The Conclusion of a Semester and a Bit of Advice

Although I thoroughly enjoyed the guest speakers we had at the beginning of today’s class, I must admit that they slightly stressed me out.  I believe it was Amanda who mentioned that she felt anxious when the guests left because she felt all this pressure to learn about technology for fear that she would otherwise be at a disadvantage in the job search.  Her statement really resonated with me because it was similar to my own thoughts.  I feel as though a lot of resources and programs were mentioned during the chat, and I hope to take some time this summer to explore them further.  Maybe then I won’t be quite so stressed out about all there is to learn!  One thing I would like to learn more about is the IB program.  I had heard about it before today but was always somewhat unsure as to what it was.  It sounds like there are some great opportunities in this area, though, so it seems like a good area for further research.

At the end of the chat, each speaker left the current MAC cohort with a bit of advice.  I thought they all had really great tips, so I would like to restate them here for future reference.  Andrea mentioned the need to network as much as possible, and noted that the more aware we are of different programs, such as the AP and IB programs, and the more aware we are of educational uses of technology, the better off we will be when it comes to finding jobs.  She also mentioned that we should be open to different possibilities during the job search.  Larry mentioned the importance of taking risks while student teaching, as it’s the only time we will be allowed to make mistakes and not be held accountable for them.  As Larry said, it is not a time to play it safe.  He also noted that we should remember to make time for ourselves or we will burn out before we even begin our careers.  Finally, Kevin advised that whenever we assign students work that deals with technology, we should provide a sample of what the end product should look like or else we will be setting ourselves up for disappointment.  I think one of the most important pieces of advice we received, and the one we may be most likely to overlook, is to enjoy the experience and to enjoy meeting each other.

At the end of class we were able to chat with Lauren Fardig in New York.  I thought the discussion was very helpful, as we were able to hear from a few of her students.  One of the most important pieces of information I gained from this chat was the importance of variability in lessons.  The students mentioned they appreciated having a wide variety of assignments and projects.  I think sometimes teachers may find themselves in a comfortable daily routine, and though sticking to this routine may make things easier for the teacher, the students prefer when there is some variety.  As we are teaching in order to help students learn, I think it is crucial to listen to the students and to take their advice.

With that, I hope you all have a great break.  See you in four weeks! J

Anticipation > Reward

In the article “Seeking” by Emily Yoffee, Yoffee mentions that seeking is the “motivational engine that each day gets us out of the bed… to venture forth into the world.”  It is also the reason we search for information on the Internet that we do not particularly care about.  Yoffee poses the following question: “Ever find yourself sitting down at the computer just for a second to find out what other movie you saw that actress in, only to look up and realize the search has led to an hour of Googling?”  I must admit, I rarely encounter this problem.  If I am searching the Internet with a purpose, I am usually satisfied enough upon finding the answer that I do not resort to random searching.

Now, Facebook?  That’s a different story.  I may start on Facebook by looking at the new profile picture of one of my friends, only to find myself an hour later looking at pictures of her sister’s best friend’s cousin’s wedding.  According to Yoffee, electronic communication devices such as Facebook feed the same drive as Google searches.  When something unexpected is found, or when there is the anticipation of finding something new, the dopamine system is activated.  The system is further activated if the rewards come unpredictably.  Consider Facebook.   I check my Facebook page constantly with the anticipation of a new notification or message.  This “reward” comes unexpectedly, and so I feel a slight jolt of anticipation and excitement every time I click the refresh the button.  But rarely does the reward live up to the anticipation.  As Yoffee says, “our brains are designed to more easily be stimulated than satisfied.”  To me, it seems as though the anticipation is the reward.

The article by Klapperstuck and Kearns also talks about social networking sites, but from the perspective of privacy.  As the authors mention in the article, teens today use media as an extension of their own life, used to connect with their peers and others in the community.  However, they have a somewhat blurred distinction between private and public information.  Though teens are often aware that anyone can access public online profiles, they often wonder why any stranger would care to do such a thing.  It does happen, however, and so it is important when using social networking sites such as Facebook to limit the information that is public in order to protect one’s privacy.

