Technology: Tool or Stumbling Block?
Since beginning college, I have encountered professors who are very averse to the use of technology in the classroom. It is their belief that they grew up without computers, so they don't like us to use our computers in their classrooms. I think this fixed thinking is absurd in this day and age. We have come into a technology-explosive century where everything is automated or digitized. Everywhere you look, there is evidence of the footprint technology has left on the world. As teachers, it is critical to understand that technology is not our enemy. I will admit that I did grow up in the midst of the wave of technology, but my access was much more limited than that of the students I work with. Younger and younger they are getting tablets, iPads, and phones. In his article, Couros provides ways to include technology in the classroom as a support and tool for teaching. He discusses how important it is that teachers model appropriate use of technology for students and to show them the wide array of uses it can have. He mentions using an academic blog, such as the one we are using in this class, to openly dialogue various topics as well as to demonstrate the pedagogical side of technology. I personally love the idea of blogging with students. It is a low-stakes environment where the students can connect with each other's thoughts an opinions, as well as make arguments and think about various perspectives on different issues. We don't need to rely entirely on technology in our teaching, but at the same time, it isn't something to shy away from. Let's use it in a way that betters the education of our students.
[Personal]ized Learning
There seems to be a spectrum. At one end, no technology is good for the classroom; at the other, technology takes over and replaces the teacher. We have to find a balance. Coiro centers her article around this balance. She brings up the term "blended learning," which is not a term I was familiar with. Blended learning incorporates technology into a classroom that values student involvement in their learning. Digital playlists do not provide any opportunities for students to personally interact with teachers or peers, instead limiting them to interaction with a computer. I can see the appeal of having learning that is more specific to the student, but taking away the social aspect of education is not the way to do it. Teachers spend much of their time differentiating lesson plans and creating instruction that caters to the individual needs of students. Their way includes time for students to share their thoughts and think in ways that are challenging. If all students are doing is pressing buttons on computers, they are not able to see that learning is human. We are born learning. We continue to learn, even after school ends. The world teaches us new things everyday. Students should not assume that learning can only come from technology.
The Difference Between a Teacher and a Business Person
You would think the difference would be obvious, right? It really grinds my gears that there are so many individuals who have little to no experience in the field of education who are constantly making the decisions concerning education. The ideas present in Robert and Mahoney's article were startling - I had no idea that corporations could even enter the education sphere. Business people are looking at schools and seeing another opportunity to boost the economy. Their plan to simplify and personalize learning is devaluing teachers and creating students who are only capable of following instructions. The whole idea of the banking method is at play here. Learning is a fixed entity: knowledge is specified to the individual, it is pumped into the student, and they take it as fact. There is no opportunity for a dialogue or any sort of creative thinking. Students aren't able to wrestle with difficult issues that may not have an answer. Learning is put into a box. I shook my head at the idea that teachers are reduced to facilitators or data collectors. My mother is a middle school English teacher, so I get to see all of the hard work that goes into her planning and preparing for lessons. She takes time to plan different methods of presenting information for the various learners in her classroom. There is so much heart that goes into teaching, so much that we invest in our students, and to have that reduced to a proctor is crazy. I want my classroom to be a place where students can use technology as a tool to enhance their learning, not depend on it to tell them what they should think. Learning is not just about acquiring information but applying it to your experience.
I am studying to be a teacher. I want to teach. I don't want to facilitate. I don't see a classroom as an economic opportunity. I see it as a training ground for the next generation of thinkers. We have to teach our children to think for themselves, not do all the thinking for them.
Monday, February 27, 2017
Monday, February 20, 2017
Response for Class on 2/21
When I was a senior in high school, we did a unit on poetry. For our major assignment, we had to write "I Am From" poems. These poems are meant to express where we come from, who raised us, and who we are now. I LOVED this assignment. I thought it was a way to write something that evoked emotion in the reader, but didn't need to explain everything to do it. In reading them aloud, we got to take a peek into the lives of our classmates, seeing what has made them who they are and feeling the honesty in their words. I liked how there was a freedom with this assignment, that we could speak from experience and not focus as deeply on grammar or structure. The thing about poetry is that it is unapologetically honest, and it feels more than it reads.
