THE ULTIMATE
I read the article, At the Core of the Apple Store: Images of Next Generation Learning. It really resonated with me as my classroom is set up as I describe ......... an independent study hybrid. The key elements mentioned in the article:
One customer at a time - On Thursdays my class is complete independent study. One student at a time. My students across the board have many different needs regarding courses and all are credit deficient. Everything is based on their individual needs. Which allows freedom for myself and my students. This year I plan to implement some Big Picture ways of doing things. I can along with my students develop individual paths of learning unique to them based on their interest. One student at a time. Risk Free Problem Solving- I feel that I have room for growth in this area. I feel I have created a safe environment for my students. When we have class discussions I can tell when a student has something to say but doesn't. I always let them know to go with that gut feeling!! I can always find a part of their answer that is on the right track and I let them know!! I feel that it is deeper rooted concern. I need to work more on SEL to build my students confidence. Across the board my students have had a very negative educational experience prior to arriving in my classroom. I aim to turn that around. Relevance- Another area of growth for me this coming school year. Really diving in and finding out what my students know and building from there. I have often gone with the assumption that they know very little. My students have huge gaps in their learning and I feel horrible about my mindset...... I have shifted..... from they know very little to let's explore what they know !! A more positive mindset. Relationships, relevance and rigor- I am very good at building relationships with my students and I work for a district that values that first and foremost in our classrooms. I spoke about relevance above and now rigor. This area I have to be cautious as my students will visibly shut down when they feel uncomfortable or challenged. I need to be keenly aware of how they are perceiving the challenges they face in class. Again focusing on building them up and pacing the rigor in a way that does not overwhelm them. Authentic Assessment- Another area for growth. It is unfortunate that at teachers college this was one of the last classes we had! It should be all throughout the courses..... I digress! Anyway, I will be using different ways of assessing what my students have learned this coming school year...... a weebly blog seems to be a good idea !!! So, August ........ will begin the new Frontier !!! And the next generation learning !!
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!. What are your thoughts about technology in education?
My thoughts regarding technology in education is that it is a necessary tool for our classrooms. I believe there is space for both technology and pen to paper. Technology brings many resources at our fingertips for example, you can use google earth to visit a rain forest or the Louve in Paris. A virtual field trip!! The ways in which we can use technology in the classroom is endless. I did not always feel this way...........My initial feelings were that it was not needed at all ....I have certainly changed my mind. It belongs in education and especially in the 21st century. 2. How can these blended learning resources help you to personalize learning for students in your classroom and community? Blended learning will help me tremendously in my classroom. I work with students who are truant and with that comes large gaps in their learning, utilizing the blended learning model would allow me to meet my students where they are. It would enable me to work with the whole class and individualized plans to improve students areas where they are weak. I am looking forward to trying this model in my classroom this coming school year. I am lucky to work in Alt. Ed, where I have a small class size and lots of freedom. In watching the videos I began to think about when I first began to teach........ while I was a senior in high school. I had an R..O. P. course titled Careers with Children. I always know I wanted to be a teacher after my first field site I was offered a job, at a preschool. I worked at Snell's Pre-school for 10 years. It is where I learned that children learn best with hands on learning and to notice always what children are doing right and to let them know. Which brings us to India and the Granny effect!!! Hands on learning and acknowledgement of a job well done!!!! And children are soaring !!! It also makes me question ........ Why do students as they move through school Does hands-on learning become less and less? and why do teachers stop praising students? The latter I have continued to do . I would say as far as hands on learning I do not offer many opportunities for my students. We know as educators that these are imperative and create a classroom culture that empowers our students......... WHY???? as students advance in school is there less and less hands on opportunities? I believe that this just maybe a an area to look into for further study. Wirhad1. I think that students describe their educational experience as boring because it is not relevant to them. When students cannot make a connection or understand why they must learn y x 7 + 3 = 2x it is to them......... B-O-R-I-N-G!!!! We must make school as real as possible to our students. At the end of this past school year I took my students on a field trip to Alcatraz. Prior to going on the field trip as a class we researched San Francisco and studied about the Escape from Alcatraz. While on the field trip we came to the spot where the men had dug their way into the space between the walls...... My students, " Miss Lisa HERE IT IS !!! LOOK !!! LOOK !!! " this is where they crawled out !!! " This lead to more discussion as we looked to the city from out in the bay...... Did they make it ? Did they parish ? And more excitement to see Al Capones cell. This is were the classroom came alive ...... they made connections...... saw first hand where things thry read about took place...... IT WAS REAL !!!
