevant academic information. On the other, this opens up a Pandora's Box of sorts where we have students utilizing this medium for academic and research purposes without really grasping what constitutes a valid or authentic source document. It is issues like this that I look forward to grappling with in the classroom every day. It is inevitable that a lot of students engage in such practices - heck, I was doing it with a much crappier cell phone 10 years ago. Helping raise students awareness about properly citing sources and finding reliable research is a solution I could perhaps consider. I don't know. Just throwing ideas against the wall and seeing if it sticks - sounds like a good idea in this case.
Of course, today was the last day of EDUC504 for the summer. I wanted to just thank Jeff and Kristin for their efforts this summer, and I'm greatly looking forward to continue working with them in the fall. My eyes have definitely been opened and there is a surplus of applications from our class and lessons that I intend to start using very soon for my own sake. Whether it was creating a blog, recording a podcast, or researching the organizational value of Skype, my expectations for the fall term are sky high and I'm looking forward to reconvening more than I expected. Cheers.
Once such eye-opening experience was the consensus amongst the panel about the role of cell phones in today's classroom. Brace yourself: Kids use them a lot. One of our guest speakers who teaches at Country Day discussed how prevalent the use of cell phones for kids today when it comes to discovering rote information, going as far to say that students literally ignore academic text books when it comes to test preparation and instead opting to compile notes via websites like Wikipedia. On one hand, we can appreciate the ingenuity and willingness of our students to engage with technology and use it as a medium to find relevant academic information. On the other, this opens up a Pandora's Box of sorts where we have students utilizing this medium for academic and research purposes without really grasping what constitutes a valid or authentic source document. It is issues like this that I look forward to grappling with in the classroom every day. It is inevitable that a lot of students engage in such practices - heck, I was doing it with a much crappier cell phone 10 years ago. Helping raise students awareness about properly citing sources and finding reliable research is a solution I could perhaps consider. I don't know. Just throwing ideas against the wall and seeing if it sticks - sounds like a good idea in this case.
Of course, today was the last day of EDUC504 for the summer. I wanted to just thank Jeff and Kristin for their efforts this summer, and I'm greatly looking forward to continue working with them in the fall. My eyes have definitely been opened and there is a surplus of applications from our class and lessons that I intend to start using very soon for my own sake. Whether it was creating a blog, recording a podcast, or researching the organizational value of Skype, my expectations for the fall term are sky high and I'm looking forward to reconvening more than I expected. Cheers.
Thursday, August 2, 2012
yo sup? nmu? bout 2 go2clas hbu
Please don't gauge your eyes out - I was just trying to illustrate the talking point of one of the edubloggers I perused the past few days. Specifically, I found Sarah D. Sparks blog post over at Inside School Research to be quite captivating. Specifically, her post concerned itself with how text speak (txt spk?) effects student grammar and - surprise - it does. Indeed, children are texting at astronomical rates. The blog cited research that stated that, on average, teenage boys send about 2,500 texts a month - with girls trumping that by texting 4,000 texts a month.
It's a truly fascinating statistic, but not one that's all that surprising. Mobile phones are perhaps the most oft-used technological medium today - perhaps even moreso than our laptops. We check our emails on it, we can navigate the web smoothly, and of course we communicate greatly via text messaging. No complaints here, of course, because it beats the hell out of calling someone and playing phone tag with them. It is disturbing, though, to think about where exactly we are headed as a society. I honestly only see those statistics increasing as the world becomes more and more integrated with technology. So what does that mean for our classrooms? The evidence of the research clearly shows that students are on a downward trend with their grammar and punctuation based on their frequency of texting. As students inevitably text more in the future, what can we as educators do to help combat the declining rate of...well, non-shitty writing?
Luckily, the blog offers up a few good ideas. For starters, emphasizing and administer writing assignments that differ greatly from their typical texting topics. So more formal, academic assignments are encourage - God help us all if you assign kids to write an opinion piece. You're digging your own grave with one, imaginary person I'm pretending to talk to. Also, by making students more aware of their grammar usage via revisions and examination of their works can help encourage them to be more succinct with their writing skills. Personally, I think there's still a lot of work to be done on the solutions front, but being cognizant of this issue and tackling it head on is a far better strategy than not addressing it and letting the inevitable occur - Our future president in 2033 administering his State of the Union address in 140 characters or less. Tweet tweet.
