The Recipe for a Lasting Education

     Throughout my journey to becoming an educator, I have learned the importance of integrating. In edutopia's video, "10 Big Ideas for Better Classrooms", they highlight several schools that set an unparalleled example of how to create the best school possible. The ten big ideas that are shown include: project based learning, technology integration, integrated studies, cooperative learning, comprehensive assessment, emotional intelligence, teacher preparation, parent involvement, community partners, and maximize resources. All of these ideas come together to create a perfect recipe for an effective learning environment. The overall theme for these ten ideas is the need to include parents and the community, while also providing the children with relevant and interesting academic experiences. The video also gave great lesson plan activities that I plan on using in my future classroom.
     The big ideas that most resonated with me was project based learning and integrated studies. I feel that these two ideas are what is being emphasized in my higher education classes. I love the idea of having an overarching theme that threads itself through various subjects. By using a model of integrated studies, students are completely immersed in what they are learning, and there is no preconceived idea that math is only for numbers that are stacked on top of each other, and reading is only for textbooks and other boring stuff. By incorporating the material within various subjects, the students are more likely to effectively absorb what they are learning. Furthermore, a lesson that uses project based learning significantly increases the chances of the student enjoying the acquisition of skills and improves classroom morale. It is vital that an educator not sacrifice valuable and authentic learning for his or her own comfort.

If you would like to see what I'm raving about, click here!

Toddler Vocab: Is Big Bird a Teacher's Enemy?

   

 

     Today, young children are being exposed to so many different kinds of technologies, some examples being iPads, computers, SmartBoards, and other interactive tablet devices. The video provided by NPR titled "Vocab Tech for Toddlers Encourages 'Anytime, Anywhere Learning'" encourages a positive outlook on the integration of learning in technological devices. The video highlights a game called "Big Bird's Words" that was created by Sesame Workshop. The Sesame Street television show has been affecting young children for decades, being one of the first programs that taught academic skills through the television. When the show first aired, there were some parents who were skeptical about the show's academic quality, and whether it was beneficial for parents to sit their child in front of a television in order for them to learn. While these hesitations are found on good intentions, the show's popularity and pop culture significance proves otherwise.

     As said in an earlier post, I believe that for schools to provide relevant applications for the material that the students are learning, it is imperative for the schools to be up to date on technology and all of its benefits and uses in the classroom. The big emphasis in "Vocab Tech" was the idea of "anytime, anywhere learning." As long as the child is not focused on only the device all of the time, I think that having an opportunity to provide a learning opportunity anywhere at any time is a great advantage for parents and teachers all over the globe. By using charismatic and familiar characters, the child stays engaged and learns more without even knowing it. Learning is fun, as they match and draw connections in a colorful and interactive game on the device. This is certainly not the only or even the best way for every child to learn, but it doesn't hurt to have kids exposed to these skills as early as possible. 

Listen to NPR's video here!

Mr. Winkle Wakes

 

Mr. Winkle wakes up from a 100-year slumber...now that is a power nap!

  I recently watched a video named "Mr. Winkle Wakes." In this video, an old man awakes from a one hundred year old slumber, only to find that the world he knows is not the same as he left it. He sees for the first time computers, modern medical advancements, and other modern day marvels such as Skype. However, the one place that he realizes hasn't changed is a school that he stumbles into. He sees the "students in neat rows, with the teacher at the front of the room" while she drones on and on and lectures about things the students don't seem to care about. Mr. Winkle finds comfort in this routine, and spends the rest of his day there.
     This video presented a satirical perspective on how schools are not moving with the times. While businesses are communicating over thousands of miles, the school's structure has not changed one bit. I believe that it is so important for classrooms to integrate technology as much as is appropriate. It helps the students feel more engaged and will allow them to explore so much more of the material. Rather than standing up in the front of the room and lecturing, a teacher can shake things up a bit by including some activities that work with various kinds of technology. Our job as elementary school teachers is to prepare our students for the upper education levels as well as the social interactions that will be experienced in the higher grades. In order to do that effectively, we must appropriately align our practices with those of today in order to show our students the relevance of what they are learning.


You can watch the Mr. Winkle Wakes video here!

John McWhorter TED Talk 2013: Is texting killing language?

John McWhorter argues that texting is a modern language marvel at TED talk 2013.

