App Smash: This is my App Smash project for the graduate class EDL680 at San Diego State University. The apps are camera, Book Creator & iBooks on the iPad.
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Quote: “Sam has learned a lot about programming and a lot about participating in online communities but what he has learned the most of all is how to learn from others. (Thomas & Brown, 2011) A New Culture of Learning is about a different approach to learning, where the teacher gives up control and facilitates the action. Students use each other as resources and figure out how to learn from each other. They play and explore. I decided to choose this quote because it is a perfect example of how important it is to collaborate, humble ourselves and learn from others. Everyone has unique experiences, abilities and perspectives. It would be a great disservice to not allow students to share, play and work with a group of diverse people with similar interests.
Question: With project based learning, there seems to be a lot of freedom for the students. How to do we manage this freedom in a second grade classroom? Connection: EDL680: In regards to our class, EDL600, we are given the opportunity collaborate and share our work with one another. We get to see, read and listen to the art of teaching from all levels, elementary to high school. We get to learn from each others experiences and adapt a various strategies that we can implement in our own classrooms. For example, today I learned how to screencast a lesson on my computer. I’ve never done it before so I watched several app smashes from other classmates and then I began to tinker/research. I went on YouTube, Google and watched several videos to obtain the right screencast software to utilize. Professional Learning Community: at our school we’ve implemented professional learning communities (PLC). PLC is “an ongoing process in which educators work collaboratively in recurring cycles of collective inquiry and action research to achieve better results for the students they serve.” (All Things PLC, 2015) Under the PLC umbrella, we normally meet with our grade level teams and plan, research, compare data, strategies, group and regroup students based on the data, set up interventions, etc. One of the aspects I love about PLC’s is that we also get some time to talk and share our experiences. Listening to the experiences of other teachers doesn’t make me feel like “I’m the only one” going through certain experiences. As teachers, we tend to go in our classrooms and get lost in there with our students, we teach our lessons throughout the day, we stay in there after school grading, setting up for the day, and the list goes on. Sometimes we don’t talk to or see other colleagues because we’re so focused and immersed into our craft. PLC’s allow us that time to collaborate, support each other and share experiences. Personal Use: Personally, I utilize Google, social media and YouTube daily. I use it because I love listening, sharing and learning from other people. Whenever I have a question, I first enter it in Google and of course, I get multiple hits of stories and testimonies of people that experienced the same thing. Not only did they experience it but they also add how they overcame or solved the problem. I use YouTube for everything, I love listening to other people’s advice on nutrition, sometimes how to heal an injury naturally, and I also go on there for motivation. I love listening to motivational speakers that help me develop or improve on a weakness. Epiphany/Aha: My “aha” moment was developing the understanding that I need to eliminate the top down approach, that education should not be about me being the authority, with all the information and regurgitate facts down to the students. The idea is to teach students how to access their own research and generate their own understanding by continuously tinkering and sharing their findings with classmates. Another “aha” moment was when the author spoke about play. Thomas and Brown stated, “embrace play as a central part of how they experience the world, and they learn that questioning the world is one of the key ways they can understand it.” (Thomas & Brown, 2011) If I take a step back, this is exactly how I learn- I play and test things. For example, in the classroom I constantly research and look up strategies on Google, YouTube, sometimes colleagues share strategies and resources and then apply it. It’s all about learning and sharing to do what’s best for our students. References All Things PLC. (2015). About PLC’s. Retrieved June 29, 2015 from: http://www.allthingsplc.info/about Thomas, D., & Brown, J. (2011). A new culture of learning: Cultivating the imagination for a world of constant change. Lexington, KY: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. A Sobering Lesson Learned
This article is about a veteran high school teacher and after 14 years of teaching, she was now hired as a learning coach. This learning coach was asked to be a high school student for 2 days just to get her feet wet. Her job was to do everything a high school student has to do throughout the day. From taking notes, taking tests to walking down the halls to head to her next class. Key Takeaway #1 “Students sit all day, and sitting is exhausting.” (Wiggins, 2014) Her first take away was the revelation of how much a student has to sit throughout the day. As teachers, we’re so used to being on our feet as we lecture and as we walk around to check for understanding. We don’t sit, yet our students are sitting down all day and it’s exhausting. I think back to the staff meetings or trainings I’ve sat through, it’s very exhausting and I normally average about 15 yawns throughout a training/meeting. In my elementary setting, our students have very short attention spans