It's a truly fascinating statistic, but not one that's all that surprising. Mobile phones are perhaps the most oft-used technological medium today - perhaps even moreso than our laptops. We check our emails on it, we can navigate the web smoothly, and of course we communicate greatly via text messaging. No complaints here, of course, because it beats the hell out of calling someone and playing phone tag with them. It is disturbing, though, to think about where exactly we are headed as a society. I honestly only see those statistics increasing as the world becomes more and more integrated with technology. So what does that mean for our classrooms? The evidence of the research clearly shows that students are on a downward trend with their grammar and punctuation based on their frequency of texting. As students inevitably text more in the future, what can we as educators do to help combat the declining rate of...well, non-shitty writing?
Luckily, the blog offers up a few good ideas. For starters, emphasizing and administer writing assignments that differ greatly from their typical texting topics. So more formal, academic assignments are encourage - God help us all if you assign kids to write an opinion piece. You're digging your own grave with one, imaginary person I'm pretending to talk to. Also, by making students more aware of their grammar usage via revisions and examination of their works can help encourage them to be more succinct with their writing skills. Personally, I think there's still a lot of work to be done on the solutions front, but being cognizant of this issue and tackling it head on is a far better strategy than not addressing it and letting the inevitable occur - Our future president in 2033 administering his State of the Union address in 140 characters or less. Tweet tweet.
Sunday, July 29, 2012
A Day at North Quad
So Friday's class was in North Quad. I liked the change of scenery - it was truly a magnificent architectural marvel. The room we were in was spacious and brimming with sweet acoustics for Kristin to echo directions over. The day was mostly spent going over our "Organizing My Online Life" handouts in small groups, and I gotta say...I learned more than I expected.
I was charged with examining the relevant aspects of Skype and how it could help contribute to the classroom. Well, I - and everyone else in my group - was already pretty familiar with Skype. Skype, to me, has always been just a social tool used to connect with others. Well...whaddayaknow...isn't that kind of what we do in class as teachers on a daily basis? Sure enough, the opportunities are bountiful to utilize Skype in a fantastic way. We can conduct classes online via Skype. We can connect with OTHER classes ANYWHERE. Forget Ann Arbor - how about being able to teach kids in Kuala Lumpur about the various intricacies of the American judicial system? Well, I can finally do that now - and it's all thanks to Skype! (Brace yourselves, Lumpurites)
I'd like to extend my appreciation to my group members - Lakeza, Pete, and Carrie. They all did wonderful jobs with their individual presentations. Pete's breakdown of Dropbox was very useful and I look forward to utilizing it in my own way eventually. Carrie's explanation of Evernote was fantastic. Though I already use it, I discovered new ways to better harness its capabilities and use all of its tools to my advantage. I can already assure you a lot of time will be spent on Evernote in the future. Last but certainly not least, Lakeza introduced me to this very odd, but very interesting bookmarking application called Diigo. Though it's still in its beta stage, I'm amazed at its potential. Lakeza did a very nice job of setting the stage for an application that I think will be hugely useful moving forward.
All n all, my experiences on Friday compelled to find a whole lot of usefulness in this assignment - which is a credit to both Kristin and Jeff. I learned some new things, I learned some new things about old things, and I generally had a great time interacting with my fellow teachers and concluding that there's a whole lot of technological innovation on the horizon - and it's up to us to make the most of it.
I was charged with examining the relevant aspects of Skype and how it could help contribute to the classroom. Well, I - and everyone else in my group - was already pretty familiar with Skype. Skype, to me, has always been just a social tool used to connect with others. Well...whaddayaknow...isn't that kind of what we do in class as teachers on a daily basis? Sure enough, the opportunities are bountiful to utilize Skype in a fantastic way. We can conduct classes online via Skype. We can connect with OTHER classes ANYWHERE. Forget Ann Arbor - how about being able to teach kids in Kuala Lumpur about the various intricacies of the American judicial system? Well, I can finally do that now - and it's all thanks to Skype! (Brace yourselves, Lumpurites)
I'd like to extend my appreciation to my group members - Lakeza, Pete, and Carrie. They all did wonderful jobs with their individual presentations. Pete's breakdown of Dropbox was very useful and I look forward to utilizing it in my own way eventually. Carrie's explanation of Evernote was fantastic. Though I already use it, I discovered new ways to better harness its capabilities and use all of its tools to my advantage. I can already assure you a lot of time will be spent on Evernote in the future. Last but certainly not least, Lakeza introduced me to this very odd, but very interesting bookmarking application called Diigo. Though it's still in its beta stage, I'm amazed at its potential. Lakeza did a very nice job of setting the stage for an application that I think will be hugely useful moving forward.
