Blog Post #9

Image via WikipediaI once had a nightmare where I was one of Jaw's victims and the camera was angled under the water from the point of view of the shark. I heard the chilling dum-dum, dum-dum, dumdumdumdum, duuuuuuum as the shark edged closer and closer to my kicking legs and then suddenly...I wasn't in the water anymore and instead of a shark...there were high schoolers.

And I was the teacher about to be bitten in half. Shrieeeeeeeek!

Needless to say, that dream terrified me for a day or two, and I thought about changing my major until I realized those kids couldn't possibly catch me on land. I'm a pretty fast runner when confronted with shark-people.

Anyway, when I read Mr. McClung's blog post about his first year teaching, I had another flashback to that nightmare, only it wasn't as terrifying as I had remembered. Since that awful night and two days following it, I've come to the realization that often my fears are unfounded.

All the silly fears that plague me are often just that--silly. I'm not going to say that I'm not a little worried about if I will do a good job of teaching those future students what they need to succeed and move on in their lives, but I can agree that Mr. McClung's discoveries are some that all teachers have to make at some point or another.

Control is just an illusion.

As someone with plenty of experience trying to control everything in her own life, I can tell you that being in control does not mean you're being productive or making yourself or anyone else happy. In fact, you might just be doing more harm than good.

If you expect too much out of someone--least of all yourself--you will always end up disappointed with the outcome. That's no way to live life, much less teach. Mr. McClung is right; no one is perfect, not even ourselves. So how can we expect our students to get everything right if we don't adjust our expectations for their successes to reasonable goals?

Truth? We can't. Sometimes if expectations are set too high, people don't even bother trying. It's a fact.

One of my biggest fears deals with my students not listening to me. I fret that I won't be heard or that somehow I'll start speaking in tongues in the middle of a lesson and never know it. (Fortunately, I think that last one might have also been in a dream, so it's possible it might never happen. Right?)

Yet, even as I worry about not being heard, I remember what it was like being a student--it wasn't that long ago, although it feels like forever--and that same fear pervaded my thoughts back then. Will my teacher hear me? Will what I have to say be heard?

Mr. McClung stresses communication and listening, as do I, because those things are vital in the two-way street that is education. Sure, it would be cool if students were capable of hearing something once and able to regurgitate it back whenever they needed to. Realistically however, we know that never happens, and if it did, it would be like an episode from The Twilight Zone and that poor kid might end up in a laboratory somewhere in Area 51. (Geez, I'm dramatic today.)

As teachers, we have to be willing to listen to our students and to adapt our teaching practices to better suit their needs. I think that of all the professions in the world, teachers should be foremost in adaptability and innovation. Apple should be coming to us for cool ideas for projects. We should be the ones making executive decisions on committees or lounging in the Oval Office. (Yes, I am saying that an educator should run for president. Who else thinks this is a good idea?)

Education is a field that is steeped in learning, at least last I checked, and as such, it means educators have an obligation to stay at the forefront of not only subject matter relevant to students, but also technology that is currently in use. It's not only beneficial in keeping the teachers up to date on trends and student concerns, but also keeps education from being dated. This goes back to Mr. McClung's first point about reading the crowd. You have to know what is effective and what isn't in order to get through to people, and to make the lessons "student centered."

It's the 21st century people. Time to up the ante. We don't have all century to be where we should be already. Just saying.

Blog Post #7 The Last Lecture

Image via WikipediaWhile I watched this video (Yay! I watched it in one sitting! Are you proud of me Dr. Strange?), I was taking notes and laughing. Dr. Randy Pausch epically encompassed how I want to live my life. He achieved his dreams and made lasting memories. His legacy is one of fun and excitement for learning. It is one of my dreams to leave a legacy at least half as fulfilling.

Not only did he accomplish his own dreams, but he worked hard to help other people achieve their own dreams. He gave his students support, believed that people can surprise you, wanted to give others a chance to make other people excited and happy about something. He never set a bar of achievement in his classes, instead he left the goal open to expansion. That is a fundamental difference between adequate teachers and extraordinary teachers. Adequate teachers are satisfied by a certain result and don't push for anything more. Extraordinary teachers--like Dr. Pausch--are always asking the students to go beyond their expectations and to surprise them with the results. Sometimes you get something that you never dreamed was possible.

Pausch made the point that the main goal of teachers should be to make students self-reflective. I couldn't agree more or I'd be him. One of the most critical jobs of an English teacher--any teacher really--is to create within each student the desire and ability to look at their own work and see what is good about it and what needs to be improved. Once they figure that out and have a handle on it, your job as a teacher is so much easier. The self-reflective student is capable of not only taking your criticism and guidance and putting it to good use, but is also able to evaluate their own progress and take themselves to the next level. When that happens, you know that you've accomplished something of some worth. You've helped them to value their own input in life.

When you're screwing up and no one is bothering to tell you, it means they've given up.