so I implement a lot of centers and rotations. I have 6 groups of 4 students and we rotate through 6 different stations so kids get to walk around and do a different activity to help them stay active. I even have my smartboard set up to play music as students rotate to their next station; the song I play is Happy by Pharrell Williams. Key Takeaway #2 “High School students are sitting passively and listening during approximately 90% of their classes.” (Wiggins, 2014) The second takeaway was the revelation that students hardly spoke and the communication was one-way. The teacher lectured, the students listened. I believe communication has to go both ways, students need to feel like they collaborated and added their opinions and views to a discussion. If not, students should might as well just watch youtube videos and learn that way. The veteran teacher also mentioned that if he could go back in time and change something, it’s that he would lecture for about 10 minutes and follow it up small group work where students can collaborate and discuss the top in depth. Key Takeaway #3 “You feel a little bit like a nuisance all day long.” (Wiggins, 2014) “Sit down and pay attention!” As teachers, we’ve said this over and over and this is what the veteran teacher heard all day long as well. Of course, we have a set time to deliver and complete a certain lesson but most of the time, students are moving around and off task because they’ve been sitting for long periods of time and over loaded with information. We’ve all felt it, as I previously stated in my trainings or meeting example. How many times have we left a training mentally drained and over loaded so we need to do some type of physical activity afterward? Kids need the same. I believe it’s a great idea to consistently shadow or sit in and observe other teachers teach. We not only learn from the teachers but we see teaching from the students perspective and come up with ideas and strategies that will allow us to best serve our students. References Wiggins, Grant. (2014). A veteran teacher turned coach shadows 2 students for 2 days – a sobering lesson learned. Retrieved June 22, 2014 from: https://grantwiggins.wordpress.com How to Get a Job at Google
As a graduate student, it was initially very difficult to hear that a GPA or test scores are worthless. However, I think back to my test scores and GPA, I was never at the top of my class in school. I was a “C” student in high school and a “B” student in college and I'm not too sure if my scores were part of the equation when I was hired permanently as a teacher. I did not pass my teacher entrance exams, RICA and CSET, on the first shot. It took me a few times because I was not ready and I just did not have the knowledge at the time. The test scores showed me that I wasn’t ready but the failure taught me to persevere and to never give up because I felt I was meant to be a teacher. This is exactly what I tried to communicate during my teaching interview five years ago, that I had other attributes that made me an asset to their school. “Don’t get him wrong, Bock begins, “Good grades certainly don’t hurt.” Many jobs at Google require math, computing and coding skills, so if your good grades truly reflect skills in those areas that you can apply, it would be an advantage.” (Friedman, 2014) Even though Google does not look at grades or degrees as the primary reason to hire, it can be an asset. Grades are an asset only if they’re accompanied with the personal traits they value such as the ability to learn on the fly. The ability to problem solve by tinkering, collaborating, working with a team and leadership skills. They don’t want a person that masters one aspect of a job or skill and always has the answer to a problem of that certain job. They want people that may encounter old problems but thinks of a new way to solve it. Leadership is definitely a skill students need to practice in the classroom. I tend to use the term “leadership skills” every time one of my students practices an attribute of leadership. I say, “awesome leadership skills!” when a student takes some type of initiative in their group setting just to bring the awareness to a second grader. This normally leads to a teaching moment for the rest of the class as I explain why this certain student showed great leadership skills. The article also discussed the difference between traditional and emergent leadership. Google doesn’t care if you were the president of a chess club or sales. They care about how you are able to work with a team. Do you know how to lead, when it’s time for you to lead and when to step back and let someone else lead. In my second grade classroom, I have my students sitting in groups of 4 to help them collaborate a bit easier and to hold each other accountable. I try to change their seats once a month just so they can work with different students and different personalities because it’s a skill they will need for the rest of their lives. I truly wish every job hired the same way as Google and maybe many do but in my experience, there were many occasions where I was beat out by someone with a degree. Before, I had a degree I would apply for certain jobs that I knew I could do but I just didn’t have the degree so I went back to school. I applaud Google for giving people the opportunity to join without the degree. However, the attributes they are looking for such as the ability to code, learning ability, leadership, humility and ownership also comes with years and years of practice. These traits do no just come, there has to be some type of education-whether it’s self-taught through a variety of experiences, online, reading or work experience. This article opened up my curiosity in regards to project based learning schools. I’m curious to see how many project based learning