Getting the class INvolved

Kids these days...

They can be noisy, they can be inappropriate and most of the time... they are just bored with school and act out because they want out. So what do we do? And yes, the question is what do WE do. We want them to be quiet and appropriate and respectful, but the fact is that a lot of the time they don't realize their responsibility as learners or even how rewarding the responsibility can be. So this is a part of what should be educated in education, being involved.


There are certain aspects of school dynamics which often do not function without learner involvement: answering questions in class, sport, inter-school competitions in various activities. These are all very blatant and learner involvement is rewarded almost instantly with prizegivings, a "well done" from the teacher  etc. So how can leaner involvement meaningful? Besides the obvious reasons, one more is that they can learn to develop character.


As a teacher, one should facilitate an environment where the learners are willing to learn, this can be helped by introducing curiosity into the room. Once you have the learner's attention, you can begin to focus on responsibilities of the learners. Once they realise how meaningful the contribution of their responsibility is, they begin to notice the difference between when they are responsible and when not. Then you begin to show them how rewarding their contributions are.

"Preparing the room mindfully became a part of our class culture"

I recommend the read. Giving the learners responsibility to contribute to their class culture can genuinely lead to meaningful involvement and can change the way the learners see school as well as the way they approach other situations in their futures.


As always, watching the walking footprints...

Going Techness

Technology-mediated self-directed/ distance learning

So! Once you get past the tongue twisty, say it 10 times fast ordeal of the title, you can take a look at its potential.


I really liked what was said in the article about the roles of teachers and students. Because the roles of teachers and students are changing, it is important to consider what their roles entail.  "This recasting of students’ and teachers’ subject positions does more than merely suggest teachers have plenty to learn and students have plenty to teach; it’s an early step in moving both students and teachers toward a critical consciousness of their position and possibilities in an oppressive system of education". Why do we need teachers? Why do we need to have a curriculum which each child should follow? These are some fundamental questions which should be critically discussed.


Generally, many people are concerned that the age of technology causes people to be less interactive with others in a meaningful way. But there is also potential for more! There is a huge difference between social media and a platform for critical engagement, which is what technology mediated discussion can offer. It allows one to be part of a community, albeit a community at a distance. This community has the advantage of being able to connect people with similar interests and whose knowledge can feed off another's. It allows the distance to be bridged essentially, which is slightly ironic as it can take place over a distance. It provides an opportunity for people who are on different levels of the knowledge spectrum to teach others, which solidifies your knowledge, or to learn from others and when this is layered by knowledge from other people, one can begin to develop one's own sense of understanding of the topic. This often is not facilitated in classrooms because there are so many different students with different thought patters, learning methods and interests. And most often, people are able to have fun while doing this! It's a win-win!


So in my mind, following a specific curriculum is limiting the potential of the students. Yes, very often it allows the student to broaden their minds and allows them to develop different forms of thinking. One has to think about how to change your synthesis of argument in English essays opposed to an experimental analysis. This is useful. However this is basic. Are we going to stop there? Allow our students to become standardised? No, I think there should be space for students to explore. This can be accomplished by self-directed learning. Allowing the student to choose a topic which interests them, they have the opportunity to critically engage with others on a technology-mediated platform with others around the world and drives their interest in other subjects.


So not only are students familiarising themselves with the potentials of technology and how to use it effectively, which we cannot help but admit are absolutely essential in these days and times, but they are engaging with other about topics which they are interested in. This inspires, this drives and this cements knowledge. Students will be more likely to pursue information which is relevant to them and sparks their interest, students also like to be challenged, or at least they should be. And distance allows people of different cultures and backgrounds to engage. I think there are so many benefits of this type of learning.


I'm all for teachers, heck, I'd like to do what I studied to do! However I do think that we should be facilitators and testers of the knowledge which they have gained.


As always, watching the walking footprints...

A tool or a fool?

Social media as a tool?

I'm a little old school, I won't lie. I struggle to think that a class will not be able to resist themselves and socialize as opposed to social medialise (I'm using my "bloggers" license with this one). But then again, I think about what we've learnt in some of our classes and I think "How much faith am I putting in my students?". Do I trust them enough to let them use the tool? Or will they use blunt force to mess with their learning? But then I begin to think, "maybe I'm just making this about me." So I should be thinking about how much social media can actually benefit my students as they progress through their education. 

So being able to critically engage with others in the class is something which I value highly, and if they can do that in their free time that is actually what I would want them to do. And if they're engaging in class, they're making less noise! I would love them to write letters to each other to make it more applicable, using the correct format of course, and to make it fun for them to work. It's also a really useful tool for the teachers to keep track of progress because it's all in one place. If learning becomes applicable to the child through social media then it should be used. Teachers should be willing to adapt and should especially be willing to teach kids how to adapt. I think it's a really important lesson.

I think using tools to communicate with students when they're off campus is brilliant. Heck, I'm forgetful and I would have loved a little reminder about homework or being told if school was cancelled for the day. It makes communication easy and you can be sure that every student has received or heard the message.

I strongly believe that social media can be useful. But I will be very selective about which platforms I use, making sure that kids are LEARNING through the fun and not just having fun.

So after realizing that I need to say how social media can be used in the classroom, I would use Facebook. With Facebook you can post pictures and videos which can be used for experiments and you can also post comments which are longer and can lead to a lot of interaction between the students. They can comment on how the experiment is working, what they can improve on and change and comment on each other's experiments to help them improve. Natural Science can be fun!

As ever, watching the walking footprints.