I agree very much with Sir Robinson's opinion on the education system. He points out that in the hierarchy of education that things such as mathematics and languages are at the top, while the arts are always at the bottom. It's like this every where in the world, not just in one education system. He goes on to discuss how mathematics and languages are not the most important things in education. Sure they are important, but who's to say that they are any more important than the arts.
His main ideal was that children have extraordinary capacities and so much creativity in them but that the creativity is educated out of them. The focus is put so much on the subjects like math and science and absolutely no emphasis is put on the arts such as drama or dancing. He talks about how when children are at a very young age they aren't afraid to make mistakes or say the wrong thing, but as they gradually get older they are more and more afraid to make mistakes and do or say the wrong thing. A quote by him was "if you're not prepared to be wrong, you'll never come up with anything original."
Creativity should never be limited with children or as they grow into young adults. If math and science are to be required in school why shouldn't a dancing or acting class be required? Arts shouldn't be at the bottom of the hierarchy, they should be at the same level as math and languages. I understand how hard it is to be afraid to do or say the wrong thing. I'm a pretty shy person and I don't want to sound ignorant or dumb in class so sometimes I just don't talk at all. I have never thought this was a good thing though. Being afraid to be wrong can hold you back from learning some of the most useful information out there.
I think Sir Robinson's talk was great. I agree completely that creativity is pretty much driven out of children and the process is kept up throughout their education. Creativity should be valued just as much as being able to do the hardest math problem. Sometimes creativity is the only way to succeed in other subjects and should be valued that way. As a teacher you should never hold your children back from thinking or coming up with new ideas and as a teacher you should encourage your students to be creative.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Sunday, April 26, 2009
I've had a lot of different feelings about Twitter since we started working on it in EDM. At first I thought it was basically Facebook but without all of the interesting stuff. I mean all it is is basically updating your status and finding friends, or followers as they are known on Twitter. As I kept working with Twitter though I did start to find the advantages. Advantages were things such as finding networking opportunities all over the world, and also getting quick updates for things such as the news. That was one thing I really liked. I'm following FoxNews and they have so many updates everyday and you can quickly see any important headlines.
As far as learning about Twitter. I think I learned about it by basically using it. I haven't updated it that often, but I do not update Facebook or anything else very often either. I do read many of the tweets of my followers and those I'm following pretty much everyday though. I do send direct messages and receive them every once in a while too. I've also been reading different articles about Twitter. Most were discussing the uses of Twitter and discussing whether Twitter is better or as good as the other social-networking sites. Most sites agree that understanding and seeing the purpose of Twitter really just comes with use. If you don't try then it's likely you won't see the point.
As far as Twitter being useful, I can see some use professionally. I could really see it being useful as a future teacher. One thing is the networking and information possibilities. By following and getting tweets from all over you see different points of views and gain all kinds of different information from links posted by others. Also, it can be used within the classroom. Students and parents can look at the tweets you post and get information about what's going on in the classroom. I think if you try to keep your classroom updated and move forward with the new technology that things such as Twitter can be very useful. I also think these things should be kept in check though and should be used strcitly for learning. Twitter has grown on me over the past few weeks. I'm not sure how much I'll keep up with it, I do plan on using it though. It's hard with all of the social-networking sites out there to keep up with everyone, but I can see where Twitter is worth it.
As far as learning about Twitter. I think I learned about it by basically using it. I haven't updated it that often, but I do not update Facebook or anything else very often either. I do read many of the tweets of my followers and those I'm following pretty much everyday though. I do send direct messages and receive them every once in a while too. I've also been reading different articles about Twitter. Most were discussing the uses of Twitter and discussing whether Twitter is better or as good as the other social-networking sites. Most sites agree that understanding and seeing the purpose of Twitter really just comes with use. If you don't try then it's likely you won't see the point.
As far as Twitter being useful, I can see some use professionally. I could really see it being useful as a future teacher. One thing is the networking and information possibilities. By following and getting tweets from all over you see different points of views and gain all kinds of different information from links posted by others. Also, it can be used within the classroom. Students and parents can look at the tweets you post and get information about what's going on in the classroom. I think if you try to keep your classroom updated and move forward with the new technology that things such as Twitter can be very useful. I also think these things should be kept in check though and should be used strcitly for learning. Twitter has grown on me over the past few weeks. I'm not sure how much I'll keep up with it, I do plan on using it though. It's hard with all of the social-networking sites out there to keep up with everyone, but I can see where Twitter is worth it.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
EDM 310 Podcasts
I listened to four other podcasts done by students in EDM 310. I listened to one done on "The Last Lecture of Randy Pausch", "Shift Happens", "Burp-back Education", and one on "The Strange Crystal Ball, interviewed Dr. Strange". I also listened to the podcast I participated in.
I have to say it, I really did think all of them were very good! Ok, well onto some suggested improvements. First off, I think one improvement could be that maybe the podcasts did not come off as so scripted. Of course, that's hard to get around. When doing something like a podcast you want to know what you're talking about and it's hard to sound unscripted when you have what you want to say right there in front of you. At the same though, the way to get your listeners interested is to sound like you know what you are talking about and at the same time sound comfortable and interested in whatever you are talking about.
