When I think of an online presence, I think of the old saying "You never get a second chance to make a first impression." Our online personas have an audience, and not just a small audience, it has the potential for being an audience that is comparable to standing on stage with a microphone at the 820,000 square foot Madison Square Garden. What would you say to an audience of that size? What would you say to an audience that size who wants learn more about your experiences, your travels, your hobby, or your work? They are interested in hearing what you have to say. They may even want to learn more! This thought hadn't occurred to me until began my masters program when I was asked to have my own online presence.
I never considered anyone would want to hear from me. However, anytime I am about to embark on a new journey, I want to hear from those who've traveled it. I don't want to know so I can repeat their steps. Instead, I want to know what challenges or success they encountered. I want to learn, so that I can customize their experience to fit my needs. When I think of teaching, I want to learn! I want to know what works, what doesn't, what I can tweek, or even just simply find validation that someone else does it like I do, so I must not be far off! It is hugely helpful to me to see the experiences of others, so why not let them see mine? I work hard to improve my craft of organization, transitioning, and teaching. It is important to me to be efficient and happy. Then, I thought about all the times others have asked me about my classroom management, organization, and lessons. I have been told many times that I am creative and am often asked to share my lessons, but I never thought about sharing beyond my grade level team. When I thought of going online to share, I thought about the number of teachers around me who share. Actually, I don't know anyone who truly shares beyond putting a copy in my box. I don't personally know a teacher who creates units or lessons to sell on Teachers Pay Teachers, blogs, or shares anything online at all. So, here I am asking: Why not be brave and start the trend? But first, I must seek out some advice or info to have some know-how before I start, of course! Instagram I Love You, is a great video to start with. Casey Neistat explains the advantages of using Instagram as well as some great tips. I watched it twice! Then, I read the article If Great Authors of the Past Posted to Instagram. Ha! That was awesome just to see how they may have posted and a good look at how it's the picture that tells the story and caption is like the cherry on top! Okay, I think I am ready to document my latest teacher adventure. I will be teaching first grade. Step one: I need to decorate and organize for the 20 6-year-old kiddos I will be spending lots of time with. Check me out on Instagram! I'd ask you to "follow" me, but that is a no-no (Just ask Casey Neistat. He will tell you).
http://twentytwowords.com/if-great-authors-of-the-past-posted-to-instagram-and-other-great-authors-commented-8-pics/
Caine is a boy who was given an opportunity to bring an arcade which existed in his imagination to reality. He created an arcade mostly from boxes and tape. His arcade is located in a section of his father's shop. His dad gave him a space and an opportunity and from that he created something so much bigger than his arcade. This story is truly touching. It makes me think of the children who simply want to create, but don't have the time, space, or resources. Imagine if every child, or even person had that to bring to life something that exists only in their imagination. I was reminded of our 20 Time Projects. I have never put so much time into learning about resources I can actually use that will help me become a techie. Once I set aside the time, found the resources (which I'd like to add many are my peers), and created a space (like this weebly page) I have the support and drive to move forward in making the lessons that only existed in my imagination a reality. You never know who's attention you might catch or even how your idea may impact others. Caine's idea inspired the one person who finally agreed to play in his arcade. His idea has created a movement. It is wonderful to see how this child who simply followed his dreams, because his dad gave him an opportunity, has impacted others. I will definitely follow his progress and watch any video or movie about this story. Awesome!