2. If I could have an internship in any area it would be with the late , great , Anthony Bourdain!! To learn to be chef, how to write about food, culture and music and how it unites all of us across the globe. I have chosen Anthony Bourdain as I believe he had a unique perspective on life. His bluntness and the ability to connect with food and culture is powerful. What a job!!!! Travel, food, and writing !!! With Anthony Bourdain as my mentor not a bad gig t all !!! NO RESERVATIONS!! 1. When a student has a passion for a particular subject why not as a teacher do I tap into their interest? Well, if I were to follow the old school tradition this would simply be overlooked, something that i knew about my student and it would be back to reading , writing and arithmetic Take it a few steps further........ and it can be an entire area of study driven by the students passion. Let's say the student has a dream of opening her own bakery. A lot goes into opening your own business. As a teacher I could easily cross the curriculum and allow this student voice and choice in their education. This gives the student immediate buy in as it is personal to them, This student has the potential to dive deep into what it will take to open her bakery and develop a business plan. In the process she will learn about finding a location for the bakery, securing a loan, learning about ordering product, designing the space , hiring a contractor, hiring employees, taking out ads, Through this process and exploring her interest more deeply the student will learn math skills, research skills, writing and communication skills, improved reading skills . She may also learn through this process that owning your own business is more than she thought and may decide that this is not her path. Either way the student was learning all through the process. Learning does not have to be the teacher at the front and students in desks........ learning takes place in a number of ways.
5. What do I cut out, file or jot down in a notebook? Quotes !!! Inspirational quotes!! Why? I find quotes both fascinating and motivating. I often use them for quick writes in my classroom, to help motivate myself or my students. If I have a student going through a difficult time I will slip them a quote that I think might help them. WOW !!!! I do not know exactly where to start.......
First I would like to say having discussions with like minded people is amazing. To have a space to bounce ideas off of one another and to do so in a positive , safe environment is so refreshing. The Committee of Ten video was so inspiring . It is an incredible thing to see when people join together the changes that can occur. I was especially moved by the statement , " it takes a village to change a school" I can see the truth in this statement and I hope to gather a tribe to begin to make some changes. 1. Are there any situations in life where "one size fits all?"
Simply put NO!!! We are all individuals and never is there a one size fits all. If that were the case ......Why do we have differentiation in education ? Why do we have test that identify what kind of learner we are? Am I a visual learner? An auditory learner? A kinesthetic learner? Interpersonal communicator? Intrapersonal learner ? A combination of a few???!!! As a teacher I am supposed to teach to all the models of learning. If it were one size fits all......... Well, lesson planning would be easier!!! 5. Tell me about a time when you were in school and your learning matched your interests. How was that experience different from times when your learning didn't match what you were interested in ? When learning matched my interest it was effortless and fun. Learning was an amazing experience. When learning does not match my interest it is absolutely painful!! Taking a class that checks a box is the worst possible way to spend a semester and the fastest way to student burnout!! Thank you , Andrew Carnegie for the 15 hours that equal one unit to check a box! 1. What would a school that was "a little more human " look like to you?
