Saturday, January 31, 2009
OMG i'm OCD
So, I just realized exactly how bad my OCD is!! I had to literally stop myself from going back and adding in a Thing #3 because it bothered me that it wasn't there. Scary..................
Thing #5
Wow, I am loving my Google Reader! As soon as this course started, I previewed what we were going to be learning about. Immediately upon opening my Gmail account I started subscribing to feeds for my Reader. I am in love!!! There is no possible way that I could have imagined enjoying this so much, at first I looked at it with the opinion, "oh great, more spam mail." But, on the contrary.............
For now I'll keep my commenting to the feeds that I have more recently added. A favorite that I subscribed to is the feed 2 cents. In that feed I received an article called 21st Century School Continued. This article was amazing in how David Warlick expresses his ideas on what our 21st Century Schools should be looking like. He refers to the need for a teacher to not be a 'teacher' but to become a 'learning consultant'. This is amazing in concept, scary, yet amazing. In the article Mr. Warlick goes on to quote John Beck in his comparison of a teacher to a 'level boss' that our new gamer generation may view us as. Beck 'suggested that a boss (or teacher) who acts like a boss may not appear so much to be a leader to a video game generation of workers (or learners). He or she may, instead, look more like a barrier. He suggested that the boss (or teacher) might get further by acting like a strategy guide, the book that video gamers buy that publishes strategies and cheats for navigating the game.' This thought really made me have an "aha" moment. WOW!! When I sit and listen to the conversations of my students, they focus on what game is hot at the time, what codes they can use to beat levels etc. What a concept, to approach our teaching in this same way.........
For now I'll keep my commenting to the feeds that I have more recently added. A favorite that I subscribed to is the feed 2 cents. In that feed I received an article called 21st Century School Continued. This article was amazing in how David Warlick expresses his ideas on what our 21st Century Schools should be looking like. He refers to the need for a teacher to not be a 'teacher' but to become a 'learning consultant'. This is amazing in concept, scary, yet amazing. In the article Mr. Warlick goes on to quote John Beck in his comparison of a teacher to a 'level boss' that our new gamer generation may view us as. Beck 'suggested that a boss (or teacher) who acts like a boss may not appear so much to be a leader to a video game generation of workers (or learners). He or she may, instead, look more like a barrier. He suggested that the boss (or teacher) might get further by acting like a strategy guide, the book that video gamers buy that publishes strategies and cheats for navigating the game.' This thought really made me have an "aha" moment. WOW!! When I sit and listen to the conversations of my students, they focus on what game is hot at the time, what codes they can use to beat levels etc. What a concept, to approach our teaching in this same way.........
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Thing # 4
After starting our blogs last week, I found myself wanting to do it more. I've had some experience on networking sites, but this is so different. It's more reflective then some I've done in the past. I found my self wanting to write so frequently, but stopped myself. Then on our "snow day" yesterday, I wanted to write this blog, but had left my notes on my keyboard at school, should have used my Writeboard. Oh, technology, what would we do without it?
Blog writing in general is so much more informal than any other form of writing we encounter, especially in our life-long learning process. In school, we are taught that the English language has rules, and that these rules must be followed. All sentences, must begin with a capital letter, they can not and should not have contractions, our punctuations should be used sparingly and get our point across. We should not be too concise or too wordy....... etc. Oh yeah, no abbreviations. Now, with blog writing, the process, or should I say ART, of writing has become much more personal. A person can express what they truly have to say. They can be as wordy as they want, or express themselves in one word. Finally! In blogs we can show our emotions with Emoticons :) :( :P or our anger with ALL CAPS. We have even in a new sense created a new language the IM/Text language. LOL! :) As we come into our own process we are expected to follow these same procedures in our own profession, and if that profession is teaching, we then pass on a life-time of rules to these new, young up-and-comers. We then scorn and reprimand them from using the language that they have grown up with. The blog writing/texting/im-ing era is upon us.
