Netiquette!

     20-25 years ago we couldn't have anticipated that we would need to create a list of netiquette guidelines. As time progresses and our modes of communication change, it is essential to take note of certain online etiquette criterion. As a future educator who is pro-technology, it was crucial for me to create my own list of guidelines as a way to not only promote proper online communication, but most importantly promote RESPONSIBLE online communication. This form is one that I created in Google Docs, and I feel that it is an excellent way for me to relay this information to my students. Feel free to take ideas from it, or make any suggestions as we all want to keep our children safe and responsible on the World Wide Web.

Realm of Creativity or Succubus of Dread...?

     If you haven't gotten around to reading Dr. Chris Haskell's "How to Survive the Zombie Apocalypse (or Your first Year of Teaching), please do! Today I read chapter 1, which covered goal setting and implores the reader to reflect on what kind of teaching atmosphere they would prefer to teach in. I have given great thought as to the kind of environment I want my students to learn in, and I have also considered that what ideas I may have, could very well not work out and need to be changed.          
     I certainly want my classroom to be inviting, and encourage positivity and intellectual growth. Besides what it feels like, it also needs to look the part (without being overly distracting). I had thoughts of a classroom constitution, motivational/inspirational quotes and posters, a playful surrounding with access to technology, and round tables so that the students can interact and participate in group activities together. These are just a few things I want in my class, and this list certainly doesn't cover the gamut of ideas that I have. However which way it turns out, I am exceptionally thrilled about planning for, and creating my classroom workspace.

Jigsaw Classroom

     As educators, we are constantly looking for new ways to teach and engage our students. It helps to try and research different techniques, and one system that is tried and proven, is the Jigsaw method. The Jigsaw method is a cooperative learning technique in which students work in small groups, and are given a specific task that is a part of the group. Each student is given a topic to do research one, and once their research is complete, the students will come together to present what they have learned to their group (meanwhile becoming experts on their topic). But before they present their information to their groups, the students doing the research do not immediately take it back to their jigsaw group. Instead, they meet first with students who have the identical assignment (one from each jigsaw group), and confirm that the information that they have is accurate.
     Jigsaw groups enable students to become efficient at learning material, while more importantly encouraging important social skills among students such as listening, engagement, and empathy. It also encourages accountability because the only way for the group to succeed, is for them to all work together and share the information that they have obtained. No student can succeed completely unless everyone works well together as a team.  
     So how do we incorporate technology (or limited technology for that matter...) into the Jigsaw method? What if we only have access to 5 computers in a classroom, but we have several groups of students who need to conduct research on their topic? One way, could be to have each topic group come together to do their research, taking turns and focusing on particular aspects of their topic. This would enable the students to learn first hand about sharing a task, and breaking it into smaller, more manageable pieces. 
     Though it seems that the Jigsaw method is the answer to many teachers' prayers, there are several disadvantages to it. Groups could be dominated by one student who is competitive and wants to monopolize conversation, or students who refuse to work as a group because they don't like another person in their group, or there could be students who lack the necessary social skills to properly conduct themselves in a group activity. As long as the teacher keeps those lines of communication open, and is flexible when it comes to addressing certain issues such as those mentioned above, the Jigsaw method could prove to be an invaluable asset to any teacher's curriculum. To learn more about the Jigsaw method, please visit one of these websites, http://www.jigsaw.org/overview.htm, or http://olc.spsd.sk.ca/DE/PD/coop/page4.html.

Smart vs. Dumb

     

A question was presented to me today: How can you tell if someone is smart, or dumb? Initially I wrestled with the question a bit. How does one decide if a person is smart or dumb? Should we come to that conclusion ourselves, and if so, what constitutes a good answer for that? Just how do we decide if someone has what it takes to be called smart, and who are we to come to that conclusion?

When I first read the question, I immediately thought of Bruce Ballenger's Theory of Intelligence. My freshman year of college, I was enrolled in an English research class, and one of our first assignments was to read an excerpt from Bruce's "The Curious Researcher" book.  We were to come to our own conclusion about intelligence, and write a brief essay on it. After reading Bruce’s essay, I was caught off guard by his own startling revelation: he had finally decided at age 55, that he was not as dumb as he thought. This statement made me do a complete 180 when it comes to thoughts on intelligence. Here was a renowned English professor at Boise State who just recently came to the conclusion that he was not dumb? How can this be? On page 56, Bruce explains his statement a little more clearly, 

"I’ve considered this idea—that I’m really not that smart but have finally accepted my limitations—but I’m coming around to the belief that I’m probably smarter than I thought I was, that I was always smarter than I thought I was. I’m pretty sure this is true for most people, and frankly, the ones who have always known they were really smart—and who behave as if they are quite sure of this—are not the kind of people I usually like very much. Yet even the self-consciously smart people deserve our sympathy because being intelligent really, really matters to most of us. We can live with being unattractive but no one wants to feel dumb". 

