Steve Jobs

I really enjoyed last class. First we learned to present like Steve Jobs. It was interesting because one of my undergraduate professors had taught us a similar approach for teaching lesson plans. Then we got to listen to Steve Job's graduation commencement address. I really enjoyed listening to his speech. But my favorite part of the evening was watching the release of the new iPad. I was so excited about the iPad 2. After watching the presentation, especially of the new garage band, I was determined I needed to get the new iPad. My mom has an original iPad that I have the opportunity to use, but the iPad 2 seemed so much cooler. Now two weeks later, the newness of the iPad 2 has worn off and I no longer am as determined to get one. I think it would be cool to play with the iPad 2 and the new garage band features, but I think for now I'll just stick with my five year old MacBook.

Hydrofracking

It was interesting to learn more about hydrofracking last week. Before the presentation, I was not even sure what hydrofracking was. I learned that in hydrofracking they drill horizontally as well as vertically. They can use multiple wells at each site. Each well uses 5 millions gallons of water and 100,000 pounds of chemicals. I thought it was interesting that the people involved in hydrofracking state that the chemicals are only .5%. It is much scarier to think of it being 100,000 pounds! While I think it is important to hear about the dangers of hydrofracking I would like to learn more about the benefits as well.

Digital Nation Continued...

I think what concerned me most was the military's use of technology. While having pilots control drones may keep them safer, it scares me to think about the distance this puts between the pilots and the war. While they mentioned that the cameras are not advanced enough for pilots to tell for sure if they have hit civilians, the pilot they interviewed is positive that that has never happened to him.

Furthermore, the military has a recreation center open for children to come in and play war games. They are using this as a recruitment strategy. By blurring the lines between the virtual world and reality, they make war seem like just a game. And if these children go on to get jobs where they are controlling drones and still placed at a distance from the actual war, how can we be sure they do not just think of it as a game?

Digital Nation

I really enjoyed the movie we started watching last week in class and the discussions we were having along with it. I cannot remember a time when I did not have access to the internet. We got our first family computer when I was in elementary school. By seventh grade my siblings and I all had our own computers. (My dad is a Macintosh tech and some of his clients had given us their old computers when they upgraded to newer ones.) I spent a lot of time on the computer. Not because I was addicted to computer games, but because I enjoyed talking to my new online friends. But there was still a limit. If my dad thought I was spending too much time online he would disconnect my internet. That is why it amazes me that in the video, the mother never stepped in. She could have limited the time he spent on the computer, but she did not.

Using Photobooth in the Classroom

Photobooth could be a wonderful addition to any classroom. The program allows the user to take pictures or create video clips using a variety of effects. It is a very fun program to use. I have used Photobooth since I got my MacBook in 2006 and I love that the newer version now lets you change the background as well.

My host teacher during student teaching took pictures of the students once a month so that at the end of the year they can see how much they have changed. With Photobooth you could set up a computer where the students could go take pictures of themselves. This could be used as a center. I think students would really enjoy taking their own pictures. I also think it would be a great way to help bring out their personalities in the photos.

Another option for Photobooth would be to use the video option. Instead of presenting a report on what they have learned about a certain topic, students could record videos of themselves talking about what they have learned. After all students have recorded their videos, the teacher can play them for the class. It would be a much more exciting and interesting process. It also allows students to be a little bit more creative.

Meg mentioned in her blog that she would have students record themselves reading. That is such a wonderful idea! I definitely think it would help with fluency and it would be good for students to have the opportunity to hear how they sound when the read.

Some schools have older students come into the classroom to read with the younger ones. You could also send the recordings of your students reading to the teachers of students in lower grades. I think this would be exciting for both the older students making the recordings as well as for the younger students receiving the recordings.

You could also send the recordings to parents or other family members who I am sure would enjoy listening to their students read stories or do presentations. I think there is really a lot of things you could do with this program.

Dan Pink on the surprising science of motivation [Review]

Dan Pink brought up some important facts about motivation in his speech “on the surprising science of motivation.” While Pink is speaking from a business perspective, this information is important to keep in mind in a school setting as well. Teachers are known for using extrinsic rewards as motivation for students. Unfortunately, these incentives may not be very effective.

Pink talks about Karl Duncker’s candle problem. He explains how Sam Glucksberg uses this problem to perform an experiment using incentives. The group who was offered rewards for finishing fastest took three and a half minutes longer to finish than the group who was offered no rewards. The incentives did not work. When performing the experiment a second time, but by arrange the experiment slightly different, the incentives worked. Why? Because the task was easier. Pink explains that when “there is a simple set of rules and a clear destination to go to” rewards work. So as teachers we can use rewards to encourage students to do simple, straightforward tasks. But as teachers it is also our job to get students to think independently.

As teachers we need to motivate students intrinsically. Intrinsic motivation is about “the desire to do things because they matter, because we like it, because they’re interesting, because they are part of something important.” We should motivate students to do things because they want to do it. Students who are intrinsically motivated will get more out of school than students who are simply completing tasks to get a gold star or a good grade. Students who are intrinsically motivated get the most out of their education. This is what we as teachers should strive for.

The difficulty in this scenario though is how to motivate students intrinsically. How do we convince them that what they are doing is important and is something they should care about? It is also difficult for some teachers to move away from extrinsic rewards. As much as research says otherwise, teachers continue to use gold stars, stickers, and other rewards to motivate students. It has become part of a tradition and for many teachers it is hard to avoid. And really all teachers use extrinsic motivation, by giving students grades. Still, I think what Pink said is very valuable. I think as teachers we can use less extrinsic rewards and start by encouraging students to become intrinsically motivated. One way to start is by explaining to students how each lesson you teach is relevant and connected to the real world. This will help students see that what they are learning is important. Hopefully the more we encourage students to become more intrinsically motivated, the more they will start learning for themselves.

Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity [Review]

Ken Robinson’s talk about creativity was also very interesting. I am not sure that I agree with him that “creativity now is as important in education as literacy,” but I do think that creativity is important and that we need to give children the opportunity to be creative in school. Creativity is what makes people unique. A lot of times, however, we take away what makes people individuals.

Robinson told a story about a little girl who was thought to have a learning disorder because she was fidgety and could not concentrate. She went to see a specialist who realized there was nothing wrong with this little girl; she was just a dancer. Her mother listened to the specialist and sent her to dance school and she ended up becoming very successful. But as Robinson points out, if she had been in school today she probably would have been diagnosed with ADHD and maybe instead of someone realizing her talent and sending her to dance school, maybe she would have been put on medication instead. A lot of children these days are being diagnosed with learning disorders and placed on medications. Instead of accepting them for who they are, we take their personality away from them.

It is important that as teachers we see children for who they really are. We have to accept that there are multiple learning styles. Not everyone learns by listening and reading. Some people need to move. Some people need to dance. Teachers need to learn who their students are, accept them for who they are, and try to adapt lessons to fit their individual needs.

Unfortunately, this is not easy. Teachers have preferred learning and teaching styles. It is difficult to learn other ways of teaching. It is time consuming to plan lessons that are differentiated for every student. Maybe it is not something that could be implemented into everyday lessons, but even once in awhile adapting for those students is valuable. Most importantly, it is important that we as teachers value children no matter who they are, no matter what their strengths or weaknesses are. Our job is to help all students learn and be successful. But it is important to remember that students can be successful in different ways. We should not expect all students to be the same.