Monday, July 22, 2013

Class Video Responses

Learning to Change- Changing to Learn

Technology has opened up so many new teaching options. There are more connective opportunities than ever. A lot of what students do for fun is content development. Wow! I am so glad to hear the voices of people who have a similar educational vision to my own. Standardized Testing models have swept a lot of the creative learning opportunities out of the door. I've seen the standardized testing model as very arrogant. It basically states that if kids can pass a test, they will be successful in the world. This is so untrue, but so easy to measure. I think that it's sad that we have sacrificed quality for convenience.

Rob and I just had a cool conversation about cell phone usage in schools. We talked about benefits and drawbacks of legalizing cell phone use in schools. Definitely an interesting idea. Access came up in the class and making sure all students have similar access to technology. That would be very difficult, and finding solutions would be an interesting challenge.

TED Talk:-Sir Ken Robinson












People are different. Education is standardized. This is why most kids don't like school. Education should be allowed to personalize the experience for each student. I love this kind of thinking. It is so refreshing as opposed tot he robotic, one-size-fits-all stuff that is forced on us. I believe in celebrating individuality. Not just for the students, but for adults as well. I have always believed that, if you want someone to do a really good job at their workplace, give them freedom to grow their job. Let them add parts that make the work more meaningful for them.

Reflection:

Well, one day of class down, four to go. I really enjoyed the day and i am excited to add new tools into my work. I am having a hard time deciding what to do for my final project only because I am interested in far too many of the topics. I think I'm going to focus on Web Design since that is what I am doing right now, but I feel a lot of the other topics were very intriguing. This has made me want to do some serious exploring to learn what other tools are available to me and my students for free.
The videos were inspiring and refreshing. I entered teaching with a plan to be come an art teacher. Reality settled in after I had graduated from college. There were no jobs. SO sad that the art teacher is facing extinction. I hope to be a part of the revolution that leads us back to teaching kids how to think and create.
Below I have posted the video that my students made about the closure of the Big Picture School (Terra Nova) where I worked. Enjoy. Thanks for a great class, Todd!


9 comments:

  1. Jared-What a powerful video...worth sharing with the class if you're okay with that. Since we're dealing with the power of video tomorrow (Tues), this would be a great example of its use.

    Great to have you in class!

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  2. So excited to be a part of a class that can look at these issues. Obviously Terra Nova was a place for those kiddos we were talking about today. I am currently reading "Element" by Ken Robinson. The book so speaks to what these kids need. I am so impressed by your passion and capacity for empowerment.

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  3. WOW extremely powerful, so sad the school was shut down! Even the students realized their school was "revolutionary" and they were advocating for others besides themselves!!
    I so wish the education system in America would stop conforming to the status quo and stop using the antiquated models based on agrarian or industrial society which is really not the society of the 21st century.

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  4. Changing the system of education is a daunting, but necessary task. Unfortunately, it feels like many of the people making the "big" decisions have lost sight of the most important part of education - the students! Don't let go of your love of art...find ways to keep it in your teaching, even when the curriculum doesn't call for it! I have struggled with the loss of art and music in my own school/district. I worked to provide music through a rotation schedule (with colleagues providing art and PE), but our new schedule doesn't allow for the 45 minutes daily, which is a shame. I will continue to work on providing for my own students, but believe strongly that it takes us - in the trenches - never giving up on those creative outlets that we know are so necessary!

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  5. Great post. Even having seen these videos before, I found myself wrestling with the same dilemmas for quite a while after class yesterday. Your thoughts mirror many of mine, and there is a certain amount of comfort that comes from interacting with like minded educators interested in creating change. Thank you!

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  6. Hey! Thanks for the shout-out! I wish it were easier to make change possible in out system. The more effective means of evacuation are out there; they're just not funded. Open-ended assessments take time. And the greater the emphasis on standardized assessments, the more less time we have to provide teachers (and kids!) that opportunity to measure growth.

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  8. These are the kids I work with as well. They have so much to teach us. I'm glad you had an opportunity to bring their voices to us.

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  9. I can understand your concerns regarding standardized testing. However, I don't think it is going to go away. How can we humanize this process? How will the implementation of Smarter Balance help/hinder the attempt to humanize the testing experience? I would love to have a conversation.

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