After I read Morgan Bayda's post and watched the video by Dan Brown www.morgbayda.wordpress.com/2010/02/24/an-open-letter-to-educators/ I spent some time reflecting on my own college experiences and what I really thought about them. I agree with both Morgan Bayda and Dan Brown that in classes, students are expected to sit and write down facts and later regurgitate them on a test. I also agree that you learn a lot more by developing and expanding PLNs. One thing that remained in my thoughts was that those ways are just how institutions are and I don't see them changing anytime soon.
I face an internal struggle within myself on this issue of education. One one hand, I agree with Morgan Bayda in that I am willing to embrace a new way of learning, but on the other hand, this way of learning has been almost set in stone - so to speak - so can that proverbial stone be crushed by a new way of learning?
Technology has made major advances even from the time I entered college. iPods were just becoming popular, and soon to follow were podcasts. Soon after, cell phones were not only for calling and texting, but also became handheld personal computers. I think it's wonderful that a lot of educators have embraced the new technology but I think it will be many more years before it becomes standard in daily classroom routine.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
ALEX and ACCESS
ALEX
The acronym ALEX stands for Alabama Learning Exchange, and is basically a resource site for educators based in Alabama. The site offers a variety of useful tools like educational links on the web, podcasts, and even lesson plans. The site covers every course of study and typically goes through the grade levels of K-12.
Since I am a music major, I explored in depth what was under Arts Education. I found what was expected of musicians by certain grade levels as well as lesson plans that went along with the expectations. The expectations were very detailed and included 4 different levels of mastery.
I think this site will be very useful for me in the future, especially with the lesson plans. It will help ensure that my students are at the same level as other developing musicians.
ACCESS
ACCESS is Alabama Connecting Classrooms, Educators, and Students Statewide. It is a site packed full of useful links and resources for educators and students. One thing the site offers is online courses which may not be offered at a particular school. Students are able to enroll in these and receive credit.
ACCESS also offers many test prep resources. Some of these include AP tests and the Alabama High School Graduation Exam. The site also has resources for the Alabama Virtual Library, ChemLab, and MathType which can all be useful for students enrolled in those subjects.
This site will be useful to me if I need to make a suggestion to a student to take a course that isn't available at the school, or to provide tutorials to help with a particular class. There is also a professional development site to help teachers continue their own education.
The acronym ALEX stands for Alabama Learning Exchange, and is basically a resource site for educators based in Alabama. The site offers a variety of useful tools like educational links on the web, podcasts, and even lesson plans. The site covers every course of study and typically goes through the grade levels of K-12.
Since I am a music major, I explored in depth what was under Arts Education. I found what was expected of musicians by certain grade levels as well as lesson plans that went along with the expectations. The expectations were very detailed and included 4 different levels of mastery.
I think this site will be very useful for me in the future, especially with the lesson plans. It will help ensure that my students are at the same level as other developing musicians.
ACCESS
ACCESS is Alabama Connecting Classrooms, Educators, and Students Statewide. It is a site packed full of useful links and resources for educators and students. One thing the site offers is online courses which may not be offered at a particular school. Students are able to enroll in these and receive credit.
ACCESS also offers many test prep resources. Some of these include AP tests and the Alabama High School Graduation Exam. The site also has resources for the Alabama Virtual Library, ChemLab, and MathType which can all be useful for students enrolled in those subjects.
This site will be useful to me if I need to make a suggestion to a student to take a course that isn't available at the school, or to provide tutorials to help with a particular class. There is also a professional development site to help teachers continue their own education.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Toward a New Future of Whatever
When I first clicked on the link for this particular assignment, I noticed that the video we were to watch was over 30 minutes long. My initial reaction was "Oh great, I hope I can stay engaged in this for that long." What I found interesting was that within the first few minutes, Mr. Michael Wesch discussed how the current generation has short attention spans. I completely agree with this. We are conditioned by television, radio, etc to have these short attention spans with short "breaks" nestled within whatever we're watching or listening.
Mr. Wesch traced the meaning of "whatever". "Whatever" has changed from meaning "that's what I meant" to an indifferent, I don't care type of context. I agree with his discussion that individuals in a society are trying so hard to stand out that they get discouraged and pick up this "I don't care, I'm not going to do anything about it" attitude. He mentioned that it's like being lost in a big city or disconnected in a rural area.
I do feel indifferent to an extent. I don't have that drive to be discovered like in American Idol or for people to know me on YouTube. What's important to me is that I make a positive difference in my family, friends', and co-workers' lives. I want to serve a purpose in this society, not be held in high regard for a talent or anything of that nature.
As a future teacher, I want to take what I've gathered from this video and apply it. I want my future students to feel like they can make a difference without being completely indifferent. I'd want them to think more along the lines of providing for a collectivist society rather than an individualistic. Towards the end of the video, people held up writing on their hands, and several of the messages were about the world and that we are all connected - we need each other. That is a message I want to impress upon my future students.
Mr. Wesch traced the meaning of "whatever". "Whatever" has changed from meaning "that's what I meant" to an indifferent, I don't care type of context. I agree with his discussion that individuals in a society are trying so hard to stand out that they get discouraged and pick up this "I don't care, I'm not going to do anything about it" attitude. He mentioned that it's like being lost in a big city or disconnected in a rural area.
I do feel indifferent to an extent. I don't have that drive to be discovered like in American Idol or for people to know me on YouTube. What's important to me is that I make a positive difference in my family, friends', and co-workers' lives. I want to serve a purpose in this society, not be held in high regard for a talent or anything of that nature.
As a future teacher, I want to take what I've gathered from this video and apply it. I want my future students to feel like they can make a difference without being completely indifferent. I'd want them to think more along the lines of providing for a collectivist society rather than an individualistic. Towards the end of the video, people held up writing on their hands, and several of the messages were about the world and that we are all connected - we need each other. That is a message I want to impress upon my future students.
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