I love blog reading, and I especially loved what the article SSR 2.0 had to say. This article made me have an "ah-ha". We have our D.E.A.R. time daily, usually while I'm accelearating a "small" group of kids, but we strive for it. Reading is so integral, I try to instill this in my students, however for some of them, it's difficult, not quite stimulating enough. This article made me realize that it's not the books, or the lack of wanting to read, it's the act of reading. They have one source to keep their attention, that book. In SSR 2.0, the teacher allowed their class to do their reading on-line, in blogs. What a wonderful idea! : - O Where was I on this one? After reading this blog, my mind was racing. Blog reading allows the participant to consume their content, not only create it (SSR 2.0). Consuming content creates a symbiotic realtionship, the reader is learning and personalizing what they are reading, as the writer is sharing their experiences, what a novel idea! But in the same sense, as we are consuming this, we are practicing our much needed skills. We are scanning our text for important pieces of information, we are summarizing to ourselves what we've just read, we are making connections with things we have already read, or with things we could possible read through links. WOW!
The blog How to Prevent Another Leonardo da Vinci scared me to be quite honest. The notes I wrote for myself were... WOW! I couldn't have summed it up any better. To think, that in our trying to "help" our students, we are actually hindering them from becoming everything that they could. WOW! Davinci, one of the greats, and we aren't allowing our kids to get to their creativity, how can we tell our selves that we are truly educating our future? For example, in the blog by a young 5th grade student named Patrick, he states "the main thing I'm passionate about is passing fifth grade. The only reasons are because my brother said I'm going to faill all the grades. I plan to get smarter. So now I am planning to pass every grade..." As educators, our first response is how sad, oh look at his grammar, he's obviously not on grade level. But let's think, by allowing him to post this blog, he's enabling himself, creating self-confidence. His educators are allowing him to see that he can do anything, and creating that drive in him. That educator is also modeling the correct grammar responses through their responses. English is being taught on a computer not out of a book. When reading his responses Patrick can see what verb tense, or pronouns are appropriate where, how to correctly punctuate a sentence etc. What an amazing concept! By commenting on his blog, that instructor showed Patrick, that what he had to say mattered, and it allowed a "teachable moment" without "instruction". Amazing. This punctuates with me like the Why I Don't Assign Homework article did as well. His views are so controversial, but make so much sense. Yes, practice is good, but if it's not perfect practice, it's just a waste of time. We should be using our class time more effectively. For example, not requiring students to create a set number of powerpoint slides, and snowballing them into reading word for word off of them. How amazing of an idea, to sum up as much as possible, in as little words as possible, sort of like blog writing!?
BLOGS!? Hmm.......
Blog writing in general is so much more informal than any other form of writing we encounter, especially in our life-long learning process. In school, we are taught that the English language has rules, and that these rules must be followed. All sentences, must begin with a capital letter, they can not and should not have contractions, our punctuations should be used sparingly and get our point across. We should not be too concise or too wordy....... etc. Oh yeah, no abbreviations. Now, with blog writing, the process, or should I say ART, of writing has become much more personal. A person can express what they truly have to say. They can be as wordy as they want, or express themselves in one word. Finally! In blogs we can show our emotions with Emoticons :) :( :P or our anger with ALL CAPS. We have even in a new sense created a new language the IM/Text language. LOL! :) As we come into our own process we are expected to follow these same procedures in our own profession, and if that profession is teaching, we then pass on a life-time of rules to these new, young up-and-comers. We then scorn and reprimand them from using the language that they have grown up with. The blog writing/texting/im-ing era is upon us.
I love blog reading, and I especially loved what the article SSR 2.0 had to say. This article made me have an "ah-ha". We have our D.E.A.R. time daily, usually while I'm accelearating a "small" group of kids, but we strive for it. Reading is so integral, I try to instill this in my students, however for some of them, it's difficult, not quite stimulating enough. This article made me realize that it's not the books, or the lack of wanting to read, it's the act of reading. They have one source to keep their attention, that book. In SSR 2.0, the teacher allowed their class to do their reading on-line, in blogs. What a wonderful idea! : - O Where was I on this one? After reading this blog, my mind was racing. Blog reading allows the participant to consume their content, not only create it (SSR 2.0). Consuming content creates a symbiotic realtionship, the reader is learning and personalizing what they are reading, as the writer is sharing their experiences, what a novel idea! But in the same sense, as we are consuming this, we are practicing our much needed skills. We are scanning our text for important pieces of information, we are summarizing to ourselves what we've just read, we are making connections with things we have already read, or with things we could possible read through links. WOW!
