pdZone

I saw this item a while ago and then promptly forgot about it. I was looking back through some old drafts of posts and stumbled across it.

One of those things that I love about teaching is that we can lead by example. We can try new things and show others that it is OK to fail, just as it is OK to succeed. Like I often tell the kids, life is not a race; the first one to the end is not the winner. We can take chances on new ideas or new ways of looking at a problem.

I don’t mean being completely reckless and haphazard in how we do things. What I mean is taking the chance to succeed. We often spend so much of our time trying to avoid failure rather than trying to achieve success.

When I try to think of the times I have failed, I can’t come up with a nice clean list. There have been so many times! When I think about times that I risked the possibility of failure, whether it be in relationships in something as basic as learning to walk, I realize that we all must take risks in life. The only way to avoid failure is never to take the risks that lead to success.

Should I share my ideas with others in my school or my board? The might not be receptive to them, but then again they might. I guess that’s a risk I’ll have to take!

In his post School Walk Out Organized Online, Tom Hoffman writes about the importance of trying to find ways to use web sites like Sconex.com to help understand what is going on in the lives of teenagers. Not that long ago, most of what went on between children was played out in front of us, or at least within earshot. Now, so much of the social interaction – the good, the bad, and the downright ugly – of young people is now played out online, much of it under a cloak of anonymity.

The social dynamic among young people continues to evolve, as does our own. I really like Mr. Hoffman’s suggestion of employing counsellors to examine some of the disclosures and interactions that take place online. It certainly would give us a better understanding of what is going on in the lives, and in the heads, of our youth.

More research (Computers widen gender gap for boys) that says boys are lagging behind girls in terms of school achievement, though nothing really earth-shattering. The article refers to research that found students who used computers for school work tended to score higher on examinations and national tests. At the same time, students – mainly boys – who used their time playing games on the computer tended to score lower.

As I said in the title, it’s all in how you use it. While the article talks about how the achievement of students who play a lot of computer games is lower, I would expect that students who spend their time playing football or watching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles would tend to score lower as well. This is a combination of not using the tool well and not using their time well. One of the things that we, as teachers, need to do is to help students understand that computers are not simply “boys’ toys”. They are powerful tools and students – boys and girls alike – need to see the power they have at their hands. In many cases, we simply don’t expose the students to enough opportunities for true learning with the computer. Instead, we often use computers for simple word processing, basic web-based research, or even for crowd control in the classroom. (You’ve finished your work? Okay, go play a game and be quiet.)

I wrote a couple of weeks ago about David Booth’s talk about boys and literacy. At one point, he spoke about computer games and the benefits that they can bring. Unfortunately, the type of gains students may experience don’t seem to be directly related to the exams and tests the researchers studied, based on these results.

We know that boys will continue to play games on the computer, as will many girls. What do we do? I know that I will continue to read about other people’s creative solutions and try to have students discover the true power of computers through engaging and creative activities. Am I always successful? Um, no! But at least the students have begun to see some more of the possibilities.

What are you doing to try to increase student achievement through the use of computers?

I was looking back through some posts from my old pdZone site and came across a really good article that I need to take back to school with me next week. It is a very engaging article by the late Guy Bensusan. I do not have any experience with Mr. Bensusan’s writings, but I really enjoyed this tale of transferring differentiated teaching styles from the swimming pool to the classroom. It presents an individualized learner-centered philosophy that leads to increased confidence and the motivation to succeed.
(Just practicing my edspeak as I get ready to go back to school!)

This article appears in the July 2004 edition of the International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning

Thinking ahead to completing my annual learning plan, this is a great template. Steve Dembo has created a “personal contract” that he plans to follow. I find it interesting to articulate it in this manner. It seems like the one to whom we break our word the most often is ourselves.

I like how Steve has included personal time in his contract. I find that, too often, this type of exercise winds up being about giving ourselves over entirely to the job. We need to recognize that it is crucial to include time for ourselves in the whole planning process. It does not benefit us or our students if we are completely burned out. Recharging the batteries is a must.

I wrote the following back in April:

Here is a webcast of a presentation by Alan November. He speaks about the need for change in how children receive an education. Some of the point he makes are about the need for:

• higher standards
• differentiated instruction
• children to be “desperate to learn”

His use of the term “digital immigrant” reminded me of the articles by Marc Prensky, entitled Digital Natives. In it, he speaks about the need to recognize what students know and what students need in the world of increased technology use. The articles can be found below.

Part 1

Part 2

As I reflect on this post, I think about other content that I have read in the intervening time. Mr. November’s remarks certainly resonate with me. In May, Will Richardson referred to Mr. November in posting his thoughts on the importance of finding a way to produce “fearless learners” within the context of what he calls “fearful schools”. Will writes about the limitations that are often placed on our use of technology and which prevent us from taking a global view of education. Instead of reaping the full benefit of the almost possibilities of the read-write web, students are so often bound by the walls of our classrooms.

In his post, Will also mentions a book by Thomas Friedman, entitled The World is Flat. Initially, I really was not interested in Friedman’s book. It sounded like another doom and gloom view of the current state of affairs in North America, but I have been reading more about it and find myself drawn to it. Further reading has produced various ways in which his theories fit into education. I think I’m hooked.

Tom Hoffman’s breakdown of Friedman’s “flatteners” provides an overview of the book, while Dr. Tim Tyson (via Anne) is recommending the book to his staff. I particularly like his goal of making students into “global life-long learners and collaborators who will be competitive in the global job market”. I find his thoughts inspiring as I think about the value of staff development and the type of world in which my students, and my own children, will live.

There is so much running around in my head right now, but it is almost 1:30 and I should get some sleep. It’s an exciting time to be in education!

Back in February, I came across the poetry of Taylor Mali, but have been thinking about his work again recently. My first exposure to his work was a performance of The Problem With Teachers… (low bandwidth version here), his reply to some teacher-bashing. His web site contains a few audio and video versions of his work, as well as several in text format.

Empowering? I hate the word and feel that it is terribly overused. I would say inspiring and powerful. I shared a few of Mr. Mali’s works with my fellow staff and they were equally moved.

Taylor Mali wants to create 1000 new teachers by 2006. Will he make it? Well, I don’t know about that, but his words have kept me energized a couple of times when I needed it. Now, as I think about returning to school in a couple of weeks, I am trying to re-energize myself and think again about what it means to me to be a teacher.

OK, over the past three years I have taken several courses. In that time, many of the edspeak buzzwords have been used (by myself as well as by others). I had to chuckle though when I read Joe Williams’ list of educational jargon and his suggestion of a corresponding beverage-related activity integrating these terms.

Some interesting thoughts on what teaching/learning is all about.