Connected Journey Day 3 Twitter Experience
Two weeks ago one of my students stated, "Facebook is for old people. Twitter and and Instagram are in, Facebook is out. I haven't even logged in to Facebook in like.. a week." This is when I realized a few things; 1. I am officially old. Although I am only 29 years old the generation gap between my 16 year old students and myself is very evident. Since I teach history I realize this everyday that most of my students do not remember events from the early 2000's let along the 90's. 2. This I need to keep up with these new technologies or I am going to loose some valuable teaching moments. Quite a few teachers have started using twitter in their classrooms and it has only enhanced their teaching while staying connected with their students. Isn't that the goal?? Connect with our students. As the age gap widens I must find other ways to connect.
So it finally happened... I have become a twitter user! I tweeted at my husband twice in the last hour and enjoyed it. My husband has been a twitter user for the past couple years and has enjoyed it. I have yet to switch over from Facebook to twitter and I did not see the purpose in having both online profiles. I think it has happened, I now enjoy twitter. I hope my life and schedule can handle both of my online lives.
In the past couple hours I have stated to dive into twitter searching different hashtags which led me to valuable websites both personally and professionally. A few include parenting websites, that led me to an article which informed me of 5 things you should never say to your children (in which I had said 2 of them). Pretty good article. A second hashtag was dealing with travel... I now follow a Hawaii travel site, which my husband and I want to visit there on our 10 year anniversary. The pictures and recommendations on this page were great. And finally I started following a variety of education and history twitter accounts. I followed some educational technology and teaching twitter accounts as well as some historians such as Michael Beschloss. I am still not a fan of the news feed, or the completely openness of twitter. I thought I had tweeted at my husband and only my husband but then realized it went to everyone. I am also not a huge fan of re-tweeting. I feel like I am taking someone elses words. All in all I have found usefulness in twitter. I am just wondering how long this new online life of twitter will last and what the next replacement is?
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Connected Journey Day 2 Godin's Manifesto
Connect Journey Day 2 Godin's Manifesto
4/21/13
As I read Godin's Manifesto, Aurora High School and my teaching career kept popping in my mind. Point after point he nailed public education on the head. I was a little taken back by the extremely negative tone that everything I have done throughout my teaching career has been wrong and that I am not preparing my students for the future, but I do see some truth to his Manifesto.
I enjoyed reading about the history of public education. I understand how it originated for the industrial age and multiple choice tests arose for purposes of war. But..... I do think our education system has evolved and we are not just preparing our students to work in factories or fight in war. My students are creative, independent, and very outspoken about their beliefs and aspirations, which would not have been the case 100 years ago.
One point I found very interesting as I have considered flipping my classroom was 71. Lectures at night, homework during the day. Many teachers at AHS have begun "flipping" their classrooms and I really like the idea of it, but if every teacher flips their classroom..... students will be watching 5 hours of lectures every night??? If they don't understand something in the lecture, how will they ask the teacher? I feel there has to be a balance of the flipped classroom. Every teacher wishes they had more time and I see lots of value in a flipped classroom. But sometimes there just isn't enough time in the day. When over 50% of our students participate in extracurricular activities, time becomes very valuable. I just want my students to read the text book. We have taken away lots of focus on reading with access to online videos and teaching. I think a blended classroom is the best classroom. A little bit of everything, but always remembering we are all human and there are only 24 hours in a day.
All in all, I enjoyed Godin's Manifesto. I felt it was a little harsh in certain points. I feel I am not creating robots when I teach, but there is too much emphasis on testing. I do feel more major changes need to take place at the college level (moving away from lecturing and exams) before it will change at the high school level, since we are always making our kids college ready. Although I do not agree with Godin for many of his points I respect opinion and work.
4/21/13
As I read Godin's Manifesto, Aurora High School and my teaching career kept popping in my mind. Point after point he nailed public education on the head. I was a little taken back by the extremely negative tone that everything I have done throughout my teaching career has been wrong and that I am not preparing my students for the future, but I do see some truth to his Manifesto.
I enjoyed reading about the history of public education. I understand how it originated for the industrial age and multiple choice tests arose for purposes of war. But..... I do think our education system has evolved and we are not just preparing our students to work in factories or fight in war. My students are creative, independent, and very outspoken about their beliefs and aspirations, which would not have been the case 100 years ago.
