It's here all ready. The end of another semester, and unfortunately, the end of this class. I can never believe how fast it goes, and this time, I'm really going to be sad to be leaving these classes behind. But, the show must go on. But what have I learned? I felt the need to do the Course overview, to really finish things off and give it my final stamp before I can move on for the semester. So, I'll give my answers, as well as one more question I think needed to be asked.
What was my most significant take away learning from this class?
I've mentioned it before, but I have been thoroughly revolutionized by the ideas of Sugata Mitra, Gardener's Multiple Intelligences, and Differentiating Instruction. I know it was supposed to be the main one take away, but these three things have become a basis for a teacher that I want to be. I see the benefit of broadening myself up, of taking those steps to not be a conventional teacher. The world is going to be such a different place for the children that I teacher. I feel I'd be letting them down if I followed the same methods that were used on me. I'll be preparing kids for a world that is going to be so unimaginable, that if I don't learn how to expand myself to unseen levels, and give them all a fair chance to show off the skills that they have, to embrace the unique talents of every child, then the future will only suffer. We're moving forward, and they've these concepts have helped make me want to move along with the future.
Has my thinking changed in any way? How?
Inclusive education was the most controversial thing for me in this class. I really am afraid, simply because I don't know what to expect out of my future. The first time I heard about the idea, I could only see faults in the reasoning. But with every class, I have begun to understand that the Alberta Government may have the right idea in pushing the school system in this direction, or at least by trying to get it to a better level. I haven't changed my goals in my future, but, I really think that I've become a lot more open to the idea. I still have my reservations, but who knows, by the time I'm teaching, that may be the norm, and that's all I'll be used too.
What about implications for my planned professional practice?
I may be getting a bit ahead of myself, but I've really been making a model in my head throughout the entire class. I've been looking at the different theorists and models, and piecing together a classroom that I'd want to teach. It's idealistic at this point, and it may change in the future, but I think everything in this class has been an introduction into techniques that I have to use in teaching, and things that I want to do. It'd be impossible to narrow it down, because I think that the implication was that it opened my eyes to what I can do.
Now, it wasn't one of the three questions given out in class, but I had to think about it. How did the blog affect me? What have I taken away from it? And I have to be honest. I did neglect my blog. Why? There are excuses of course, mostly due to procrastination and other responsibilities with a more imminent deadline, but I think I was suffering a writing block. Writing is something that I love to do, but for months I haven't even written for my own pleasure. It effected my motivation to complete blog entries. Little did I know, that by doing these, I have suddenly pushed past any writing problems I had a week ago.
Would I continue my blog? Probably not. It was incredibly useful I think to do at the end of the semester, because I've had a chance to review everything that we've gone over in the year. But...I find that I'm exposing myself by having an online blog. Most of the thoughts that I've written down here were ones that were going through my head the entire time, and by the time I go to write them down, they've lost the passion that they had. It would have been nice to be able to discuss everything as we go through it, but that is never possible. But it has done something for me. It's forced my to really commit to my opinions, and look at the material we've gone over in class. I've even got to be more creative and passionate than I would in any essay. So no, I may not continue this blog onto the future, but I'm glad we got the chance to do it here. I only wish I'd been more dilegent to complete it throughout the year.
So...that's all folks. A semester over, and a lot learned. I don't know how my opinions will continue to change, but, this has certainly been one of my favourite classes. I'm excited to teach, and to take the steps to put in place the framework I've begun to build here.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Problems....What Do We Do When Things Go Bad
We've all had problems
Whether it's been with our family, friends, or even in the situations where we've been teaching.
Problems though, take on a delicate balance in a classroom. This isn't just a child that may be misbehaving that you can personally take the time to deal with as it could be in a personal situation. When the management and control of the class is on the line, problems can become something that could destroy control over students.
I thought about what my first step would be to reduce the number of problems in my classroom. And, the first thing was the first thing that had to happen. There had to be rules. I recently talked to my cousin about a class that he had, and how he hated how on the first day they got a huge list of things that they were not allowed to do. He felt like they were being told all of these things they couldn't do, and that sets a rather negative mood. I want to have rules in my class, but I want them to feel more like precautions and agreements with students and myself on how we all want behaviour to be in the classroom. So I decided that I would want to set up a list of rules, a few that I find to be very important, and then on the first day ask kids what kinds of things they want to see in the classroom, ask them what they don't like to happen. It's a bit risky, to see if they would participate in this, but I think that if you give them the opportunity to be heard, and if they all agree on the rules, then its a contract between all of us, and less of something I'm telling them to do.
Outside of that, I've learned a few tricks here and there. The PLAS program I took part in this semester through my KPED class really gave me the perfect chance to try out a few of these techniques. There is nothing like energetic kids acting up to make you think on your feet of how to deal with the problems. I've had to employ minor and moderate interventions, though thank goodness nothing far enough to take it to the level of serious interventions. I'll try to illustrate a few scenarios where I had to use skills in those two areas, of course, changing the names of the kids.