The "I Am From" poems remind me a lot of the "Raised By" poems Christensen discusses in her chapter on poetry. I connected with the section about the students hearing their classmates poetry. They realizes how similar they were in spite of being different. I felt the same in my high school English class. In those moments, we were connected by our pasts, different, yet the same. I think the major thing in all of the types of poetry Christensen discusses is that they all bring about a sense of community. I love the quote, "By structuring a curriculum that allows room for their lives and by listening to their stories, I can locate the right book, the right poem that turns pain in to power - while I teach reading and writing." Through poetry, students who feel alone in their experiences see that others go through the same things and have found power in their pain. As teachers, we should connect students with authors and poets who have similar experiences as they do. Giving them the tools to write poetry is to give them access to a whole other genre of literature to find themselves in.
While we can find ourselves in poetry, we can find poetry in the world around us. The author of "Finding the Poems that Hide: Why Students Should Write Poetry" discusses how she was able to find poetry in a simple grocery conversation. She goes on to say that "poems defy explanation." I totally agree with her point. There is something about poetry that allows you to write something that you can't put into words. Students should have the opportunity to read and write poetry because it diverts their attention from what can be explained to what can be felt. It is an entirely different challenge than writing a narrative or an argumentative essay. If teachers are supposed to equip students with the tools to be successful in a variety of writing styles, poetry should be included.
The "I Am From" poems remind me a lot of the "Raised By" poems Christensen discusses in her chapter on poetry. I connected with the section about the students hearing their classmates poetry. They realizes how similar they were in spite of being different. I felt the same in my high school English class. In those moments, we were connected by our pasts, different, yet the same. I think the major thing in all of the types of poetry Christensen discusses is that they all bring about a sense of community. I love the quote, "By structuring a curriculum that allows room for their lives and by listening to their stories, I can locate the right book, the right poem that turns pain in to power - while I teach reading and writing." Through poetry, students who feel alone in their experiences see that others go through the same things and have found power in their pain. As teachers, we should connect students with authors and poets who have similar experiences as they do. Giving them the tools to write poetry is to give them access to a whole other genre of literature to find themselves in.
While we can find ourselves in poetry, we can find poetry in the world around us. The author of "Finding the Poems that Hide: Why Students Should Write Poetry" discusses how she was able to find poetry in a simple grocery conversation. She goes on to say that "poems defy explanation." I totally agree with her point. There is something about poetry that allows you to write something that you can't put into words. Students should have the opportunity to read and write poetry because it diverts their attention from what can be explained to what can be felt. It is an entirely different challenge than writing a narrative or an argumentative essay. If teachers are supposed to equip students with the tools to be successful in a variety of writing styles, poetry should be included.
Monday, February 13, 2017
Response for Class on 2/14
I have always hated group projects. It doesn't matter who was in my group, I hated that my grade depended on other people's effort. In high school, I had a few teachers who loved group projects just about as much as everyone else hated them. This meant that we did them often, leaving most of us frustrated. I do remember, though, that there was one kind of group project that I didn't mind. Sometimes, my teachers would split us into groups to teach a section of whatever unit we were on at the time. We had complete control over how to teach the information, how to engage our classmates, and how to test them on what they learned.
The chapter on co-teaching reminded me of this style of group project I did in high school. In the chapter, the author makes a point that when the students are able to teach the class, the teacher gets to see how the students learn best. I think that is such a profound idea, that "the teacher cannot fully meet the needs of students unless the students have an opportunity to show the teacher what they need and then demonstrate what good teaching looks like for them." Many times, having a classmate explain a difficult concept to me helped me more than listening to the teacher repeat himself/herself over and over again. Students will approach teaching by using how they learn to guide them. It allows students to take responsibility of their learning and experience what it is like to be the expert.
In my own experience, I know that I remember things better if I have taught them. Physics was a particularly challenging course senior year. On nights before tests, some of my classmates would get together to have a study session. Often, they asked me to explain different concepts that they didn't understand when our teacher first explained it to us. In taking on the role of the teacher, I was able to better the understanding of my classmates as well as ingraining the information into my own memory.