All n all, my experiences on Friday compelled to find a whole lot of usefulness in this assignment - which is a credit to both Kristin and Jeff. I learned some new things, I learned some new things about old things, and I generally had a great time interacting with my fellow teachers and concluding that there's a whole lot of technological innovation on the horizon - and it's up to us to make the most of it.
Monday, July 23, 2012
The Talented Mr. Bing
“regardless of cultural background, one should be able understand the text as long as one is thoroughly entangled in modern life.”
-Xu Bing
The subject of language is something I've always had a particular sensitivity to discussing. On one hand, I have always had a deep admiration for the many unique languages and cultures that make the world the way we see it today. These languages not only indicate where someone is from - they can also indicate who that person is. And for me, nothing is more admirable than someone who knows multiple languages - the wherewithal that it takes to learn totally new languages, the gratifying feeling they must feel when they speak to someone and shock them with their fluency - it's a truly beautiful sight to see.
On the other hand, I stand in stark contrast to those people. Even with my ethnicity and my foreign place of birth, English is still the only language I have grasped - and though I would like to believe I've harnessed it well enough, I still feel a bit of shame whenever I confront someone who speaks Arabic...and reveal to them that we can't really have a conversation in our native tongue. Language is understanding. It's about being aware of a world separate-but-oh-so-close to the world you live in. As it stands, though, language is anything but uniform and there is still sometimes a massive lack of exchange of cultures and ideas as a result.
Which brings us to Xu Bing's quote above, nestled within an excerpt from a book that was briefly discussed in class Friday. Bing's "language of icons" is truly fascinating, if not simplistic: By simply gathering familiar icons and images and framing them together, Bing manages to formulate a language that - for the most part - anyone can understand. As teachers, there sometimes can be a monumental rift in language in our very own classrooms. It is important that these stark contrasts are minimized in the future, and I believe technology is the best way of going about it in the future. Technology can be used for many things, and I believe social interaction is one of its greatest benefits. We can sit down, right now, and chat with somebody in Hong Kong about the many different intricacies of language and how it effects our daily lives. We can also chat with our Hong Kong friend about better ways of bringing our cultures closer together. Whatever the case may be, the fact is we CAN create a society more interconnected than ever before. Xu Bing's Language of Icons is a testament to that.
-Xu Bing
The subject of language is something I've always had a particular sensitivity to discussing. On one hand, I have always had a deep admiration for the many unique languages and cultures that make the world the way we see it today. These languages not only indicate where someone is from - they can also indicate who that person is. And for me, nothing is more admirable than someone who knows multiple languages - the wherewithal that it takes to learn totally new languages, the gratifying feeling they must feel when they speak to someone and shock them with their fluency - it's a truly beautiful sight to see.
On the other hand, I stand in stark contrast to those people. Even with my ethnicity and my foreign place of birth, English is still the only language I have grasped - and though I would like to believe I've harnessed it well enough, I still feel a bit of shame whenever I confront someone who speaks Arabic...and reveal to them that we can't really have a conversation in our native tongue. Language is understanding. It's about being aware of a world separate-but-oh-so-close to the world you live in. As it stands, though, language is anything but uniform and there is still sometimes a massive lack of exchange of cultures and ideas as a result.
Which brings us to Xu Bing's quote above, nestled within an excerpt from a book that was briefly discussed in class Friday. Bing's "language of icons" is truly fascinating, if not simplistic: By simply gathering familiar icons and images and framing them together, Bing manages to formulate a language that - for the most part - anyone can understand. As teachers, there sometimes can be a monumental rift in language in our very own classrooms. It is important that these stark contrasts are minimized in the future, and I believe technology is the best way of going about it in the future. Technology can be used for many things, and I believe social interaction is one of its greatest benefits. We can sit down, right now, and chat with somebody in Hong Kong about the many different intricacies of language and how it effects our daily lives. We can also chat with our Hong Kong friend about better ways of bringing our cultures closer together. Whatever the case may be, the fact is we CAN create a society more interconnected than ever before. Xu Bing's Language of Icons is a testament to that.
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Oh Em Gee
As I went through our assigned readings/viewings for the week, I felt a pretty strong sense that all the authors and contributors involved were really awesome people. From a pedagogical perspective, it's pretty great to see to some established, "smart" people encouraging those in the teaching profession to explore new ways of teaching. More specifically, it's refreshing to see that we're being assigned readings that feature quotes like this one from Heidi Hayes Jacobs:
"Our students are in the 21st century. They are waiting for the teachers and curriculum to catch up."
