After watching the TED Talks "The Danger of a Single Story" a talk given by Chimamanda Adichie I was inspired to seek out culturally diverse experiences and to learn more about ways I can incorporate diverse perspectives into my lessons. Adichie speaks about the consequences of having narrow perspectives about other people, cultures and societies. It is important to recognize that it is human nature to want to categorize ideas and people in simple terms and groups. Adiche points out that media coverage provides people with a single story and often we are robbed of reality as often times stories are not false but incomplete. This is something I take into consideration in my classroom as I try to present varying perspectives on the texts we study. In my ERWC 12 grade classroom for example, I presented multiple perspectives on the topic of racial profiling for students to use critical thinking skills and consider both sides of an issue. I think this is a real life skill that is essential for them to learn. As Adiche mentioned in her talk "show a people as one thing and that is what they become in your mind," and it is essential that students understand the way the media influences their perspectives. This will minimize the chances that students buy into a single story in relation to many things in their lives like literatures, academic studies and the media. It is not only important to see stories from diverse perspectives but to also appreciate diversity. In the book "Show your work!" Austin Kleon shares ten ways to share creativity and to get discovered. Kleon's first advice is not to be scared to be an amateur. I feel that this applies to everyone but especially our students. Many reasons why students hold back on learning new things is the fear of doing something wrong. I believe that taking on new challenges and to submit oneself through the process of struggling for the sake of improving of learning is admirable. It's also important to share the process of learning and social media is an easy tool for sharing progress and new ideas. I like the idea of sharing the progress of projects because if we focus on the final product we may wait too long to share our work. For example, I have a friend who is in the process of creating a music album but he has been working on his music for about two years. He does not feel ready to share the individual tracks that are ready because he is not sure of how the songs will all come together. I think that art is never completely finished. There is always room for improvement that is why it's important to share our work in order for others to provide us with feedback. I don't think that we can always plan how exactly a new idea with develop and sometimes we need to enjoy the process and allow the process to take its own route. Kleon next suggestion is that we need to share something everyday. I would agree with his statement that a lot of what's shared online is not very useful but we don't always know what is. That's why it's important to share and hopefully it can be useful to someone or at the least it can inspire creativity in others. It's not only important to share our work but also our inspirations. We are all inspired by things that others might consider useless. It also allows others to see who you are. Another factor that allows people to learn about one's interests is the art of telling stories. Sharing work and ideas on social media become more real and authentic when we share how they are part of a bigger picture and if we share the process of their development. This ties in with teaching the skills that we know to others. Information is valuable and sharing our knowledge does not take from our individualism because people will always take ideas and make them unique to themselves. It's important to invest in one's own ideas if possible and to keep in contact with people who share similar interests. Technology moves so fast that it is easy to lose contact with people who one could potentially collaborate with in a future project or idea. Technology can sometimes be overwhelming because of the vast amount of information but it is worth sticking around to see how new development can be used to enhance one's creativity in all aspects of life.
Chapter 7 “The process of making and remaking context is in itself, an act of imaginative play” This chapter discusses the importance of ensuring our students are media literate. Students need to learn to decipher information in a world where information and images can be manipulated and presented to serve a specific purpose. Students can approach an idea with a willingness to explore and experiment it. Awareness of negotiation of truth is important for our students to be successful in engaging in meaning making. Question: How can we develop agency in our students? Connection: I am teaching Expository Reading and Writing this semester and my students are learning how to analyze a writer’s argument using ethos, logos, and pathos in different texts. It is also important for students to be able to interact with organic texts like wikipedia. Aha: The definition of literacy is changing in the sense that students needs to learn how to interact with organic text. Information is in a constant flux and understanding the logos, pathos, and ethos is increasingly important. Chapter 8 “Digital networked environments do not provide only an extension of real world interaction: they also provide an enhanced environment for sharing information and engaging in meaningful social interaction” So..: Classroom blogs can be used as tools to teach students how to collaborate effectively with their peers. If used efficiently students will learn to interact with each other over a social platform. The skills they will learn are transferable to real life. Students will use these skills in college to in only course or hybrid courses. These skills are also important in the business world as students need to learn the proper way to interact and communicate with business professionals. Question: How long should classroom blogs be made available? (One year?) Connection: In my classroom we have used Google docs for group projects. It’s a great way for students to work together on research projects. It makes it easy to jigsaw different research topics and it saves valuable teaching time. Aha:Technology makes it necessary for students to be media