Saturday, October 19, 2013

Blog Post #9

Back to the Future

Learning word graphic


After listening to Brian Crosby’s TED Talk, we learned very valuable information that we need to consider over the course of our entire teaching career.

First, Mr. Crosby speaks about his 4th grade class. He mentions that 90% of the students in his class are second language learners, students of poverty, and considered to be “at risk.” Mr. Crosby mentions that it is important that these students not have a narrowed curriculum just because of their background information. Our group found this situation very enlightening. In our future teaching career, we are fully aware that we will have students from all walks of life. We will have students that barely speak English, that are on different academic levels, live in a low-income family, live in a high-income family, etc. It is very important to give all students the same opportunity to learn, regardless of who or what they come from. Why give students a narrowed curriculum? Why not give students an opportunity to excel far beyond what they imagined? As aspiring educators, this segment of the video really made us realize how conscious we will have to be of giving all students the exact same opportunity to learn. It is very important not to apply stereotypes in the classroom. In our Classroom Assessment course, a course required for elementary education majors at The University of South Alabama, we learned about the “self-fulfilling prophecy” in regards to students. If a teacher treats a student as though he or she will do poorly, and doesn’t expect much from that student in general, then over the course of their education that student will morph into exactly what that teacher thinks of him or her. And that is not fair to the student by any stretch of the imagination! If we treat our students, all of them, with respect and hold them all to the same high standard, we will be pleasantly surprised by the results.

Mr. Crosby then speaks about a few science projects his class had completed. He mentioned that his class used their science book “a little bit” and that the projects, of course, aligned with the standards that Mr. Crosby had to cover. Our group learned a lot from that one statement. Classroom textbooks can be a great tool, but do not necessarily have to be used at all times, or used as the only learning tool while covering required state standards. Learning goes far beyond a classroom textbook! As future educators, we have to be creative in order to provide hands-on and engaging activities and projects that the students can relate to and that motivates the student. Having students read the text from a classroom textbook, complete a worksheet on the material, and then the teacher administering a test on the material is not an effective way of teaching. As stated earlier, learning stems far beyond a classroom textbook! From this video, we learned that giving students opportunities to collaborate with other students, research, and think deeply in order to solve a problem or answer a driving question is a much more effective way of teaching. This portion of the video impacted our group greatly. It made us realize that it is okay to step outside of the box and be creative with our pedagogy. Here is a well respected figure in the education world, basically giving us the go ahead to teach our students the way they deserve to be taught. Textbooks should merely be tools, not what the entire course is based upon.

Something else important we learned from Brian Crosby’s TED Talk is that getting an education is not a race to the finish line. One day, Brian Crosby was informed that he had a new student, Celeste, on his class role, but that he would probably never even see Celeste. He learned that Celeste was undergoing cancer treatments for Leukemia. Since her immune system was so low, she could not attend class for the fear of getting even more sick. Celeste had to be enrolled in a class in order to qualify for home studies. The idea that Mr. Crosby would never interact with Celeste in his classroom did not sit well with him, so he decided that he would, in fact, involve her daily in his classroom. Mr. Crosby would Skype/video chat Celeste so she could listen to lessons and also feel apart of the class. When Celeste was diagnosed with Leukemia, her life was probably turned upside down. Any sense of normalcy, such as being a member of a classroom, probably meant the absolute world to her while going through something so tragic. And let’s face it, unless Celeste’s parents were professional educators, Mr. Crosby was probably a more suitable teacher for Celeste. Celeste’s situation was very unfortunate, but it is still so important that she gets the same opportunities to learn, regardless of her health status. We learned from this video that an education should not be a race to the finish line, wherever and whatever that finish line may be. The process of learning is not something to be rushed through. An education should be thoroughly taught and available to all students, regardless of their health status or limitations. The world needs more teachers like Mr. Crosby. He went above and beyond the call of duty to make sure this girl got the education she deserved. That level of compassion is something that every teacher ought to demonstrate on a daily basis.

