Imagine a Class with Imagination

Creativity, open-mindedness and thinking outside the box are things that are hard to teach.  With the correct projects, environment and teacher support I think that these are skills students can and should learn in the classroom.  In this article I found using Feedly it talks about one example of ways to teach students to be more visionary.  The breakdown of the suggested projects sound very similar to an art class I took here at Illinois.

Writing with video was an extremely unique class.  We met for almost 3 hours twice a week and was centered around using technology to create videos.  I almost dropped the class.  And am I ever grateful that I didn’t!  This class forced me to look into something that interested me but that I didn’t know a lot about.  For one project we had to pick an interest or idea that we were curious about and interview people we didn’t know well about this new topic.  For our large final project we were expected to look at ourselves and our own beliefs and make a video exploring one of them. This really stretched us all to think outside of the box.  Different from the article, each project was individual but we had to screen them in front of the class and sit up front to receive critique on our project.  This held us accountable to do our best work and really allowed us to see how other students could be so different and unique but that no one was ever “wrong.”   I feel I have learned more skills in that class that will help me in the future than any other class I have previously taken.  Because I was challenged to look at myself and others in a different way I learned more than the skills taught in the class.

And isn’t that the goal?  I don’t want to make my students little robots who can spit out fact after fact.  I want them to take what they know and use the skills they have to apply it outside the classroom. I don’t think you can teach a student to be visionary, you have to encourage them to be.  You need to provide opportunities to show them what else is out there in the world.  Students’ self-concept and view of the world should be explore more often in schools and should be combined with the academic lessons.  It seems very ideal, and very visionary to think this because when it comes down too it there is just so much material to cover in schools.  There has to be a way to integrate these personal learning opportunities into academics.  Students should be encouraged to learn about themselves and the world around them just as the article mentions.  This idea may seem too idealistic but teaching students helpful skills is something I find equally important to the academic curriculum.

This Weeks Tech Tweets

https://twitter.com/n_pinn/status/457742886834941952

This tweet has great suggestions for apps to help students with studying.  Some of the apps are great because they have some great features that combine the benefits of regular flashcards with some added features.  Some of them have reminders for students and others allow audio as well.  A flashcard app can help students study together and study wherever they have access to a phone or computer.  Teachers could also share flashcards they make as a study tool or they could have their students work together to create the cards and the students could all have access to them later to study from and review material.

https://twitter.com/n_pinn/status/457742139296722944

This tweet contains a link to a website that has a bunch of resources about digital citizenship.  As we discussed before digital citizenship is very important to teach to students because they need to understand the digital world and how to be a participant in it. One of the resources links to a cyberbullying toolkit.  Cyberbullying is a concern for all ages of students so it’s important teachers have resources so they can teach about appropriate use of the internet.

https://twitter.com/n_pinn/status/457743673183465472

In this article there are many resources discussing project based learning.  Technology can have a very large part in project based learning and allowing students to show and express what they know. It allows us a great way to effectively assess students’ learning.  There are many people talking about their use of or views of PBL and models of what it can look like.

 

Twitter Teachings for the Week

https://twitter.com/n_pinn/status/455441316499845121

This tweet contained a link to a video about using games to teach in a math classroom.  The teacher also gave some really good advice about being sure to challenge students so that they learn.  She said that she like the idea of using interactive games so that the students are challenged and learning “to roll with the punches” when things in the game aren’t going their way.  They have to use math skills but also use problem solving and strategizing skill while playing so that will help them develop more than one skill.  In order to play the game they have to be critically thinking about the math and through practical application of the math concept.  This game-based learning can be used in any classroom and for any subject.  It just takes some creativity to help your students learn and want to learn.

https://twitter.com/n_pinn/status/455443015025176576

This article from @edutopia offers good insight on how to deal with a situation that you do not want to escalate.  Some of the responses to a student expressing their frustration were really good things to say and things that I wouldn’t have thought of  While others seemed like they had a bit of potential to make the situation worse if the comment was taken in the wrong way.  One response suggested was to say “I’m to angry with you to respond right now.”  While I agree that it is important to stabilize a situation and then deal with it later I’m not sure I would want to tell a student I was angry with them.  In my opinion, that may destabilize the situation and could ruin part of your relationship with the student.  I think the most important part of the article was when it suggested making sure that you show the student that you are willing to hear their side of the story and work with them.  That’s something I definitely want to keep in mind whenever I am frustrated with a student’s behavior.

https://twitter.com/n_pinn/status/455449766399205376

This tweet links to an article about online learning at teaching.  While some of the content seems aimed at an entirely online course but any of the tips can be applied to teaching any part of a class online or doing online activities.  One aspect I think is really important is making sure you respond quickly.  With a lot of our classes we do a lot of online assignments and it really helps when a teacher tells you how quickly to expect a response.  I’ve also had classes where the teacher responds to posts about questions for tests very quickly during a set time before an exam and that has also been extremely helpful and makes me feel more comfortable in the class. It also like the suggestion that teachers reply informally and in a conversational way so it doesn’t feel too formal.