Not only does this form of co-teaching help the students to better understand the material, but it helps the teacher to see what the students need more of to be successful. I never considered that this was a reason my teachers had us teach parts of units. The idea that teachers could learn from us was not something that was emphasized. Now, I learn a lot from the students I teach; each group gives me more ideas on how to present information, plan assessments, and manage behavior. To be a good teacher, you must also be open to being taught.
The Gallagher chapter discusses the idea of choice in writing. When students are able to have choice, they will write more passionately. I definitely agree with his position. There have been times when a topic was assigned and my writing wasn't as good as it could have been because I cared very little about the topic. I also understand the importance of the standards that teachers must incorporate into their lesson plans/curriculum. I get it. Still, there are many ways that you can give students a choice while meeting the standards.
I really enjoyed reading Gallagher's ideas for incorporating choice into writing assignments. I think the section about "boring topics" was most interesting: there is no such thing as a boring topic. If you can get your students to think deeper about seemingly mundane topics, they will take ownership of their writing because they have developed their own angle to the paper. Part of getting students to enjoy writing is to get them to take ownership of their own ideas.
Christensen's chapter about narrative writing was extremely insightful. I personally believe that narrative writing is just as valuable as essay writing. A narrative is a place to begin teaching about literary analysis. If students can understand concepts in the context of their own writing, it will make it so much easier to understand in another's work.
When Christensen described her method of having her students color-code the literary tools they implemented in their writing, I couldn't get over what a good idea that was. It made me want to print out some of the pieces I've been working on and give them the same treatment! To visually show students the important parts of narrative writing is significant. So many students are visual learners, so an exercise like this can make all the difference in their growth as writers.
The readings for this week gave me more tools for my educator's tool box. I can see the benefit in including students in their learning, and allowing them to experience a role reversal. I understand how important it is to allow my students the luxury of choice whenever possible, that doing so will fuel their writing with passion. I now have a new way to give support to my visual learners, helping them to put literary tools in context, to see what writing looks like with them and without them. All of these techniques are preparing me to become a better teacher, and they are helping me to improve things in my own writing as well.
The chapter on co-teaching reminded me of this style of group project I did in high school. In the chapter, the author makes a point that when the students are able to teach the class, the teacher gets to see how the students learn best. I think that is such a profound idea, that "the teacher cannot fully meet the needs of students unless the students have an opportunity to show the teacher what they need and then demonstrate what good teaching looks like for them." Many times, having a classmate explain a difficult concept to me helped me more than listening to the teacher repeat himself/herself over and over again. Students will approach teaching by using how they learn to guide them. It allows students to take responsibility of their learning and experience what it is like to be the expert.
In my own experience, I know that I remember things better if I have taught them. Physics was a particularly challenging course senior year. On nights before tests, some of my classmates would get together to have a study session. Often, they asked me to explain different concepts that they didn't understand when our teacher first explained it to us. In taking on the role of the teacher, I was able to better the understanding of my classmates as well as ingraining the information into my own memory.
Not only does this form of co-teaching help the students to better understand the material, but it helps the teacher to see what the students need more of to be successful. I never considered that this was a reason my teachers had us teach parts of units. The idea that teachers could learn from us was not something that was emphasized. Now, I learn a lot from the students I teach; each group gives me more ideas on how to present information, plan assessments, and manage behavior. To be a good teacher, you must also be open to being taught.
The Gallagher chapter discusses the idea of choice in writing. When students are able to have choice, they will write more passionately. I definitely agree with his position. There have been times when a topic was assigned and my writing wasn't as good as it could have been because I cared very little about the topic. I also understand the importance of the standards that teachers must incorporate into their lesson plans/curriculum. I get it. Still, there are many ways that you can give students a choice while meeting the standards.
I really enjoyed reading Gallagher's ideas for incorporating choice into writing assignments. I think the section about "boring topics" was most interesting: there is no such thing as a boring topic. If you can get your students to think deeper about seemingly mundane topics, they will take ownership of their writing because they have developed their own angle to the paper. Part of getting students to enjoy writing is to get them to take ownership of their own ideas.