Blended Learning

Learn/Teach


Paul Anderson teaches AP Biology in Montana, and he taught us a very interesting strategy! He has a mnemonic device that he uses, called QUIVERS. It breaks down into Question (hook), Investigation, Video, Elaboration, Review, and Summary Quiz. Starting off the lesson with a question, or hook, that draws the students in is a great way to engage them. Then the students are instructed to investigate. There are elements of project based learning throughout Mr. Anderson’s strategy that we think will be very useful when becoming elementary school teachers. Then, the investigation is halted and a video is shown. This breaks up the traditional monotony of the classroom. Kids love watching videos. Next in this sequence is elaboration. Anderson provides resources and direction, and allows the students the room to find the answer to his question. This seems to us a bit like “Partnering,” the pedagogy referred to by Marc Prensky. The roles of the teacher and student should be redefined. The student should be placed in charge of their learning, while the teacher acts as a guide. When students feel that they are comfortable with the material, Mr. Anderson has them review with him. This is an example of partnering again. Letting the students do their own research gives Mr. Anderson the opportunity to come up with really deep questions. He feels, and we agree, that if you can’t explain what you’ve learned to someone else, then you don’t know it as well as you thought you did. If the student hasn’t adequately learned the material, Mr. Anderson sends them back to the drawing board to continue digging into the subject. Once he is comfortable with his students’ levels of comprehension, he gives a summary quiz on the material. To our minds, Mr. Anderson has taken some of the best aspects of project based learning and partnering and combined them into a new pedagogy. Utilizing different strategies helps him to manage his classroom, and maximize learning.

Making Thinking Visible

Headline


Mark Church, author of “Making Thinking Visible,” uses a research based method to teach students how to think. In his class, he had his students watch a video, and then create a headline about their opinion on the overall theme of the project. His thought process behind this was to capture the students current mindset about the lesson. And at the end of the lesson, he is going to ask them if their “headline” is still the same, and if it’s not, what has it changed to? This is a critical skill for students to have. Reflecting on your opinion, learning something new, and then changing your opinion is a valuable skill necessary for the real world, and also a skill that we think is becoming more and more scarce. Too many people are close-minded in their thoughts. They have an opinion of something, and no matter how much new data emerges, they will not change their minds. We have to teach children that it is okay to change your mind! Opinions are not set in stone. We think that Mr. Church’s lesson here is an amazing thing to teach to children. Being open to new things and always updating your perspective will make you a better person. And as teachers, don’t we owe it to our students to teach them to be the absolute best person they can be?

All in All

Everyday, we learn something new that will help us in our future teaching careers. Learning is a never-ending process, and as we progress through our own education, we are realizing that in order to be effective educators, we must be constant learners. Dr. Strange even said that after 50 years, he does not always have the answers to every question, and is still learning himself. Watching videos like these, we get to learn from the people who are at the crest of the wave that is sweeping through the education world. We both know that when we walk out of The University of South Alabama as graduates, we will not be entirely prepared for the road ahead. But as long as we continue to learn from influential educators, use the things we’ve learned, remain constant learners, and do the very best we can from the moment we walk into our classrooms, we will be successful.
Authors: Brylyn Cowling and Stephanie Faison

2 comments:

  1. "From this video, we learned that giving students opportunities to collaborate with other students, research, and think deeply in order to solve a problem or answer a driving question is a much more effective way of teaching. This portion of the video impacted our group greatly. It made us realize that it is okay to step outside of the box and be creative with our pedagogy. Here is a well respected figure in the education world, basically giving us the go ahead to teach our students the way they deserve to be taught. Textbooks should merely be tools, not what the entire course is based upon."

    Put the quotation above from your post where you will read it every day when you become a teacher!

    Thorough. Thoughtful. Personalized. Very well done!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Stephanie,
    I really enjoyed reading your blog post. You and your group members did a great job thoroughly explaining each video and/or reading. I think it was very thoughtful and informative.

    ReplyDelete