Pre-School for All!…?

I spend my summers as assistant pre-school teacher in a Montessori school and work in the day-care program after school-day hours.  I truly believe people underestimate the ability of children of this age.  Yes, they trip over nothing. All the time.  Yes, they cry when they are upset and can’t tell you why.  Yes, they sneeze in your face.  But they don’t know any better.  This is the age when students work on motor skills so they stop tripping over nothing.  They learn to communicate their feelings so they don’t have to cry in frustration when they are upset.  They learn hygiene and manners so they stop sneezing in your face, though I sometimes wish they could learn the whole hygiene thing a bit faster.  At this age children are learning so much so quickly I can’t imagine the effects of a strong pre-school program.

This article looks at the benefits of a “pre-school for all” program.  The article focuses on reviewing what a quality program will look like and whether or not that is beneficial for students.  The program in Boston shows the first large-scale expansion of a pre-school for all program so many other districts and officials are coming to observe it.  The program requires all teachers to have a masters degreee, something I’m not sure can actually show if they are a good teacher or not.  It’s one thing to get a degree in something, it’s another thing to actually be good at using what the degree taught you in the field.

The findings now are showing great success in the Boston schools are are showing great improvement in the students.  The teachers are held to high standards and are coached often.  So what could be wrong with this program? People are complaining that enough long-term research has not been done.  Does this type of program actually help students in the future or does the effect fade?  If the effects are fading is that due to the fact that the pre-school isn’t working or is it that the other teachers in elementary school just aren’t teaching their students to the same high standards as the pre-school?  The other main concern is the cost.  I understand that cost is everything and if you don’t have funding it’s really hard to run a program.  But if we take cost out of the picture.  Doesn’t every child deserve the highest quality education?  Why can’t we at least try to give it to them.  Bringing cost back in, wouldn’t it benefit our country in the long run if we had people who were better educated and could improve our country in the future.  The child who grows up to create a cure, or come up with a world-changing policy might not be receiving the boost they need from school and may never reach that potential.  Every parent wants a good education for their child.  Are we doing enough as a country to give it to them?

This Week’s Twitter Teachings

This first tweet is about using Chromebooks in the classroom, but I think that the tips given can apply to any technology used in the classroom.

https://twitter.com/n_pinn/status/452897334058553345

I especially like the first suggestion of allowing students to play a little with the technology.  It’s important to still make it constructive but by allowing them to complete low-risk assignments and allowing flexibility if something doesn’t work right it will help in the long run.  From personal experience I’m much less nervous to do a large video project if a teacher has allowed us to make a small practice version.  They also suggest using Google Drive with students. No matter what computer you are using as long as the students have a gmail account they can access Drive.  Drive is something I knew nothing about before college and now I see there are so many benefits!  It really helps with group project and student collaboration.  You can see who is doing the work and help each other out as you go.  It also automatically saves so it cuts down on the opportunities for disaster to strike when the file is stuck on a school computer and saved no where else, or if the computer being used breaks then it’s always accessible online.  The last suggestion is to surrender trust to students which relates directly to the next article I found helpful on Twitter.

https://twitter.com/n_pinn/status/452900891943632896

This article gives tips about how to include students more in your teaching.  I really love the idea of asking students for feedback on what they want to learn about and also what they don’t understand and letting that drive what you teach about.  Allowing anonymity helps students feel more comfortable at the beginning and especially when discussing embarrassing topics such as how much they know (or don’t know) about something.  (You can do this by collecting data using Google Forms which are part of the Google Drive offerings mentioned above, or you could use good old pen and paper.  Using a computer though allows you to track the data easier and it is already complied and saved.)  By listening to what students say and what students what to learn about hopefully that will create a better learning environment and they will feel more comfortable asking questions.  The article mentions that saying “I don’t know.” is one of the hardest things to get used to if you are a teacher but, if the teacher shows they don’t always know then it becomes easier for students to say ask questions and admit when they don’t understand either.  Teaching can be a collaborative process and it’s important because everyone can bring something different to the classroom.