It's Like a Foreign Language

During today's class I had the opportunity of creating my first podcast!  There were definitely some "technical difficulties" along the way, but thanks to the help of some of my classmates I was able to work them out.  Due to a lack of time, I wasn't able to add many special effects to the podcast, so I am looking forward to our next podcast assignment in which I can spend a bit more time trying to make it sound better!

I thought one of the most interesting activities from today’s class was the Decoding Symbolic Language: From Icon to Understanding activity.  So many aspects of this activity were relatable to education, and it reminded me of what it is like to be a student learning a foreign concept.

Having a strong background in chemistry, it is sometimes hard for me to anticipate what others might have difficulties with in the subject.  Just last night, my dad was asking me questions about the periodic table for a game he is creating.  Honestly, I thought that most of the answers I gave were fairly common knowledge, and I was somewhat surprised by the questions he was asking.  When I took a step back to really think about it, I realized that I used to have similar questions early in my college career.  At this point in my education, however, I have studied the elements and periodic trends for so long and in so much depth, the information is now second nature to me.

Similarly, I think that, for a lot of teachers, the subject they are teaching is so second nature to them, they forget their students will see it as foreign, uncharted territory.  Not only that, I think teachers often forget how to be a student, how to deal with new information.  The decoding activity reminded me of what it is like to learn a foreign language, for I believe that all subjects – math, chemistry, English, etc. - can be thought as a “foreign language”.

The same techniques one would use to understand a new language are the same ones used in this activity.  For example, we were required to draw upon our prior knowledge in order to make sense of the symbols.  It is just as important to use prior knowledge when learning about new subjects, to help make connections and understand new ideas.  The activity also required that we use the context of surrounding symbols to determine the meaning of those we were unsure of.  Similarly, when coming across a new word while reading for a class, it is often useful to use the context of the passage to determine the meaning of the new word.

The decoding activity is one that I think will be useful for me to come back to if I ever feel as though I am not relating to the difficulties my students are having with their course material.  It will remind me of strategies I can teach in order to help their understanding while reading.  Most importantly, it will help me to empathize with them and the difficulties they face while learning the foreign language of chemistry.

A Powerful Platform for Change

I thought that Jane McGonigal’s talk about games being a “powerful platform for change” was quite interesting.  I had never before thought about using games as a means to change the world, but the evidence McGonigal gave was convincing, at least for me.  As McGonigal says, in the real world, we often associated failure with feelings of frustration, disappointment, or weariness; however, those feelings don’t always exist when playing games.  So how can we apply the motivation that is felt while playing games to real-life problems?

McGonigal refers to gamers as super-empowered hopeful individuals.  The only problem is that they think they are only capable of solving problems in the virtual world, and not in the real world.  But with the development of games that reflect potential real-world problems (like the world without oil game) the line between “virtual” and “real” becomes much less visible.  It is in this fashion that gamers can start to make a positive difference in the world beyond the computer screen.

It should be noted, however, that games intended to motivate change should incorporate certain learning principles, as illustrated by James Gee.  One of these principles is that the game be “pleasantly frustrating”.  This is the principle that struck me the most.  It requires the game to be doable, but still challenging.  The problems we face in real life are also challenging – pollution, hunger, poverty.  But does that mean that these problems have no solution?  I’d like to think there is something that could be done to address these issues.  We could think of the problems as being “pleasantly frustrating”.  The solution to them may not be visible at first, but we can be motivated to find one, just like in a game.

Librarians. Priceless.

Today’s class was a great introduction to collaborative lesson planning.  One of the biggest problems my group had at the outset was determining which subject to focus our lesson on, as we were from three different content areas: physics, English, and chemistry.  Eventually, we decided to focus on the physics aspect of the tsunami, as the radiation concerns of Japan tied in nicely with the high school nuclear physics standards, as specified by the Michigan Department of Education.  Once we had decided our topic, we were able to talk about the kinds of objectives we wanted to create for our lesson, find resources, and design the lesson.  This is where the collaborative effort really started to be beneficial, as we were able to bounce ideas off of each other and choose only the best thoughts contributed by everyone.

