Hello again to all,
This class session was amazing (as expected). From the start of the day, with our wonderful Scarlett students; to our lesson planning groups (kudos to my cohort mates for their patience and creativity), with our learned librarians; to the end (mercifully early), with a new skill being added to my "Teaching With Tech" repertoire. Generally, I try to keep my brown-nosing firmly in the "happy medium" range, (that shadowy area somewhere between necessary and annoying) but Jeff and Kristen make it hard not to gush with admiration and appreciation for their innovative and inclusive teaching styles. I have yet to leave their presence feeling cheated or confused.
Today's session was an implicit lesson in the solicitation of opinions. It was great to have the opportunity to ask the Scarlett students questions. Following Jeff''s example, I tried to notate the student's comments, reminding myself of how valued and heard I feel as he jots down the various comments we make in class. I tried to convey the same value and importance to the advice that our summer school students gave. It is extremely validating for students to realize that teachers learn as much from them as they do from us and I sincerely hope that this is an attitude that I can cultivate in my future classroom.
Our lesson planning groups took the implicit lesson to a deeper level. As I've noticed in other group-work situations, our group got off to a rocky start, struggling to define a objective lens through which to focus our collective intellects. Many times, I have tried to rein in my flapping tongue out of fear that I may be monopolizing the discussion. This often proves difficult as I am passionate about my convictions and outspoken in manner. Prior to Friday's planning session and subsequent discussion, fear of embarrassment and social conformity were constant reminders to limit my discourse. I believe the length of Friday's planning session lessened my fervor to be heard and gave me an altogether more positive view of the cacophony that can result from a group of brilliant minds struggling to give voice to their opinons. It made me realize that shutting up was probably the worst thing I could choose to do. Rather than limiting our discussion, the new time frame allowed for a more comprehensive interchange. Rapid-fire interjections and long-winded explanations notwithstanding, each comment from my group members enlarged my understanding of our common goal as well as providing a general consensus on the validity of my own ideas.. I am firmly among the many students who wishes this type of collaboration could be available for every lesson plan I write.
And finally, I would like to respond to the "Dumbing Down" article. In general, my use of technology falls squarely in the consumer range, but I am sure I am not alone when I say that I am often frustrated by my lack of knowledge about how computer technology really works. As educators, I believe that we are responsible for ensuring that our students understand the processes behind events, why should technology be any different? Upon reflection, with a few exceptions, my technological expertise really does amount to "secretarial" knowledge and I agree with the author's standpoint that technological consumers and secretaries are what we are grooming our children to be. Schools are responsible for staying up-to-date on current events and translating and disseminating that knowledge for their student populations. We are sadly remiss when it comes to technology.
Until next time...I remain
Simply Serious
" I believe the length of Friday's planning session lessened my fervor to be heard and gave me an altogether more positive view of the cacophony that can result from a group of brilliant minds struggling to give voice to their opinons."
ReplyDeleteLisa,
This is such a great point. Our group on Friday took time to develop, but once we got going it was extremely productive. Our lesson plan is definitely a reflection of our individual minds and how they can all work together to create something with a common objective. We really learned the value of positive collaboration. I know that we can take this lesson to our future classrooms/schools and work with our librarians and other teachers in order to create cohesive lesson plans that utilize the technology resources we learned about among many other things. Great reflection!
Chelsea,
DeleteI think having the librarian helped. She was an objective participant, (someone for whom input did not really matter), and her questions and/or input were sometimes the guiding factor that maintained our group's cohesiveness.
The session did drive home the value of group work and also made me consider the amount of time allotted to such activities. As a future educator I will try to pre-plan for time needed by groups to strike a balance between intellects (with me as an implicit guide) before group work can really begin.
On another note, I truly enjoy working with you and listening to your input in class. Thanks for responding!
I like your discussion of how your group session went. It really resonated with me. I understand how you felt. Group work can be frustrating at times when people are not on the same page, but it can also be very rewarding when things start working well. I think this is an important lesson for all of us to bring with us into our future classrooms.
ReplyDeleteI think your response to "Dumbing Down" was really interesting, mainly because I had a different reaction. I do see the parallels you draw between other areas of education and how we should teach students more about how technology works. I really hadn't thought of it like that before. How would you try to implement that? Would you shift so that students learned how technology worked, rather than teaching students how to use technology? Or would you attempt to make time for both? I'm just curious what that would look like.
Alyssa,
ReplyDeleteGreat question! I would shift the balance of student learning towards an informed stance. I would prefer that they knew how to program, rather than how to use a program. After all, wouldn't that knowledge naturally follow and be enhanced by the deeper knowledge? Most word processing and data management software (Word, Excel, etc.) is fairly menu driven and they all provide tutorials and extensive help resources - not much time is needed to figure this stuff out. If a student wanted more specific training or access to specialized software, then this warrants education on use. However, even specialized trainings can only be enhanced by a prior knowledge of how technology works.
It simply boils down to the old adage:
"Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for the rest of his life."
I say teach 'em to fish.