Minor Interventions
There were two brothers who seemed to constantly be causing a disturbance and building off of each other to the point that they interrupted the class and often took things to a stand still. My group and I had to employ a lot of techniques, each hoping to get them to stop. We often used a proximity technique of standing directly behind them, or a silence technique of falling quiet and pointedly waiting for them to stop their behaviour. It was always easier to handle when we had our instructions clearly planned out, and every kid was actively involved in the event. Eye contact didn't seem to work, though there were times when it seemed like they were waiting to see if you noticed their behaviour. So yes, most of our interventions in the class were minor, though it seemed as if it took calling out behaviour in some cases...or worse...
Moderate Interventions
Unfortunately, there was more need for moderate intervention that I thought. There were cases when a child would refuse to move from a gymnast mat where he was at risk of getting hurt, and creating a time out of exclusion of the next activity was the only way that they would stop their current behaviour. There was also some cases of ownership problems that had to be sorted out through the involvement of bringing in the Principal to deal with the matter.
Whether it's been with our family, friends, or even in the situations where we've been teaching.
Problems though, take on a delicate balance in a classroom. This isn't just a child that may be misbehaving that you can personally take the time to deal with as it could be in a personal situation. When the management and control of the class is on the line, problems can become something that could destroy control over students.
I thought about what my first step would be to reduce the number of problems in my classroom. And, the first thing was the first thing that had to happen. There had to be rules. I recently talked to my cousin about a class that he had, and how he hated how on the first day they got a huge list of things that they were not allowed to do. He felt like they were being told all of these things they couldn't do, and that sets a rather negative mood. I want to have rules in my class, but I want them to feel more like precautions and agreements with students and myself on how we all want behaviour to be in the classroom. So I decided that I would want to set up a list of rules, a few that I find to be very important, and then on the first day ask kids what kinds of things they want to see in the classroom, ask them what they don't like to happen. It's a bit risky, to see if they would participate in this, but I think that if you give them the opportunity to be heard, and if they all agree on the rules, then its a contract between all of us, and less of something I'm telling them to do.
Outside of that, I've learned a few tricks here and there. The PLAS program I took part in this semester through my KPED class really gave me the perfect chance to try out a few of these techniques. There is nothing like energetic kids acting up to make you think on your feet of how to deal with the problems. I've had to employ minor and moderate interventions, though thank goodness nothing far enough to take it to the level of serious interventions. I'll try to illustrate a few scenarios where I had to use skills in those two areas, of course, changing the names of the kids.
Minor Interventions
There were two brothers who seemed to constantly be causing a disturbance and building off of each other to the point that they interrupted the class and often took things to a stand still. My group and I had to employ a lot of techniques, each hoping to get them to stop. We often used a proximity technique of standing directly behind them, or a silence technique of falling quiet and pointedly waiting for them to stop their behaviour. It was always easier to handle when we had our instructions clearly planned out, and every kid was actively involved in the event. Eye contact didn't seem to work, though there were times when it seemed like they were waiting to see if you noticed their behaviour. So yes, most of our interventions in the class were minor, though it seemed as if it took calling out behaviour in some cases...or worse...
Moderate Interventions
Unfortunately, there was more need for moderate intervention that I thought. There were cases when a child would refuse to move from a gymnast mat where he was at risk of getting hurt, and creating a time out of exclusion of the next activity was the only way that they would stop their current behaviour. There was also some cases of ownership problems that had to be sorted out through the involvement of bringing in the Principal to deal with the matter.
Sugata Mitra
I mentioned earlier that finding Sugata Mitra has probably been the most inspiring thing for me in this class. He is, a man who's idea has infected my brain, and has set something in place that I continue to go back to, and relate everything in class to his ideas. I was lucky enough to find him at the beginning of the term, and have watching his speech above, which delves further into his research. And, I'll be the first to say, I was flabbergasted and amazed by the level of capability that the children showed in his study.
Ever since then, I've been thinking about this. Thinking about how we can harness what children naturally possess. How can we help them to become so self motivated. What kinds of wonders can we create in the human mind with the introduction of technology? Can we use this to get knowledge to children everywhere?
I think that if I was going to take one thing away from this class, it would be a great respect for this man and the study he is doing. And a further desire to search things out to try to enlighten myself with the wonderful work that people are doing in the world. TED is a fantastic site, and I wish I could spend a year simply educating myself on the things that people have been able to learn and share with the world. I truly am motivated, and inspired by this, and it is just one of thousands of talks that exist by men and women just as innovative as Sugata Mitra.
I started to think, about what I could use from this mans lecture, and how I could transport it into a regular classroom. I really like the idea of creating 'pods' or at least arranging a seating plan like that. Especially when he does his experiment in the school in Italy, it made me think about cooperative learning, and what the effects would be if children were able to share one computer through four, and if they could walk over and examine other peoples work. Because, isn't that a much more real world situation? We are not individual in our learning in real life, and there's always google to look to if we get stuck. Important discoveries are not made with out inspiration of the ideas of others. Could that really be used as a regular feature of a classroom?
Sugata Mitra's learner driven education is a program that I think could really help communities where teachers are not as available, but it also exists in a world of more technology, and the ability to access it. Situations like this would be great for schools in Nunavut, where there is very little outside interest in going to teach. It could even work in a regular classroom, and could be used as a great way to get the community involved by having volunteers able to come in to the school and ask the children questions, to comment on their progress. It's a world of teaching I wish was available to more people, it reminds me almost of a Vulcun school system as seen in the recent Star Trek movie. Maybe it is the future.
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