Shadow,
I'm dropping your class not because of you but because I am too full of credits to be giving your class and the other class that I'm dropping the time that it deserves in order for me to learn what I feel you have the chance to teach me. I've been blindsided so many times this semester that I feel that I am just too overwhelmed to do what needs to be done for 18 credits of 300+ level classes.
I will be attempting to take your class again next semester or the semester after as I feel that you had the most to teach me over this semester.
You are a great teacher and this is why I'm dropping your class this semester, so that I can focus better on what you want me to learn.
I was gently nudged into taking 18 credits, which in most semesters would be about the course load that would challenge me, but this semester was just a train wreck of emotions, stress and inability. I thought that pressing forward a single semester would be easy, but I tripped and fell and couldn't manage to pick myself up after so many different things happened.
Thank you so much for being understanding and tolerating of my bullshit this semester. I hope that I have the chance to take this class again, this time with less shit happening to me.
Lauren L
Friday, November 6, 2015
Thursday, October 1, 2015
What learning environments is Nearpod appropriate?
Situations in which students have "free" and easy access to technology. There should be alternatives to using smartphones in the classroom, be that kindles, iPods or android/windows tablets. There should be access to technology and the subject material should be conducive to be learned in a slide show/mildly interactive environment.
Even though it is a controlled method of using slideshows and having the text close to the person's eyes, it is still a slide show with occasional interactivity. If Nearpod is used as an introduction to material, as a launching pad into different activities, or as a method to convey different situations that are not easy or even possible to implement inside a classroom.
When is Nearpod not appropriate?
Neardpod should not be used in an environment where the prerequisites for the technology to even be used are not available. Internet should have adequate bandwidth, be available in the classroom in a preferably wireless format. Devices should be large enough that text in the slides should be able to be read easily, and the interactive surface is well suited to the use of the different methods of interaction.
Nearpod should not be used in either activities or in subjects where close, human, interactive and relational instruction is better suited. Sciences, Social Studies, Sex Education, are just some of the subjects where the instruction should be as close to one on one as possible. While Nearpod can be used in these situations, either as alternatives or as launching points into deeper conversations, it should not be relied on in order to convey all knowledge in the module being taught.
How can it be modified to work?
While it is possible to incorporate Nearpod into every lesson plan, care should be taken to evaluate if a slideshow, of any interactive level is appropriate. If whole lessons cannot be converted to Nearpod use, can you use it as an assessment means? Can you use it in a way that is an introduction to what you want to cover? Can you use Nearpod as project based, student work that is then shared?
What needs to be considered?
Nearpod is a tool. In the hands of an empathic and well trained teacher, it can be a highly effective tool. But in situations where the school environment is not conducive to using it, it can cause disasters in classrooms with teachers that stubbornly press on and attempt to use it anyway, instead of finding alternate means to convey their message. Student life and student home cultures should be taken heavily into account. Bilingualism, multiculturalism, and family status are several points that are excruciatingly necessary to pay attention to, as they all affect how a student takes in the information that we decide to share on Nearpod.
Situations in which students have "free" and easy access to technology. There should be alternatives to using smartphones in the classroom, be that kindles, iPods or android/windows tablets. There should be access to technology and the subject material should be conducive to be learned in a slide show/mildly interactive environment.
Even though it is a controlled method of using slideshows and having the text close to the person's eyes, it is still a slide show with occasional interactivity. If Nearpod is used as an introduction to material, as a launching pad into different activities, or as a method to convey different situations that are not easy or even possible to implement inside a classroom.
When is Nearpod not appropriate?
Neardpod should not be used in an environment where the prerequisites for the technology to even be used are not available. Internet should have adequate bandwidth, be available in the classroom in a preferably wireless format. Devices should be large enough that text in the slides should be able to be read easily, and the interactive surface is well suited to the use of the different methods of interaction.
Nearpod should not be used in either activities or in subjects where close, human, interactive and relational instruction is better suited. Sciences, Social Studies, Sex Education, are just some of the subjects where the instruction should be as close to one on one as possible. While Nearpod can be used in these situations, either as alternatives or as launching points into deeper conversations, it should not be relied on in order to convey all knowledge in the module being taught.
How can it be modified to work?
While it is possible to incorporate Nearpod into every lesson plan, care should be taken to evaluate if a slideshow, of any interactive level is appropriate. If whole lessons cannot be converted to Nearpod use, can you use it as an assessment means? Can you use it in a way that is an introduction to what you want to cover? Can you use Nearpod as project based, student work that is then shared?
What needs to be considered?
Nearpod is a tool. In the hands of an empathic and well trained teacher, it can be a highly effective tool. But in situations where the school environment is not conducive to using it, it can cause disasters in classrooms with teachers that stubbornly press on and attempt to use it anyway, instead of finding alternate means to convey their message. Student life and student home cultures should be taken heavily into account. Bilingualism, multiculturalism, and family status are several points that are excruciatingly necessary to pay attention to, as they all affect how a student takes in the information that we decide to share on Nearpod.
Thursday, September 3, 2015
Where does technology fit?
