The Other Side to Being a Teacher

As I have said before, this online technology class is showing a whole creative and fun side to computers. I feel like I am allowed to play like a child. I have watched grown men in my class get excited with these projects when they build truss bridges and place cars on the bridges and make them crash. It is like seeing a four year old boy with with his trucks. I am able to teach them the different uses that the programs can perform. What joy!
Unfortunately, teachers in the public schools are having to cut back on fun due to some of the NCLB regulations. Our online class got to vent our frustrations about the craft of teaching becoming a testing factory. The goal always being keeping jobs and schools open according to the test results they produce. The government is becoming so entrenched in producing little robot children that can score well. How unfair is all of this? Are we all meant to be the same? Isn't variety and differing gifts what makes this world work? Do we really want a "Stepford Wives" world? In order to prepare for testing the fun and creativity is being forced out of the classroom.
Last week I read an article which reported the changes that Obama wants to make in regards to NCLB. Initially it sounds good. As with everything we will have to read the fine print to know for sure. He seems to propose that not every child should have to perform on the same level. Some children have creative abilities which will lead them into productive lives that do not involve higher education. Our goal should be to prepare children for the world no matter their goal. There is also talk of federal funding which sounds like it will increase competition among states to receive the funds. So, it sounds good in some respects and so not good in others.
I guess we will have to wait and see. In the meantime, I sure do hope that those great, fun and creative teachers don't shrivel up from all the test preparation and boring lessons.

The Weather Outside Was Frightful...

I'm sure that by now you have probably all been made aware of the crazy weather patterns that have been hammering away at the U.S. Well, last week, my family and I experienced mother nature's wrath firsthand in NH. On Thursday night during the most horrifying wind storm I have ever witnessed, the power went out along with the heat, water, and flushing toilets! I panicked. I was freezing, it was dark, and I had...oh no, what was I going to do about my two five page papers that were due that evening? I can't even flush my toilet let alone submit my Week Four Self Assessments. Thankfully, all it took was one quick email to each of my professors (from my in-laws house in MA, of course) and my mind was put at ease. Both of my professors were so understanding about my situation that they actually were more concerned about my anxiety to complete my work than me actually submitting the assignments. They asked if everything at the house was ok because they had heard about all the tree damage. They completely reassured me that I could do the work whenever and not to worry. Where else in the world can you go and get that kind of support and patience? I am so thankful that I have had the opportunity to learn under such wonderful professors at Lesley who recognize that above the idea that we are students, we have lives too.

Student's Perspectives

As teachers, we put a lot of time and energy into planning lessons and units for our students. We collaborate with other teachers to expand on our ideas in the hopes of providing positive and effective experiences for our students. How often do we ask our students what they think the most important pieces are to their science education and why? Personally, this is not something that I do frequently with my students. With that being said, I recently devoted a full class period to “interview” my students about their thoughts and insights regarding our science curriculum. I was very pleased with their responses and felt a sense of satisfaction in all that we have accomplished so far this school year. After reflecting on the year thus far and using that information as our foundation, together we devised over-arching understanding goals for our class. As Tina Blythe mentions in her Teaching for Understanding Guide, I explained to the students that over-arching goals relate to what they think is most important for them to learn by the end of the year. After revising our list multiple times, we posted them in the classroom and will revisit and refer to them throughout the remainder of the school year. Each unit we cover relates to at least one of the over-arching understanding goals.

Within each unit covered, Blythe mentions choosing Generative Topics – those that are central to the discipline, interesting to the students and teacher, allow access to resources, and offer opportunities for students to make connections between themselves and their experiences in and out of school. The students were quite enthused as we listed the main topics and labs we have covered so far this year. This gave me clues as to what the students were most interested in, which will now assist me in developing generative topics.

In session five, we shifted our thinking back to the Nile River. Our focus was on the precipitation, drainage (how much water flow there is) and cloud coverage of a specific region along the Nile – Dongola. This particular location is surrounded by desert where there is zero precipitation all year and so the question remains; where does the water come from and when does it come? Each group member analyzed the data presented and put together a convincing case to answer the question. Similarities and differences existed within our thinking; however, we were all able to come to an agreement that there is a direct correlation between precipitation at Lake Victoria and Lake Tana and the drainage at Dongola.