A school that was a little more human would look less like an institution and more like a welcoming place to learn. This would be a place where there are colors and comfortable places to sit. Spaces that allowed for collaborative work, where talking is encouraged. There would be hands-on learning with teachers guiding instruction which would make room for students to fully engage in the learning process. No bells signaling it is time for class. The high school I attended did not have bells and we made it to class on time. Given the right boundries and expectations I believe high school students can rise to the occasion and are capable of more than we think. 5. Do you and your colleagues share the same philosophy or vision about your school and workplace? Why or Why not? How does this influence the way you work together and think about your work? I do believe that my colleagues and I share the same philosophy as we often joke " we are cut from the same cloth" we often have conversations regarding our students and certain situations and we seem to agree and handle things in a similar fashion. We often collaborate and bounce ideas off one another. This makes for a very happy environment and helps to create a very productive school climate. I
Being an educator can certainly feel overwhelming ......... like tonight for example. In looking at education from the beginning and it's basis in the industrial revolution. At the time I am sure this model made sense and fast forward to now this industrial model no longer fits our rapidly changing society. How do we begin to address such a fast paced world into our classrooms ? I believe it can be done. I believe the barriers to such change is that our schools are locked into a by gone approach, clinging to the belief ....... if it ain't broke ....don't fix it! Our system is failing our students. As an educator I can be a change champion ..... I can advocate .....I can try a different approach in my classroom ...... I can inspire and lead others to do the same. What can I do to begin changes in my classroom and district....... well , I requested a meeting with the director of curriculum. We met on Friday. I shared with her a reading program that is unique in regards to the books. It is called Reading with Relevance and it is the brain child of two Alt. Ed. teachers. All the books reflect our students. Our students will be able to see themselves in the choices. The books are combined with SEL and discussions. Across the board all the students were serve struggle with reading. Our district piloted Reading 180. I was not a site that was selected. I did however hear that the " Kids hated it " . The good news is I got the green light to purchase some books and pilot the program !! And I was able to choose another teacher too!!! I got to call Cari and tell her !!! She is excited too!! All I had to do was ask !! I know that you may not always get a yes...... but never asking will most certainly always be a no!! #2. If society committed itself to caring more about kids than schools we would need to completely overhaul our current school climate. The focus would need to shift from a test scores determining the fate of our students and old school way of doing things in a classroom. Learning does not have to be the teacher at the front and students in desks. A learning environment that encompasses the "whole student" would be ideal. A classroom that serves students strengths and strives to improve their weaknesses. I envision a classroom that is loud with the voices of students working together. Actively participating in their learning with the teacher as the facilitator.
#6. Students drop out of school for a myriad of reasons. Some of the reasons are that they are behind in credits, working, hate school, anxiety, lack of support, homelessness and the list goes on and on. The experience after a student drops out of high school is difficult. Our society deems it necessary that you complete high school. That diploma makes it easier to get a job or attend a trade school, enlist in the military, or pursue higher education. Society tends to look down upon a high school drop out. First, if society had the notion that students have many barriers that may have contributed to them not completing high school. In other words we need to treat them so that they do not feel shame for not having a completed high school. We need to empower "dropouts" so that they feel it is too late for them to get that diploma. #5. I learn best in a learning environment that is relaxed and has clear expectations. When I have had professors who create a space that is restrictive and one that creates stress I do not learn. An example of this would be professors that I had at Stan State. One professor refused to give us a study guide. There were three assignments total for the class. A mid-term, a paper and a comprehensive final. The course covered WWl and WWll. The professor would lower your grade if you misspelled any of the German names. He demanded silence when he entered the classroom. I hated attending his class. Then there was Dr. T!!! We sat in a circle . We also had only three assignments a mid-term, paper/presentation, and a final. The difference was the classroom culture. Dr. T would give us 4 essay questions that would be on the test. She encouraged us to form study groups. On the day of the test she would put the numbers 1-4 in a hat and have a student draw a number. That would be our test!! We gave a presentation on our paper . We had a huge list of what we could choose to write about !! The culture she created lent itself to the perfect learning environment. I learned so much in her courses. In teaching to my own capacity I would create an classroom culture that supports group work , choice and a relaxed atmosphere.
#6. When I am really learning I look intense but relaxed and I get all the feels but mostly excited and confident. |
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