school graduates are hired by Google right out of high school. References Friedman, T (2014, February 22). How to Get a Job at Google. The New York Times. Retrieved From: http://www.nytimes.com Gever Tulley Teaches Life Lessons Through Tinkering “Is that a stick? You know the rule about playing with sticks…” – parent to a child. In the YouTube vide titled, Gever Tulley Teaches Life Lessons Through Tinkering, Tulley talks about the importance of tinkering. Tulley takes us to tinkering school where kids are allowed to pick up sticks and tinker with them. To attempt to repair or improve something and they are trusted not to hurt themselves or others. There is no curriculum or tests. Students are given tools, real tools to use and tinker through a six-day immersion program. The Goal The goal of tinkering school is to “ensure they leave with a better sense of how to make things than when they arrived and to have a deep internalization that you can figure things out by fooling around. (Gever, 2009) All projects never turned out as planned and become at ease that every step in the project is a step closer to success. They start with sketches and plans but sometimes they just start building, no plans. Success is in the doing and failures are celebrated and analyzed. Teachers facilitate and guide toward completion. All materials are available for use and the things that they build, amaze even themselves. Reflection The video gave many examples of the types of projects students created such as roller coasters, tree houses, vehicles, bridges, boats and their favorite, decorating. It was awesome to see elementary level kids collaborate and create. “Building is at the heart of the experience. The experience is hands on, deeply immersed and committed to the problem at hand. (Gever, 2009) I have a stepdaughter who attends a high tech charter school in San Diego and their approach is similar to Tulley’s immersion program, it’s a project-based approach to learning. As a teacher, I understand the importance of collaborating, working with a team, finding your role and developing the ability to lead a group through these real world experiences. However, these kids will definitely be workforce ready but will they be college ready? If that’s the road they choose to take. Not everyone has to go to college but I think there needs to be a balance. College continues to be a place of higher learning through textbooks. We read, reflect through discussions or writing and practice what we learned in the near future in the field we hope to land. I personally love the project-based approach and should be included in all schools, in addition to the core subjects. Students also need to learn how to study through a variety of texts and learn through exploration. References Neistat, C. [CaseyNeistat]. (2012). I Love you Instagram. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com
Instagram: I Love You
Instagram, I love you – a catchy title and entertaining Youtube video by Casey Neistat. The title is true, at least for me that is, I use it everyday to highlight my everyday moments in life. It’s a perfect way to share your story picture by picture to a large-scale audience. It’s a place where you cannot only share your story but also learn from other people’s stories. It is filled with interesting people, however it can also be filled with filth and distractions. Our Story “A platform is only as good as it’s users.” (Neistat, 2012) I agree with Neistat and I also believe the relationship goes both ways. It’s about sharing your story and staying truthful to your story. It’s also about the users you follow. Following people that do not align with your “theme” or if they don’t inspire you to make yourself better, then they’re not worth following. I loved the dialogue regarding Justin Beiber, not that he’s a bad person but every moment he shares is a different angle of his face, aka selfies. I believe we all know these type of users, again not bad people as they may be extremely successful but there’s no substance or story behind the flooding of a timeline with selfies. Find Your Theme Neistat mentions that we should find our theme. Who are we? What’s our purpose? What’s our story? Once you know your theme or path, share it. I truly believe that man sharpens man like steel sharpens steel, in others networking with others will make us-each other better. I also believe we are who we surround ourselves with, in real life and social media. As educators, we became educators because we love helping others. My overall big idea is the sharing of my story-my life, to help others. From faith, family, fitness and Teaching. I love all of these and I share it. To boast what you love instead of bashing what we hate. I am so thankful for the hundreds of others I follow that do the same and the uniqueness they bring to social media, one picture at a time. Professional Instagram My personal story is my theme for my personal instagram account but going through the EDL 680 class, I began my professional Instagram account with the teaching theme in mind. I’m looking forward to having an account that mainly focuses on my craft, helping others, sharing of ideas, strategies and the networking possibilities with fellow educators. References Neistat, C. [CaseyNeistat]. (2012). Instagram I Love you. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com
