Gerald commented on my blog about some of his interests and how the unicycle interest has transferred over to his daughter. I believe this shows how our passions can make others passionate. I think it goes back to the first book we read, Teach Like a Pirate, where if we can show our passion to our students we can catch their interest. I like how High Tech High has no single subjects but rather they are combined. This allows teaches to teach things they are passionate about. In turn they have test scores that are 10% above the state average and 98% of graduates enter college. The students their are allowed to explore learning from a passionate teacher and I believe this helps them to develop a love of learning. The students experience learning more as play than this required task. Now we both agree that test scores are the best means to measure our students, but right now that is what we have. Even if it isn't the best means this example from High Tech High does change the way that I view education.
In Sarah's post she talked a lot about how people embrace change. A lot of people are resistant to change because we want to do what already works even if it doesn't work great. We want to do what is comfortable. I do like trying to change things up, but when I get busy I definitely revert back to what is comfortable. I definitely learned by lecture. It is not that exciting but I was able to learn that way. It is hard to change to something we don't know. We can fear the unknown. We just don’t know what to expect so how can we prepare for it. For me I just try to live in the moment. I plan a week at a time, because that is what is required at my school. I know some teachers who plan for a month. I just don’t know how they do it because I evaluate at the end of the week and sometimes this radically changes what I will do the next week. I think this might be the biggest way to incorporate change. You have to leave room for it. I know if I had plans for a month I would not want to change because that would require more work for me. Gerald posted about how using technology for his is like a game. He plays around with the new tech until he understands it. I have the same experience. Even though the only reward I get is knowledge I still want to play. I think if we can find something that our students are passionate about and leverage it to be a learning experience we will see that students are wanting to learn for more than a grade or a prize. They do it because they want the skill. I did not think about it this way but I can totally relate.
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