Jule this week talked about how at first she aspired for her classroom to be like her favorite elementary classroom. I could easily relate to this. I think we teach to what we know. If we have never experienced a model different from the teacher imparting their knowledge on students it is hard to change. I sat through a lot of lectures and I learned it, but it works for so few students. Also with lectures it is hard to tell if a student is just replicating what you as a teacher taught them or if they actually understand the process. Next Jule went on to discuss how she aspired to have a very different classroom than the one she currently has. I believe this is very hard because so much fall on the teacher to fund. It is even more difficult in the bush where supplies are expensive and have to be ordered so far in advance. I suggested that donorschoose would be great for getting supplies. I have actually had 4 projects funded and one of them was new desks that cost over $2,000. A lot of classrooms have to do what they can with what they have. You have to create spaces that allow students to learn. One of the biggest things I believe we can do is to create an inviting and comfortable classroom. When I learn I want to be comfortable and that is one of the great advantages of online learning.
Matthew shared a couple of my favorite resources: CK12 and quizlet (I prefer quizlet live). My district is adopting new science textbooks this year and CK12 has been thrown out as an option. This way we could use the extra money to get science supplies or to update technology. Textbooks are just something that seems to get lost or left in another classroom at my school. So this would also solve that problem. Quizlet is a lot of fun and my students beg to play quizlet live or kahoot. Matthew also talked about ways to incorporate personal technology like student phones. I generally let students use phones when it comes time for a project as long as they ask permission first. But that is usually the only time I allow phone usage because it just seems like the students are too distracted. Matthew pointed out that texting is no different than note passing. And in all honestly our students are going to have to live in the real world with a phone as a distraction. I'm not sure I would be for middle school using phones but high school I could see it. Andrea posted on my blog about how to use student technology in the classroom. She shared this great article. I have really been thinking hard about how to use personal devices effectively in the classroom. My biggest fear is actually using the student's data. Our internet is locked down so students must use their own data.
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Jim found similar research to what I found about teachers. Teachers are dissatisfied by their jobs and I believe Jim pointed out something important. We have to find satisfaction in our students. This is probably the reason almost, if not every, teacher got into the profession. I have been at the Alaska RTI conference this past weekend and heard a presenter say that each day of being a teacher is a new day with new surprises. I believe this is another reason why many of us our teachers. Everyday is a new challenge and there is something rewarding about trying to tackle each challenge that is thrown at us. Teaching is a challenging profession and I believe many teachers question their career choice at some point in their teaching career.
Josie said "The feeling of pride and satisfaction that is achieved when we see our students mastering a difficult task is how I see my calling." This always reassures me that I have chosen the right profession. Sometimes, especially recently, I have questioned by choice of entering the profession but when a students shows progress it is all worth it. I think Joise hit the nail on the head that the biggest source of dissatisfaction includes things that are outside of the control of our classroom. There are just so many things happening in education and in village schools turnover can be really high. For me this is the hardest part. But the kids remind me daily of why I am a teacher. Their success is my success. Natalie commented on my blog and it really made me think about perspective. Do we view the glass as half full or half empty? It we take the half full perspective we are more likely to be happy because positive thoughts are on our mind and we aren't consumed by everything in the field that is going wrong. MENTORSHIP UPDATE: I have selected my mentee, my site administrator. We have not had a chance to meet to talk for more than a couple of minutes. When I asked her what she wanted help with she said she wanted to find an efficient way to organize email for ease of use and responding. I know in the past she has wanted help with using some of the other Google apps such as docs and sheets. I think these might be some next steps to help her. I would like to help show her how use Google sheets to display data for our school. I have been the one to do this and I just don't always have the time nor do I plan on staying at the school next year. We have not looked at a timeline yet but hopefully after getting back from RTI we can schedule a meeting. I don't think I have ever had so many comments on my blog! Lots of good chatter about what engagement looks like. I think it was agreed that in the video Dave Burgess really shows his enthusiasm and you can see how it is contagious, just as he talks about in his book. This was a great resource to really bring what we were reading about to life.
Jule posted a comment on my blog about providing new experiences for students to keep them engaged. I did not post about this in my blog post but I am in total agreement with it. Students need to have experiences they resonate with. This is why PBL is so good. It reaches all students at their level and allows them to show what they know. The hardest part with this is that it is hard to prep for and it is hard for a teacher to step back. I tried a project last year in my physical science class and the students were all over it. They loved making something and then collecting the data on it. Natalie first pointed out that "teachers must be willing to change." So many teachers are not willing to change and this can be detrimental to students. We must do things that are good for students not just good for us as teachers. A key point is that with this change we need to interact with students and get their opinions. Sometimes we might falsely think they enjoyed something when in all actuality they just didn't want to fail. Natalie also talked about how the Essa Academy in England was able to turn around their failing school with the use of tech. So many times this does not happen because schools just throw in tech in hopes that their scores go up. With out thoughtful implementation it is rare that a school would see gains with the use of tech. We need to get all students engaged in the use of tech. I can think of a couple of examples at school: our high schoolers are asking to do ALEKS with any free time they have, when I assign CK12.org almost all of my high schools instantly go in and start reading and watching the videos, and in middle school the students ask for sumdog when they are done with any work. |
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