By giving students more of a voice in the classroom you might ask them for more feedback on your teaching. This tweet contained a link talking about feedback in the classroom.

https://twitter.com/n_pinn/status/452897921596268546

When working in a collaborative learning environment as mentioned above students can give feedback to each other which has both negative and positive effects.  As mentioned in this tweet, “most of the feedback that students receive about their classroom work is from other students – and most of that feedback is wrong.”  Being a good teacher you can set the grounds for what appropriate forms of feedback look like.  In addition the “feedback” could be more of a social consequence so it’s important to be aware of the dynamics between students.  In addition, teachers can use student feedback to help them improve their teaching practice and to understand what they need to re-teach.  Feedback is something that is very important and happens all the time whether we realize it or not.  It’s very important teachers are careful giving students feedback because that can make a big difference in their perception of school.  I’ve had teachers who have drawn smily faces next to grades, or underlined specific points they found interesting in articles.  I’ve also had teachers record themselves talking about my papers because they felt it was more authentic and gave a better understanding than writing it down.  The feedback, no matter what age I was, always made a difference and the more in depth it was the more I tended to want to do better on the next assignment.

Why do we need to read blogs?

After following a few blogs one article caught my attention: Why It’s Imperative to Teach How to Question as the Ultimate Survival Skill.  I’m constantly questioning people and things in my head.  Why do I need to do this assignment? Why do I need to read blogs?  How is this helping me?  Sometimes the questions are answered as I work through something, sometimes the questions aren’t answered.  But rarely do I ever ask anyone those questions.  I feel that most people are constantly asking questions and those questions typically revolve around ideas or things they are dissatisfied with.  The people that act on finding the solution are often some of the most brilliant inventors of all time.

Questioning people in school is an important skill to have it helps you learn about the material and learn what you don’t understand.  Questions move the world forward and as suggested in the blog, questions spark great ideas and have moved many companies forward.  In my future classroom I want to make sure to create an environment where my students feel comfortable asking me questions and feel that it is ok to do so.  The social pressure may be encouraging them to not ask questions, especially in front of their peers, because no one wants to look like they don’t know what they are doing in front of their peers. Hopefully I will be able to create an environment where questioning is encouraged.  I want my students to ask me questions and yes, it’s going to be uncomfortable when I don’t know the answer but it creates a great situation where we can all learn together.

Questioning in the classroom is important academically but it is also important socially.  I was talking to one of my friends the other day and commented on how she had been talking with so many different people she responded that she didn’t need to be good at anything other than asking questions because people love to talk about themselves.  Questions help lead a story and as we have talked about before, we are all storytellers.  If you are able to ask the right questions those questions can lead you to getting to the right answers.  It helps you create your story and allows others to share their story with you. If we don’t teach our students to become critical thinkers how will they write the next chapter in the book of human evolution?  Now that’s a real question.

Tech and Twitter

Twitter continues to prove to be a great resource for information using technology in the classroom.  Below are some tweets that I have found might be helpful.

https://twitter.com/n_pinn/status/445293236534255616

This article is interesting because it breaks down the different stages of implementing technology in the classroom and what it might look like.  It also shows the different aspects about how the technology can effect the different aspects of a school: the classroom, administration, teachers etc. This allows you to assess what aspects of your school environment are or aren’t technology friendly and to see maybe how you can improve.

https://twitter.com/n_pinn/status/445291348422172673

The website linked in this twitter post gives great suggestions about how to make sure teachers feel comfortable using technology.  This is useful for right now as we are learning technology and I think this class is set up so we aren’t overwhelmed by all the new technology that we learn because it is introduced in increments.  This article also includes things that are important to remember for when we will actually be in the classroom and may be helping to teach other teachers how to use technology.

https://twitter.com/n_pinn/status/445290328380407808

The website linked in this tweet is  really helpful because it gives things to keep in mind when including technology in the classroom for students who are so used to having technology in their life.  I think one of the most important parts of the article that I want to keep in mind when I am teaching is to see how beneficial it is to allow students to personalize their learning through technology.  The article also mentions how students now are used to communicating “multi-directional dialogue” so if that’s what they are used to then why in the classroom are we stopping them from reaching out and communicating with others?  There is more to the world than a teacher standing at a chalkboard at the front of the class.  We can be allowing students to connect to each other and to people around the world to share their ideas and help them grow.