Another improvement I think could be letting the students choose their topic. This could be tricky because some students will pick things completely off subject, but if they're instructed to pick something along the lines of education they may be able to pick something that they are more familiar with. This way they will feel more comfortable talking about it and then the podcast will sound much less scripted and much more upbeat and interesting. It's much easier to have a casual conversation about something when you are somewhat familiar with the subject yourself.
I think the podcasts were a very interesting assignment. By doing them we researched different aspects of education that we didn't know much about and learned how to do a project that we might actually be able to do one day in our own classrooms. I think the main thing to do before a podcast is practice, that and have all of your information available and know it well. With practice they're easy and fun to do.
I have to say it, I really did think all of them were very good! Ok, well onto some suggested improvements. First off, I think one improvement could be that maybe the podcasts did not come off as so scripted. Of course, that's hard to get around. When doing something like a podcast you want to know what you're talking about and it's hard to sound unscripted when you have what you want to say right there in front of you. At the same though, the way to get your listeners interested is to sound like you know what you are talking about and at the same time sound comfortable and interested in whatever you are talking about.
Another improvement I think could be letting the students choose their topic. This could be tricky because some students will pick things completely off subject, but if they're instructed to pick something along the lines of education they may be able to pick something that they are more familiar with. This way they will feel more comfortable talking about it and then the podcast will sound much less scripted and much more upbeat and interesting. It's much easier to have a casual conversation about something when you are somewhat familiar with the subject yourself.
I think the podcasts were a very interesting assignment. By doing them we researched different aspects of education that we didn't know much about and learned how to do a project that we might actually be able to do one day in our own classrooms. I think the main thing to do before a podcast is practice, that and have all of your information available and know it well. With practice they're easy and fun to do.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Pros and Cons to Blogging in the Classroom
First off let me say I think there are way more positive aspects of using blogs in the classroom than there are negative. Actually I can only think of one negative so let me start out with that and get it out of the way. I'd say the one negative I can think of would be the lack of technology available. For instance if you are teaching at a school that may not have computers in every classroom, or if they do they may not work properly. Or if you may be at a school that doesn't even have access to an updated lab, both of those problems could be a major hinderance for having blogs in your lesson plan. There are many cases also in which the students may not even have access to a computer or internet at home and that could make it impossible to use blogs also. Now on that, if you as the teacher are the only one using the blog it might work with the lack of technology, but still you are putting those that don't have the resources in a bad position because they may not even be able to look at the blog.
Now, on to the positive elements of using a blog. I think one would be such an open communication line. If you as the teacher are using the blog to update your parents on the happenings of the classroom they have all of that information at such easy access. Also, along with blogs you usually have message areas and e-mail buttons in which the parents or even the students can contact very easily also. More and more the world is focusing in on technology, so as where many teachers still hand out newsletters in the class, even more teachers are beginning to use the blog as a constant and ongoing newsletter for their class. It's just easier and quicker to update your blog online rather than printing up two dozen pieces of paper every week. This way you can update your parents everyday if you wish to.
Another positive element I see with using blogs in the classroom is networking. As in our class, we researched and found blogs of classrooms around the nation and around the world. This opened us up to so many networking opportunities with teachers, schools, and students. As teachers when we make those kinds of contacts they can be very useful in things such as lesson plans, classroom ideas, and so much more. It opens up an entire new realm of gaining information from different parts of the country and world so that we can incorporate ideas in our classrooms that may never have been thought of before in our particular state or area. It's just always a good idea to have contacts in many different places and be able to reach out and help them possibly too.
The next and last positive element I'm going to discuss is all of the knowledge gained from using blogs. As they were used in this class, we researched so many different things from blogs in other areas to iTunesU to social-networking sites. We read and used those tools and then we wrote about them on our blog which helped embed that information within us so much more. Honestly, without the blog I don't know if I would have even put iTunesU to use and then when it might have come about where I could use it in my own classroom I wouldn't have even known about that resource. So that worked well for our class structure, and even in middle and high school, say a student learns some new information and wants to share it with the class. If you have a class blog then that student could easily update the blog with the new info and it is right there to access from all of your other students. Blogs can be put to use with so many different ages.
Blogs are just a great tool. Sure, they may take some time, but compared to the alternative (paper) they're much easier. Also, with the age we are in and the technology that are students are already familiar with, using blogs can only interest them more; much more than say a traditional newsletter. There are so many pros to using blogs in the classroom, it's hard to find a reason not to. By the way, I read all of Hannah Rogers' blog posts for this assignment. :)
Hope you all enjoy reading!
Now, on to the positive elements of using a blog. I think one would be such an open communication line. If you as the teacher are using the blog to update your parents on the happenings of the classroom they have all of that information at such easy access. Also, along with blogs you usually have message areas and e-mail buttons in which the parents or even the students can contact very easily also. More and more the world is focusing in on technology, so as where many teachers still hand out newsletters in the class, even more teachers are beginning to use the blog as a constant and ongoing newsletter for their class. It's just easier and quicker to update your blog online rather than printing up two dozen pieces of paper every week. This way you can update your parents everyday if you wish to.