The blog How to Prevent Another Leonardo da Vinci scared me to be quite honest. The notes I wrote for myself were... WOW! I couldn't have summed it up any better. To think, that in our trying to "help" our students, we are actually hindering them from becoming everything that they could. WOW! Davinci, one of the greats, and we aren't allowing our kids to get to their creativity, how can we tell our selves that we are truly educating our future? For example, in the blog by a young 5th grade student named Patrick, he states "the main thing I'm passionate about is passing fifth grade. The only reasons are because my brother said I'm going to faill all the grades. I plan to get smarter. So now I am planning to pass every grade..." As educators, our first response is how sad, oh look at his grammar, he's obviously not on grade level. But let's think, by allowing him to post this blog, he's enabling himself, creating self-confidence. His educators are allowing him to see that he can do anything, and creating that drive in him. That educator is also modeling the correct grammar responses through their responses. English is being taught on a computer not out of a book. When reading his responses Patrick can see what verb tense, or pronouns are appropriate where, how to correctly punctuate a sentence etc. What an amazing concept! By commenting on his blog, that instructor showed Patrick, that what he had to say mattered, and it allowed a "teachable moment" without "instruction". Amazing. This punctuates with me like the Why I Don't Assign Homework article did as well. His views are so controversial, but make so much sense. Yes, practice is good, but if it's not perfect practice, it's just a waste of time. We should be using our class time more effectively. For example, not requiring students to create a set number of powerpoint slides, and snowballing them into reading word for word off of them. How amazing of an idea, to sum up as much as possible, in as little words as possible, sort of like blog writing!?
BLOGS!? Hmm.......
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Thing #2
After watching the provided You Tube videos on Web 2.0, I was filled with possibilities and doubts. I have had the privilege of getting to see the Shift Happens video once before, and it moved me to tears, both times. I can see myself utilizing Web 2.0 in the future, not because I want to, not because I have to, but because I need to, and my students need me to. Web 2.0 is full of all sorts of possibilities. Yes, there are so many chances for misuse by our students, but that just requires us, as professionals, to stay on top of what our goal for ourselves and our students is. Yet, on the same note, how can we, or our district, even define what "misuse" is, or what an unauthorized site its. Yes, we may not always necessarily agree with ALL of the content being offered on that site, or it's appropriateness, but what about the useful and helpful content, why should we then filter that? I think that in a perfect, economy where teachers were given and provided everything that we needed, Web 2.0 would be THE way of learning, however that simply is not the case. We as teachers need to find avenues and ways of utilizing what we already have, to provide those same opportunities to our students. The videos do an amazing job of showing us that books simply aren't the way of learning for most kids these days, they don't go to the library and find a book to check out and research a topic, they Google pictures, they look on Wikipedia for information. We NEED to be providing those same opportunities in our classrooms. Just today, my husband and I wanted to rent movies, but didn't want to drive to Blockbuster and not find something we wanted, so we "Googled" new releases and found movies we wanted, BEFORE we went. We had our "end in mind" (Habit #1), we researched it ourselves (Habit #2), we responded to the problem of wasted time, and solved it (Habit #3), we had confidence in ourselves (we were sitting at the dinner table, and I jumped up, "I'll Google New Releases", Michael looked at me crazy, and "You do that. (with doubt)" was my response. 10 minutes later we are checking out with our movies. Habit #4) I used my toolbox: internet, paper, car (Habit #5) we used our computer to our advantage (Habit #6) and now, I'm sharing with you (Habit #7). All in 15 minutes time. Isn't it amazing how technology is affecting our learning!?
So is the case with our students, they know what they want, and need to learn, and how they need to learn, without our pushing. They are inquisitive in their own nature. It is in our, and our student's benefit to 2.0 teach to our students. Our world is changing, they will be provided and will use these technologies when out in the real-world, why not start with them now? Let's make them knowledgeable, inquisitive, and technologically savvy now!! Isn't education our job? We should educate them in all aspects of leaning, not just BOOKS!