That'd be an emotionally-gripping one-liner in a Michael Bay movie, wouldn't it?
On the other hand, it is a bit depressing that this sort of belief isn't more widely accepted. As teachers, we should be cognizant and embrace the fact that we are lagging behind in terms of testing the limits of a students ability to learn with technology. We share a lot in common with today's typical secondary student - we play the same games, watch the same programming on TV, and tinker and enjoy the same gadgets and gizmos that make our lives easier and more interesting every day. We are doing students a great disservice by not acting upon our many similarities with one another - it is imperative that we begin to take advantage and utilize instructional techniques that meld traditional methods with the sensational resources we have at our disposal in 2012.
I was particularly fond of James Paul Gee's "Good Video Games and Good Learning" article, partly because he references some pretty awesome games and mostly because he presented some pretty interesting talking points while contrasting children's experiences playing video games with their experience in the classroom. I was very, very impressed at how well he depicted the cognitive benefits people feel playing video games and how we as teachers can emulate the same sort of attraction and interest in our own works in the classroom. At one point, he discusses how guilds in World of Warcraft can be translated to the classroom setting - strategically placing our students into groups and building off of their unique traits and characteristics could cultivate a learning environment extremely conducive to higher learning. Having your students dress up in Mage or Warrior outfits for these learning activities is entirely optional but highly encouraged.
More than anything, I was amazed at how well strategies in video games relate to similar processes in the classroom - and how we as teachers need to take advantage of students strengths in these areas. One point Gee highlights is risk-taking - I mean, that's why we love video games right? You can do whatever you want, and if you fail, you'll learn from it. Schools, as Gee succinctly states, "too often allows much less space for risk, exploration and failure." Indeed, it is a crying shame we don't do enough to encourage our students to try new things as opposed to try not to fail - which is an unfortunate mindset a fair amount of students progress through school with. Teacher's can change that. Teacher's can change a lot of things, quite frankly. Video game traits like Agency, Challenge and Consolidation are all applicable in the classroom setting and can do a lot to bring about the change we all wish to see in teaching pedagogy. With that said, on a totally unrelated note, I want to conclude this with my favorite video game meme of all time...
LEEEROYYYYYYYYYY JEEEENKIINNSSSSSSSSSS
"Our students are in the 21st century. They are waiting for the teachers and curriculum to catch up."
That'd be an emotionally-gripping one-liner in a Michael Bay movie, wouldn't it?
On the other hand, it is a bit depressing that this sort of belief isn't more widely accepted. As teachers, we should be cognizant and embrace the fact that we are lagging behind in terms of testing the limits of a students ability to learn with technology. We share a lot in common with today's typical secondary student - we play the same games, watch the same programming on TV, and tinker and enjoy the same gadgets and gizmos that make our lives easier and more interesting every day. We are doing students a great disservice by not acting upon our many similarities with one another - it is imperative that we begin to take advantage and utilize instructional techniques that meld traditional methods with the sensational resources we have at our disposal in 2012.
I was particularly fond of James Paul Gee's "Good Video Games and Good Learning" article, partly because he references some pretty awesome games and mostly because he presented some pretty interesting talking points while contrasting children's experiences playing video games with their experience in the classroom. I was very, very impressed at how well he depicted the cognitive benefits people feel playing video games and how we as teachers can emulate the same sort of attraction and interest in our own works in the classroom. At one point, he discusses how guilds in World of Warcraft can be translated to the classroom setting - strategically placing our students into groups and building off of their unique traits and characteristics could cultivate a learning environment extremely conducive to higher learning. Having your students dress up in Mage or Warrior outfits for these learning activities is entirely optional but highly encouraged.
More than anything, I was amazed at how well strategies in video games relate to similar processes in the classroom - and how we as teachers need to take advantage of students strengths in these areas. One point Gee highlights is risk-taking - I mean, that's why we love video games right? You can do whatever you want, and if you fail, you'll learn from it. Schools, as Gee succinctly states, "too often allows much less space for risk, exploration and failure." Indeed, it is a crying shame we don't do enough to encourage our students to try new things as opposed to try not to fail - which is an unfortunate mindset a fair amount of students progress through school with. Teacher's can change that. Teacher's can change a lot of things, quite frankly. Video game traits like Agency, Challenge and Consolidation are all applicable in the classroom setting and can do a lot to bring about the change we all wish to see in teaching pedagogy. With that said, on a totally unrelated note, I want to conclude this with my favorite video game meme of all time...