A New Culture of Learning: Cultivating The Imagination For A World of Constant Change Ch. 1-37/13/2015 Chapter 1 Quote: "Play can be defined as the tension between the rules of the game and the freedom to act within those rules. But when play happens within a medium for learning -much like a culture in a petri dish- it creates a context in which information, ideas, and passions grow." Question: What is my role as an educator when it comes to allowing one the play time to develop their passion? If I am not careful, time can be wasted if one doesn't know how to find resources, or worse, how to determine what their passion really is. Connection: As I read this chapter, I connected this thinking with the story about Caine and his arcade. His dad let him play. Caine had the drive, focus, and confidence to create something new outside the boundaries of the norm. He reached out to an audience. His play left the rules of only existing in his imagination. It became a reality for himself as well as others. Epiphany: My Aha! moment was later in the chapter when I learned about Sam and his internet gaming experience and I realized this type of learning really can be measurable in our real world of teaching standards and assessing the results of our lessons. I realized that Sam became a teacher of the game he learned. What better assessment than that of being able to teach the topic to others? My aha was in that I need to think outside the box when I create lessons and assessments. It can be different and that is completely okay. Chapter 2 Quote: "Learning is treated as a series of steps to be mastered, as if students were being taught how to operate a machine or even, in some cases, as if the students themselves were machines being programmed to accomplish tasks." Question: This immediately brought to mind the new common core state standards (They really should be called national standards right?) and their purpose is to have a result of college and career ready high school graduates. How effective are those standards going to be in preparing our students for the future? It is still a standardization model. It is still scripted to achieve one result for all. Connection: As I travel through the forest of professional development workshops, new curriculum training, and creating new assessments or benchmarks I wonder what are we really "creating". After reading this chapter, I feel it is still the same mindset of telling students about a topic and asking them to reproduce it so we can measure how much they remembered to score them. It is still the same model with a new name. Lots of talk about a shift in education, but maybe the shift is really traveling in circles. Epiphany: I need to stop recreating the same stuff. A new idea must be given for a new outcome. I need to determine what I want the process to be, not stick to determining what the result should be. Wow. This is going to be a new direction. Chapter 3 Quote: "Embracing change and seeing information as a resource can help us stop thinking of learning as an isolated process of information absorption and start thinking of it as a cultural and social process of engaging with the constantly changing world around us. Once again, the experience of children can show the way." Question: What happens to us that we go from being a dreaming 5-year-old who believe anything is possible to resistant adults who must be convinced to try something new let alone dream up a new idea? Connection: Each of us were asked at one time, "What would you like to be when you grow up? What kind of car will you drive? What will your home be like?" I bet some of us planned on having a home like the Jetson's with robot maids. A super high-tech school where learning is inspired by project based learning where kids create and present with holograms. Okay okay, that was my 6 year-old dream. And if you must know, yes I wanted the flying car too! This chapter made me think of the more things change, the more they seem to stay the same. This is especially true for education. Some things like the internet and technology like Youtube move at fast rates of speed! Yet others barely move at all! How can we get education moving and shifting in a new direction? Maybe we should ask the kids! Epiphany: Seriously, maybe I should ask the kids what they want to learn about and how they'd like to share it! How is that for innovation?
http://nyti.ms/1eh1z02
After reading this article by Thomas L. Friedman, I began to feel a bit of affirmation to the feeling I have about our current education system feeling somewhat antiquated. We all know that the current system was born from the industrial era. It was a time when society wanted to create workers who would be prepared with the capacity to follow and read directions, solve basic math problems, and complete / produce tasks over the duration of the day. When I consider the traditional school system, I think of a teacher at the front of the room telling students about rules or steps to reach a final outcome. It is also about following directions in order to produce. I had never given that too much thought, but then as I really started to compare the two, I realized there are many similarities. There is a large group of workers with one supervisor there to answer questions or tell how to do a task just like the teacher in the classroom. Factories don't hold meetings with their workers to discuss ideas of improvement, efficiency, or redesign. Both also have set schedules and organized spaces. They also focus on all doing one task one way. I can honestly say, I've always known the history of education, but hadn't thought deeply about it and its relevance to today's workplace.
This article gave me fresh insight to the connection of school and the future workplace of its students. We always connect school with work. I even hear kids say that they work for good grades, so one day they will have good jobs, or get to go to college. The mindset expressed in this article is not one of a hopeful production of rule-followers, or followers at all. It is from the mindset of creativity, exploration, and perseverance. They seek critical thinkers and natural explorers. Laszlo Bock, the senior vice president of people operations for Google expressed, "The world only cares about — and pays off on — what you can do with what you know (and it doesn’t care how you learned it)." It reminded me of my first years of teaching. It is what early childhood educators say all the time. I spent 4 years teaching preschool and in that time I learned the common complaint was that children aren't allowed to explore in "regular" school. Preschool is the only place they may explore, question, and create, because once they arrive to kindergarten, it is a very different and structured world. When I began teaching elementary school, my teaching world changed drastically! It is a world of data, scores, schedules, conformity, and rules. Google's philosophy reminded me of the philosophy shared by the preschool teachers I worked with. Those teachers strive to provide an experience that children can learn from. They seek opportunity to provide both failure and success. It is the children at the water table with the question: Does it sink or float? Then there is always one child who discovers it can float, if it is placed in something that doesn't sink. Oh the gleam in the eye of the 4 year-old when that discovery is made! It is the look of success after struggling through perseverance. Oh, if only I can find a way to inspire my third graders to attack a problem with the same excitement, maybe they would one day work at Google! |
AuthorI was a third grade teacher who is starting a new adventure in first grade. My plan was only to share my experiences as I apply what I learn in my masters program. Now, I will also include my new experience in first grade too. Join me. This is going to be fun! Archives
August 2015
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