That pretty much sums up the learning process. How can anyone expect to learn anything new if they are stuck in the old patterns and no one will tell them? They can't. It's as simple as that. You have to be willing to take the criticism and guidance before you can actually excel, but most importantly, someone has to also be willing to criticize you and give you that nudge in the right direction. Dr. Pausch delivered that point through lens of football, but since I'm more of a literary thinker, I related the principle to writing. When I was in high school I wasn't what one might call a "great" writer. I could write well enough, but what I produced was middle-grade material that I could count on to earn me a B or sometimes an A. Suddenly, I was in college and my Honors Composition 105 teacher challenged me to write in ways I had never considered before. I had to change my way of writing to do well, and what resulted was my rebirth as a writer. Dr. Becky McLaughlin was my nudge and she called me out on my limitations.

These days I can't get enough of writing. I write for The Vanguard, I write for class (most of my classes are writing intensive), and I write on my own for fun. Yes, for fun.

Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted.

We're all going to have days where we feel like we've hit rock bottom and we couldn't get any lower, and then the next day comes and things get worse. We get humbled by these days because they remind us that we're not infallible. It is those times of defeat that we gain the experience we need to keep rising to the challenges we may face. Dr. Pausch lists a few ways to get people to help you. Word hard. Never complain. Apologize. Show gratitude. Look for the best in everyone. Be prepared. Be earnest. Tell the truth.

All of those things he listed are the traits of a great teacher. We can't afford to be stingy, lazy, whiny, proud, withdrawn, blind, liars. Those attributes don't make good teachers, and they certainly don't make a nice person.

But perhaps most importantly, we need to remember Dr. Pausch's overall message: Have fun!

Blog Post #6

Image via Wikipedia1. Dr. Drexler's video brought up the question of teachers in a networked classroom experience. I think my favorite teacher title that was listed was "Network Sherpa." Teachers won't disappear with the expansion of technology. Quite the opposite actually. Are people born with the innate ability to know everything themselves? I didn't think so. You have to be taught how to tie your shoes, so it only stands to reason that a teacher will necessary in learning how to create and navigate your own Private Learning Network (PLN).

Up until I'd watched the video (which will be provided later in this post), I didn't even know what PLN stood for, and I'm an education major! So, it's fairly a given that I needed a teacher (Dr. Drexler) to inform me of my right to a PLN. Speaking of my PLN, this blog post is just another addition to mine. Yep. I'm expanding my personal learning network simply by typing this response. If one were to look at my Google Reader, a ginormous list of blogs and feeds that I am following would threaten to overwhelm the looker's senses. Seriously. I'm obsessed with the Reader. In fact, I just added another feed about an hour ago. How's that for PLN boosting?

As for my future role in the lives of students, I hope that I will be an awesome "Network Sherpa." At least in the sense that I try to help my students create and actively enlarge their own personal learning networks. Who knows, someday they might be the ones writing blog posts about their responses to a video about PLN's? With the advancements in technology and expansion into education, anything is possible. And here's the video, as I promised.


2. As soon as I saw the next video assignment, I said, "Oh no, not another acronym I'm not acquainted with!" Thankfully, I'm a fast learner and I had PLE (Personal Learning Environment) down in a lickety-split. I love learning new things, don't you? Anyway, the video that this student created about using Symbaloo to organize her PLN into a working PLE was very well put-together. I even got the itch to organize all of my PLN "stuff" into the cubish PLE illustrated by the student.

It was just so cute. However, I ultimately learned that sometimes it isn't enough to just have a PLN; having a way to access it easily and organize the information you collect is also necessary. Using an organizer like Symbaloo allows you to arrange certain websites, articles, blogs, or other things into categories and streamline the whole process. I was impressed by the seventh grader's grasp of the technology and its applications. She sounded professional and I like to attribute some of that professionalism to her development of a PLN and a PLE to give order to it.

I can see the allure of organization. As of this moment, I have so many bookmarks that I get a little overwhelmed by my own PLN at times. I just have so much stuff that I think I will implement an organizer. I believe my scattered brain will thank me.

3. When examining the topic of Smartboards, it is apparent that there are some mixed feelings in the education field about their effectiveness and true value to teaching and student learning. The two posts I read Why I Hate Interactive Whiteboards and Why Smartboards are a Dumb Initiative argue that the boards cost more than they are worth. One point was about how they are just an obvious and tangible purchase for a school system that they can point at and say "Look, we're improving ourselves." While that may be true, and I can see the merit in such an argument, I think that if teachers actually make an effort to change their teaching pedagogy, that the boards might prove worth the costs. One blog post that I read that supported the use of interactive whiteboards was Using our Smartboard is Getting Better and Better on the Langwitches blog. Silvia Tolisano enjoys her Smartboard and says that "Introducing the SmartBoards have been a great success so far, exceeding expected teacher AND student involvement, engagement and interest."

Another, much more lengthy and research based article, I read on my own examined the use of Smartboard technology among teachers in Australia and concluded that the success of Smartboards in revolutionizing and engaging students lay with the active and enthusiastic participation of the teachers themselves. The teachers have to be willing to learn the software and to incorporate it into their pedagogy as well as lessons. Also, directly related to student interaction and growth was the fact that if the students are more involved in using the whiteboards instead of watching the teacher lecture or use a PowerPoint, they will be more likely to pay attention and learn.

