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.
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.
You are right about subjects being 'foreign languages' for many students. I think science and math in particular exemplify this. There are so many symbolic representations that we, as people educated in our respective fields, sometimes take for granted as easy to understand, but students will have a lot more trouble!
ReplyDeleteI was thinking during the decoding activity that it was a lot like decoding a physics equation - all of those letters and hardly any numbers! Physics takes up all of the letters of our alphabet plus plenty from the Greek alphabet as well, all to code different ideas. So getting students to be able to decode effectively is central.
You did a good job of working through your technical difficulties. We already have such a great community of people that are willing to help out, the "ask three before me" rule that teacherK put into action helps this community. There is no reason why we can't teach and learn from each other. We are great resources when we are put together!
ReplyDeleteI'm happy to see that doing and debriefing the icons activity helped to generate this kind of rich thinking on your part, Kaitlyn. I should tell you that your fellow MACer, Ryan Goble, developed a really nice activity around Xu Bing's book, and we've posted it in on CTools. I'll talk more in class about the website that Ryan curates, which is a great source for ideas and support for teaching, across the curriculum, that utilizes popular culture and games. Speaking of games, I'm very curious about the game that your dad was creating!
ReplyDeleteI came away with similar thoughts about the decoding activity. When you think about beginning readers, they are really decoding characters on the page to represent a larger theme. I believe we should always be cognizant of this decoding activity no matter the content area. I always remember when I was tutoring my little sister in physics, she said the greek letters in the equations looked like hieroglyphics.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading this post. I agree with your comment that you think teachers often forget how to be a student and how to deal with new information. I think as teachers, it is important for us to be able to put ourselves in our students shoes, and in the shoes of those who may not understand what on earth we are trying to teach them. Jeff's coding activity was important in helping us to remember that.
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