This can be Addictive

This week our online class did not have to post our projects and I felt lost. I so much missed the contact with my new online comrades. I have enjoyed viewing their creativity and receiving feedback and helpful hints. This class has opened so many avenues in my mind. Feeling like an addict, I just could not stop myself from adding a thread on the Discussion Board. I just needed to see if anyone else was missing our weekly contact. Sure enough many others replied. My addiction was not the only one.
The thirst for knowledge and creativity really motivates and drives us and can be addictive. The juices start flowing in the mind and we need to feed that creativity with more. It makes one feel alive. Even though his online class is a technology class, there is so much creating involved through our instructor's lead. This is what teaching is all about. Teachers need to make it fun for their students and get their creative juices flowing. What students need is inspiration. As teachers we need to inspire and make learning creative and fun. Then learning will become addictive.

Who Ever Thought This Would be Fun!

Wow! I am learning so much for almost fifty. Not only have I undertaken the task of beginning my graduate degree, but here I am blogging for the first time! I have embarked on my graduate journey at Lesley University to learn more about technology. Frankly, I thought I was going to be overwhelmed and way over my head. Surprise! I am having a blast! I am learning so much. Our instructor, Steve Saladino, is so creative with his assignments. I have already used much of what I have learned with my adult students. They are enjoying learning as much as I am. My students are adults who are sent to my facility for parole or probation. Most of them have barely finished high school. Many are trying to achieve their GED. What a sense of self they develop knowing that they able to work on a project that I have done for a graduate class. This class; Computers, Education and Technology, thus far has already been a great blessing. I am so glad I embarked on this journey.

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results!

"Don't worry about it, you'll be fine!" This was the advice I was given when I asked for help after accepting a middle school teaching job half way through the school year with no experience whatsoever. The other teachers were just relieved that the students were not eating me alive and ready to kill each other. (I later found out that that was why the teacher before me had left in the middle of the school year.) So, basically I was a babysitter. The following school year I was determined to make a difference in the way math was taught at this school. I was going to be an effective, engaging educator; not a babysitter. What I did not account for was that I would have absolutely no resources to work with and no support from other staff members. The same materials had been used to teach algebra for years resulting in the same old standardized test scores and the same poor attitudes toward math. I started doubting myself and my abilities when I saw that my students were not getting out of my classes what I hoped they would. Eventually, I was laid off which was actually a blessing in disguise because it allowed me to go back to school full time and pursue my Master's Degree in Mathematics here at Lesley. I am almost half way through with my course load at Lesley, and I have never been more inspired. I feel empowered. The materials I use in my courses are the same materials I could use to teach algebra to my middle school students. The weekly modules (assignments) give us step by step instructions that not only teach us the "how to's," but also they teach us the "why's" and how to connect each concept to the big picture. We are given meaningful and useful investigations and activities that force us to really stop and think about what we are trying to convey to our students. We want to change the way things "used to be" and create a new way of thinking about math. We want our students to be inspired by math the way we are by the online mathematics program here at Lesley University.

We often hear people say, “I understand that you are upset” or “I understand how to get to the store,” but what does it truly mean to understand? How do we know when our students understand a topic? Are various assessments, such as quizzes and tests, the best way to measure how much the students actually know and understand? Some may say yes, but Tina Blythe points out a different perspective in her book titled, “The Teaching for Understanding Guide.” According to Blythe, “performances of understanding are at the heart of developing understanding.” The key word in that sentence is performance. It is not enough for students to read information from a textbook, watch related video clips and/or participate in labs and experiments in the classroom. What is missing is the application of what is learned in the classroom to the outside world. Remembering the definition of a physical change, for example, may not be difficult for students. It is not until the students are able to recognize that the sugar dissolved in a cup of tea or the wood being chopped to make a fire are real life experiences of physical changes, that Blythe concludes the students do have an understanding of the topic.

During the first two weeks of the Earth Science course, we investigated the Nile River. Using Google Earth, the Michelin map, and other data we investigated the various elevation levels surrounding the Nile. This information gave us clues as to where the river originates and the path the water travels. In addition, we mapped out the watershed area surrounding the Nile. The watershed includes the areas of land where all of the water that is under it or drains off of it goes into the same place – in this case the Nile River. My understanding of the fact that a river is more than just the visible stream of water came into perspective during the stream table investigations. This was evident in both stream table scenarios as the soil on either side of the river felt moist. The stream table helped me to see how a river flowing through a flat terrain resembles the White Nile and a river flowing through a series of hills and valleys resembles the Blue Nile.

I anticipate that I will have a better appreciation for rivers at the completion of this course. I am now consciously thinking about the Aberjona River, for example, which I drive over everyday on my way to work and can see from my classroom window. I am beginning to ask myself, where does it originate? Where does it end? In what direction does it travel and why? As I continue to investigate the Nile River, I am hopeful that I will be able to apply my knowledge to then answer these questions!