I was born in the late 80s. Computers were not new, but they were a rare commodity in the home. They were a thing brought into classrooms by reformers of the 90s that wanted to give kids a "chance". It was never clear what they expected the technology to produce in the upcoming population. I built my first computer when I was 6, with help from a friend of my mom. I learned DOS, I learned Windows95, I played various games and practiced typing, counting and exploring the world with an encyclopedia program that we found in a thrift store.
I grew up with land lines, and matured into having a cellphone when I was in college the first time. I remember pagers and missed social events and answering machines. I mastered typing by trying to make friends online, who at the time mostly consisted of people that are my current age, who insisted that I punctuate every sentence, every exclamation and emotes weren't acceptable communication.
Textese wasn't a thing yet.
And then, a few years later, it was.
So knowing my past, where does that put technology in my classroom? Does it even belong there?
I think technology is a tool that is necessary to further my personal goals in the classroom. Textbooks are aging, even newly written ones are found to be lacking "the other side". Traditional classrooms only allow for hands on experimentation or badly written recountings of what happened when the experiment was performed by another person.
Technology gives us a lens through which we can explore the world outside of what is "safe" for younger students to participate in. Experiments, cultural exploration, visual expressions of math concepts are all new-wave educational possibilities that can be brought into the classroom with technology. Smartboards allow the student to interact and self-teach at the same time that they teach the class, which has been shown to be the quickest way to not only test but create mastery. iPads allow web searches for quick information gathering which can lead into synthesis discussions, or quick assessment that causes significantly less stress than a standard paper quiz.
The quandary lies with non-educational use of technology during times that there should be engagement. Cellphones and even provided class technology can suffice to distract students enough that they can miss crucial concepts discussed, and social media is a new battlefield of bullying and social stigmas.
The ways to mitigate this is ground work on when technology is acceptable to use in the classroom, what should be searched and how to use technology effectively. Teaching someone to use something is only the first part of the educational process, because nuances should be discussed. Privacy, social issues and defensive use of technology are all topics that need to be addressed with the current generation of "plugged in" individuals.
I grew up with land lines, and matured into having a cellphone when I was in college the first time. I remember pagers and missed social events and answering machines. I mastered typing by trying to make friends online, who at the time mostly consisted of people that are my current age, who insisted that I punctuate every sentence, every exclamation and emotes weren't acceptable communication.
Textese wasn't a thing yet.
And then, a few years later, it was.
So knowing my past, where does that put technology in my classroom? Does it even belong there?
I think technology is a tool that is necessary to further my personal goals in the classroom. Textbooks are aging, even newly written ones are found to be lacking "the other side". Traditional classrooms only allow for hands on experimentation or badly written recountings of what happened when the experiment was performed by another person.
Technology gives us a lens through which we can explore the world outside of what is "safe" for younger students to participate in. Experiments, cultural exploration, visual expressions of math concepts are all new-wave educational possibilities that can be brought into the classroom with technology. Smartboards allow the student to interact and self-teach at the same time that they teach the class, which has been shown to be the quickest way to not only test but create mastery. iPads allow web searches for quick information gathering which can lead into synthesis discussions, or quick assessment that causes significantly less stress than a standard paper quiz.
The quandary lies with non-educational use of technology during times that there should be engagement. Cellphones and even provided class technology can suffice to distract students enough that they can miss crucial concepts discussed, and social media is a new battlefield of bullying and social stigmas.
The ways to mitigate this is ground work on when technology is acceptable to use in the classroom, what should be searched and how to use technology effectively. Teaching someone to use something is only the first part of the educational process, because nuances should be discussed. Privacy, social issues and defensive use of technology are all topics that need to be addressed with the current generation of "plugged in" individuals.
My Educational Philosophy
Education is something that does not occur just in a classroom. Education is every moment a person experiences a moment of revelation about the world around them. Where does that leave a future educator like myself?
My purpose in the classroom is as a facilitator of revelation.
I walk the fine line between imparting knowledge as I learned it and teaching children how to learn better. I walk with the students, show them new things and model for them what it means to be curious, to strive to be better, to experience the world in a welcoming way. I play the role of step-parent, teacher, mentor and in some cases, peer.
Education in the classroom is not just math, science, history. Education covers manners, social understanding, learning and reaching to grasp how others experience the world. Without these, the time spent in the classroom is non-contextual and useless. Without these, the time spent in the classroom will be left behind and forgotten when the child moves into "The Real World", making my work with them trivial.
My purpose in the classroom is as a facilitator of revelation.
I walk the fine line between imparting knowledge as I learned it and teaching children how to learn better. I walk with the students, show them new things and model for them what it means to be curious, to strive to be better, to experience the world in a welcoming way. I play the role of step-parent, teacher, mentor and in some cases, peer.
Education in the classroom is not just math, science, history. Education covers manners, social understanding, learning and reaching to grasp how others experience the world. Without these, the time spent in the classroom is non-contextual and useless. Without these, the time spent in the classroom will be left behind and forgotten when the child moves into "The Real World", making my work with them trivial.
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