Teaching Channel “Reading Like a Historian”

Question mark (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This past week our school has been focused on the use of questions in the classroom. As I began looking into the many approaches and types of questions teachers can use effectively in the classroom I came across a great video on the Teaching Channel. This video was titled “Reading like a Historian“. I found this video quite informative and a great starting point for our teachers to begin discussing the use of questioning in the classroom. Take a look and tell me what you think or stories you have of using questioning in the classroom.

Click here to watch the video on the “Teaching Channel”

Don’t Forget You Need a Foundation!

Image via Wikipedia

Education is in a state of flux all across the country. Districts are looking for new ways to improve learning and meet the state and federal guidelines for education. As districts look at these different techniques and technologies, what is often overlooked is the foundation.

There is a great story about the famous basketball coach John Wooden. One of his first lessons that he taught his college players when they came to UCLA was how to put on their socks and shoes. He told them that this game requires you to move and change directions quickly and if your shoes and sock are not on correctly, you could get blisters or your shoe could come untied. In both cases you are then out of the game. If you are out of the game, you cannot be successful.

Today in education teachers are often overlooked as these new approaches and techniques are implemented in their schools. As districts mandate these techniques, they do not consult the fundamental aspect of their educational process, their teachers. Techniques do not teach kids, teachers do and they can often can provide valuable assistance on implementation of these new techniques.  When districts overlook the fundamentals in applying new techniques and programs, they are often met with failure and frustration adding to the dilemma of education today. True change in education today cannot be successful unless it has been built on a good foundation.

Are Educators Doing The Right Thing?

As I watched the following video this morning, I wondered, as an educator are we truly preparing our students for the future or is this young man pointing out just what our education is missing.  This young man named Thomas Suarez taught himself to program in multiple languages and has been creating iphone apps.  Has already become quite successful at his endeavor and begun looking to the future and future projects. Yet as he puts it many of the kids his age have no idea were to look today to learn how to do something like this because it is not taught to students. Is the lack of technology taught in schools going to hinder our next generation? Watch the video below and tell me what you think.

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A Ray of Hope For Educators

Well, I am back from a great vacation and feel rested and recharged.  Over the past few days as I began to catching up on my reading and correspondence it did not take long for my frustration with ed-reform and other educational issues to once again frustrate me. Then I found a ray of hope.  Matt Damons speech over the past weekend on saving our schools and his defense of teachers really made me feel better as an educator. If you have not seen these videos I have embedded them below for you to watch. I highly recommend you watch them.

Matt Damon‘s Defense of Teachers

Matt Damon’s speech at the Save Our Schools March in DC

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Learning not brought to You by the letter A

The video below is a great example of really looking at what motivates people to learn.  So often schools seem to miss the mark in motivating their students.  There is an intrinsic motivator in all students, the key for schools and educators is to tap into this to really achieve success.  Simple saying that all students are motivated by grades leaves out a huge portion of the students population.  Many students are not motivated by grades and often are turned away from school by them. Watch the video below as Dr. Tae discusses how many students are motivated today.

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How Students See the World

The video below was a project asking students to show the world as they see it.  This is a very interesting video that poses some serious questions for educators.  We all know that every generation is different and to be a successful teacher we have to adapt to meet the needs of the current generation. The integration of technology for the current generation is not a gimmick or fad it is how they interact, learn and live their lives. To be a successful teacher and reach the current generation technology is now a key component. Watch the video below.

Click here to see the project

http://visionsofstudents.org/

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Make the Ordinary seem Extrodinary

I was watching Helen Papagiannis on TEDxYorkU this past week and was struck by her supposition, ” make the ordinary seem extraordinary”.   This really is the key, I believe in education today. Students are bombarded with technology and are constantly entertained. If their is no element of entertainment in our classrooms we will inevitably lose the attention of many students. Like it or not this is a conditioned response of the current generation. Educators need to acknowledge this fundamental component of their clientele and address it in their classrooms.   I am not saying to become full fledged entertainer and I do realize that students need to learn how to interact in a traditional educational setting. However educators must acknowledge they need to make the ordinary seem extraordinary to create a true learning environment.

If you have not seen Helen Papagiannis’s “How Does Wonderment Guide the Creative Process” check it out below.

A Vision of the Future and the Importance of Education

I was reading Charlie Barrow’s Blog the on Sunday and came across a great video that I have not seen before.  It was created and produced by Microsoft and displays possible future technologies and communication tools. Check out the embedded video below.

This really captivated my students attention and got them thinking about other technologies that we might see in the future.  As they pondered the possibilities I asked them if they would like to be part of creating these type of new technologies.  The overwhelming answer was yes. As an educator I saw my opportunity to discuss the importance of a college education and took it.  The great thing was they were more responsive and seemed to make the connection that if you really want to create these types of technologies and enter this field you must go on to college.  Either way this video opened up some great discussion. Try it out with your classes and let me know what they thought.

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Help Students Find Their “True Swing”!

Wow! Time flys! With the school year coming to a close and state testing taking place I have been a bit overwhelmed. So I apologize for being off task and not posting as regular to this blog.

Over this past week as I have had time, I was reading my regular blogs and came across a post that, of course, I cannot find now which mentioned the movie, “The Legend of Bagger Vance“.  It got me to thinking about this movie and its many different messages. One that I feel is so important for students and teachers is to help students find their “True Swing”.  Their true passion in life.  Every student has a gift in a particular area, and it is so important for educators to help students find that area they are gifted in and have a passion for.  This is the key to success for many students.  Unfortunately, many time students do not find it until later in life and miss out on much of their education.  Watch the video clip below, and as I said to my colleagues at our school lets make this one of our new goals to help students find their “True Swing”!

F What Is It Good for?

image used from: johnryanrecabar.wordpress.com

Over the past week and a half I have again been struggling with the ubiquitous grade “F”.  As I have had meetings about student achievement, or lack of it, I have come back to the question that I ponder every year.  Is the “F” really a needed grade? The letter “F” brings many connotations to light and none of them are positive.  An “F” grade not only demoralizes the students but often times it is an affront or insult to the parents as well.  The questions comes down to what are teachers trying to tell the students?

The use of the “F” shows the how our current system of education is antiquated and needs to be revamped.  Our current system of education is predicated on the industrial revolution.  This system emphasizes process and final product.  Students are conditioned to go through the process and then turn in their product.  At this point they forget what they have learned and move on to the topic or task.  This could not be farther from what our society needs right now.

Our society today is about constant change.  Most people work in three or more fields in their lifetime, as opposed to the one stable job of the past.  In many industries there are no longer final products but rather versions of products.  It is this sense of change that education needs to start incorporating into the education process.  Our society is always working to improve on past products.  Things are not created and then forgotten but reworked and improved.  This is how our education process should be teaching students.

The emphasis in education should be on the learning process.  If a student does not meet the objective of the class, they should take another look and create another version that will meet the standards of the course.  Students need to learn that unlike the past, today’s society is going to require that they become life long learners.  They are going to have to return to school or a trade school at various times in their lives to get upgrades on their knowledge.  In this type of educational system, there is no need or purpose for the “F”.  We are not telling students, “You failed and don’t get it,” but rather, “This version did not work too well.  See if you can improve on this.”  This is a big shift in educational philosophy but one that will better prepare our students for the future.

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