Christensen's chapter about narrative writing was extremely insightful. I personally believe that narrative writing is just as valuable as essay writing. A narrative is a place to begin teaching about literary analysis. If students can understand concepts in the context of their own writing, it will make it so much easier to understand in another's work.
When Christensen described her method of having her students color-code the literary tools they implemented in their writing, I couldn't get over what a good idea that was. It made me want to print out some of the pieces I've been working on and give them the same treatment! To visually show students the important parts of narrative writing is significant. So many students are visual learners, so an exercise like this can make all the difference in their growth as writers.
The readings for this week gave me more tools for my educator's tool box. I can see the benefit in including students in their learning, and allowing them to experience a role reversal. I understand how important it is to allow my students the luxury of choice whenever possible, that doing so will fuel their writing with passion. I now have a new way to give support to my visual learners, helping them to put literary tools in context, to see what writing looks like with them and without them. All of these techniques are preparing me to become a better teacher, and they are helping me to improve things in my own writing as well.
Monday, February 6, 2017
Response for Class on 2/7
State Standards
When it comes to standards, I like to take an apprehensive approach. While I am not the biggest fan of the Common Core, I do recognize the importance of having expectations for our students. Learning goals are necessary to push students' effort and ensure that no student is being passed over by the system. That being said, what I think standards don't account for is that student learning isn't linear. We have a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds being represented in our school systems, and these environments can and do affect how well students perform in school. While I appreciate having a basis for comparison when it comes to developing my lessons, I believe that it is the teacher's job to use the standards as a tool, rather than let their teaching be controlled by standards.
This is why I particularly liked the Guiding Visions section on the NCTE/IRA site. These standards specifically state that their purposes are to, "encourage the development of curriculum and instruction that make productive use of the emerging literacy abilities that children bring to school," and "provide ample room for the innovation and creativity essential to teaching and learning." These standards aim to encourage creativity in teaching, to be a help to students and not a hindrance. They recognize that teaching can and should be done in many ways; there is no script for educators to follow that leads to student success. Teachers know how to meet their students where they are, how to get through to them and develop their skills, whether in writing or any other subject. When we are given wiggle room to adjust curriculum as is necessary, we are able to better help our students to learn.
Standardized Testing
Earlier this week, my sister shared a video with me. She knows my passion for teaching and many times has been a witness to my rants about how the system impacts students, so her first thought was to send it to me. I've included the link below, and I highly recommend giving it a watch. This video encompasses many of the ideas present in "Rhode Island Teachers Respond to PARCC: A White Paper." The speaker, Prince Ea, argues that schools need to stop treating kids like they are "one size fits all." With the diversity of backgrounds and home structures present in our schools today, there are so many factors that can affect a student's ability to learn. When we try to squeeze every one of them into the same mold, it isn't going to work; all it will do is create frustration on the part of the students, who feel like they can't learn, and the teachers, who feel helpless to preserve their students' sense of self-efficacy.
When I was reading through the paper, I was taken back to my time in practicums. One of the classroom teachers I worked with spoke with me about her frustrations with standardized testing. The students were not all on grade level, so it made her job even more difficult to prepare them for the PARCC. Her students were frustrated because they didn't understand the tests, and she was frustrated because she felt the tests weren't providing a true representation of her students' abilities. This paper outlines how a number of teachers feel the same way about the standardized testing that is pushed into their classrooms.
One thing that stuck out to me was the emphasis on the affect standardized testing has on the students with disabilities and ELL students. As I stated previously, learning is not linear. Some students have a disability that makes learning more difficult. Some students are new to the country and the language which makes understanding material a challenge. Some students have so much going on at home, it is impossible to focus on their education. The standardized tests do not account for such deviations. This is the "one size" mindset our education system is stuck in. Not only does it negatively impact the students, but it leaves teachers at a loss of what to do next.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqTTojTija8
Solution?
So we have a problem with the system. We have students who need to be held accountable for what they are learning, but the current method is not working. Beyond that, how can educators do anything when decisions are made above their heads?