My belief is that if we can find a way to balance the costs with actual use of the whiteboards, I think that we'll be on the right track towards bringing education into the 21st century. I agree that the purchase alone of something as impressive sounding as an interactive whiteboard is not enough to bring us to that point, but perhaps if we use those tools to their fullest and develop student centered teaching methods, we will usher education in the right direction.

Blog Post #3

Image by Getty Images via @daylife1. Discrepancies between what we think and what we know happen every day. College is no different. The harsh reality exists and the video A Vision of Students Today shows that reality quite poignantly. Books that we never use cost us a fortune and we can only sell them back for about half-price. Meal plans we barely use are required. Price hikes in tuition, but no increase in the scholarships. Here's an article I found about the tuition bubble.   Something doesn't seem right about those things. Maybe it's just me. Yeah, sure, I'm lazy at times. Sometimes, I don't pay attention in class. I spend most of my time either writing, reading, or on the internet. But I get stuff done and do I get any credit for that? No.

But the real problem I believe lies in the way things are arranged. Education has slacked to the point where we, the students, are waiting for it catch up. The lack of technology and innovation is holding us hostage in the past. We still have chalkboards in every room. Some rooms have a smart board, but the only times I've seen it used as anything other than a projector for a PowerPoint was in Dr. Strange's class. We want to move to the brighter future, but we can't if we aren't given the chance. That video is almost an anthem of our generation. It's a testament to how things will continue if we don't change. Personally, I don't know how to make the video more of an impact than it already is. I felt an instant connection to the message with just the simple texts and subtle music. Maybe if they had some people saying their messages? I don't know. I like it the way it is. Sometimes simpler is better. You don't get swept up in the special effects and completely miss the point.

2. In her blog post, It's Not about the Technology, Kelly Hines makes a valid point. Without solid teaching skills and a desire to learn as well as teach kids to learn, technology would be a useless tool. It's like giving a toad a computer. Well, maybe not a toad, but you get my point. And Mrs. Hines' as well. Technology isn't the solution to every problem. It can't "fix" anything without first breaking a few old habits. And you know what they say about those: they die hard.

Yeah, it's going to be difficult, but I think if the learning community can step up and work as a unit, we can devise some methods of implementing a new way of teaching. A way of teaching that will be viable in the years to come, and not outdated as the current way has proven to be. Here's the link that Mrs. Hines also included in her post to 21st Century site. It's very interesting, I've already briefly checked it out.

3.  "If a teacher today is not technologically literate - and is unwilling to make the effort to learn more - it's equivalent to a teacher 30 years ago who didn't know how to read and write." Karl Fisch
That quote, while he disclaims it to be slightly "extreme", is something that should be considered heavily. What does the future hold for teachers who aren't technologically literate? Will they even be able to teach? Fisch discusses these questions very succinctly in his blog post Is It Okay To Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher? I found his approach to be quite insightful and his comment that I listed at the beginning of my response is central to his stance. With the way society is advancing toward a hands-free and plugged-in future, it is nearly impossible for a teacher to remain on the outside of advancement. Doing so will result in a major imbalance in the classroom, with students knowing more about how the world really works than the teacher. Is that something that is desirable? I think not.

Teachers are supposed to be on the cutting edge of education, and to be willing to update their own methods to incorporate new ideas and ways of teaching. If not, such a teacher that refuses to run with the rest of the pack will die out and find that they no longer become applicable or needed at their post. We are past the age where the only tools a teacher needs are his chalk, books, and knowledge. These days require a substantial widening of experience and tools that, quite frankly, I feel will make the learning experience not only more enjoyable for the students who are accustomed to the new technology, but also for the teacher, who will find that using the things available to them opens many more doors of actually reaching the students.

4. Wow. That's all I could say while I watched the numbers increase without bound. How can there even be that many people doing all of that? How can the internet be so vast? I just can't wrap my brain around it. The massiveness of technology is overwhelming. I could almost picture a small percent--maybe only 0.0000001%--of those downloads, uploads, calls, texts, messages, emails, posts, videos, and comments being my future students or the siblings of my future students or the parents. How can what I have to teach them compete with all of that? It can't. I don't see how.

I think though, that if I could somehow incorporate all of those things, or at least a small percentage, I could make my lessons more applicable in a way. But again, how? At this point, I haven't a clue, but I'm going to figure out a way. I have to. I don't want to become one of those teachers that Fisch mentioned and in that way become outdated. That won't be my fate.

5. The video, Technology in the Classroom, that Brooke Broadus posted was interesting and brought up some good points about why technology is important and should be considered when teaching. It's not good to be afraid to use technology, because that just leads to a deficiency in the classroom. Students are already using it at home and with friends, and when they come to school, it is somewhat disconcerting for them to be thrust into an environment that does not implement technology to its fullest.