TEaCHing with TECHnology

Looking through tweets I found there were some useful hashtags to search under that I hadn’t really looked at before.  #edtech #spedtech and #edchat were are very helpful and it was cool to see communities of people talking about similar things that are relevant to teaching.  This is one tweet I found:

https://twitter.com/n_pinn/status/442558662783942656

While this one included a link that pertains to ELL students I think that it is important for any teacher to know about those resources because any teacher could have an ELL.  Granted this article was aimed at promoting a company that designs programs to teach languages it still has some relevant information.  Programs to help ELLs often would help any student struggling with language.  In the graphic, it mentions being able to receive vocal feedback because some programs allow students to record themselves and then they can compare it to what they hear.  This could be especially useful for students who might not be able to easily recognize their own mistakes.  It also allows them to learn at their own pace because it is interactive. I think I would use a program for reading in my class sometimes, especially if I thought the student needed extra support.  At the same time though, I recognize that language needs to be taught person-to-person and be used in conversations to fully understand it but this is a great way additional way to support students.

https://twitter.com/n_pinn/status/442765036725891072

In this tweet it has a link to (ironically) an info graphic talking about the usefulness of info graphics.  I think that info graphics are especially helpful to show students so that they are able to grasp concepts easier.  They would be great to use as an overview of a lesson, especially one that contains a lot of complex information or even to use as a review for a lesson at the end of the day.  The website also has links to a bunch of different websites to make your own info graphic which could be a great tool to have students learn to see if they can summarize material and if they understood what was talked about that way.  I know I’m always more willing to read an info graphic because it’s more appealing so students likely would too. By having them create their own you are encouraging synthesis of information, persuasion techniques, decision making on what is important, organizational skill and improving their use of technology.

https://twitter.com/n_pinn/status/442768240851156992

This tweet was really helpful because it contained a link to a website where there were a bunch of apps that teachers could use.  The coolest part is that they were all ranked, rated and reviewed so you can see what other teachers have to say about them.  iPads seem to be more and more common in schools, especially in special education classrooms so it’s good to have a place to go to get those resources.  In the classrooms I have been in they have heavily used games either as part of the lesson or as a rewarding break for students.  This website will help to evaluate which games would be more helpful than others.  I think it is important to note that not all of the games have the highest “learning” rating which makes me recognize that any sort of technology needs to be evaluated in the classroom.  The games might seem great but the children need to be using them to learn and I think this website is an important resource to help teachers recognize which would be most useful to them and their students.

I’m finding that twitter is a great resource for other resources.  I haven’t found as many links that are related directly to telling people how to teach but more practical links that  can be used to help gain resources teach in the classroom.  It’s great to see so many things out there so that I know when I have my own classroom I don’t have to depend solely on my own creativity but can look for a digital community to help support me in the classroom.

Ignite!

My Ignite video is all about my favorite part of high school and the reason I am where I am today.  My video focuses on the Adapted PE program which made my high school experience what it was. In my video I discuss what we did in Adapted PE and what my favorite parts were that really ignited my passion for special education.

The Digital Citizen

The digital citizen is somewhat of a strange concept because when I think of a “citizen” it is usually tied to being a member of place or community.  A digital citizen is a member of a place that doesn’t really exist, the digital world.  Proven by what happened in Cairo, this doesn’t necessarily mean that it can’t effect a physical community or place.  Regular people were able to use technology to communicate and unite around a specific cause.  They were able to organize and make a difference.  That is the power of the digital citizen.

The next question becomes: how do we handle the digital citizens in our classrooms?  Do we lock it down and insist that our students do not become digital citizens for fear of what might happen or for fear of what they might organize? I think that would be a huge mistake.  As a teacher I think it is important to empower students and encourage them to stand up for what they believe in.  Empowering students in that way can be scary because you never know what might come of it but that is how people change the world.  Whether it is for the better or for the worse, that ultimately is up to them.  If across America schools are denying them access to technology and the knowledge of how to use technology we are essentially isolating them from being able to change the world.  Sure, they could start a case against the school, but I have also seen how one of my friends was able to keep in contact with his high school. When one of their favorite teachers was being fired, no questions asked, because he didn’t turn in a form on time, the students took to social media to start a campaign to fight the school and allow the teacher to come back.  They organized and went to the school board meeting to fight on his behalf.

The schools though are not prepared to teach digital citizens because not all schools have access to technology.  Even if they did have access to technology the teachers need to be aware of what digital citizenship is and how to support it.  We need more education for current teachers on how to use technology and to help them understand the power of social media.  If we want our students to be prepared for the future they need to be a part of the digital world.  Being aware isn’t enough, being a citizen is important.