literate as well as text literate. We need to prepare our students by providing rich experiences in the classroom that will help them succeed in college and in the job market. Chapter 9 “Imagine an environment where learning happens on a continuous basis because the participants are internally motivated to find, share and filter new information on a near-constant basis.” So..: Students can learn to use social media platforms to enhance their learning. Social media sites can be used in the context of learning. If students use the media they are already familiar with in the classroom they can learn the added benefits. Twitter is an example of a social platform that has an abundant source of new information. Users are able to share links to many topic. Users can filter information to focus on any topic. Question: How can we keep students all students with different likes and interests motivated? Connection: I am going to assign a 20% project to my students because I see the value of fostering intrinsic motivation in my students. Students will seek out authentic learning experiences if the are given the chance to focus on topics that interest them. I am excited to see how students respond to this new type of learning. Aha: Information sharing and learning both happen at a constant basis. we can use these tools in the classroom to enhance our teaching. Students already possess the skills needed to navigate social media but they can transfer those skills to focus on learning. A New Culture of Learning
Chapters 4-6 Chapter 4 “Our ability to produce, consume, and distribute knowledge is an unlimited, unfiltered, and immediate way is the primary reason for the changes we see today.”Collaboration is key to finding and creating true knowledge. Creating network and online communities increase the flow of information on any particular topic. Groups of people who work together on a similar goal, project of interest, or to solve a problem are more efficient than any one person working alone. Question: What role does the teacher play in peer to peer learning? Connection: When I was in High school I loved to read magazines from local collectives. It is more common today for people to use virtual collective because it allows for increased collaboration. Classroom blogs can be used to create inquiry based approach to learning and teaching Aha: The internet allows for people to connect with other who have similar interest. Information is easier to find and some of the questions that someone might has probably been asked before. This allows for people to explore interest at a larger scale and with ease. We can teach our students to use a collective approach when teaching a specific unit. Learning to participate in a collective in a safe classroom environment teaches students skills that will enhance their abilities to find and collaborate with others on projects of similar interest. Chapter 5 “Through new media, the collective serves not only as a kind of resource for learning but also as a kind of amplifier: It intensifies and heightens the process of learning by continuously relating it back to the personal. ” In order to build motivation in students they need to be able to make the topic relevant to their lives. Digital media is a tool for teachers that helps makes learning authentic and personal. Question: How do we distinguish collaboration from sharing answers? Connection: The case involving the students at Ryerson University proves that the essence of what constitutes studying is changing. If the answers are available to our students with the simple click a button then ensuring that they get the right answer should not be our main concern as educations, instead we need to check that our students can develop creative ways to solve their problems or reaching their desired goals. Aha: When students are able to learn in fun environment that are not restrictive they can explore their interest at a deeper level. This is how life long learning happens. Organic spaces that are constantly producing new information and that students can participate in are most valuable because they represent the true nature of our reality. Answers can no longer be found they are being created every day and our students need to learn that they can participate in this creation of knowledge. Chapter 6 “You tech and I learn. But tacit knowledge, which grows through personal experience and experimentation, is not transferable-you can’t teach it to me, though I can still learn it.” Our role in this technological driven world in addition to the content material is how to access information relevant to their studies. But our most important role is to provide them with as much experience as possible. We can create the stage for students to make connections to content material in our classrooms. It is these rich experiences where they can put their knowledge and skills to use that helps grasps real concepts and ideas. Question: What are effective ways to develop inquiry in our students? Connection: It is important to remember that students have different learning styles. For this reason it is important to allow students freedom in their learning. They will demonstrate the most creativity when they are truly invested in something that interest them. They will also be more likely to seek out new learning experiences when they are truly motivated by their work. Aha: Imagination and creativity is something that has was lacking in traditional education system. New teachers have the task of undoing some of the teaching methods and practices that are benefitting our students. A New Culture of Learning