What I liked most about the standardized testing paper was that it included starting points for solutions. This problem isn't going to just disappear in a day. We have to work at it little by little to make changes. I think that the second suggestion was my favorite: "Offer authentic opportunities for teachers and educational researchers to help plan an assessment system based on the local and diverse student population." Teachers know their students best. They are the ones who differentiate lessons to reach learners in various ways, they are the ones who experience first-hand the diversity in the classroom. If assessments were localized and specific to students, perhaps we would see an improvement in test scores. If we gave students a chance to show us what they know and not just how well they can test, maybe we would see an improvement in their desire to learn.
When it comes to standards, I like to take an apprehensive approach. While I am not the biggest fan of the Common Core, I do recognize the importance of having expectations for our students. Learning goals are necessary to push students' effort and ensure that no student is being passed over by the system. That being said, what I think standards don't account for is that student learning isn't linear. We have a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds being represented in our school systems, and these environments can and do affect how well students perform in school. While I appreciate having a basis for comparison when it comes to developing my lessons, I believe that it is the teacher's job to use the standards as a tool, rather than let their teaching be controlled by standards.
This is why I particularly liked the Guiding Visions section on the NCTE/IRA site. These standards specifically state that their purposes are to, "encourage the development of curriculum and instruction that make productive use of the emerging literacy abilities that children bring to school," and "provide ample room for the innovation and creativity essential to teaching and learning." These standards aim to encourage creativity in teaching, to be a help to students and not a hindrance. They recognize that teaching can and should be done in many ways; there is no script for educators to follow that leads to student success. Teachers know how to meet their students where they are, how to get through to them and develop their skills, whether in writing or any other subject. When we are given wiggle room to adjust curriculum as is necessary, we are able to better help our students to learn.
Standardized Testing
Earlier this week, my sister shared a video with me. She knows my passion for teaching and many times has been a witness to my rants about how the system impacts students, so her first thought was to send it to me. I've included the link below, and I highly recommend giving it a watch. This video encompasses many of the ideas present in "Rhode Island Teachers Respond to PARCC: A White Paper." The speaker, Prince Ea, argues that schools need to stop treating kids like they are "one size fits all." With the diversity of backgrounds and home structures present in our schools today, there are so many factors that can affect a student's ability to learn. When we try to squeeze every one of them into the same mold, it isn't going to work; all it will do is create frustration on the part of the students, who feel like they can't learn, and the teachers, who feel helpless to preserve their students' sense of self-efficacy.
When I was reading through the paper, I was taken back to my time in practicums. One of the classroom teachers I worked with spoke with me about her frustrations with standardized testing. The students were not all on grade level, so it made her job even more difficult to prepare them for the PARCC. Her students were frustrated because they didn't understand the tests, and she was frustrated because she felt the tests weren't providing a true representation of her students' abilities. This paper outlines how a number of teachers feel the same way about the standardized testing that is pushed into their classrooms.
One thing that stuck out to me was the emphasis on the affect standardized testing has on the students with disabilities and ELL students. As I stated previously, learning is not linear. Some students have a disability that makes learning more difficult. Some students are new to the country and the language which makes understanding material a challenge. Some students have so much going on at home, it is impossible to focus on their education. The standardized tests do not account for such deviations. This is the "one size" mindset our education system is stuck in. Not only does it negatively impact the students, but it leaves teachers at a loss of what to do next.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqTTojTija8
Solution?
So we have a problem with the system. We have students who need to be held accountable for what they are learning, but the current method is not working. Beyond that, how can educators do anything when decisions are made above their heads?
What I liked most about the standardized testing paper was that it included starting points for solutions. This problem isn't going to just disappear in a day. We have to work at it little by little to make changes. I think that the second suggestion was my favorite: "Offer authentic opportunities for teachers and educational researchers to help plan an assessment system based on the local and diverse student population." Teachers know their students best. They are the ones who differentiate lessons to reach learners in various ways, they are the ones who experience first-hand the diversity in the classroom. If assessments were localized and specific to students, perhaps we would see an improvement in test scores. If we gave students a chance to show us what they know and not just how well they can test, maybe we would see an improvement in their desire to learn.
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