One point I found very interesting as I have considered flipping my classroom was 71. Lectures at night, homework during the day. Many teachers at AHS have begun "flipping" their classrooms and I really like the idea of it, but if every teacher flips their classroom..... students will be watching 5 hours of lectures every night??? If they don't understand something in the lecture, how will they ask the teacher? I feel there has to be a balance of the flipped classroom. Every teacher wishes they had more time and I see lots of value in a flipped classroom. But sometimes there just isn't enough time in the day. When over 50% of our students participate in extracurricular activities, time becomes very valuable. I just want my students to read the text book. We have taken away lots of focus on reading with access to online videos and teaching. I think a blended classroom is the best classroom. A little bit of everything, but always remembering we are all human and there are only 24 hours in a day.
All in all, I enjoyed Godin's Manifesto. I felt it was a little harsh in certain points. I feel I am not creating robots when I teach, but there is too much emphasis on testing. I do feel more major changes need to take place at the college level (moving away from lecturing and exams) before it will change at the high school level, since we are always making our kids college ready. Although I do not agree with Godin for many of his points I respect opinion and work.
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Connected Journey Day One
Will Richardson Reaction
After watching Will Richardson's video I had very mixed emotions. While I understand his perspective, I don't agree with him. I feel Will took whole meaning out of "learning" when he used the history question example. It is extremely important to teach our students how to learn. In every job you will have to memorize something, whether it is the computer terminology for a technology specialists or the human body for a doctor. I understand that specific information such as "positive and negative aspects of Uthman's Caliphate" may not be relevant in most all professions but I do think learning how to find this information, internalizing it, and explaining it is a skill within itself. Yes we have the technology to just ask Google, but what exactly is that teaching our students.
As for the cinematographer, what an awesome passion. It is rare that students as young as himself know what they want to due for the rest of their lives. I feel this student is in the minority and many students are just trying learn and figure out what interests them.
We are evolving and as educators it is our job as educators to prepare students for this new world. In the same aspect there is still a very important piece where students still need to know how to read, interpret, analyze, and explain what they learn. We can use new technology to do this, but we still have to teach, and guide our students to find the answers.
Change is among us and self directed learning is important, but so are the "old fashion" aspects of teaching. Some students may not be able to self direct, so teachers are important to guide students in the right direction.
We do have access to all information but it is not always accurate and students may not know what information to believe. I grasp that we now have 2 billion ways to connect to many different "teachers." I fully think it should be a tool used in education, but it is still so new that we cannot fully grasp exactly how to use it. I don't know if I am ready to encourage my students to interact with 2 billion strangers. I feel like we are parenting more than necessary. When do the parents get a say? Our students are connecting lots on their own and it is hard enough to keep up with their use of technology, let alone to integrate it to everyday classroom use. By the time teachers understand what they are doing, they are already onto something else. Teachers are starting to use facebookm and students are starting over facebook and onto twitter.
I am excited to see what education will bring us and I hope to continue to evolve with my students. I hope to take the opportunity to help my students access knowledge in the appropriate manner. Thank you Will Richardson for your input!
Will Richardson Reaction
After watching Will Richardson's video I had very mixed emotions. While I understand his perspective, I don't agree with him. I feel Will took whole meaning out of "learning" when he used the history question example. It is extremely important to teach our students how to learn. In every job you will have to memorize something, whether it is the computer terminology for a technology specialists or the human body for a doctor. I understand that specific information such as "positive and negative aspects of Uthman's Caliphate" may not be relevant in most all professions but I do think learning how to find this information, internalizing it, and explaining it is a skill within itself. Yes we have the technology to just ask Google, but what exactly is that teaching our students.
As for the cinematographer, what an awesome passion. It is rare that students as young as himself know what they want to due for the rest of their lives. I feel this student is in the minority and many students are just trying learn and figure out what interests them.
We are evolving and as educators it is our job as educators to prepare students for this new world. In the same aspect there is still a very important piece where students still need to know how to read, interpret, analyze, and explain what they learn. We can use new technology to do this, but we still have to teach, and guide our students to find the answers.
Change is among us and self directed learning is important, but so are the "old fashion" aspects of teaching. Some students may not be able to self direct, so teachers are important to guide students in the right direction.
We do have access to all information but it is not always accurate and students may not know what information to believe. I grasp that we now have 2 billion ways to connect to many different "teachers." I fully think it should be a tool used in education, but it is still so new that we cannot fully grasp exactly how to use it. I don't know if I am ready to encourage my students to interact with 2 billion strangers. I feel like we are parenting more than necessary. When do the parents get a say? Our students are connecting lots on their own and it is hard enough to keep up with their use of technology, let alone to integrate it to everyday classroom use. By the time teachers understand what they are doing, they are already onto something else. Teachers are starting to use facebookm and students are starting over facebook and onto twitter.
I am excited to see what education will bring us and I hope to continue to evolve with my students. I hope to take the opportunity to help my students access knowledge in the appropriate manner. Thank you Will Richardson for your input!
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