Blog Post #5

If I Built A School
Krissy Venosdale's post http://venspired.com/?p=3748 which talked about what she would do if she were able to create her own school. Mrs. Venosdale is an educator who has been teaching for ten years and is now working particularly in gifted education. Like Dr. Strange, she seems to promote exploration of technology use and hands-on learning that is project-based and "outside the box". In this blog post, she explains how she, if given the opportunity, would create a school that would be a place of wonder for students of all ages. Colorful walls, a cafeteria with the appearance of a cozy coffee shop, and a treehouse adorned with lights in the library would all be fun aspects to intrigue the minds of the children enrolled there. Field trips would be taken throughout the school year, and kids would work on their school work at home simply because they wanted to. There were no true regulations in this "dream" school, but every student was motivated with a passion for learning.
If I were given the opportunity to design my own school, I have to admit that I would strive to make mine very similar to Mrs. Venosdale's. My goal would be to make learning fun, and to open up every child's mind to the world of wonder and enchantment that a useful education could give them. I definitely would want many colors throughout the school, and every student could help design the classrooms each year in ways that show off their creative abilities that most often remain hidden. One aspect of learning I would modify would be to incorporate games inside the learning process. When children are playing games, they are not only using their minds to the best of their abilities, but having fun and developing strategies to help them achieve goals. I would also allow iPad, desktop, laptop, and various technology usage so that every child could use them efficiently in the real world by the time they had graduated. The more fun and excitement that can encourage learning and grow effective workers in the future, the better the school would turn out to be in the end.
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Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir
If one were to think that technology use has no real effect or purpose in this world, he or she has never witnessed anything quite like that of the video on the page http://techliterateteacher.blogspot.com/2010/05/eric-whitakers-virtual-choir-lux.html. While watching this video and listening to the song of the choir, I couldn't help but sit in awe of how an entire chorus had been constructed and even performed by a group of people who had never even met in person. This just shows how relevant technology usage can be to our society. Not only can it be used to unify those who are on opposite ends of the globe from each other, but to work together to accomplish goals to help and bring joy to everyone else in the world, as well. I thoroughly enjoyed watching this video, and would love to see technology used more to enhance the fields of music and other areas.
http://paiskidd.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/virtual_choir.png
Teaching in the 21st Century
The video http://www.edm310.com/Teaching21stCenturymed.m4v brings up very alarming facts about student learning to the unknowing educator. I will admit that I had major trouble trying to watch this video on multiple devices. From what I could tell, however, there was one main point to be made here: in this century, teachers are no longer the main sources of information. Before enrolling in this class, I was completely naive to how much technology has truly become vital to our every day lives. Now, I am fully aware of how much access students, no matter how young or old, have to endless sources of knowledge with just the tap of a screen or the click of a button. This can greatly affect my future in education because if I do not keep my mind updated and efficient in current technology usage, how will I ever be able to educate the generation of tomorrow? By being knowledgeable in a wide range of technology, I not only secure my own career, but help others secure the occupations of the future, as well.
http://files.campus.edublogs.org/blogs.burrell.k12.pa.us/dist/c/2/files/2011/11/CouryTuckEverlastingOct2011-yengdb-224x300.jpg
The Flipped Classroom
The "Flipped Classroom", in a sense, is the ideal balance that I believe all great teachers try their hardest to achieve. In http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aGuLuipTwg, Katie Gimbar recognized the fact that the majority of her class time was spent presenting material rather than actual student application of principles. The videos in http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLB632EC24182B4D40 gives explanations to multiple questions educators could have in the attempt to flip their own classrooms. Dr. Lodge McCammon presents a very similar approach in http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PcSafUTNd8. He, like Gimbar, agrees that students who are able to watch video lectures before coming into the classroom will be better able to engage in their assignments and activities while actually meeting. Ms. Munafo also uses Dr. McCammon's concepts in her classes, and describes some of her techniques in http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KWqw_7Ib1o. One aspect of teaching that they all seem to agree on is that more class time needs to be spent on letting students ask questions, engage in the lessons, and give their feedback instead of the instructor monotonously lecturing while the students are bored to tears. I could use this approach greatly in my classroom. Although I plan on teaching English in the future and not any form of math (I despise math), lecture videos could most definitely be useful to my class time. If students are able to absorb the lessons and information by watching at home or on school computers or iPads, I will have more time to hear their responses. I believe I will be better able to meet the needs of individual students in this way, and for them to be able to grasp a better understanding of the curriculum at their own paces, without feeling left behind.
http://edudemic.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/flipped-classroom1.jpg