Chapters 1-3 Chapter 1 “The game does not teach programming it builds citizenship.” Using technology in my classroom does not only help students acquire and technological skills. Technology is a new tool they need to learn to use to collaborate and share work with their peers. Older students can also benefit from learning how to interact and connect with people in other parts of the world in an educational setting as those skills are transferable to most careers and college. It is also beneficial for students to learn how to interact with people who have different knowledge and expertise. Scratch was a great example of how students can share their work and share it with with other to comment and built on in a fun way. Question: Will standards that encourage communicating/collaborating via technology eventually be included in the Common Core Standards? Connection: Creating a positive environment for our students is something we all prioritize. It is important for our students to be able to they have safe and positive interactions inside our classrooms. Technology forces us to consider how students communicate and collaborate outside the classroom. In Spanish methods we use a program called iearn to connect with students in other Spanish speaking countries and share cultural experiences. Programs like iearn are great resources that we can use to provide students with diverse cultural interactions. Aha:Technology is a tool we can use to expand those skills in the sense that we can teach students how to build relationships to our communities. This is an essential real life skill they will use in that will help them be successful in many ways. Like with the game Scratch students can learn to collaborate with their community members on projects that interests them, learn from others’ input and benefit from listening to others’ perspectives on their ideas. Chapter 2 “As we will see, however, in the new culture of learning the point is to embrace what we don’t know, come up with better questions about it, and continue asking questions about it in order to learn more and more about it, both incrementally and exponentially.” Students can look up answers to question on the web. Memorizing answers is no longer how we determine which students are learning the content we teach. What is important is that students are able to find the answers to their questions and can add or expand to their learning provided with a vast amount of information. Students in our schools today need to be able to sort out information and find relevant sources to supplement their learning. Question: How can we consider the web to be part of the class environment? Connection: I can see how school culture has changed since I went to high school to adapt to the increasing use of technology. Online classroom and more common. Aha: If we teach our students how to make good use of the technological tool and the resources available on the web they will benefit from those skills. The internet can be overwhelming to students if they do not learn how to categorize information. We can teach students how to find credible information and how to use creative ways to elaborate on others ideas. Chapter 3 “Embracing change means looking forward to what will come next. It means viewing the world as a set of new possibilities, rather than something that forces us to adjust.” As educators we should look at the vast amount of technological resources in a positive light. Technology has changed the traditional school setting from what is considered the classroom environment to the tools we use to teach our students in the classroom. If we can learn how to use technological resources ourselves and teach it to our students we can increase the amount of learning that goes on in our classroom. Our resourcefulness will only benefit our students. Question: How does the way that students are learning affect what they learn? Connection: This chapter mapped the evolution of Wikipedia and highlighted how information is being shared today. Collaboration is key to presenting and finding accurate information. Aha: It’s important that students learn to accept knowledge from different perspectives. Instead of teaching our students that there is only one answer to a question we need to teach them to be creative with their answers. Seth Godin’s TED talk Stop Killing Dreams questions what school is for. We are not asking or answering that questions and we don’t always agree on how we got here and where we are going. When school were first established school was about teaching obedience. Something that hasn’t changed is that teachers begin class with a morning greeting, and teach students are taught to be obedient and respond with a proper response. Students are taught to hold back because they learn that teachers will always ask for more. We are products of the industrial age we train students to produce and comply. Education was designed to make students interchangeable. The intent of public education was to train people to comply and to prepare them to work in factories. The key distinctinction if its work we try to figure out how to do less if it’s art we try to figure out how to do more. We should not be surprised that students want to know what will be on the test. When it’s a job of course they try to figure out how to do less. Art is valuable but we teach students not to do that. There are many factors changing education. Technology is changing the way students access lectures, good quality lectures are available any time from everywhere online. The value of memorizing is worthless school will be using open book all the time. Access to courses on line changes the need for public education. Measuring experience instead of test scores. Cooperation instead of individualized courses. We are paying extra to attend prestigious colleges, that will change. Performance at school does not lead to happiness and success. We are asking kids to collect dots or connect dots. Grades are an illusion, failure and persistence in priceless. Standing out takes guts we need to teach kids to. The questions teachers should be asking is how are things going to help in getting what school is for. Godin, Seth [TEDxYouth@BFS]. (2012, October 16). "STOP STEALING DREAMS: On the future of education & what we can do about it." Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXpbONjV1Jc&index=10&list=PLbRLdW37G3oMquOaC-HeUIt6CWk-FzaG Logan Laplante’s TED talk discussed the importance of teaching kids that education can be something that makes them happy. He states that being happy and healthy is a practice that does not have to be separate from education. Being happy and healthy comes down to 8 things, exercise, diet and nutrition, time in nature, contribution and service, relationships, recreation, relaxation and stress management, and religious and spiritual practice. Sir Ken Robinson’s famous TED talk also discussed the problem with schools killing creativity. Schools can incorporate these practices in their curriculum to better support students. Hackers change the systems to work differently and essentially to make them work better. Education needs to be hacked in the sense. Hackschooling means not using a particular curriculum or being dedicated to a particular approach. Laplante hacks his education. The basis of his education approach is using technology, fostering creativity, seeking experiences (classes and camps), and following the 8 practices to being happy and healthy. Taking advantages of opportunities in his community that is flexible making healthy and happy. This video was inspiring because it stressed the importance of fostering creativity is students. I want to use a similar style of teaching in my future classroom. Motivation increases when students are interested in what they are learning. I believe that I can give students choices in my classroom to increase motivation. They need to have the freedom to choose what they are going to study. Giving students freedom makes learning fun and interesting. There are many community resources that can supplement the teaching in the classroom. Laplant made a good point in suggesting that the community can offer many learning opportunities to my students. I believe it will be important to foster good relationships with organizations in the community that my students can work with for outside school projects. Community involvement and relating content material to real life makes learning experiences meaningful for students. LaPlante, Logan [TEDx University of Nevada], (2013, Feb. 12). "Hackschooling makes me happy". retrieved from https://youtu.be/h11u3vtcpaY?list=PLbRLdW37G3oMquOaC-HeUIt6CWk-FzaGp
http://nyti.ms/1eh1z02
In how the article titled “How to Get a Job at Google” columnist Thomas Friedman investigated the skills Google looks for in their employees. Google has noted that the often a person's academic gpa does not predict anything. The amount of employees without a college degree has increased. The hiring criteria at Google is based on five things. The number one thing that they look for is learning ability. That is the ability to learn to knowledge. Second they look for emergent leadership which is knowing when to step in as a leader and when to step back to allow for the contribution of others. They also value humility and ownership because humble people understand that failure is a learning experience. Another important skill in demand is the ability to collaborate with others. It important to have a sense of responsibility to one work and to know how to contribute ideas but be open to the ideas of others’. Adaptability is being able to adjust to changing practices and new ideas because we live in a rapidly changing society. This is in to the final skill that is necessary at Google which is the love of learning and understanding that re-learning is a constant necessity. The way that I want to prepare my students for “a job at Google” is by teaching them learnability. I will do this by developing my students cognitive abilities. For example, I can use collaborative group work that requires students to teach each other content material. Teaching others helps students become self learners. I will also teach my students the importance of qualitative reading which means that they will learn to read with concentration. My students will learn the many reading skills necessary for critical thinking and the value of reflective reading. I will teach my students expository writing skills to help them understand and practice thinking ideas through. Friedman, T. (2014, February 22). How to get a job at Google. The New York Times. Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/23/opinion/sunday/friedman-how-to-get-a-job-at-google.html?_r=2 Education Leadership“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness.” - Charles Dickens Will Richardson begins his TED talk with this quote because he believes that it is an accurate description of the state of education today. We have an endless amount of informations available to us on the web that we can use to develop opportunities for ourselves and our students but we are not always technologies to its fullest potential. He points out that the ways we perceive learning and teaching is very narrow which is made evident by the types of assessments we are using in our classrooms. We need to think fundamentally different it is not simply a matter of choice whether we incorporate technology in our classroom.One of the roles we will play on my classroom is to ensure that students have access to up to date technology. Having access to the information on the internet and understanding how to use technology is imperative. It is a social justice issue because not having access to the information and tools needed to be competent in the technological advance economy creates inequality. Another fundamental change that needs to occur is the way that educator view knowledge. It is not only something that students carry around in their head but it is also in their pockets, in their cell phones. If the questions we are asking in school can be answered by google search we should allow them to use it in the classroom because that is how they will be answering it in real life. Fundamentally the way we answer question is not the problem. The problem is the questions we are asking. The way that I play a role in the leadership conversations about education is by being an advocate for change in the classroom. I need to consider the content and tools students are using inside and outside my classroom and ensure that they are similar if not the same. The internet has created a shift in education with the abundance of knowledge available to use we need to re-evaluate what the roles of schools and how we define education. The most important thing for students is not to pass a test. It is the unmeasurable stuff that is more important. Problem solving, critical thinking, social and collaboration skills is what students need to succeed. I can model this for my students in my classroom by asking questions that I don’t always know the answer to. In a world of abundance educators will not be the sole bearers of knowledge. I am a teacher who can model learning by doing it alongside my students. Richardson, Will. "Education Leadership: Will Richardson at TEDxMelbourne." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2015.
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AuthorCristina Perez Archives
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