Another positive element I see with using blogs in the classroom is networking. As in our class, we researched and found blogs of classrooms around the nation and around the world. This opened us up to so many networking opportunities with teachers, schools, and students. As teachers when we make those kinds of contacts they can be very useful in things such as lesson plans, classroom ideas, and so much more. It opens up an entire new realm of gaining information from different parts of the country and world so that we can incorporate ideas in our classrooms that may never have been thought of before in our particular state or area. It's just always a good idea to have contacts in many different places and be able to reach out and help them possibly too.
The next and last positive element I'm going to discuss is all of the knowledge gained from using blogs. As they were used in this class, we researched so many different things from blogs in other areas to iTunesU to social-networking sites. We read and used those tools and then we wrote about them on our blog which helped embed that information within us so much more. Honestly, without the blog I don't know if I would have even put iTunesU to use and then when it might have come about where I could use it in my own classroom I wouldn't have even known about that resource. So that worked well for our class structure, and even in middle and high school, say a student learns some new information and wants to share it with the class. If you have a class blog then that student could easily update the blog with the new info and it is right there to access from all of your other students. Blogs can be put to use with so many different ages.
Blogs are just a great tool. Sure, they may take some time, but compared to the alternative (paper) they're much easier. Also, with the age we are in and the technology that are students are already familiar with, using blogs can only interest them more; much more than say a traditional newsletter. There are so many pros to using blogs in the classroom, it's hard to find a reason not to. By the way, I read all of Hannah Rogers' blog posts for this assignment. :)
Hope you all enjoy reading!
Sunday, April 5, 2009
"Growth" vs. "Fixed" Minds
In watching the podcast done by Stanford University on "Growth" vs. "Fixed" minds children, I learned some really useful information about the types of students you may encounter in the classroom. Having a "fixed" mind basically means that a student is constantly questioning themselves, they worry about what their answers or statements will sound like. They worry that they may be wrong when they state something in class. Having this kind of mindset kind of gets you stuck in one posistion. If you are afraid to learn or make mistakes then you will never move forward. Students may make it through school with this kind of mindset but they will never advance.
Having a "growth" mind is completely different. These are the students that are constantly learning, constantly questioning and trying to find out new information. They aren't afrad to state an answer in the fear that it might be wrong. These students grow into individuals that will never stop learning, you could call them life-long learners. In the podcast the speaker talks of a workshop that was completed over an 8-week period. There were two groups: just a study-skills group, and another group with study-skills also but with an element of "growth" learning. Those students were taught what it was to have a "growth" mindset and those students were the ones to advance in their grades. The students with only the study-skills did not improve when it came to their grades. She also put out the idea that the brain was like a muscle, it gets stronger the more you learn. She said that was what those students were taught and it helped them understand that it important to never quit learning.
I think this affects me as a teacher because I want to be prepared to teach my students how to have a "growth" mind. I want to encourage my students to never want to stop learning and to never be afraid to put themselves out there and speak up. Students shouldn't hold back for the fear that they might be wrong. I think this is what all teachers should strive for. They should strive to have a classroom of individuals who enjoy the process of learning, who don't mind making mistakes if it means that they will get something useful out of it. Any teacher who is okay with being stagnant and allowing their students to be stagnant should not be in the profession of teaching because they are not teaching their students anything useful or productive. With this idea of "fixed" and "growth" mindsets I believe it prepares me as a teacher to be able to enter the classroom and be prepared to teach and help my students have a "growth" mind.
Having a "growth" mind is completely different. These are the students that are constantly learning, constantly questioning and trying to find out new information. They aren't afrad to state an answer in the fear that it might be wrong. These students grow into individuals that will never stop learning, you could call them life-long learners. In the podcast the speaker talks of a workshop that was completed over an 8-week period. There were two groups: just a study-skills group, and another group with study-skills also but with an element of "growth" learning. Those students were taught what it was to have a "growth" mindset and those students were the ones to advance in their grades. The students with only the study-skills did not improve when it came to their grades. She also put out the idea that the brain was like a muscle, it gets stronger the more you learn. She said that was what those students were taught and it helped them understand that it important to never quit learning.
I think this affects me as a teacher because I want to be prepared to teach my students how to have a "growth" mind. I want to encourage my students to never want to stop learning and to never be afraid to put themselves out there and speak up. Students shouldn't hold back for the fear that they might be wrong. I think this is what all teachers should strive for. They should strive to have a classroom of individuals who enjoy the process of learning, who don't mind making mistakes if it means that they will get something useful out of it. Any teacher who is okay with being stagnant and allowing their students to be stagnant should not be in the profession of teaching because they are not teaching their students anything useful or productive. With this idea of "fixed" and "growth" mindsets I believe it prepares me as a teacher to be able to enter the classroom and be prepared to teach and help my students have a "growth" mind.
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