During a TED talk in 2013, John McWhorter engages his audience in an unexpected speech of how texting in our modern day is not killing language, contrary to popular belief. He lays out the history of language, and details the differences between written language and spoken language. Written language is much younger than spoken language, and it is scientifically shown that spoken language entails more diversity and cognitive stimulation due to its “loose” and casual nature.  This stimulation can be accessed through bilingual and bidialectal spoken language. McWhorter argues that texting provides a great opportunity to exercise our cognitive abilities with written language versus spoken language and that this opportunity shows the great depth of understanding young people, or people who text, unconsciously show in terms of language and how it works in our daily lives.

McWhorter’s analysis of the acronym “LOL” as a pragmatic particle was something I had never heard before. A lot of my friends with whom I text always affectionately complain that I use LOL too much. I then reply that LOL is my form of punctuation. I never knew how close I was to understanding its grammatical purpose. I had been saying that for years without thinking about it, unconsciously using my understanding of language to adapt to the medium in which I was using to communicate. With that in mind, from an educational standpoint, I do not believe that texting is killing language. However, I do believe that it is blurring the line between spoken language and written language. McWhorter describes that young people are using texting as a communication strategy that has been unavailable until now: writing spoken language, or treating the written language as if it were spoken language. I think that this evolutionary practice is unique and interesting, but sometimes it can have negative effects on students’ writing. Skills such as spelling, vocabulary, and reading comprehension can be negatively affected as students abbreviate words, fail to see misuse of vocabulary, and learn to comprehend text at a face value. I have seen these mistakes first hand when proofreading my peers’ papers. I feel that writing language other than texting has become an even more formal way to communicate. Writing e-mails, even though they are a virtual and textual communication similar to texting, is stressed as being a formal way to communicate, which can be seen and heard in any college classroom, either verbally or within the syllabus. In e-mail, it is considered a faux pas to include the types of words and abbreviations that would be seen in a texting conversation. I actually prefer e-mail as a form of communication, because I have a clear, written piece of information that includes a title, rather than an unstable flow of words that can mean different things to different people. I think that texting has its benefits and consequences, but overall, it is not devastating to our language as we know it.

John McWhorter TED talk 2013

Ken Robinson and Changing the Educational Paradigm

   

Sir Ken Robinson presents at the 2006 TED talk.

     After watching Sir Ken Robinson's TED talk in 2006 and his talk with RSA, I have been enlightened on not only the history of the public school system, but also the effects that system has had on students and teachers today. Sir Robinson's cause involves "waking up" the students of the modern age. He outlines the purpose of the public school system as an archaic preparation of young minds to be contributing members of society. However, in what manner and how much a student should contribute is heavily praised from an academic perspective. Robinson counts two things as society's expectations for students after they leave school: he labels them as helping in industrial affairs, with a knowledge of the classics and a high level of deductive reasoning. These two requirements to be considered "smart" are purely academic in nature. Robinson points out that not everyone is built that way, and that, in fact, children are having creativity "educated out of them." That when children are not behaving the same as their peers, there is something wrong with them. This can be labeled as a learning disability or even a neurological disorder. He states the most depressing idea that many great, smart people think they are not. 

     As a future educator, I am worried that my students will have had their unique expressions of creativity already crushed within them. I agree with Sir Ken Robinson in that the public school system does not value creativity. However, I do not think that this attitude toward creativity is intentional. Since the Cold War, where mathematics and science were considered the only way to be innovative, the United States has fallen short in terms of testing scores when compared to the rest of the world. I can see how those people higher up in the government would want to push and push in order to compete with the rest of the world. Those people must be feeling a lot of pressure, and I sympathize with them. Sometimes. However, they must realize that our current course of action is so flawed, and that it is bringing death to creativity and individuality. As I observe a third grade classroom for my literacy class, I watch these students sit there, bored out of their minds, learning how to take a test. If they make one movement, the teacher yells at them to sit down and be quiet. They are not separated into any particular groups, just mushed together, expected to listen and behave. Now this flawed perception of education has had an effect on the education of prospective teachers as well, with test scores determining your job security, mandated standards, etc. That would be an entirely new essay for another day. But I would like to see a school system where the students are grouped based on prior knowledge and proficiency in certain skills, rather than age groups. Robinson points out how strange it is that we group children based on their age level. I never thought about that as being strange, but it makes more sense to group students based on other things rather than age. Furthermore, the groupings can be made according to how each student learns. They can learn most effectively in groups of people who generally share their way of thinking. I believe that these changes would help tremendously in the current crises we are seeing today in education. 

Sir Ken Robinson's 2006 TED Talk

Sir Ken Robinson's RSAnimate Talk