Having the librarian, Sarah, present while planning the lesson really made things go much more smoothly and quickly.  She was able to provide us with several new resources that my group found particularly helpful.  One of my favorite things that Sarah showed us was the website todaysmeet.com, which is a backchannel that can be used during presentations in order to get feedback from an audience.  However, we used it to share resources with each other, avoiding the need to read off a long URL whenever we found an article or video to share.

During the lesson planning, my group dedicated a lot of time to discussing the variability of reading levels that may be present in a class, and how educators could manage that.  Sarah presented the possibility of using software that would read text aloud for students that may be struggling readers.  I did not know such a thing existed, so I was grateful that Sarah pointed it out.

In regards to the Brandon Center, I thought it was a great space for collaborative learning.  The booths in the back were particularly useful for four-person discussions.  There was plenty of room for four computers plus extra room for papers and whatnot.  I also liked having the ability to project one of the monitors onto a bigger screen for everyone to see.

Overall, I thought today’s lesson was a refreshing change of pace from our normal classes.  I learned a lot about collaborative lesson planning and web-based resources.  Most importantly, I learned to appreciate our librarians, as their information is invaluable!

Tsunami Lesson Planning by Backward Design

I love the "backward design" approach to teaching illustrated in the article Understanding by Design.  Reflecting back on previous science courses, I can't even count the number of times I have done a lab activity and thought to myself, "Why am I doing this?  What is the point?"  I think it's very common for teachers to assign an intricate, creative activity meant to help students gain an understanding of a concept, only to lose sight of the activity's objective during its execution.  By determining ahead of time "acceptable evidence" for understanding, a teacher can periodically check to make sure that the students are understanding what the teacher had initially intended.

I will attempt to implement "backward design" during tomorrow's technology class while planning a lesson on the aftereffects of the tsunami in Japan.  I am really looking forward to this project, as I think it's important to be able to connect science in the classroom to real-world events.  It makes the material more applicable and interesting to the students.

The idea of applicability is reflected in a recent blog post by Dan Meyer.  He mentions the stereotypical math problem of figuring out when two trains, leaving from different stations, will meet.  The blog post is titled "A Train Leaves Chicago Traveling at Who Cares?"  And for many students, why should they care?  Many students may not have been on a train before, so this type of problem is not very relevant or engaging to them.  To really get students interested in a subject, it is important to relate topics to the "student's world."  That is exactly what this tsunami assignment is trying to do.

I Joined the Flock

Before coming to class today, I was a bit skeptical about how Twitter could be used in an educational setting.  Though I still hold some uncertainties in regard to its use in a classroom, I am much more open to using Twitter as a means of forming a personal learning network.  My change of heart can mostly be attributed to the guest speaker we had today, who presented a lot of information about the use of Twitter in preparing for job interviews, in forming contacts with other professionals, and in acquiring resources to use in our classrooms.  Because of her presented information, I have already added several new streams to my Twitter account on HootSuite, for such hashtags as #ntchat and #scichat.  I am looking forward to seeing what types of resources I can find using these streams.  Though I previously thought that Twitter was used solely to follow celebrity gossip and the lives of close friends, I now see that it can be used for so much more!

In addition to learning more about Twitter, I am also looking forward to exploring Google Reader in more depth.  It seems like a useful tool to have, especially when following blogs on multiple sites.  It gets slightly annoying checking blogs all over the web just to see if there have been any updates, but with Google Reader, any updates can be seen by going to just one page.  Before today, I never realized that something like this even existed!

Even though I have only been to two Teaching with Technology classes so far, I already feel like I have learned about so many valuable tools on the Internet.  The fact that most of them are free amazes me.  I am definitely looking forward to our future classes to see what else is out there!