So is the case with our students, they know what they want, and need to learn, and how they need to learn, without our pushing. They are inquisitive in their own nature. It is in our, and our student's benefit to 2.0 teach to our students. Our world is changing, they will be provided and will use these technologies when out in the real-world, why not start with them now? Let's make them knowledgeable, inquisitive, and technologically savvy now!! Isn't education our job? We should educate them in all aspects of leaning, not just BOOKS!
Thing #1
Reflections on Lifelong Learning
When watching a video on Lifelong Learning I could not help but notice the irony that at that moment, we were lifelong learning :). I have always focused on the belief that learning is important for everyone, everywhere, everyday. I push this issue quite frequently with my students. I even believe it so much, I have made it a "permanent" part of my life. Those that know me, know what I mean. :) Maybe through time, I can explain that more in-depth, as we grow and get to know each other.
I believe strongly in on-line courses, and feel that they better suit my learning needs. I love taking class on-line and am thoroughly enjoying this so far; however I can't break myself of the note-taking habit. I do it all the time, and to be completely honest, more than I should. Technology is such a necessity, but as someone whom technology has failed multiple times, often resort to keeping a "hard copy" of everything as well.
Of the 7 and 1/2 habits, I believe that I will find #3 the most challenging for me, again an irony, I know. Habit #3 of lifelong learners focuses on the importance of finding problems as challenges. Often times, it's so easy to find a misfortune a problem, get frustrated and shut down. I need to focus on the notion that I have been given a challenge and that I can only grow and get stronger. Something along the way to help me is Phil. 4:13. I know that I can handle all things in time, I can learn from all things and I need to get over the fact that it's hard at the moment, but know that it will all be worth it in the end.
I think that Habit #6 will be the easiest for me. Using technology to my advantage is something I do on a daily basis. Technology has become part of daily life for all of us. I talk about this a bit more in my next Post :)
I think habits #1 and #7 1/2 will be the most beneficial while working through this course. I believe it will serve me best to remember the whole time that I'm working, that I need to find ways to apply this to my classroom and the needs of my students. I also need to remind myself, which shouldn't be difficult, to play on the internet. To utilize the new "things" that I am learning.
Okay, I'm computered out for the moment, my eyes are dry and my wrists hurt, I'll be back in a few hours I'm sure! :P
When watching a video on Lifelong Learning I could not help but notice the irony that at that moment, we were lifelong learning :). I have always focused on the belief that learning is important for everyone, everywhere, everyday. I push this issue quite frequently with my students. I even believe it so much, I have made it a "permanent" part of my life. Those that know me, know what I mean. :) Maybe through time, I can explain that more in-depth, as we grow and get to know each other.
I believe strongly in on-line courses, and feel that they better suit my learning needs. I love taking class on-line and am thoroughly enjoying this so far; however I can't break myself of the note-taking habit. I do it all the time, and to be completely honest, more than I should. Technology is such a necessity, but as someone whom technology has failed multiple times, often resort to keeping a "hard copy" of everything as well.
Of the 7 and 1/2 habits, I believe that I will find #3 the most challenging for me, again an irony, I know. Habit #3 of lifelong learners focuses on the importance of finding problems as challenges. Often times, it's so easy to find a misfortune a problem, get frustrated and shut down. I need to focus on the notion that I have been given a challenge and that I can only grow and get stronger. Something along the way to help me is Phil. 4:13. I know that I can handle all things in time, I can learn from all things and I need to get over the fact that it's hard at the moment, but know that it will all be worth it in the end.
I think that Habit #6 will be the easiest for me. Using technology to my advantage is something I do on a daily basis. Technology has become part of daily life for all of us. I talk about this a bit more in my next Post :)
I think habits #1 and #7 1/2 will be the most beneficial while working through this course. I believe it will serve me best to remember the whole time that I'm working, that I need to find ways to apply this to my classroom and the needs of my students. I also need to remind myself, which shouldn't be difficult, to play on the internet. To utilize the new "things" that I am learning.
Okay, I'm computered out for the moment, my eyes are dry and my wrists hurt, I'll be back in a few hours I'm sure! :P
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