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I have to admit; when I read the title and began listening to the YouTube video by Dave White I thought it was going to be something dry and bland. This was not the case. In Dave White’s video, Visitors and Residents, he categorizes the users of social media use into two separate categories, visitors and residents. As a full-blown social media addict like myself, the idea of visitors and residents really hit home. A social media visitor is someone who has a toolbox and only goes to the toolbox when he needs a tool. A visitor is content without the constant carrying of their toolbox or in web terms, not grabbing their tools and adding to the social media world on a daily basis. They see social media in a negative way, they don’t want to be seen as them flaunting themselves and/or appearing egotistical. They care more about personal networks than social media networks. A resident is someone who carries their toolbox everywhere they go and use it as needed. They constantly post on social media, network, blog and wants their identity to always remain visible. They see their social media presence as a brand and always a work in progress. In order to keep themselves visible, as Dave White explained, “they have to keep feeding the machine.” (White, 2013) As we all know, if not used wisely, feeding the machine of social media can distract from real world responsibilities. Personally, I am a resident of the social media world. I come from the perspective of networking, learning from others and helping others as so many have helped me. Social media gives me a bigger stage than what my classroom is able to give. However, the classroom gives me that real person-to-person contact and presence that the social media world cannot. I try to stay visible by feeding the machine as White mentioned in the YouTube video but I try my best to stay selective of what I post and if it does not represent my value system then I don’t post it. I love sharing my story and experiences to promote the good news of the world (especially teaching), instead of bashing whatever doesn’t fit into my lifestyle. As with anything in life, there has to be a balance between being a resident (posting your own material) and being a visitor (watching and learning from others’ material) to get the best out of both worlds. References White, D. (2013, May 31). Visitors and Residents. Retrieved June 8, 2015. “We cannot live the next 100 years the way we lived the past 100 years.” (Wesch, 2010.) Michael Wesch makes a great point and starts off his presentation with student testimonies of how disinterested they are in school. They are disinterested because the courses are not relevant to their lives and/or they are distracted the fast pace of the 21st century. People are distracted daily by media, the ability to connect with anyone at anytime can distract us from the lecture, training, books, etc. Wesch talks about using these technological distractions to our benefit. Knowledgeable vs. Knowledge-Able Wesch describes the difference between making students knowledgeable and being knowledge-Able. Students become knowledgeable when us teachers prepare them for a test and regurgitate a bunch of facts. Preparing students to be knowledge-Able is to prepare them to find, sort, analyze, criticize and create their own conclusion. Students need the life skills of working through a problem, to fail, revise and finally succeed. Media Wesch also gave an example of how television is a one-way communication. The television and the people on it communicate with us, we simply listen, and we cannot communicate back. I was also blown away by Wesch’s example about the time period television was created and finally reaching homes. People went from having a certain furniture design to communicate with one another to rearranging the furniture so their focus would be on the television instead. This example brings it all back to my classroom, how I am the one dictating what the students see and hear like a television but it should not be a one-way conversation. What is Possible vs The Classroom As teachers, we are given the standards and the curriculum and we teach it. Students need to master certain standards in order to succeed at their next level or grade. We are given Ipads to make our students tech savvy for the future. However, we tend to continue to tell them what the end product should look like. As teachers we need to let go of that authority of giving students the vision of what their project should look like, to explore, collaborate and harness the relevant tools. Lets inspire creativity and teach the process of solving real world problems. Teach them that knowledge-ability is hard work and constant practice. Move beyond finding meaning; instead develop the stamina of creating their meaning. It’s a difficult task and something that cannot be measured easily. I’ve been to several school board meetings and listen to decision makers and they want to know the stats of everything. We can can teach facts and count the correct answers but solving the tests of life are not easily quantifiable. I believe it’s about balancing both. References Welsh, M. (2010, October 12). TEDxKC - Michael Wesch - From Knowledgeable to Knowledge-Able. Retrieved June 8, 2015. Why School? I like to believe I am a master learner, constantly looking for something new that will energize and engage my students. Personally, I cannot deliver the same lessons year after year; I constantly modify and tweak to fit the needs of my current students. The challenges will definitely be to discover-don't deliver the curriculum and transfer the power. Transferring the power and not delivering the curriculum can be difficult because as teachers, we’re natural leaders and the specific needs of our students need structure. However, I’m up for the challenge to adapt and change. Lastly, I’m very excited to add, do real work for real audiences. I think it’s a great idea to add real world experiences to my students’ homework instead of math and vocabulary worksheets. This was definitely an “ah-ha” moment for me and ideas are starting to flow. |
Jaime Gonzalez
San Diego State University Archives
August 2015
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