LEEEROYYYYYYYYYY JEEEENKIINNSSSSSSSSSS
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Motivation from a Middle Schooler
There was a moment during our initial meeting inside that spacious, dimly-lit, Hogwarts-style room at the beginning of class where I completely zoned out. Maybe it was from the debauchery from the night before, maybe I was just daydreaming about the weekend (MTTC tests the next day at 7am! WOOHOO!!), but most likely I was just...blah. It was 10am and I was waiting for class to start, and eventually the staleness of the room was interrupted by the entrance of our good friends from Scarlett Middle School joining us for a few minutes. The excitement and exuberance they perspired was palpable. This felt like a moment of catharsis to me for two reasons 1) Man, I miss being a kid again and 2) It seems we were making a real impact on these kids lives considering they were so excited to see us. It's certainly not a feeling I'm used to - I don't mean that in a depressing way, just that it seems social interactions as an adult lose their luster when the majority of our acquaintances are work-related, academic, or something else lacking unique substance and enthusiasm.
Anyways, it was during these brief few minutes with our Scarlett friends that one of the students stood up and gave us all some very poignant advice:
"Be creative," the student said, addressing all of us teachers-in-training. "And don't be boring."
It wasn't exactly a musing akin to Plato, but it was effective nonetheless. In six words, this random student encouraged and embodied everything I want to offer my students as their teacher - effective, creative lesson planning and promoting a classroom atmosphere that keeps my students engaged and interested in the subject matter. Immediately following this revelation, we set off into groups to discuss the Soda Ban article we had read previously - and I had every intention on trying to present some of that creativity within the group I worked with.
Our group was accompanied by librarian Rachel Goldberg, who performed brilliantly as our mentor and de facto discussion leader during our brainstorming session. As we spoke of unique ways to try and present a lesson plan based on the NYC Soda Ban, Rachel offered some sage advice: "I'm all for purposeful technology" she exclaimed. If she didn't need it, she didn't want it. It was a simple, effective proclamation that basically encouraged us to not just use technology for the sake of using technology. Be diligent, and use it appropriately and effectively. This was especially pertinent to the podcasts we were introduced to in the second half of class(along with the suggestion of using Skype) - it's quite remarkable that we can use such mediums to meld students to learning more creatively.
Anyways, back to our session with Rachel. We bounced various ideas off each other about the Soda Ban, and it appeared we had all taken those Scarlett students words seriously from earlier that morning - my group members came up with some really great ideas to present this material effectively to our students. We spent a good portion of our time together trying to answer one seemingly simple question: What was our teaching goal with this assignment? Ultimately, we all came up with slightly different answers, but there was a common thread between all our ideas: They were creative, and they certainly weren't boring.
Mission accomplished, random Scarlett student. Mission accomplished.
Anyways, it was during these brief few minutes with our Scarlett friends that one of the students stood up and gave us all some very poignant advice:
"Be creative," the student said, addressing all of us teachers-in-training. "And don't be boring."
It wasn't exactly a musing akin to Plato, but it was effective nonetheless. In six words, this random student encouraged and embodied everything I want to offer my students as their teacher - effective, creative lesson planning and promoting a classroom atmosphere that keeps my students engaged and interested in the subject matter. Immediately following this revelation, we set off into groups to discuss the Soda Ban article we had read previously - and I had every intention on trying to present some of that creativity within the group I worked with.
Our group was accompanied by librarian Rachel Goldberg, who performed brilliantly as our mentor and de facto discussion leader during our brainstorming session. As we spoke of unique ways to try and present a lesson plan based on the NYC Soda Ban, Rachel offered some sage advice: "I'm all for purposeful technology" she exclaimed. If she didn't need it, she didn't want it. It was a simple, effective proclamation that basically encouraged us to not just use technology for the sake of using technology. Be diligent, and use it appropriately and effectively. This was especially pertinent to the podcasts we were introduced to in the second half of class(along with the suggestion of using Skype) - it's quite remarkable that we can use such mediums to meld students to learning more creatively.
Anyways, back to our session with Rachel. We bounced various ideas off each other about the Soda Ban, and it appeared we had all taken those Scarlett students words seriously from earlier that morning - my group members came up with some really great ideas to present this material effectively to our students. We spent a good portion of our time together trying to answer one seemingly simple question: What was our teaching goal with this assignment? Ultimately, we all came up with slightly different answers, but there was a common thread between all our ideas: They were creative, and they certainly weren't boring.
Mission accomplished, random Scarlett student. Mission accomplished.
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