Although his words resonated with me, how does this fit with teaching? Our students have the same worries, fears, and shortcomings that we perhaps all had when we were in school. Too often we see kids who feel like they are too dumb to do the work, so they give up. Hence, when it comes to deciding who is smart and who is dumb, do we as educators decide for them? It is my personal belief that every single student has the capability to learn something. I don’t think that there are dumb students, and smart students, but rather individuals with different levels of intelligence. Sally may be exceptional at math, while Robert is excellent at playing the guitar. Either way, you have two students who are intelligent and just learn in different ways.

Sometimes conventional teaching doesn’t always do the trick, and we as educators need to be able to expand on what we know, and accommodate our students’ needs. Learning is not a one size fits all approach, and we, as teachers need to remember this, especially when it concerns students in this day and age. They obtain information differently than we did in school, and they also have more opportunities for learning at their fingertips. So take advantage of this shift in learning, and embrace your limitations and your students’ limitations. You’ll be a much better educator when you do.

Learn through video games!

     My latest quest required me to play video games! As I mentioned in one of my earlier posts, video games can be an excellent way to teach our children a variety of skills. I decided to take the Wii math challenge, and played a game of ten pin bowling with my husband and our oldest son. The object of the game was to give an estimate, or an amount of what the score was going to be after we hit a certain number of pins. So not only were we doing math in our heads (rather quickly!), we were also estimating and looking at probability. It was a super fun and excellent way to sharpen our basic math skills! So next time your kids want to play a game of ten pin, let them! Instead of discouraging their game play, stimulate their learning by promoting a little math fun in the process.

Video Games as teaching tools?

      As a mother of two boys who love to play video games, I am constantly facing an internal conflict on whether or not video games are of any real use. Today however, I read an article that helped me to see that although games have the reputation for not having any educational value, they indeed offer tools that are sometimes not blatantly obvious. For instance, one wouldn't have thought that the game Zoo Tycoon would offer anything other than entertainment value, when indeed it promotes critical thinking and math skills. Zoo Tycoon is one of many 'management games', where the purpose is to create a business and stimulating environment. Other management games can also help teach science, social studies, and language arts while still entertaining those who play them.
      Other games encourage strategy while learning or conducting experiments to find out how things work (or don't work). Such games are "Model Trains 3D", and Microsoft's "Flight Simulator X".  While video games have the widespread reputation of not promoting any learning, the above games mentioned are only a few of the tools offered that do more than just occupy time; they also encourage thinking skills that can help in the real world while also stimulating their minds. While many games do not promote any learning of any kind, there are several others that can be used as teaching tools that can enable our children and students to reach beyond Mario and Luigi, and begin looking at the world in a different light. Utilizing particular video games in the classroom can give our children an opportunity to learn these thinking skills without even realizing it, while making us teachers look like the coolest ones around. Besides, isn't teaching about promoting learning while having fun?
     

Spreadsheets!

     I have recently begun familiarizing myself with spreadsheets. Now there is a tool that doesn't get enough credit! I have been amazed at the available add ons, uses, extras and so forth, that I am beginning to wonder what took me so long to use them. 

     Today I had the task of reviewing and evaluating a spreadsheet. Sounds simple enough, right? Well since I am just a beginner when it comes to this sort of thing, the reviewing and evaluating part was rocky at best. Although it was my duty to simply look at the spreadsheet & take note of the different changes I would make to it, I wanted to go further, deeper, and figure out what it is about spreadsheets that could possibly make my life easier in the classroom or assist my students in learning about history. In this blog however, I will just stick to the spreadsheet itself and what accommodations I would make for my classroom.

     The spreadsheet I selected to review was a 5th grade level history about Feudal Japan, and the Shinto religion. Very interesting topic indeed! The spreadsheet itself was very organized and detailed with some surprising purposes. Its motive was to help the students maintain an 'accounting sheet', by keeping track of assignments in order to compete against the other classmates, while demonstrating their and the other groups' strengths and weaknesses. I thought that the set up was great, and the idea spectacular! I think that it would be very easy to change it up a bit to fit the needs of my classroom. Obviously I would have to change the history subject, timeframe, location, and difficulty level, but the basics of it (assignments, layout, competing, etc) I would keep. Overall, an excellent learning experience! Although this was one of many examples of how to use spreadsheets in the classroom, I am really excited about the possibilities, and what kinds of amazing things I'll be able to do with spreadsheets!